<p>Thank you for all the information! The contrast in how different colleges handle the audition process is interesting if not revealing. We were at Ithaca last Saturday and one of the theatres was used as a waiting area for students and parents. For the 2 hours we were there, there was a presentation by the head of the department and a panel of students who answered every conceivable question put to them about the program and life on campus. By the time we left, we felt that we had a good sense of the educational values and culture of the MT program. We are doing a tour of Emerson's theatre department the day before my d's audition and it will be interesting to finally get to see the facilities (which were not shown to us on a general tour we took a few months ago).</p>
<p>You are right...we were also to the Ithaca auditions, where they did the same as you just described and that was a contrast to what they didn't do at Emerson. I think having a presentation by the director is good. I also think the Q and A time with current students is effective.</p>
<p>Ithaca didn't hold a dance audition as you know. I prefer to see a dance audition as part of a MT audition. But it somewhat reflects their program and they do admit to dance being a lower priority than voice and acting there.</p>
<p>Again, I would not pick or judge a program by the audition day, just like I wouldn't judge a regular college by an info. session and tour guide. Still, having now attended 8 on campus college auditions, it has been interesting to see the different ways they are handled and organized and so I do have preferences of what I'd consider the pros/cons in each instance and what makes a good audition day from the student or parents' perspectives. Not sure any colleges want this feedback, LOL...but as an observers, I've seen enough to have some! The thing is, some people really do not look beyond the first impressions or audition day and so even though that is not a good thing in my opinion to do, irregardless, some are going to do it. And so colleges need to think long and hard as to how this event comes off.</p>
<p>You are absolutely right that there is much more to picking the right program than simply the impressions gleaned at an audition day. That being said, I do wonder if how the day is handled does give an insight into the "culture" of the program. After all, parents and students travel substantial distances at significant cost to attend the auditions and if a school isn't a good host before they "have" you, how responsive will they be after they have your tuition money.</p>
<p>MichaelNKat,</p>
<p>My daughter auditioned to Emerson in November and had a great experience there. I think they may have changed things a little from when Soozie's D auditioned. There were students with us the entire time answering any kind of questions we had. They had all kinds of information out and it was very informal which made it easy to talk to the students. There was coffee and water set up for the parents. </p>
<p>In my daughter's session the group was split in half. Some dancing first and others singing/monologues first. Of course my daughter got the dance first which she hates because it messes up her hair! There is no need to bring a headshot...they take a headshot picture right there on the computer which feeds all of the information on to the laptops the instructors have. Very computer savy for sure! </p>
<p>My daughter did say the dance was very easy. I'm thinking something to a song from Hairspray but I could be mixing this up with another school. They did ask the kids as a group to tell something original about themselves and I do believe she said they asked her "why Emerson" but when she was in there alone...not in the group. </p>
<p>The kids got to choose who would be going first in the group. My daughter was late getting on the bandwagon and by the time she figured out the kids were deciding, everyone had an order so she was last! We were there for a very long time so if your daughter wants to be out quicker tell her to make sure she gets a spot in order.</p>
<p>She sang only one song and did her monologue. She was asked to change up her monologue which she felt was just to see how well she takes direction. She wasn't sure that she did well because she couldn't get a good "vibe" from anyone and some of the kids were asked to sing two songs. But she liked it there very much and did like all of the staff she met. She found out in December that she was accepted early action into the MT program and was extremely excited! So don't let daughter get disappointed if she is only asked to sing the one song. It could be a good thing! Best of luck to your daughter! I hope it goes well for her!</p>
<p>Thank you for all the updated info, kaysmom. We keep hearing "don't try to read the auditors" and your daughter's experience bears that out! Congratulations to your daughter.</p>
<p>Huge congrats to Kaysmom's daughter! Way to go! I also agree to not read into what you are asked to do or not in the audition. It can be interpretted either way and you'd drive yourself nuts. It must be so wonderful to have an early acceptance. It makes the entire audition season less anxiety-ridden.</p>
<p>I am very glad to hear that Emerson has made some changes to the audition day. It is not that it was bad or anything like that but it seems like they did improve some areas. Maybe they read CC! LOL! I recall two years ago everyone talking about how there was no presenation, no current students, nothing for the parents, no information about the program, etc. </p>
<p>Also, they did ask Why Emerson to each kid in the group and so that was a kind of weird thing. You had to be more original as they went down the line. </p>
<p>I hope maybe they also changed the rooms where you sing because my D thought the room was so small making it too "in your face" if you are singing a belting song, or it just was different than elsewhere in that regard.</p>
<p>All of these things are not at all to say it was not a good audition experience because it was just fine. It is more feedback about the differences as to how each school sets it up, etc.</p>
<p>kasl24, I'm auditiong for Emerson the 17th with the 2pm slot and Boco the 18th too! I think my Boco slot is for 2pm also. Maybe I'll see you there.</p>
<p>At Chicago Unifieds, Emerson provided an excellent information session - very informative, yet casual and light-hearted to relax the kids. The only place at Chicago Unifieds so far that has not had an information session at all was Penn State, but someone was available to answer questions.</p>
<p>littleMTgirl, my BoCo slot is at 10, but maybe we will see eachother at the dance audition, I will go to the 11:00 one if I can make it, or the 1:00 maybe.
But yeah at Emerson we will be there at the same time! My name is Katie, I will be wearing a green dress and I have blonde hair that will probably be half up, half down. Good luck, and see you there!!</p>
<p>I'll probably be at the 11am dance audition for Boco too.</p>
<p>I'll look for you at Emerson! My name is Erica and I'll be wearing black pants, a deep blue shirt and I have really dark brown hair that'll probably be down and straight. See you there, and good luck to you too!!</p>
<p>do you have to be academically accepted into Emerson before you can audition?</p>
<p>Nate, I just answered your question on the Syracuse thread asking the same thing of that school. I am happy to try to help but you should not rely on a message board for this sort of important, as well as basic information. For all of your schools, you should be reseraching them in depth online and obtaining hardcopy materials and contacting them with further questions of this nature. The questions you are asking are RIGHT on their materials. </p>
<p>AT Emerson, no you do not have to be accepted before you audition. The academic accceptance comes as one package with the BFA acceptance (exception is an EA applicant, after auditioning, can be acceptd to Emerson, but deferred until April for the BFA decision). At Emerson, unlike at Syracuse, you have to send in an APPPLICATION before being allowed to make an audition appointment. At Syracuse, you can make the audition appointment before mailing in your application. Neither school does an academic acceptance prior to auditions, or separately from the overall acceptance package.</p>
<p>Soozievt is correct that you must submit your application before you can register to audition. And your application should and the audition registration must be done online. After your application is processed, you will get a snail-mail letter giving you an ID and password to register for the audition.</p>
<p>As to acceptances, my daughter had an experience that was either quirky or perhaps reflective of a nuance in their policy. My daughter had all of her application materials in before the EA cutoff but applied RD. Her audition was scheduled for February. She received an academic acceptance in the middle of December noting that acceptance in the MT program was pending her audition. Perhaps they simply goofed up and thought her application was EA because she got in in so early. In any event, it demonstrated that the academic and artistic acceptance process are clearly separate and distinct. As has been discussed before, you must be accepted both academically and artistically in a bifurcated process. Ultimately my daughter was rejected for the MT program but in the same letter she was offered a position in the journalism program. So if Emerson is a school you strongly want to go to, even if not in MT, it pays to put a second choice on your application.</p>
<p>And at Emerson, my D applied EA and had a Dec. audition. In December, she was admitted to the school but deferred for the BFA. In April, she was denied the BFA. So, she could still have attended Emerson but had no interest in doing so as she only chose the school for its BFA program. </p>
<p>Even with MichaelNKat's story, which I agree his D's app likely was handled as an EA app.....you do not have to be accepted to the school to get an audition. To the contrary, the EA applicants all hear of their academic/BFA acceptance as one package deal in Dec. and the RD applicants hear of their academic/BFA package deal in April. However, some students at Emerson, like mine and Michael's D's, were accepted to the college but not for the BFA ultimately. </p>
<p>One thing not that related to this.....is that it strikes me when a school like Emerson will not take any BFA transfer students, even though they lose students in the BFA program (not talking of those who are not promoted in the program but some who choose to leave the BFA....which is something that happens at many programs). When I think of all the kids dying to get into the BFA programs who get turned away, and then all these "slots" that open up because kids change their mind about the BFA once in these programs, it is a shame to think that the slots are never filled again. My D's good friend from home got into the BFA in MT program at Emerson in my D's admissions year and has chosen to not continue with a BFA in MT but is still at Emerson studying related areas. But Emerson won't take transfers. When these slots seem to be at such a premium to those trying to get in, the class sizes dwindle at a lot of these programs after the first year and the slots are never filled again.</p>
<p>Thanks for your concerns! And for your information I have been researching schools and obtaining hardcopy materials since I was a freshman! I know what to look for in a school, and i've researched my butt off about each individual program. For the little things I CANT find on a college website I ask here. So please don't tell me how to research for college.</p>
<p>Well, Nate, that is the thanks I get for helping you on the Syracuse and Emerson threads, I suppose. My advice still stands. Come to this site for all sorts of help and that is what it is here for. There are lots of people, inluding myself, very willing to help, as you can see, I hope. It is even free advice. But I was saying that certain types of information are better to get from the source because sometimes that information is so important that you would not want to rely on a message board for being correct. In fact, some of these schools change their policy year to year. In fact, when my D applied to Emerson, it was NOT set up as it is now where you have to send an application in first, if I recall. Things change. So, for stuff like this or for audition requirements and the like, you should obtain that from the direct source. CC is better for getting subjective information and sharing of experiences and such (ie., what is Emerson's audition like?)</p>
<p>You say you have the hardcopy materials. If you do, it is readiy apparent on Emerson's application materials the procedure for lining up an audition. Same with Syracuse. Neither mention being accepted in order to audition.</p>
<p>As well, I still think this kind of question, while OK to ask HERE, should ALSO be asked directly to the college to be certain of something this important. I wasn't saying to not ask here but to make sure you check directly with the school as you could get a wrong answer here or the policies do change year to year. For example, if you asked if BOCO has a dance audition, they didn't in my D's year but they do now. Always check with the source for this type of thing. That is still my advice to ANY applicant, not just you, Nate. </p>
<p>So, I gave you the information for Emerson and I answered your same question on the Syracuse forum. I took the time to help you. Your welcome.</p>
<p>Hey Nate, you think you should perhaps be a little more appreciative of the efforts someone takes to share their knowledge with you and a little less snippy? You will get more responses that way to future questions you have. And by the way, the answer to your question is conspicuously available on Emerson's website in the pages on how to schedule an audition.</p>
<p>Right on Emerson's website it states:</p>
<p>
[quote]
When you apply for admission to the BFA in Musical Theatre, you must audition and submit a r</p>
<p>When my daughter applied last September, here's how it worked. First you submit the application. Last year Emerson strongly prefered online applications and did not accept the Common App. Once your application is received, it is processed and an ID and password are generated and sent to you by snail-mail. Once the ID and password are received, you then register for the audition. This must be done online. As part of the registration process, you also submit your resume electronically. This does not have to be done at the time you register; you can come back to the site and do it later. (At least that's the way it worked last year.)</p>
<p>O i'm very grateful for people who have helped me! I have all the information I needed to attain about all the other colleges. Emerson is a newer choice for me so I'm sorry I didn't look as hard as you would have liked me to look on their website. And besides It's great to have people help me on here...but I actually have friends who go to some of these colleges and that's where I get alot of my information from!</p>