<p>Okay, you veteran survivors of the college audition process, or very organized people in the midst out there... How do you keep the various audition dates, application requirements, scholarship deadlines, etc straight? Do/did you use a spreadsheet, or other tool? If so, would you be willing to share it with me? This process is overwhelming at best... Tell how you made sure you didn't/don't miss a deadline, know which school(s) need academic acceptance first, etc. Ideas and tools are welcome!!!</p>
<p>Hey mommafrog…it was quite the experience. All of my D’s friends marveled at what she (we) had to go through to get her into college! My husband made a 3 hole binder with each college tabbed and also did a spreadsheet with deadlines, what still needed to be sent to each college (i.e. letters of recommendation, transcripts, etc.). We also got a big white posterboard and down the side wrote each college and across the top wrote the important things (when they had everything they needed, audition date, and the last column was left blank for hopefully a “smiley face”. (This white poster board was mainly for my D’s sake, as she was still in the thick of school, rehearsals, voice and dance lessons preparing her for her auditions, etc.) So my husband was the primary one keeping up with deadlines, etc. Just don’t stress (easy for me to say since we are on the other side of this process) but once everything is in to the school, then the fun (?) part starts…waiting for the audition, THEN waiting for the letter!!! Hang in there and have fun…fortunately we were able to put that “smily face” on the school that she felt most at home. Good luck and you WILL get through it!!!</p>
<p>I love the posterboard idea!! I found the process extremely stressful, but we got through it. I made individual folders for each school, 13 of them! Then I put a check list on the front of each one. It worked, but if I were doing it again I’d make a chart using the posterboard, however I would still need a folder to keep all the copies of confirmed items sent. Like transcript received, app received, etc. Best of luck!! Oh and start NOW!!! Organization is the key.</p>
<p>We did something very similar to theatrelvr - we used a spiral notebook with every school having two or three pages. We started this very early in the process and wrote down our immediate thoughts right after touring the school. I printed the “compare” charts you can make on the College Board website and cut out each one and taped it onto the schools page because it listed very clearly SAT scores, tuition, contacts, deadlines, etc. As I said, we began this at the beginning of Junior year so there were a lot of possible schools that within a few months were eliminated, but we knew we had checked the basics before eliminating them.</p>
<p>We also made a posterboard chart and posted it on our magnet wall (replaced magnetic refrigerator which hardly exists anymore!), listing with easy visibility deadlines, audition dates and requirements, etc. A blown up abbreviated version of each school including our non-audition schools. The notebook was portable so we could take it with us for thoughts and it contained more detailed info than the quick, what kind of song/monologue do I need for my next audition, kind of info.</p>
<p>We’re not all that computer saavy so we found the old fashioned way - notebook, pen, posterboard to work easiest for us. </p>
<p>Oh and for all the materials that we received either from our visits or by mail, or if there was something from the website we printed out, I bought two container-type shelf units from The Container Store to put them in. They were Rubbermaid type click boxes that were slid into shelves making a six-container unit. Each box had the college name printed on it and when any material came in we immediately placed it in its’ container, very organized and easy to find when we needed to review it. It also held all the letters, that were mailed to her including acceptance and rejection letters, financial aid, etc. We had one misc. box for those schools she thought she might be interested in but over the months they were eliminated but we were still receiving info. There was always the thought in the back of my mind that she might want to see something about a school she rejected so it didn’t take up any more space to throw it all in the container.</p>
<p>I also kept everything until she completed her Freshman year because you never know. I’ve now merged everything into one container, removed the labels, and have begun gathering info for my younger daughter who will be a Junior in HS next month. And so it begins again…</p>
<p>Good luck, it is stressful, see if you can find another mother who has a kid going for a specialized major like art or music or some such because few understand what your family will be going through and why, potentially, a less selective school (overall) is a better choice for your daughter than a more recognized, higher “rated” school. You’ll be explaining it over and over and over and it’s nice to have someone local to commiserate with!</p>
<p>Created a form/checklist on the computer (in Word) and then placed one for each school in 3 ring binder. Anytime we received correspondence from a school we punched holes in it and placed it behind the form in the binder. The form had checklist for all materials needed, due dates, audition requirements, financial aid and scholarship details, addresses, etc. We took the binder with us to auditions just to be able to check last minute requirements, etc. (along with another binder with music/resumes/headshots).</p>
<p>D created a form with all the catagories of what she needed. This page included what was needed for each audition as well what academic items were needed for each school. Then she stapled this into the inside cover of a file folder. She had one file folder for each school. She had an expandable file folder holder she placed all the files in. In addition to this we had a large calendar in the kitchen which had all the dates of travel and auditions on it.</p>
<p>My D would check off and date all items that she had submitted to the schools and keep any correspondence received from the schools in the file folder. She also had folders on for each school on her computer to keep emails received in.</p>
<p>My daughter kept a folder for each school. She also had a calendar dedicated exclusively to college auditions. She tracked audition dates, deadlines, etc. on that calendar. She kept it in the kitchen so I could be her back-up to make sure she didn’t miss anything. She also listed my e-mail as a back-up to hers so that I could check to make sure she didn’t miss any info. Good luck!</p>
<p>We had a spiral notebook with a couple of pages for each school for visit info, contact info, notes, etc. We also had a file box with folders for each school. Any info from that school including copies of the apps, brochures, etc went into that folder.</p>
<p>One tool was a spreadsheet that had all the schools that D was considering. With columns for common app, audition dates, whether audition could be scheduled before the app was in, whether the school did unifieds, etc. Another tab in the same spreadsheet contained the audition requirements (schools across the top with mono 1, mono 2, song 1, song 2, etc down the left) with the exact requirements listed (90 secs, no more than 2 mins, etc). Once D narrowed it down to 14 schools all the others were moved to a “nothanks” tab.</p>
<p>Anything we could make electronic, including essays, the main spreadsheet, screen shots of school websites, links, communications, etc was posted to Evernote (we paid the $45 to make the instance secure) in folders for each school. That way, no matter where we were, we could access the files and info using any internet accessible computer or a smart phone. </p>
<p>We also used Google Calendar and had several color coded calendars. One family one that had just family/school things on it (our day to day calendar). One that had ALL the possible audition dates for the 14 schools. This one was great for strategizing which schools we would do for unifieds and which for campus and when. Then another one for the proposed and then actual auditions. You can turn the various calendars on and off and superimpose them on top of others. So you can see how your proposed interacts with your day to day. Really helpful!</p>
<p>In auditioning for 10 schools, I remember struggling with organization as well. I, too, used folders to keep everything straight. Each school had a manilla folder. In the front of each folder, I made a checklist of what forms and teacher recommendations needed to be turned when as well as the requirements for the audition and my audition date (once it was scheduled) for that particular school. I kept ALL mail and any other info (even if I didn’t think I’d need it) from that school in there as well. This way, if I had a question, all I needed to do was pull out the folder and 9 times out of 10, the info would be in there. Good luck!</p>
<p>My S applied to 7 schools and we created a single calendar on the computer that had every date or deadline for every aspect of the college visit/application/audition/financial aid process at all of the schools. We also used an accordian file folder that had pockets for each school, standardized test scores, financial aid, etc., and a separate “audition folder” with monologue/song requirements, audition schedule, headshot/resume and he brought this to his coaching sessions and the auditions. </p>
<p>I’m still using the accordian folder though now it’s just for Fordham but I have a section for billing, FAFSA, housing/shopping checklists, Theatre, computers, and, of course, articles on how to get along with your roommate, lol. :D</p>
<p>We started with a binder and printed the pages from the school’s web sites to put in the binder. Once he decided which schools to go for and began to apply & set up audition dates we moved to an accordion folder. I being the Keep of the Schedules took apart a large desk pad type calendar and pinned the pages up on my kitchen wall so I could see at a glance all of the apply-by dates, auditions and senior year stuff. Once the school was decided on I reused the accordion folder for the different areas for the school…financial aid, housing, enrollment, orientation…etc. It worked well for me, I know when we got to the college and first stopped by the business office to finish up (read: pay) they did comment regarding my accordion folder that I was the most organized mom they had seen. I had to laugh, in my own life I am far from organized especially with the paper work of life.</p>
<p>D and I basically split the responsibilities - anything requiring money (except initial applications) I took care of she did the rest although with coordination from me. So i made sure ACT scores were sent to the correct places, booked hotel rooms, paid audition fees. D dealt with resumes, applications, follow ups on letter of references, essays …
I don’t know that we felt that we had any organizational system but we made it through and other than one school where I forgot to have her ACT scores sent in time for scholarships it all worked out.
D did decide she would do no out of school shows, auditions for summer programs, or job auditions before hand because that just added one more thing to organize.</p>
<p>I’m applying this year, and I have an Excel spreadsheet that I put columns in with titles such as app requirements, audition requirements, possible audition dates, ect. It’s really helped so far, as I applying to about 14 schools, with keeping all of the facts straight.</p>
<p>We used a spiral notebook and folders too but the best organizational tool was a huge dry erase board in my D’s room. She made a chart on it and was able to write/erase notes as needed. Plus she saw it every morning when she woke and every night before bed. Not only great for organizing but for motivation as well! And it’s traveling with her to college next week!</p>
<p>^^^Yes the dry erase board was/is great!!! My S also had a large one in his room for his “To Do” list. He didn’t only use it for college application/audition purposes but what was really helpful about it was the large visual reminder and being able to erase and move things around given their priority.</p>
<p>I want to put in a vote for organizing everything electronically into an Excel file that can be expanded as new information comes. At the beginning, we researched all the schools’ websites and put the comparable data in columns (tests required, any info on admit thresholds (gpa/scores), deadlines, curricular requirements in the major/gen ed, etc. That helped S determine which of the schools made the “apply” list. Once that stage occurred, we could eliminate some schools from the list (delete rows). For the schools that remained on the list, he added application info (dates sent, responses received, etc.) Keeping a “notes” file on every school allowed for notes about campus visits, and emails with faculty or current student contacts. It was pretty easy to pull out this kind of specific info into print documents for audition trips. The value of this is that updates are easy to make, the information aligns across schools by topic, and its not as overwhelming as lots of paper! I believe MichaelNKat provided a very helpful detailed version of how to do this—I think we were operating in the same way (parallel universerses?) during senior year 2007. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Another plus of the spreadsheet is dealing with applications. Since my D applied to so many schools (10 MT and 6 VP) she had 16 essays to deal with – a daunting proposition. Many of the schools offer multiple subjects on which to write. So after a lot of juggling, she found that she was able to write just two essays that worked for all 16 schools. She had to tailor the essay for each school, but all of a sudden it was doable.</p>
<p>This is just one example of what our kids deal with due to the “you must apply before you can audition” scenario. Eighteen months later and I still have the banker’s box full of all 16 folders for each school. It was a crazy time, but a wonderful one as well. I’ll probably keep that box for a long time.</p>
<p>We are doing the spreadsheet too. What I like about it is how easy it is to add schools or delete schools, add columns of information (like the audition info which I didn’t know at first) and other stuff as we went along.</p>
<p>BTW I had had only very minimal experience with spreadsheets before I started this -I’m quite the wiz now.</p>
<p>I like the idea of doing all the stuff that costs money and making D do the rest - It is not my intention to spoonfeed her through this and I know colleges don’t like to see parents doing it all for them, but she doesn’t have access to our financial stuff so it wouldn’t be real practical to expect her to do that.</p>
<p>I also have the big 3 ring binder with divided tabs. I printed out from one of the college search sites (I think collegedata.com) the financial overview on each school, as well as, from their websites, the theater program/curriculum info so she can compare and refer to those, which is very interesting to see the differences between the schools. Anything else of interest to that particular school can be added, too. (I think I need a new three ring hole punch!)</p>
<p>For calendar, we have one on the computer but I thought it best to have the gestalt of the whole upcoming year right there in front of us at all times. 
I could not find what I wanted to buy so I made a HUGE calendar of the upcoming year out of several pieces of posterboard and put ALL the dates on it - testing dates, UIL dates, audition dates, deadlines, as well as her school programs. It’s on the hallway right outside her bedroom door. Looks ugly but sometimes one has to sacrifice!</p>
<p>Even with all of this it’s still overwhelming - I think because there’s just too much to keep in the front of your mind at once. It’s like looking at a group of objects - you can instantly, without counting, tell there are 3, 4, 7 or even 8 objects just by glancing, but you get over a certain amount and your mind can’t process it without counting. I can’t keep all of this overwhelming amount of data in my mind at once, I have to refer back to these tools constantly or I’m lost.</p>
<p>When my daughter was starting the college search, application and auditioning process, I concluded early on that no single spreadsheet or chart could cover her needs nor could a single binder. There is just so much information to gather, things to do and details to track. We ended up using a system of both binders and charts/spreadsheets prepared in Word and Excel. From start to finish, we had:
- a chart with general info on all her schools of interest including available majors and minors and admissions requirements;
- a chart comparing the details of the MT programs for all of her schools of interest;
- a general binder with sections for each school containing print outs of everything of interest from the school’s and theatre department’s website;
- a spread sheet listing all schools and the time line/items required for the application and audition process, including the dates each item was sent and received.
- a spreadsheet listing all schools and the timeline/items which were needed from our high school/GC, which we gave to the GC;
- Folders for each school containing mailing envelops and forms for everything needed from the h.s./GC, which we also gave to the GC with #5.
- an audition spreadsheet listing all schools and the details of what was required for the audition, the audition scheduling and songs/monologs;
- a separate audition binder for each school containing her application, essays, website info on the program, department audition info, a copy of #7, headshots and resume, so for each audition, she could just grab the binder and have everything essential for the audition and interviews at her fingertips;
- a chart containing all of our standard questions, listing all of the schools, so that we could compare the answers we got side by side;
- at the end, when all of her acceptances were in, we created a chart for the top 2 contenders, listing side by side the curriculum at each school broken down by acting, voice, dance, music, theatre history, liberal arts, listing for comparison all of the other types of info we had gathered that was relevant to her decision making process.</p>
<p>My friends teased the hell out of me, stating that I needed a chart just to keep track of my charts, spreadsheets and binders. At times, I wasn’t sure what was more overwhelming - trying to navigate the process or trying to navigate my own obsessive approach to organizing this roller coaster! The organization kind of evolves, though, as you enter each phase of the search, application and audition cycle. At different points your focus and needs change. If you “chunk” the organization scheme based on each phase of the process and what you need at that point, it is manageable and each phase builds on the prior.</p>