<p>I just want to express my gratitude to each and every one of you who has ever posted to the MT threads - you have all helped my D and I on this journey. I have read thousands of posts over the last few years on cc and it has been such a great help. This journey, wherever she winds up, could not have been done without you. With the Unifieds coming up and the on campus auditions at full steam, break a leg to all of your kids! Words can't express how grateful I am for all your support, knowledge, advice and encouragement.</p>
<p>I heartily second your sentiment Bethsmom!! I would not have been able to do what I have done for my son without the wonderful wealth of knowledge so kindly shared here.</p>
<p>Ditto! Ditto! Ditto!</p>
<p>Break a leg to all you brave MT kids in the next few weeks!!!</p>
<p>I agree, couldn’t have said it better. Good luck to all.</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more. I’d be completely insane if I were alone in this process. Thank you to all of you for your input, research, audition reviews, support, words of encouragement, and willingness to walk through this process together!</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree. When I first came across this board in the summer, I was CLUELESS!! I’m not anymore! Break a leg to all the auditioning seniors and transfers!</p>
<p>BethsMom-I feel the same as you…I have been on this forum for years, and now I am finally putting many of those wonderful suggestions and advice over the years to good use. I probably would have gone nutty by now without the support of all the parents who understand and who are going or have gone through the same thing.</p>
<p>One last piece of advice for parents out there as the next couple months fly by. As my D’s audition coach told me, and my D re-emphasized repeatedly on the three trips I took with her: keep quiet!! Don’t bug the faculty at auditions, don’t ask a ton of questions of the current students, don’t be the obnoxious parent bragging on your child to everyone in the room, don’t talk about how you auditioned at this place or that place. It’s OK to ask questions during the General Information sessions about scholarships, etc, but otherwise try to just smile and soak it all in.</p>
<p>My favorite story from last year was the first audition I attended. There was a lunch with current students, and we were there with another girl and her mom and dad. I, as instructed, sat there, didn’t ask anything, and listened while this other child’s parents asked so many questions the kids didn’t get a chance to speak. At one point the other child leaned over to my D and said: I wish my parents were like your dad. So I nailed my audition!</p>
<p>Your jobs are basically to be:</p>
<ol>
<li>A sherpa (carry clothes in, carry them out, carry resumes, carry water, throat lozenges, etc, etc)</li>
<li>A chauffeur if traveling by car and a travel agent if traveling by plane</li>
<li> A walking, breathing ATM machine</li>
<li> A massage therapist when their feet start to give out</li>
<li> A source for hugs at the end of the day </li>
</ol>
<p>Break many legs, and enjoy the experience! I know we did!</p>
<p>Jeffandann, I agree about not asking a million questions, but the current students are there especially to answer questions. You don’t want to ask them things like “What percentage of applicants are admitted?” but you can ask whether the acting majors and the musical theater majors all take classes together, and what the food is like, and about their schedules. </p>
<p>My son preferred to be unescorted for most of his auditions, but the one I went to with him, the college students were bubbling over with conversation – you couldn’t shut them up! They loved their school so much! (That’s where my son is now a freshman, as it happens.)</p>
<p>What a lovely post BethsMom. I am still grateful for the fellowship and information I’ve gained from CC. And I am grateful my D has survived the process and ended up in a program she adores. Thanks to everyone who has imparted their knowledge along the way. It is much appreciated.
As to the parents’ role during auditions, my best advice is to follow your child’s lead. There will be times they want us there, and times they won’t. There will be times they want to talk and times they don’t. If they ask you not to ask questions of other parents or school representatives, don’t ask questions. if there is something you want to know, jot it down and call or email later. on audition day you don’t want to do anything to cause your child additional stress. the process itself is stressful enough. Be patient, be observant, be positive, and be available. Each of our kids is different and what they will need will vary. Follow their lead.</p>
<p>I agree BethsMom I would be lost without you all. When and if my D gets into a program I will have each and everyone of you to thank! <3</p>
<p>Re: parents and questions, we found every school’s audition day to be a different experience in this regard. Prodesse’s son’s school had probably the best setup in this respect: current students sat on stage and formed a panel that parents could ask questions of while our kids went back and forth to the audition room. I was very impressed with the students and the arrangements. My own son’s school had current students circulating and talking with applicants while we filled out paperwork and waited for things to start; these were real conversations, not just schmoozing, and clearly gave the kids in the program a chance to size up the auditioners. The current students stayed in the auditorium during auditions (all kids auditioned in front of each other) while parents were taken on a tour and heard a presentation about student services, which gave us a chance to ask questions without our kids present (and created a welcome distraction for those few folks who wanted to listen at the door while their son or daughter auditioned!). At other schools (and at Unifieds, for us), the parents sat waiting in the hall and had no opportunity to ask questions or to humiliate our kids. 
In other words, you’ll probably find a different scenario with each audition, which is more grist for the mill, really, as it gives you a different lens on how the programs differ.</p>
<p>Times3, my son’s school used the current students as gophers and clerks and they had a lot of free time to chat. If nobody was interacting with them, they’d go mingle with people who were waiting. Maybe this was just because they were bored, but I suspect that’s what they were supposed to be doing. It’s a good opportunity to ask questions, as long as you understand that they are not experts in the admission process.</p>
<p>Prodesse, was that this year? your son didn’t audition on campus last year, did he? I’ve forgotten…anyway, I agree, I think the “mingling” works both ways in terms of gathering impressions!</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone should be afraid to ask GOOD questions. The thing to avoid is the stuff that is easily answerable from the website, way to specifically personal, not really questions but a chance to brag about how amazing your kid is (lots of those), embarrassingly stupid and also avoid dominating the Q&A session though sometimes, if nobody else is asking anything and you do have (good) questions, what the heck within reason. </p>
<p>I remember a parent at one on-site audition asking the admissions person how they check to see if they kids are back in the dorms every night (bed check). I was glad that kid had already left the Q&A session for his audition.</p>
<p>In the sessions designed just for parents, then ask questions, sure. I was more referring to times when the students had both the kids and parents around. My D would have been mortified if I was asking a ton of questions then. That was her job at that point. My questions were always the same: how safe is the campus and what kinds of scholarships was she qualified for.</p>
<p>I acknowledge that the exclusively parent sessions lend themselves better to a series of questions but I disagree that a parent cannot a question during the blended session if nobody else is asking, you have a question, and there is one of those awkward silence moments. I recall asking the student panel at Ithaca, “for those of you who live far away and are without cars, how exactly do you get here?” It wasn’t a question that my daughter would have thought about but it was very much on my mind since we live on the west coast and had driven in the night before from another audition in Boston. If that made her cringe, I didn’t care. It was something we needed to think about if she went there and it was a rare opportunity to get it answered by the people who knew best. So again, I think a parent can ask questions if they are reasonable about their number and content.</p>
<p>PS: I meant mode of getting there on your own without out a car. I wasn’t asking for directions.</p>
<p>Thank you for that beautiful sentiment, Bethsmom. I am on the same page – so grateful for this place and for everyone who has contributed to the community to help us all make sense of a complicated process. It’s very much appreciated.</p>
<p>I’m with you, halflokum. Although I’ve seen some parents dominate torus and info sessions, in general it’s a reflection of mutual respect between parent and child if both are free to ask questions and, done right, it’s a natural way to model that kind of behavior for your kid.</p>
<p>And–an additional “yes” to the expression of gratitude that launched this thread!</p>
<p>I feel the same way. I’m new to posting but not new to reading, and what I’ve learned here over the past couple of years has been invaluable. Even though my D chose to go for acting rather than MT, I continue to read both forums religiously.</p>
<p>Thank you to all who take the time and effort to post here.</p>