Dorming

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>i have responded to the above poster privately however i would like to note that i stated in my post that i had no intention of being rude and was simply stating a fact that i believe in which had nothing to do with any of the previous posters "knowledge of musical theatre" </p>

<p>i would also like to note that i consider this an isolated incident as we have received many compliments on how we run our auditions. if anyone has any questions regarding our process, please contact me or post a separate thread. I understand that there may be complaints regarding some of our practices and I fully believe that you should post on these boards about your experience but please know that I am here to represent the progrm, which sometimes means defending it and to get feedback to fix our process. </p>

<p>lastly, these complaints are based on material not being seen and not on "unprofessional" behavior towards our applicants. We do pride ourselves on the way we treat applicants in making them feel welcome and relaxed and if for some reason you did not, then please comment here.</p>

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<p>I don,t think that these kids got a fair shot at their auditions. I do not believe that you can judge acting ability by a song. Most of these kids save the acting for the monologue. If you wanted them to "act" their songs then they should have been given instruction to do so.They should have been told that, because of lack of time, that they would not be given a chance to do their monologues and that their acting ability was going to be judged by the way they "perform" their song. They would have known exactly what to do. Please remember that, for most of these kids this was not their first audition. They have gone through many many auditions for colleges and other functions. These kids are not amateurs.From the people that I spoke with, the common thread was that they were being rushed through the audition and everyone was questioning why they were not doing the monologues. It was an audition for Musical Theater right? The dance portion and test were OK. The other thing that I don't understand was why we had to pay for the audition. This was my D 8th college audition in the last couple of months and the first time we were asked to pay. I also felt that because we had to pay, that the kids deserved much more time and attention during the audition. Most of these kids traveled many miles and spent money on travel and hotels rooms just to be at Pace. They deserved more then just a few short minutes of face time. My D's comment when she came out of the audition process was "that was a joke" and she was not the only one that felt that way. I beleive you are doing a great disservice to your reputation by short changing the audition process. Maybe you should not schedule so many auditions on one day so you will have more time with each student. We have been through 7 other college auditions and at each one there was ample time given to each candidate. Out of the 8 auditons, the experience at Pace is last on the list. However, the students that went around to talk to the families were great, the facility was very clean and the refreshments were very welcome.</p>

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<p>I have no direct knowledge of Pace, or its audition process. When my D went through auditions, as I recall there was an audition fee (or sometimes listed as a separate application fee for the program in addition to the university app. fee) for every program she auditioned for.</p>

<p>I can understand how the students would be upset if none of them were allowed to do their monologues, and it was blamed on a time crunch. And I agree that if it was a blanket case for everyone, they should have been informed of that at the outset of the audition. If the issue is just that after hearing the songs, the auditors felt like they didn't need to see the monologues, possibly the information regarding the auditions should state that as a possibility.</p>

<p>However, I don't think students auditioning for college programs should need to be told that they need to act their song - that it's not just about a great voice. If they have any training or show experience, hopefully that is a lesson they have already learned.</p>

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<p>I completely agree MusThCC! I vividly remember having to pay audition fees for all the schools I auditioned for (most were sent in with the application), and they were all upwards of $100-250. Most schools include the audition fees in the general application fee.</p>

<p>I'm interested to see if the students who will be accepted were asked to do their monologues. I don't know Crose and Bird if you talked to every single student that auditioned, but I spoke with a few who were asked to do 2 monologues. Like MusThCC said, " if it was a blanket case for everyone, they should have been informed of that at the outset of the audition. If the issue is just that after hearing the songs, the auditors felt like they didn't need to see the monologues, possibly the information regarding the auditions should state that as a possibility."
And I feel the need to echo that "students auditioning for college programs should need to be told that they need to act their song - that it's not just about a great voice. If they have any training or show experience, hopefully that is a lesson they have already learned."
Even if they didn't pick a song with "dramatic acting choices" their song should still reflect them as a person and actor.
Also, there will be 8 audition dates, 4 groups within each 3 hour time slot, 10-1 is one set then 1-6 is the other, Bird must have been to a 10-1 session, and probably the most empty. But why would the school give inaccurate numbers as to how many people are auditioning? No, PACE is no CMU, but CMU is not PACE, and PACE is no other school, and no other school is PACE. Comments of that nature are bitter, rude, and unnecessary! </p>

<p>The most important thing I learned having gone through this process is that reputation holds nothing unless you love the environment and everything else that comes with different programs. I was accepted into 6 programs, and most of them are more well known then PACE, but I fell in love with PACE and wanted to go here no matter what. There were schools that I hated and a few that I liked; everyone is going to have different experiences that should be voiced diplomatically for the purpose of sharing not of berating.</p>

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<p>OH, I forgot to mention that in the audition info on the website it says:
"Please prepare one contemporary monologue under two minutes. You will only present your monologue if asked."
Pace</a> University - Performing Arts - Auditions</p>

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<p>Crose was not saying that we should be told to 'act' our songs, we obviously know that. Crose is saying that they should've made everyone aware (possibly in the info session) that monologues may or may not be seen, and to make sure you show as much of your acting skills as possible in your song performance. Yes, it does say that on the internet, but none of us are glued to our computers with all of the info at hand all the time. I, as well as many others that were there, had back to back auditions from Friday to Sunday while in the city, so we weren't going to have each schools 'policies' memorized. All Crose is saying (which I agree with) is, its a one minute monologue, this is a musical theatre audition where there also are many times where you perform monologues and dialogue without music, so they should've let the auditionees show the whole package.</p>

<p>BRBway- I was in the February 1st afternoon group. The dance instructor said there was 3 dance groups coming and they were around 9 people each, that's why I said about 30 MTs auditioning, and according to the website there is 5 audition days (3 of which have a morning and afternoon group) that's why I found it hard to believe that 600-800 were auditioning just for MT. And also I assume Crose was talking about straight audition fees NOT application fees and Crose is correct that many schools do not charge an 'audition fee'. The ones I know of are: CCM, BoCo, Hartt, Point Park, Penn State, UMich, Marymount Manhattan, UCF, FSU, and there quite a few more. All these charge is an application fee which is understandable. And all of them that I auditioned with so far, took way more than 2 minutes with a student, heard at least 2 songs, at least 2 monologues, and interviewed and got to know the student. And no I did not talk to every student but talked to many (as friends know friends who end up being at the same audition etc) and many of them felt rushed and unwanted through the whole process except for the dance because that teacher was one of the most welcoming people I've ever met.</p>

<p>I'm not gonna sit on here anymore and argue how I feel. The decision is made, I'm not going there, but these are people's opinions, and you can fight about it all you want but people are not going to change the way they felt. This impression from Pace was left with us, I did not just decide to make up this feeling once I got the letter in the mail. I'm sure your program is wonderful, but unfortunately it did not come off that way to many people.</p>

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<p>I just did a fairly long post on the "Reflection: Wish I had known this about auditions" thread, because I think some of the information being discussed here should more fittingly be seen by the board as a whole, and not under one school.</p>

<p>I don't know if the lack of doing a monologue at Pace means you are automatically out of the running - it could, or it could also mean that based on your dance and your song, they definitely want to offer you a spot, and don't need to see anything more from you. </p>

<p>It is never pleasant to feel that you weren't given enough opportunity to prove yourself; unfortunately, that happens on every level of this business - from kids who think if they had just been given one more chance to read for their school musical, they could have changed someone's mind, or from professional auditions where they walk down the line of people at an open call, and type people out based solely on their appearance, without hearing a note out of their mouths, or seeing a single dance move.</p>

<p>One problem is that the talent pool doing college auditions ranges from people who did their HS musical for a year or two, and thought it was fun, to people who have seriously trained, studied and prepared, to people who have enormous potential, but not yet much training or experience.</p>

<p>If I were made King of Auditions, I would start with a video pre-screening. I don't think you want to pick people based on that, but you could eliminate people based on it. I'm sure some people would find that unfair as well, but it would eliminate traveling cross country at great expense to a place where you have absolutely no chance. Then, schools would have more time than the 3-5 minutes (excluding dance call) to spend with the students who might be serious candidates. A few schools have started something similar, and it is becoming more common for some music programs as well to do pre-screenings for their most popular majors. </p>

<p>However, without such a system, the schools have to do the best they can to try to fairly assess the students who apply, and fit it into a finite time.</p>

<p>Hopefully, to those of you who were disappointed in the process, you might still get a positive outcome, or find that your right place is somewhere else.</p>

<p>Bird - your post went up while I was typing... It is possible things have changed, but when my D was auditioning in 2004, CCM, UMich and Point Park all had separate application or audition fees for MTs. She didn't apply to any of the others on your list, but she did do 3 others, and as I recall they also all had additional fees. Whether it's labeled as an audition fee, or a BFA application fee, I'm sure that it goes to cover the extra cost of the audition process. </p>

<p>I'm sorry you had a negative experience, and hope you fare well with your other happier auditions.</p>

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<p>As I feel this conversation has gone DRY I am only going to post refuting FALSE information and personal opinions that reflect incorrect notions about our process....</p>

<p>it IS told to you that you may not do your monolgoue. I dont understand how much more clear it can be than having it ON THE FORM you fill out as well as on the website. It is not our fault that "did not memorize" the school's policies. That is your job, not ours. All we can do is present the information to you. </p>

<p>As to the fee, so you are ok with paying an application fee (which i believe pace does not have), but not an audition fee? A rose by any other name... is still a rose!</p>

<p>I would also like to thank MusthCC - I hope these two students read your post and understand it. This business is not a democracy and has never pretended to be; at the collegiate audition experience - why should that change? </p>

<p>I am truly sorry to both of the above posters for their unsatisfying experiences but I cannot agree with their sentiments as they seem more derived in disappointment than actual problems with our process.</p>

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<p>Pace does have an application fee it is $45 and in order to audition you HAD to apply, so it cost $95 total. Other programs mainly had one or the other, not both. just clearing that up.</p>

<p>And my response was posted as a problem with your process, I did not think it was run in a good way, and that is my opinion. It is not stemmed from disappointment. Once again, a rude comment that you made, representing the overall attitude I experienced at Pace.</p>

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<p>Pace does have an application fee it is $45 and in order to audition you HAD to apply, so it cost $95 total. Other programs mainly had one or the other, not both. just clearing that up.</p>

<p>And my response was posted as a problem with your process, I did not think it was run in a good way, and that is my opinion. It is not stemmed from disappointment. Once again, a rude comment that you made, representing the overall attitude I experienced at Pace.</p>

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<p>NO - you had a problem with not hearing your monologue - not the way we RUN our auditions. I gave you respect by PMing you with a response and now you have lost that respect. You can be as bitter as you would like and I cannot change that but I would hope you would refrain from posting on this thread further as this is getting incredibly ridiculous and I am getting more than frustrated with your responses as we have already discussed the issues in private AND on this thread. If you have any more issues then please contact me privately. </p>

<p>i am sincerely sorry that pace was not the school for you but attacking a process because of your personal issue with a detail of it is unnecessary and incredibly untactful. i hope that you find the school that is right for you with audition process you hope for. good luck with the rest of your collegiate search. </p>

<ul>
<li>to note - the application fee is something asked for by the university and not the performing arts department. i cannot speak for the admissions department.</li>
</ul>

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<p>not hearing a monologue is part of running your audition. </p>

<p>and thank you for PMing me, I commented back about the other comments earlier that were made by others and in support of what Crose was saying, it was in no way to offend you or set out to make you angry. i apologize for what has possibly offended you, but this website is set up for people to talk about their experiences and opinions on those experiences and that's all i did. i'm not on here to argue and make enemies, but just posting my opinions and thoughts, that's all. i'm not here to bash Pace.</p>

<p>thank you for your well wishes in my college search, i appreciate that.</p>

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<p>We will have to agree to disagree on the definition of our process because not seeing a monologue is just something that may or may not occur . I consider process how you brought to different rooms, how you are treated, the forms, etc. </p>

<p>I never have any intention of "fighting" on these boards, i simply like to make sure that no false information about our program, or any other program for that matter is being broadcast for people to read. opinions and all of that are very welcome, it is a message board, but there comes a time when it has to stop. we all heard your opinion and we refuted what we could and people will take from it what they will. no need to keep pushing the fact your monologue wasnt heard. it is what it and you will feel the way you feel. repeating your issue over and over is what is becoming frustrated - i wake up today thinking we had talked about it privately and then there is half a page of more posts about a topic i though to be private if not dead! </p>

<p>as a representative of pace, i must make sure that it is understood that this is the opinion of one (unfortunately, not everyone will read Musthcc's post on one of the main threads about looking at these posts from the p.o.v of the poster).</p>

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<p>Not to get caught in the crossfire, and having no dog in this hunt, as the saying goes - Bird, I was also referring to 2 separate application fees - one for the school and one for the department, which was sometimes labeled as a separate app. fee, and sometimes as an audition fee.</p>

<p>However, I do believe that some of that has changed, since several schools currently waive the app. fee if submitting the common app online.</p>

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<p>I look at this website often as my son has auditioned for several MT schools recently. I have never really felt compelled to chime in before, but feel I must do so now. My son and I were looking at these posts this morning and COMPLETELY disagree with the negativity shown toward Pace. The Pace auditions ran flawlessly and I commend the students who ran the auditions. They followed EXACTLY what was said in the audition guidelines and these guidelines were very clear from the beginning of the sign-up process. It is a daunting task to keep track of the different guidelines for each school, however, that is absolutely the responsibility of the student who is auditioning. My son was not at all disappointed that he did not get to do his monologue because it was CLEARLY STATED in the guidelines that you may not be asked to do your monologue. The other students and parents that we spoke to at the Pace audition felt the same as us. Everything ran very smoothly. I can only suggest to anyone who is auditioning in the future that you make sure you know exactly what the guidelines are for the school you are at that day.</p>

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<p>I too will chime in regarding the friendly and well run audition. From the helpful student assistants, the wonderful spread of breakfast food and drinks and the caring staff we rank Pace’s audition well at the top. My daughter auditioned on Jan 31st in the 10-1 group and she sang her two songs with no monologue. She felt perfectly fine about it as she knew clearly that that could happen and she always acts her songs. However, she also auditioned for the Acting BFA in the afternoon and got to do both her monologues for Theatre Dept. </p>

<p>Hillary, I’d actually like to thank you all for providing a comfy space for us parents to wait it out and socialize! We came in from Los Angeles and I had a nice time talking with the current students and yes, even the nervous parents. :-)</p>

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<p>My daughter auditioned in the morning session on February 1. The only time I felt rushed was when the Q&A was ending, as the faculty had to get ready for the afternoon audition session. My daughter did not do a monologue, and fortunately, she was accepted into the Pace MT program last week. She was also accepted at MMC and Fordham - she has chosen to attend Pace.</p>

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<p>Yes in post-mortem discussions we have come to the conclusion that the afternoon session needs to be a little later so as to afford more time to the info session as well as provide an opportunity for the auditors to take an actual break from the action, and most importantly not leave anyone feeling rushed! </p>

<p>Congrats to your daughter! I look forward to working with her come Fall. Let me know if you have any questions in regards to the program :)</p>

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<p>I read and read this thread, because I really wanted infomation on “dorming” which is the name of this thread! I believe there should have been a separate thread posted called “complaints about the audition process”. However, I was well informed about the pros and cons of the Pace audition, those that had negative comments just didn’t get accepted into the program. It happens, in the theater world we are always told “do your best and then move on”.<br>
But, back to the subject at hand. Could we please have more post about dorming? My d and I visited Pace this past week and she fell in love with it. The small dept., living in NYC, and a more personal relationship with the instructors, the fact that she can work in the industry if she is so lucky to get cast, maybe take a year off if necessary, the actors studio, are just some of the reasons. I could go on and on.
So, other than the first few students that actually answered the question about dorming, could I please learn more? Such as, in Maria’s Tower can students have refrigerators? What floor is the Honors floor? </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>Students in Maria’s Tower can have a fridge and microwave combo, rented through the school. If they don’t want to do it through the school, they can have just a fridge or just a microwave, but if they want both then it has to be done through the school.
Not enough students requested the honors floor so they didn’t have one this year. Although, there is a 24 hour quiet floor for those who want it.
But new for next fall is a performing arts floor:
In John St. and in Fulton Hall there will be 2 floors in each for performing arts students, including practice rooms, masterclasses, tickets to shows, and film showings. They’re for upperclassmen, but a great option to look forward to.</p>

<p>My roommate and I are both freshman MTs living in Maria’s Tower, although the living quarters aren’t the largest it feels like a real “college” experience. It’s very convenient, since it’s in the same building as the cafeteria, theatres, rehearsal halls, and all the class rooms; and it’s the best way to become a family with the rest of your MT class and the general Pace community.</p>