honestly, college auditions aren’t casting based upon looks. They are casting based upon the person’s talent when they walk into the room at their audition, and seeing who their MT class is going to be for the next 4 years. When the class graduates, THEN looks will definitely be taken into more consideration, but as for college, they do not base their decisions solely off of looks alone. A lot of other factors play into it Hope this helped! 
OP here- thanks for all your comments. She will be going for it no matter what, just wanted to get some thoughts on it!
We were at a college audition last weekend and the head of the department was taking to my d before her audition about another topic ( the value of having a comprehensive plan vs a fall back plan etc) and in her conversation said something to the effect that my d had the “normal” musical theatre height/looks that they look for. It is was interesting to hear because I thought that talent would always be the number 1 factor. Although… We were at a reception for one of the colleges she auditioned for at Chicago unifieds and the head of the department said multiple times that he was NOT Going to accept a bunch of cookie cutter girls into his program. (D was then worried he would NOT cast her due to her look. But she ended up getting accepted)
My d is 5"7 ish, pretty and longish blond hair. She is fit but slightly more curvy. She has struggled in high school always feeling like the tall girl and being cast with shorter boys ( they were the talented ones at the time lol ) but is finding that she finally getting to the point where the boys are catching up and getting taller. She was recently cast in Fiddler in our community theatre and was excited to be able to look UP to so many of the college age boys she was auditioning with. So maybe the field is leveling out. Lol
interestingly, my daughter’s friend who also auditioned this year , was asked at three separate college BFA auditions how tall she was…(she is 5’2").
My D was told on two separate college visits not to change her hair, because she’d stand out. She’s a redhead. So, who knows…
And I heard at NY Unifieds a school was asking for weight!
@Dankadon, that’s awful! Are you sure? Rumors spread like wildfire this time of year…could it have been a misunderstanding?
^Actually- that is exactly why my daughter ended up not filling out an application for a school she did a walk-in on. They didn’t ask her outright for a weight, but there was something on their dance form that she thought offensive.
I don’t know if this is still true, but I once personally heard the head of a great program say “the only one who gets to be fat in my program is me”. Just yet another confirmation that looks do matter in this profession.
The Syracuse audition sheet that auditors use to take notes (last year anyway) has them identify the applicant’s body type as “slender”, “athletic” or “pedestrian”. My D felt that was an odd choice of word so it mush be code for “chunky”.
I don’t think they base decision solely on looks but I can’t imagine it doesn’t enter the picture at all. I do think there is more flexibility if you are amazing in the audition room, but if equally talented, my guess is that looks will help. I also think programs look especially kindly upon those who are not just “good looking” but attractive in an interesting or memorable way.
You also have to realize in the real professional world, your body type and look will somewhat define you and this may be actual truer for males. Our office has always employed part-time actors for rotating temp jobs or clerical. We are conveniently located in midtown Manhattan and can be flexible when people have auditions. Day jobs for actors/singers/performers are also important. My d has missed out on lots of auditions because when she worked as a nanny, sometimes she would have to leave before they got to her to pick up the little girl she was caring for from nursery school or vice versa, she would leave at 5PM but because of subway issues or a few minute delay from the parents, sometimes she would miss a 5:30 audition door close by as little as a minute or two.
One of the male actors we had was short and somewhat stocky but not fat. He had a shaved head… so no one would be casting him as the romantic lead or the character actor older man, such as a kindly neighbor role or curmudgeonly grandfather. He was easily cast as a bartender, police officer, truck driver but after a while that gets somewhat limiting.
@monkey13 - My S didn’t audition for the school, but the Mom told me her D saw it on the form there and we were both appalled. So, I didn’t see it with my own eyes, just what another Mom told me at NY Unifieds…
Actually, many actors’ theater resumes list height, weight, as well as hair and eye color.
@soozievt - Actually professional ones should never list weight. Just height, hair and eye color. Weight is relative. It’s carried differently by each person so they usually list a build in casting to cover what they want.
As far as looks and type, yes, colleges consider this. How much they consider as a factor, though, depends on the particular college and probably also on the year you’re auditioning. Some colleges like a balanced cast as far as looks (e.g. two ingenues, one tall guy, one quirky girl, etc), others like a particular look, others don’t consider looks much. Take a look at the showcases of different BFA programs–they give you an unscientific way of judging their tastes.
Once you’re out auditioning, the key is to know your type.
There is no sense to worrying about things you can’t control. If you’re 5’1", that’s what you are. I really wouldn’t concern myself in college auditions–I’d just audition at the programs I loved, and then let the college decide, and go from there.
All you have to do is find and look at pics or videos of people in programs to see what general type of person the program desires/prefers, if any.
@MomCares , we know a faculty member of a program who has actually heard the program head say he/she doesn’t want bigger people in the program. It’s a shame–and, actually, utterly ridiculous IMO. (My D didn’t apply there, and this was one reason even though she is small.) One just has to see pics of the students to see that there is a preferred type there and in a few other programs. Fortunately, I think the majority of programs accept all types of looks, but it still may be that they have enough bigger or smaller or blonds or reds or…
so…wondering since this is being brought up…should weight be on resume or not? Does it differ if you are a teenager?
We were told not to include it–or any other physical attributes for auditions.
Adding to my post above:
Trying to ascertain this could be helpful if one has a large list and is narrowing it down. It can also help to know one’s chances a little bit. For example, one school seems to like edgier people and performers. D didn’t audition there. Not only was she not “edgier” during auditions, but the fit wasn’t right for her, either. If someone absolutely loves a program even though they have seen that they might not fit what the program is looking for, and he/she doesn’t mind spending the time and money on it, go for it! Why not? Your perceptions of what the school may want may be wrong, after all.
The weight thing is true! At a walk-in I did, right before the dance audition, they had us fill out some questions on the top part of their judging sheet. Well, under the adjudicators’ section, they had “underweight, healthy weight, overweight” written for them to circle one. I did not end up applying to this school after my walk-in lol
Many professional resumes include weight. Some agencies have the weight on their website for every one of their clients.
As for college auditions, and the stories of weight being asked about/indicated on the forms, I’m surprised but I guess not really. Historically, and I am talking about years ago, there were two schools, in particular, that are often discussed here who were famous for comments about appearance during auditions, orientation, and the start of freshman year. I would have hoped that this had stopped but clearly it hasn’t.