<p>kedstuff, thanks a million. I am especially interested that you say that your S appreciated the 5 week program, even though he attends a PA high school, as that is the case with my D. (Her high school program is straight acting, however, though they do spend a semester working on musical theater junior year. However, most of the kids in her program are not into MT.)</p>
<p>i'm a new board entry, though i have been reading posts for some time. i have a d interested in mt...going into her jr year of high school. she's my third to go to school, but the first to be involved in an audition process....whole new way of looking at things. what is my timeline? and, when you refer to "unifieds", what are you talking about?
thanks for all of the great info!</p>
<p>sarahlsmom - There is much written on the unified auditions, including a whole separate thread. Basically, a group of theatre colleges go to a common location and set up in a hotel to hold auditions for the travel convenience of people auditioning. These auditions are in addition to the ones held on campus. Some of these are straight acting and others are also for musical theatre. You still must schedule an appointment separately with each college.</p>
<p>Otterbein's web site offers a list of the schools that officially participate in the unified auditions, but other schools often go to these auditions even though they are not on that list - examples NYU Tisch, CMU, and Juilliard. We also found that quite a few of our favorite MT programs hold auditions only on campus, so we traveled to the campuses.</p>
<p>I am copying the below from doctorjohn from the Otterbein thread:</p>
<p>Here are the Unified dates for us:</p>
<p>February 4: New York (other schools will be there on the 3rd as well) - American Management Association
February 5-7: Chicago - Palmer House Hilton
February 10: San Francisco - hotel tba
February 11: Los Angeles - Hilton LAX</p>
<p>(Some schools will also be in Las Vegas on February 8.)</p>
<p>Remember that we'll look at applicants for all degree programs at the Unified sites. That includes MT, MT with a concentration in Dance, Acting, Design/Tech, and BA.</p>
<p>Thanks, Ericsmom. The best source of information now is the separate website for all the Unified schools: <a href="http://www.unifiedauditions.com%5B/url%5D">www.unifiedauditions.com</a>. It has links to the 19 schools which formally participate in the "unifieds". </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Well, here we go....
We have now visited almost 50% of the schools on the list (we did Elon and Shenandoah on the way to the beach). </p>
<p>She spent a great deal of our vacation on the computer doing her essays (and blessedly getting our friend who is a writer to review them for clarity) and finishing a few online applications. Several are awaiting a few details only.</p>
<p>We have ONE real audition date set up ( several others pending applications)</p>
<p>She has asked her teachers for recommendations (we have to wait until she can she her guidance person next week for transcripts)</p>
<p>We have tentative dates for almost all her choices at least on our calender to maximize time and combine trips where possible.</p>
<p>AND.... she is in one show, has set up the date for her senior recital and are working on how to fit in 3 dance classes per week and voice lessons and several other shows of interest in the winter and spring. </p>
<p>I am TIRED!!! And I'm not auditioning etc........</p>
<p>Hey Mikksmom we're with you! We visited over a dozen programs last year, and the applications have begun! She has one application in, several in pieces all over the office floor, MANY essays written. Academic letter of recommendation from one teacher is in to the guidance office. Chorus teacher/school musical director is handing me 10 tomorrow in sealed envelopes for the schools I gave him, before he leaves for vacation. We meet with guidance again this week even though school doesn't start until after Labor Day--she was writing D a recommendation while she was on vacation last week! CRAZY!!!!! We have mapped out six auditions before Christmas-if we get the dates we want. And at least three more in January and February. D is in Hello Dolly with a local community theater, so is tied here until the end of October. Otherwise we'd be starting earlier than we are, and could fit a couple more in the fall. And of course with several AP classes, 11 dance classes each week, voice lessons, piano lessons, and audition prep, not to mention she has been given an aria solo for the fall chorus concert which she has to prepare on her own time. I hear you...I'm exhausted just thinking about it--can't quite imagine how she does it all--and actually ENJOYS it!!!</p>
<p>My daughter will be starting her second week of her senior year tomorrow (yea, I know, we start really early). I feel kind of weird reading/posting under a topic of "Junior Moms/Dads Check in here!"</p>
<p>Should we start a new folder?</p>
<p>Please note: About a month ago, I had changed the thread title to "rising seniors" and featured this thread so that old and new families could find it as the new crop of college seniors start their process. However, the thread title only seemed to be changed where it was listed as Featured Discussion. But on the regular thread list, it still said "juniors". So, I have found a way to change the title on the regular thread now too as it should be. From today on, we are talking SENIORS. I made a note at the start of this thread about how the discussion is focused on juniors but that starting in late August, it became a senior thread. </p>
<p>Go class of 2007! We'll be following along and rooting for you. Your time has come. Hello to all those who have been here a long while who join this next crop of applicants and welcome to any new posters and we hope lurkers will come out of hiding and join in since this is your year!</p>
<p>Hey CollegeMom, in case no one told you lately, </p>
<p>YOU ARE THE BEST!</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>MikksMOM</p>
<p>I feel like I've been promoted : )</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Mikksmom and nydancemom,</p>
<p>You both seem incredibly on the ball. My daughter has filled out many of her apps online but has yet to finish all the essays to include with them. She is still trying to finish her summer reading and projects which are due this Friday...her first day of her senior year! </p>
<p>We are having trouble figuring out how to get the auditions into place (while still waiting for a few schools to post their dates). My d is in a community theater production and has auditions for a school production on the 2nd day of school. One show runs in Nov during many of the auditions and the other show runs in the beg of Dec during some auditions. I was hoping she would have a few done by Christmas, but now I am not sure that will happen. I can't even imagine trying to take 11 dance classes a week like nydancemom's daughter (btw I heard that your d is a FABULOUS dancer and was wonderful at BTP)! With school shows practicing every day after school and community shows in the evening...it will be enough on the conflict sheet to just get off for voice and her one ballet class a week. Homework...that gets done at some bizarre hour after 11pm! </p>
<p>Here we go senior parents! Hold on for what I am sure will be an exciting ride for everyone! Best of Luck!</p>
<p>Kaysmom,</p>
<p>We sound organized but I think the reality is she still has a lot to do......she was determined to have at least 3 auditions done by Christmas and we are still aiming for that. It seems like there are a million little details....oh and she just told me she wants (NO needs) to take at least 3 dance classes in the fall(not 11 at least) but I am still trying to figure out when.......</p>
<p>Anybody else think that a 27 hour day is a good idea???</p>
<p>:)
MikksMom</p>
<p>I'm smiling as I am reading of your accounts. It all sounds quite familiar! There are not enough hours in a day or year, 'tis true. Somehow, it does all get done though it seems like an impossible task to fit it in and there are inevitable conflicts for any kid who is involved in training/classes, productions, and college auditions. I am impressed by the students who have already done some apps and essays. My kids were organized before senior year but didn't actually start the apps and essays until senior year began. They also are away in summers. For my BFA kid, she also was in a show, like Kaysmom's D with late night rehearsals, that went up in mid November. She was directing and performing in another show that was put on in early January. So, she only did one audition in December. The bulk of her auditions were in Jan. and Feb. with one in early March (BOCO). This worked pretty well. She was rehearshing a school musical during the audition season but since that show went up in April, she wasn't missing any dress or tech rehearsals and did give her audition conflict dates to the director when auditioning. She had to miss various dance classes when there were conflicts but overall, the winter auditions worked well and meshed as best as possible with her productions. Also, she didn't have to have her audition material ready until mid Dec. though she did do NFAA in Oct., so that meant SOME material ready to go sooner. Still, this spacing seemed to work. Early auditions are nice but I don't think they are a must. Doing just one early (she did Emerson EA in Dec.) did let her have one out of the way and a chance to make any readjustments in material, if needed (and she did chuck one song she had used at that school). Obviously do what works for you but you may be able to schedule the auditions around productions, though some rehearsals or classes will have to be missed inevitably given these kids' busy lives. I have no idea how my D got all those apps done given her schedule and being in a show 50 miles from home, but she did and she didn't even do the Common App and therefore wrote many essays. But if Sept, Oct. and early Nov. are focused on apps, then Nov., Dec. and Jan. can be soley focusing on audition prep which spaces things out. That is not to say audition prep does't overlap applications but the applications are the big push for the first half of the semester and then auditions can be the sole focus. It does seem overwhelming to think about but if one keeps to a timeline, is organized, is good with time management, it does work out. Look at all of the families here who have made it to "the other side"! :)</p>
<p>Kaysmom
Thanks for the compliment about D. She does LOVE to dance! And sing! And act! You know what I mean...
I think the only way we are going to be able to pull off this audition schedule is that D decided not to audition for her school's fall play. She will do the musical in the spring, but we made the decision that if she wanted to get a jump on the auditions, she would have to skip the play. She felt ok with that decision since she is doing Hello Dolly in September and October (she's already in rehearsal for that--has several hours every day this week and weekend, but no school yet, so it's easy).That gives her the "stage fix" that she craves early enough to skip some of the November and December usual activities. Her dance school does a production called The Adventures of Rudolph each December and she has already told her teacher that she will not be participating this year. Also, in years past she has danced Nutcracker with the local symphony and North Carolina Ballet (they come here to perform), but that also will not be an option this year. She has pretty much just committed to the one show and her auditions and audition prep, plus the usual classes and lessons (and btw, she won't take many classes in September until Dolly opens because she has rehearsal every night for several hours -she'll just do make-up classes in another level as much as possible, then start full force in October). You can only do so much.
So I guess the reason we sound like we have our act together is not that we really do (lol) but that I'm so concerned about how she will have time for applications and essays once school starts that I'm making sure they get done now! And living in upstate NY, where the snow flies early, we really dont want to take a chance on having all her auditions in January and February since most of the schools are quite a distance away. Some will have to be done then because they dont offer fall auditions, but were following the Ericsmom method here, lol! Get them done early! They were here in Syracuse in early December, and it was blizzarding when they left Syracuse to drive to Ithaca! So you can never audition too early here!
Mikksmom, Kaysmom and other parents of seniors (can't believe she's a senior-where did those years go?) I hope we meet along the audition trail. It sure has been fun getting to know Ericsmom (here and at BTP) and Eric, as well as some other CC parents. Should be an interesting ride this year! Best of luck to all of our kids as they start this journey!</p>
<p>Hey, I hope some of you get to meet each other at auditions this year. It's great to know nydancemom and kaysmom and daughters and we think they will both do very well this year. I'm probably the one who told kaysmom about the dancing. If I gave any update at all on BTP, it was that some of the Elon students we know and nydancemom's D were wonderful in the dance numbers, which I've already posted somewhere were my favorite parts of the ending BTP show.</p>
<p>On college audition scheduling, my son had been doing theatre shows steadily for a number of years, but he chose not to audition for anything during senior year until late spring after college auditions were over. He was able to do some dance studio Christmas numbers but not any theatre productions during audition season. We spread out auditions from Sept. through Feb., so there was just no time. Also, since he started late in life with dance, he wanted to get to as many dance classes as possible during senior year to try to catch up for auditions. In the years prior to senior year, he was signed up for dance classes but often had to miss due to theatre rehearsals and performances. Oh, the choices we must make! He won't know what to do with himself having dance, voice, and acting all as part of his class schedule at college rather than having everything outside of school and causing conflicts!</p>
<p>Hello everyone, I am going to be a senior this year, at Ithaca High School (right near Ithaca College, so if you have any questions about the town, feel free to ask) and I am getting going as well on figuring out all my auditions for BFA MT. </p>
<p>I've been reading posts for a while, and occasionally asking questions here and there. I think it's so cool to be able to meet other people that are going through all this crazyness. Although I do feel a little behind on the process! I am just starting my applications; I have been working two different jobs this summer and trying to do some schoolwork as well, and am feeling a little lost on finding audition material. I do take voice lessons, but a lot of the music I sing seems to be on the "don't sing this" list! </p>
<p>For a little background on me (so I can catch up with everyone who already knows eachother!) I used to primarily be a dancer, then singer and recently have fallen completely in love with theatre (MT especially). I really want to stay on the East Coast, so my list of schools has come down to: Emerson (top choice), BoCo, Syracuse, Ithaca, CMU, U. Arts, and Point Park.</p>
<p>Anyways, even though it seems to be mostly moms talking here, I'd love to join the community!</p>
<p>Hello all! While I'm not a senior anymore, I'll be participating this audition season as a transfer from a state school. So this will be my first time "up at bat" so to speak. Can't say I'm not nervous, but after the summer program I was at this summer, I feel much more confident with the whole audition thing...at least much more than I was when I started. So I'm hoping that I'll have a successful outcome in early April.</p>
<p>I think I've finally narrowed down my list to: BoCo (first choice), CMU, UArts, NYU, Hartt, Montclair, Point Park, and Pace/Purchase(still deciding between these two).</p>
<p>I guess we'll see where I'll eventually end up!</p>
<p>With the cooler weather here today and it being the first day of school I want to shift gears and say something that I think needs said. When I first came to this forum I identified the threads that I thought would be useful and printed them. It printed out at about half a ream and took two weeks to digest. Between that introduction and the conversations since (including the heated ones) our family has learned a tremendous amount about this subject. </p>
<p>And, for us, the three contributors who have added the most value to this forum (not in order of importance) are Thesbohemian, Doctorjohn and Fishbowlfreshman. As you may recall it was about a year ago that Thesbohemian went from being prolific on CC to gone almost overnight as she went off to an excellent program to follow her dreams. My sources tell me that so to will Fishbowl depart us shortly to go to another excellent program and follow her dreams. </p>
<p>I hope forum members will join me in thanking her for her amazing contribution to this forum and wish her all the best. What we personally have enjoyed most about her posts are their clarity that came from knowledge and wisdom beyond her years. I know for a fact that as our daughter goes through the audition/application process this year that she will be a stronger more knowledgeable candidate due to the words of wisdom shared by Fishbowl. </p>
<p>Fishbowl, I dont know when you leave, days I would imagine. Are there any final thoughts you would like to share, about the process, how to best utilize CC, what it has meant to you, etc?</p>
<p>Hello fellow senior moms and seniors. I guess its time to get back into the forum!</p>
<p>My d is narrowing her applications pool and trying to decide on songs and monologues. She has 3 auditions set for November including a large audition (in Texas), which OU will attend. The kids have 2 minutes and ~35 schools (theatre and MT) will have reps watching. OU must see you perform and then may offer an invitation to audition on campus.</p>
<p>Has anyone prepared for an audition like this? Any advice? I'm assuming 16 bars of a ballad, 32 of an up tempo and a 1 min. monologue, all being as diverse as possible. What do y'all think?</p>
<p>Oh my d is taking 4 dance classes, directing Smoke on the Mountain for her school, voice lessons, AP classes, leading a hip hop group at church, and loving it all. But I don't see any application essays yet...</p>
<p>We had a friend who auditioned for something similar. At least it was timed down to the minute. I believe he was required to sing with recorded accompaniment, which of course was a certain length (timewise), so he said it was best to do your best song first, then second song, then the monologue, so as not to run out of time. Monologues are "live," therefore not always guaranteed to be a certain length. He didn't want to do it first and risk not getting to show off his vocal talent by running out of time. BTW, he was from Texas and it may have been the same audition your D is going to, but I don't remember anything else about it.</p>