<p>Hello CC! I'm a Junior looking at dance colleges and I'm horribly indecisive. The programs on my list are a mix of BFAs, BAs, highly competitive programs, and programs not as competitive. I've done extensive research on all of them and I cant seem to narrow my list down. I have 12 schools on my list, one I am unsure about and I'm visiting to see if I like it or not, but my question is would I be able to audition at 11 or 12 schools? I feel like time wise and money wise it might be very difficult to go to all of these schools for auditions. Does anyone have any experience with auditioning for a lot of programs? I like to keep my options open and I'm a little insecure about not getting in anywhere so, I think that is my main reason for wanting to apply to a bunch of schools, but there's nothing I absolutely hate that would cause me to remove a program from my list. As far as tuition goes, I have pretty strong academics and I think I have good shot at getting financial aid, but once I get accepted choosing a program is going to come down to the money. So is this feasible or no?</p>
<p>^^i can’t speak specifically to dance programs, however, for drama and MT programs it is not unusual for students to apply to 10-12 programs. It is such an unpredictable endeavor-applicants never really know exactly what a particular program is looking for or needs and they take so few a year ( often less than 20). What are the average acceptance numbers compared to applicants? In drama it’s often 15-25 accepted out of 500 or more applicants (sometimes as many as 1000). Then all performing arts applicants have to keep in mind the academic acceptance as well as the artistic- though it sounds like you are a strong candidate. Always include a couple of safeties- but one’s where you would truly enjoy attending. Check into the admissions stats of the dance departments you are interested and let that help guide you. For theatre folks there is something called “Unified Auditions” which is where many colleges come together in NYC, Chicago and California and then students can audition for many schools in one location and this cuts down tremendously on the travel expenses. You are right that it would be enormously difficult to audition separately at all of these schools. I wonder if there is something like this for dance at one or more of the annual national or regional dance conferences? This might be the department website, or you could also call the department directly and ask them if they hold regional auditions. It’s fantastic that you are starting to organize your list now. Also, do each of these schools have the type of dance program and emphasis you are looking for? dance programs can vary in their focus, but it sounds like you’ve already been investigating that element very carefully. Best of luck and have fun with the process!</p>
<p>If you have an unlimited application and travel budget and are not committed to any other weekend activities and are able to schedule some auditions back to back on certain weekends then yes you could do 10-12 auditions. That said, it would be pretty hard to coordinate them all since most schools only do dance auditions 4-6 times per year. You will definitely have to do several before the end of December. </p>
<p>If all of this is something you are open to doing then I would start a spreadsheet now with all of the schools you are interested in and the audition dates they used this year (most of the time the weekends will be the same from year to year) and do a tentative schedule of how you will pull this off.</p>
<p>My DD only auditioned for 3 schools and looked at a 4th and did not audition as she did not like the school. It was hard just doing the 3. We have heard it is better to do the fall auditions as they take more applicants at that time, not sure if that is factual or not but it worked for us. With dance my DD was so busy in the spring that I can’t imagine adding in dance auditions on top of everything else. She had so many performances and workshops in the spring. Also, she had to narrow her choices because many schools had audtions the same days. She wanted to make her choice in the fall and not have it hanging over her head the rest of the year. She is a sophomore dance major at Slippery Rock University and absolutely loves it there.</p>
<p>My budget isn’t unlimited but my mom said that we will work to do it. Some weekends in the fall are an issue same with December and January, but once I get my schedule for next year ill be able to plan it out more. February and spring ill be free though. So I’m just awaiting dates which is frustrating. I’m busy in general, but I’m cutting back slightly next year so I hope I can plan it.</p>
<p>Some of the schools hold auditions in bigger cities–Chicago, LA, NY in addition to on campus, so you could do those if you live near one of those places. My daughter did two off campus auditions and traveled to four campuses. She received some early acceptances so decided not to do an additional one. It was doable, although 12 sounds like a lot. Can you do some visits over the summer and possibly rule out some of your options? Good luck.</p>
<p>NYC is only a train away from me so I’m planning on doing auditions there and I was just able to eliminate it to 10 auditions and I might be able to eliminate to 9 or less.</p>