<p>We are still a couple of years away, but I'm finding it so helpful to learn as much as I can now. We live in Southern California, so LA Unifieds seem to make the most sense for us, but I really didn't see much feedback about them here. Is that because fewer schools attend? I seem to get the impression that Chicago is the preferred option. But for us, it would mean a plane trip and I'm wondering when we get to that point if it isn't wiser to save the cross country travel for a few selected on campus visits/auditions and just focus on the LA Unifieds for all else since we live an hour away. Or do some people actually go to both Unifieds? That just sounds sort of exhausting since they are right on top of each other. I'm just curious as to how others have handled it and also if anyone has feedback on LA Unifieds.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the schools on your list. If they go to LA, then that would make more sense. The schools on my D’s list were mostly in Chicago, so we went there and we are from California also. </p>
<p>I think all the schools listed go to all the Unifieds or they aren’t part of Unifieds…other schools like BU, NYU, Purchase, Fordham etc all go to LA as well they are just not part of Unifieds. There were tons of schools at the LA Unifieds. Not sure which schools were missing if any. The only negative to LA Unifieds that I am seeing is that we are the last group to get notifications of acceptances and rejections. It’s hard sitting back watching all the decisions coming in for the NY and Chicago Unifieds. You also risk the bad weather. I wouldn’t want to chance that. </p>
<p>Yes, first get your school list in place, then see where they are. And yes, bad weather in NYC and Chicago can be a huge hassle.</p>
<p>As Calliene wrote, Unifieds decision will depend on your list. We are in Maine, so many schools would be a long, long road trip or a flight so his list was mostly schools that would be at Unifieds. Two of the schools son was most interested were only at the Chicago Unifieds, but to fit all schools into that trip seemed daunting to the master scheduler, me, so we also went to NYC Unifieds. Some kids are able to fit in a large number of auditions, including walk-ins, but not being familiar with the process, I wanted to play it safe and create a schedule that was not to hectic. Son preferred the Unifieds to the three on-campus auditions mostly because on-campus auditions can make a long day depending on the school.</p>
<p>Yes depends on your list. Not all schools come to LA. Changes from year to year. You will start to figure out when dates and procedures are posted by schools. Good for you for thinking ahead. </p>
<p>From my understanding, the schools listed on the Unified website go to all the Unified locations. Am I wrong? The other schools who hold their regional audition around the unified dates might change, but I thought in order to be a Unifiied school you had to go to all the locations. But I am a newbie so I certainly could be missing something.</p>
<p>Bisouu, you are correct in that if a school is listed on the Unified website they go to all the Unified locations. Howerver, there are many other schools that attend the Unifieds in NY, Chicago, LA, or Las Vegas that do not attend all of them. They may attend 1 or more locations. 7 of the 14 schools my D auditioned for are on the Unified list.</p>
<p>We are also in So. Calif. and my D did LA Unifieds twice (she ended up transferring programs). She was able to audition for all of the schools she was interested in at that time, but it can vary from year to year. The only school that was not at Unifieds her first time was CCM, and it was not high on her list so she decided not to worry about it. I believe they have been there since. She also auditioned for UCLA- they do not attend Unifieds but the campus is fairly close. It was a huge advantage for us, both cost and time-wise. The first time she went to Unifieds we just went back and forth- we are less than an hour from LAX. The second time, she split a room with 2 friends and stayed there. It was pretty inexpensive and made it a little more relaxing for her. </p>
<p>We didn’t have the cross country trip to make, but we did bookend unifieds with on campus auditions at places driving distance from Chicago that don’t do unifieds. So, that is a way to get the most out of a trip. With walk ins, my D did a total of 11 auditions that week. She was not phased by the breakneck schedule. She had one breakdown, but pulled herself back together, and was fine for the remainder. I knew her temperament would be ok… But I know not every kid is the same. But if you think your kid can handle it, it’s a great option to make the most of Chicago unifieds. I do agree that the list must come first. Be sure to get apps in early so you can get your first choice audition times… It will make planning easier!</p>
<p>Another reason that folks choose the Chicago Unifieds is length; Chicago allots three days for auditions, while LA and NYC are two days. That extra day allows for more auditions and more bang for your buck. </p>
<p>Also with Chicago, some schools come on Saturday and Sunday before the official start of Unifieds. My D did Roosevelt CCPA (on campus) and Emerson on Sat, and Syracuse and Tisch on Sunday, and then had the 3 full days of official unified auditions M-W. That enabled her to do all but one of her school auditions in one place, and since we are from the southwest, that really helped with the schedule/travel costs. LA would have been closer, but I believe a couple schools D was auditioning for were not going to be there, plus there weren’t enough days to do all the ones we needed – we needed the 5 days in Chicago to get everything done.</p>
<p>The important thing if you’re going to try to cram all auditions into a week is to be ridiculously careful about germs. We did some pretty weird stuff to keep D from catching flu/viruses, but it worked, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat to keep everybody healthy at such a crucial time. Thank goodness for germbana! But that’s another thread. :)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all of the great feedback. It is very helpful. My gosh I’m so glad I’m learning all of this early on so we will be well prepared by her senior year. I’m so glad we can take this time to research schools, learn about the process, and work in a couple of summer programs. Honestly until I found this site a few months back I knew nothing at all about any of this!</p>
<p>There is also your own life schedule to consider – we are trying to figure out my D’s audition schedule around her HS Jazz Choir’s biggest concert of the year. Sigh, I know this will all come together but it is a little daunting knowing it is looming out there.</p>
<p>Divamamacita - working out the audition schedule around our D’s show choir and solo & ensemble festival (required by choir teacher) was a big challenge. It was like solving a jigsaw puzzle. But it will come together. We used a spreadsheet and calendar to figure out a good schedule. Then my D realized I misread one of the school’s schedules, which caused a minor panic. But we got everything scheduled and it worked out. It will for you too.</p>
<p>Sopranomtmom – We are from LA, too, but we still decided to do BOTH Chicago and LA Unifieds this year, and it was the right call for us. (We took D out of school for the full week and just let her focus on the auditions. Teachers were notified early of this plan, and they have been good about allowing her time to make everything up.) </p>
<p>Our reasons: </p>
<p>First, we did not want to spend the money (and time out of school) flying from campus to campus. We felt it would be more economical to do all the schools we could at the Unifieds and then, AFTER she had received all of her acceptances, fly only to see those schools she was seriously considering. D’s POV, why see campuses now and possibly fall in love with a school that may not even accept me? And we have been told that campus visits are a much more enlightening experience if you have already been offered a spot; they roll out the red carpet to make sure you see everything. (Of course, if some schools are reasonably local to you, there is no reason not to audition on campus, but that was not the case for us.) In addition, there were 2 schools high on D’s list that only offer on-campus auditions, so we had to fly to those – no choice (Shenandoah and Elon). Needless to say, we could not do any more flying around the country and taking time off of work and school until we had acceptances in hand.</p>
<p>Second, I wanted a “hedge” against illness and/or vocal fatigue, so I was NOT willing to load D up by squeezing every possible school into the LA Unifieds, and take a chance that she could get sick and there would be no other audition dates possible unless we flew to all the campuses. So I scheduled the bulk of her schools (8) for Chicago over the 4-day period (Sunday thru Wed.), and then 4 more schools for LA the following weekend. (BTW - There were schools auditioning in LA Friday thru Monday, although most do only the “official days”, Saturday and/or Sunday. We started off with Hartt on Friday in LA which helped to spread things out a bit.) Since most of D’s Chicago Unifieds’ schools were also coming to LA, this gave us “the hedge” against illness that I wanted; we knew we could possibly reschedule some auditions for later in LA if she got sick in Chicago. Like other parents have described here, we spread out the schools in Chicago by scheduling a few early auditions on the Sunday before the Chicago Unifieds officially began. For example, D did the dance call for Roosevelt CCPA early Sunday morning, then we spent the afternoon (1 to 5 pm) with Syracuse which was not high on D’s list so it was a good one to shake her nerves loose a bit before the higher priority schools. NOTE: D was lucky to have received an acceptance - before Chicago - from a school she really liked so we avoided adding walk-ins (she did 1 on a whim) to ensure she was vocally well-rested for her “higher priority” auditions. That Sunday night, was the Program Overview and dance call for Texas State (6 to 10 pm); this was a callback from the prescreen evaluation phase. </p>
<p>Third, we had 2 schools located in Chicago to tour. We planned to use any free time in Chicago to tour Roosevelt CCPA and Columbia College (BA to BFA program that was her “non-audition safety” and where she had already been accepted). In the end we did not tour Columbia because D had been accepted to Shenandoah. </p>
<p>Finally, neither Rider nor Texas State came to LA Unifieds, and both were high on D’s list. </p>
<p>As it turned out for us, D did not get sick for ANY of her audition days. What a blessing! I think one reason was that we were very careful not to over-schedule her and we tried to minimize her exposure during the weeks prior to auditions. Flu shot was a given, of course, and as much sleep as we could scrape up. You know how busy these kids are. One last thing to keep in mind, when I say that D “auditioned for 8 schools over 4 days in Chicago” that may sound pretty sparse, but in reality that translated to: 8 singing/acting auditions, 7 dance auditions, 1 callback singing audition, 2 vocal health/music theory evaluations, 2 separate interview appointments, and 1 campus tour. Sometimes the “sweaty dance call” ends 20 minutes before the private singing/acting audition so it can get hectic. 8 schools in 4 days was good for us. We could have squeezed in a few more, if necessary, but I am so glad we didn’t have to!</p>
<p>Hope this helps! We JUST finished so the details are still fresh! 
Excellent results so far!<br>
Best wishes to you and your D!</p>