<p>GSOMT - I’m right with you. I’ve always been a single mom and for the first time I do feel overwhelmed. I have faith that it will all work out in the end…somehow. Think of the good things. He may not be as far along as he should be. He may be struggling through this selection process BUT I look on the bright side he is talented, he’s got a good voice and he’s a great dancer. He won’t be the exact fit for every school but I gotta believe one of them will want him. He’s a great writer so his essays came together nicely and without much stress. I’ve got a tentative schedule and hotels selected already…now when this falls apart I may have to reach for a drink LOL but until then we are pluggin along. </p>
<p>I’ve thought the same thing about all the information, in the end they will be better off for it though. We just have to digest it all. What did these kids do before the internet…they had to ALL audition with a Sondheim song because it seem the man wrote every freaking thing! LOL</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement all! MTMajorCook, “overwhelmed” is the perfect word. It started when D told me how much total application fees would be and hasn’t let up since. I have strong faith however and I see how I have been so tremendously blessed in ways large and small since we’ve started the process so I know it will all work out. I’ll just continue to slightly freak out until it does!! LOL</p>
<p>I really hope we get most auditions covered in the two trips I have hotels booked for already! That would make me super happy!</p>
<p>It tried to look at the whole auditions-in-winter thing as a plus bc being from Austin, my D didn’t know what cold was and needed to experience it! But she didn’t bat an eye at Chicago/Boston/NewYork in January/February. Brrrr! Of course our joke now is that she is in Chicago but is in a “vertical campus” so doesn’t have to go outside if she doesn’t want to!</p>
<p>Reading the last few posts was just what I needed! I have been feeling overwhelmed, and honestly a bit miffed with all the different requirements. I’m not an organizational wizard, so creating a spread sheet has been a feat in itself. My son has bits and pieces of the application process in motion at four schools so far, and I really hope the extensive list that remains can be tightened up, and significantly shortened. My hat’s off to the single mother’s and Daniellececilia!!</p>
<p>I’m still trying to plug everything into the spreadsheet. The various requirements are making my head spin. D also threw in a couple of BFA Acting programs, so need even more monologues now. Prescreens also have me panicked. Trying to take one day at a time, but afraid I’m already missing deadlines!</p>
<p>Breathe, Merlehay…I bet you are fine.
Last year we hustled like crazy to get my son’s one-and-only prescreen submitted early so he could schedule his audition. Uploaded to Acceptd and waited…waited…posted an inquiry on CC about turn-around time, the school responded right away that it would be within the week, and then…waited…waited…Finally dug around on the site and discovered that not all of his components had gone through. Re-did the submission a month late. NO PROBLEM. It sounds like you are very much on top of things, and the spreadsheet really will help. Sending you hugs and moral support from The Other Side! :)</p>
<p>Merlehay - try this. You focus on the applications, all the paperwork and making an audition schedule. Let your D figure out the monos and songs. Over the next 6 weeks all the application part has to get done. After that you will have an audition schedule, and you and your D can lay the schools out in the order of when the auditions are and figure out which mono and which song goes when. You really can’t think about it all at once. Apps. finalize schedule. pre-screens. specific audition prep and practice. auditions. Of course there maybe some overlap here but the sequence may help your thinking. Deep breaths! Good Luck ;-)</p>
<p>Now that we’ve admitted that we don’t feel anywhere near as together as we appear to outsiders, let’s exhale and continue to methodically plod along! I’ll also add that after attending a meeting for senior parents, I see we’re all leaps and bounds ahead of a whole lot of parents/seniors, so we’re doing something right!! </p>
<p>Keep moving forward, people–mini meltdowns, full blown panic attacks and ALL!!</p>
<p>Maybe it wasn’t the very best strategy, but my son really did pretty much disregard the varying time-limits for monologues. He went with the shortest (a minute) and just did two one-minute monologues. Maybe slowed it down a bit for the schools that asked for longer, but nobody seemed to care in the slightest if the monologues were only one minute. (One school–Ithaca–timed them, but the emphasis was on making sure they weren’t too long.) So I was able to let go of my panic over all the different requirements, at least in terms of time. Music is another issue, I know. I really do wish everyone would streamline these requirements–it would let kids focus on the important stuff and not on the minutiae!</p>
<p>GSOMTMOM…I am a single Mom too! I am glad to hear there are others out there going through the same thing. Right now I am biting my nails at the scheduling of unifieds and on campus auditions, since I have a disabled son at home that we cannot bring with us. I am calling in plenty of favors from family members so that I have the time to travel with D. I really do not want her traveling alone.
I tried the whole excel spreadsheet thing and then got frustrated. We have giant calendar sheets (by month) pasted over a blank wall in a spare bedroom. Then we have little stickies with the college names that I am moving around like chess pieces as I lock down dates…it is so low-tech but right now it is working.</p>
<p>I think that, like a lot of things, this seems more complicated in the abstract than it does when you’re in the middle of it. You all sound like you’re doing fabulous work preparing. Just keep at it, stay flexible and try to enjoy this time with your kids. Despite tension you could cut with a knife at times (pre-CMU, I swear, you could smell the adrenaline), my time with my husband and son at NYC unifieds was one of the best of my life.</p>
<p>Low-tech is great! I had a notebook with a page for each school that I made notes in as we learned new info including impressions of the school after we visited (these schools tend to blur together after a while). Plus there were sections in the notebook for SAT scores, transcripts, recommendations and when they were sent. And I had the big calendar for scheduling (in pencil, not pen!). Use whatever system works for you, don’t let it create more stress! ;-)</p>
<p>I think low tech can be better. D has to be able to see things. I have a google calendar for all things college, I got her a huge planner that looks like a 5 subject notebook where she keeps everything. You’re doing what works for you!</p>
<p>Whatever works! We started a spreadsheet it became so jammed pack with information it was hard to use. S has his own system; he has a different color folder for each school. On the front of each folder he wrote all the schools requirements. Inside each folder are print outs from the school websites, handbooks, copies of applications and his essays. He recently added a checklist so that he can track when SAT scores were sent, when the guidance counselor submitted transcripts/recommendations, song choices and monologues selections one per folder. </p>
<p>I keep a spreadsheet of tentative audition dates, fees, how long it should take to drive there and hotels.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what we did MTMajor Cook.
What we loved about this system was that when we went to the actual auditions we just grabbed the files to take with us and everything was there and ready to go.
The inside cover checklist was a life saver. I liked a more low tech approach too but my friend loved, loved, loved her spreadsheet.
I haven’t posted in a while because we have been adjusting to life with our son 1500 miles away at Ithaca. He LOVES it!!!
You guys are making me nostalgic. ENJOY!
Its seems insane now but it’s all worth it. One piece at a time…</p>
<p>I’m feeling so much better after reading that we are having similar feelings. I agree about the spreadsheet becoming jam packed. I have gone back to my comfort zone which is using more hard copy material and file folders. Since only bits a pieces of the applications/audition scheduling are done, I worry that I’ll miss a piece for a school. </p>
<p>I also agree that this process has been wonderful regarding my relationship with my son. He tells me often how appreciative he is that we support his dream, and the work and resources we are using to help him reach his goal. We have always had a good relationship, but this is truly a special time.</p>
<p>Regarding monologue lengths, I agree with Times3, nobody ever complains about a monologue being too short. If you need a comedic contemporary monologue that is one minute long, and another comedic contemporary monologue that is 90 seconds long, use the same monologue and don’t mess with it.</p>
<p>My son did use two different “cuts” for one of his monologues, but he had weeks to change over from the longer to the shorter. Certainly he couldn’t have done two versions of the same monologue at Unifieds.</p>
<p>Have we discussed sheet music and marking cuts yet? </p>
<p>Most people attending MT auditions use three-ring notebooks and put their music into full-page sheet protectors that have three holes pre-punched. Others used the sheet protectors only to store the sheet music, because of worries about the plastic being too glare-y. I always printed my son’s music onto cardstock or coverstock in an off-white, because it is more readable and stays put on the music rack better, and I’d tape it together with no page-turns. Pianists are fine with three pages in a row on the music rack, if the paper doesn’t curl and flutter, but four pages are too cumbersome.</p>
<p>It’s good to have the START and STOP places very clearly marked, and if you want the pianist to take a second ending, cross out the first ending. Got to make it easy for them. Can you imagine how tough it is to accompany dozens of nervous teenagers?</p>
<p>Accompanists are AMAZING to me!! To be able to have music placed in front of you and just play it as if you practiced on it for years. WOW! Prodesse, what you do with the no page turns is what my D does but still in the binder. She hole punches on the right hand side of the first sheet to accomplish this and sometimes may have to tape and fold out a third page so there are still three pages on the rack. I like your idea about using card stock!</p>
<p>MD311MT - 1500 miles away…sniff! I’m happy he’s enjoying himself!!</p>
<p>Card stock is a good idea, my S is fretting over his music getting damaged somehow. We bought low glare covers but I am going to try card stock. Who needs pinterest lol!</p>
<p>Anyone want to weigh in on printing the resume on the back of the head shot? Or how you made that easier or the auditors?</p>