<p>The Olympics provided what I think is good example of what can happen in the MT auditions process (from Sports Illustrated.com):</p>
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<p>With some MT programs accepting as few as 4-6 girls/boys and maybe only 1-2 of a given “type,” there is a probability you may get rejected, despite having wonderful talents and skills. On any given day, 1-2 people may just be a little bit better fit in the eyes of the judges. At the top programs, this kind of thing must happen all the time.</p>
<p>I just watched it on TV, and when it was announced that she wasn’t moving on, her face just caved in and she sobbed. All that hard work, all those hours skipping “regular” kid stuff to practice - wiped out in a flash. My heart broke for her.</p>
<p>And the first thing I thought of was - selfish as I am - my own kid and how he is going to deal with all the rejection that is surely heading his way as he goes through the whole college process.</p>
<p>My daughter is a former competitive gymnast but “competing” in acting is tougher. In gymnastics, you are judged on a set of rules and even though it is subjective, you aren’t judged on your type. They don’t say- well-we already have a brunette in the top so let’s choose a blonde. When my daughter competed in gymnastics, sometimes she was scored high because she was a dancer and her routines looked pretty and sometimes girls with faster tumbling skills were judged higher. Being a gymnast taught her that sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. It also taught her to focus on each event and to just move on. The best thing it taught her was sportsmanship and to not gloat when she she got a first place. When she would see her name on a call list, she never rubbed it in anyone’s face. Gymnastics also taught her that you may be the best in your gym and everyone could tell you that, but you didn’t get to measure yourself against anyone else until you competed against them. Also, it didn’t matter how well you did in practice, if you couldn’t stay focused in competition- you wouldn’t place. Her coach used to compare her all the time to a girl who was so much smaller than her and could do 100 push ups. My daughter couldn’t do as many as that other girl but she still could do A LOT. It would seem that because that girl could do so many push ups (and pull ups) she would do really well on the bars. However, when she got to competitions- she couldn’t live up and my daughter beat her all the time! Gymnastics is so mental and I believe being a gymnast prepared her so much for acting- plus- it keeps her in great shape. She still takes a class every week and it definitely helps with her flexibility, strength, and stamina- something that is definitely needed when you are performing many shows a week. Oh, and she also learned how to take constructive criticism, how to take rejection, how to be happy when someone else won, how to be determined, and how to listen and make corrections. The only thing that bothers me about the Olympics is that instead of focusing on Douglas and Raisman making it in the all-around- all the headlines are focusing on how Wieber did not. Sports media loves to hype and some people were posting that one of the U.S. top 2 should have given their spot to Wieber. That is just insane!</p>
<p>As the mom of a rising sophomore at a PA school who’s passionate about MT, I’m very new to this site. I started reading these posts out of curiosity, and this thread became a guilty pleasure I couldn’t put down. I’ve read it from start to finish, and feel like I can’t wait for the second installment to find out what happens next. I wish the very best to all of you. This has been the best education for me, and I’ve already started taking notes. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences along the way.</p>
<p>We only get two days cumulative junior and senior years for college visits. That just ain’t gonna cut it. What is your school’s policy? Are you planning on talking to the school about the extra time needed or to keep your mouth shut and just to have your kid out “sick” a lot? I’m not sure how we are going to manage the district and their dumb policy. I’m not worried about the teachers; they are pretty good at working with kids who aren’t known as slackers.</p>
<p>Two days??? Ridiculous. We get 12, and that’s for any senior, not the performing arts hopefuls who have to go to auditions. If I were you, I would go to the guidance counselor first and explain the situation…show him/her the Unifieds schedule (even NY, which occurs over the weekend, has the unofficial auditions on the Thursday and Friday before the weekend Unifieds). Explain how your child has to arrive the night before an audition due to weather, travel delays, and just getting a good night’s sleep; talk about the relatively large number of schools our kids have to apply/audition to; etc. Then, if they won’t listen to reason, appeal. If that doesn’t work, you have no choice but to have your child be “sick.” Hopefully you don’t have to supply a doctor note!</p>
<p>Walker1194–I’m a high school teacher. Different schools have different policies usually depending on the state and their interpretation of the state’s policies. My own kids’ school didn’t give ANY official days for auditions. However, there are many ways of getting around this.</p>
<p>Make sure however to give the teachers as much warning as possible. It’s really hard sometimes to help the student make up work. For instance, I had a student who was a professional model. Her mom would pull her out unpredictably and the girl’s work began to suffer. Also, the girl didn’t take charge of her own work; she had her mom act as her secretary. She never spoke to me about her absences or what she could do except at the end of the marking period when she started panicking about her grades. She would be pulled out, for instance, while we were working on Acts II & II of Julius Caesar, or working in class on a huge essay, or whatever. The mom just asked for ‘packets’ - which I’d give - but teaching is much more than packets. I’m not trying to imply your daughter is like this, but only that teachers get requests just like this all the time, so when your daughter says she’ll be out, she might meet with resistance at first because the teachers will think she’s like ‘that’ girl. So what I’d recommend is that she speak to all her teachers, explain the situation, and ask to stay after school or before school to make things up and learn anything if necessary. Most teachers will do this. </p>
<p>As for the absences:</p>
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<li> As monkey13 points out, you can start with the guidance counselor. A sympathetic guidance counselor can override anything, pretty much literally–if they are autonomous. My kids’ school is not PA but it is top ranked and has many quirky kids–serious athletes & dancers, for instance, who must miss school. My younger son missed almost the entire month of December because of a professional show, and the school was flexible and overrode it. They just categorize is technically as ‘excused absence.’ But schools are increasingly not allowing autonomous rulings, as we are micromanaged by the state. But I’d go that route first. It is best to have the guidance counselor on your team.</li>
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<p>2.If the guidance counselor won’t agree, I would go higher up the chain. I wouldn’t do the sick thing - I’d do it only as a last resort - because what if she actually gets sick and needs the sick days? Most schools only allow a certain amount. You can keep going higher up the chain to the Super if need be. Setting up a meeting is the best way–email is the worst way (they like to keep the decision informal and emails are in writing). I don’t know your school but in general, trust me, there is ALWAYS a way around things. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to make it a headache at all–it sounds worse than it is. But it’s best to be proactive and set up a meeting first with guidance with your schedule. It’s very probable guidance will approve. If they do, then send an email to all the teachers with the schedule. Then have your D speak to each one. Then she should remind the teachers each time it gets close. My own D did this and she had teachers & guidance rooting for her for each audition!</p>
<p>Great tips above from “connections” . . . especially regarding counselors! In my opinion, HS counselors are some of the unsung heroes in education . . . I couldn’t believe everything that is expected of them (in regards to helping juniors and seniors).</p>
<p>One thing I would add is to state the obvious to the school: (obvious to us, but not so obvious to them) that admittance through audition is the ONLY way your daughter can gain admittance to a college program in her chosen major. This is a requirement just like an application, ACT/SAT test, etc. It’s not like you all are taking a vacation to the Bahamas or something! </p>
<p>I would also contact your D’s teachers right away and make it really clear what’s going on with them, especially the <em>requirement</em> of auditioning as part of the application process.</p>
<p>I’m a teacher too, and I appreciate when parents are honest and open with me about the nature of absences - it makes me much more willing to help. We found that the teachers and administration at my D’s school were super-supportive because we were proactive and explained the process.</p>
<p>I’m always honest with the teachers and have never had a problem with them, it’s the admin I’m hesitant about. I got into it with them last year a couple of times over the district “policies” and their micromanaging. Somehow they seem to think that I should give up all my duties and responsibliities of being a parent at the doors to the school. I disagree. They are my children and i am the last word. Being honest with the admin in the past has gotten me nothing but headaches so that is why I am leery of consulting with them. They don’t care about anything except some policy that some paper pusher has laid down. The teachers do care and even when my kids have had unexcused absences the teachers ignore that and give them the work to make up anyway. I have some time to decide. Unifieds aren’t until February and we will see how the admin reacts to some early audition dates when we need time off to travel.</p>
<p>Let me also say that education is very important and both of my girls are at the top of their classes and have never been a moment of trouble for any teacher or admin. One the other hand, I can be a real PITA if you get crossways with me ;)</p>
<p>Walker1194–by ‘administration’ do you mean guidance counselors? Guidance is usually not quite the same as admin. However, in your school, the admin may have an ‘iron’ hold over the guidance counselors and the counselors may have no wiggle room. Do what you think is best in your own school. As I said, the state is increasingly on top of the schools for this or that statistic, and absences are one of the statistics they focus on. That’s why the admins are nit-picky about the absences. They can get into trouble if there are too many absences in their school. Being a PITA to admin <em>may</em> get you what you want, but it may not…Depends on your school and what your state is like. If you do speak to the teachers, it would be best to do this by phone or in person, not in email. Also, it’s important that after you set up the schedule, your daughter be the one to handle the follow up–teachers will be much more responsive if your daughter takes ownership of her work. Again, I’d use sick days as a last resort but obviously do what you have to do.</p>
<p>Can I ask a what might seem like a really dumb question? Do you think it’s appropriate to sing a Disney song for my college audition? I’m working with my vocal coach who keeps telling me it’s a great idea for auditions, but I’m not sure if it’s right for college. Any ideas? Thanks</p>
<p>It depends on the song. If it’s from a Disney cartoon, not for a college audition. If it’s from a Disney stage musical, probably, if the song is sung by a character that is appropriate for you.</p>
<p>bklyn - You should sing a song you are comfortable with, the shows your skills, and you can relate with. So if you are a tenor and are confident with “Out There” or “Heaven’s, Light” - that would be fine. By the way “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is in pre-production.
Good luck with whatever you choose.</p>
<p>Those schools who are very specific on their websites about what songs to avoid usually list Disney. I think it’s because they have been very overdone.</p>
<p>Bklyn, of course you should check with any school your auditioning for to see if the would prefer you not do songs from Disney, JRB, whatever.
Shaun, I would be interested to see your list of schools that specifically prohibit Disney - I know there are a few, but would be interested in knowing who so dislikes the mouse.</p>
<p>I have only come across a few schools that prohibit specific songs or composers (see Ball State although they do not mention Disney), but others have extensive descriptions about what they do and do not prefer to see. Some of those schools included Disney on their list. Because of that we would not consider Disney songs or typically overdone songs (e.g. “I am Sixteen” or Wicked songs). I did not keep a list of schools that say no to Disney since it wasn’t a factor for us.</p>