<p>Hi, I'll be a senior next year and my mother and I were looking at many schools, and most schools say that they do Unifieds, which is helpful since I live in Jersey and am looking at Chicago schools. However, I don't really understand how Unifieds work! Can someone explain it to me please? Thank you so much!</p>
<p>I’m assuming that you’re also going to the Chicago Unifieds because then you can also visit the campuses. NY would be closer to you. Anyway, for most schools- at least in my daughter’s experience, you have to apply to get into the school and then apply to get into the program. When you apply for the program, you can also sign up for an audition date, time, and place. In my daughter’s case, she scheduled times at NY Unifieds with the college. You don’t go through Unifieds to schedule auditions. Also, she did 2 walk-ins at Unifieds that did not cost her anything to do. Both schools asked her to apply for the school after her audition and both were very nice- just not the type of school she wanted- even though the programs were solid. Break legs! Oh, and apply for the colleges early. My daughter had all of her applications in by November 1st. Some schools are rolling admissions and some don’t open their applications until September. At Unifieds, she brought sheet music and an ipod with a portable player. All of her songs were recorded and it really came in handy as not all schools had piano’s in the room.</p>
<p>p.s. It was all so overwhelming for us when we started. Seemed to be so many details! When it was all said and done, it really wasn’t that bad at all. My daughter met a lot of really great people and even ran into people she knew from other schools in our state and a girl who had moved away from her school that she hadn’t seen in quite a while! It was a very positive experience for her. As far as the walk-ins- one school had a sign and the other school had current students recruiting people. I just wish we had gotten more names so we could see where some of the kids ended up!</p>
<p>This sounds really dumb, but do we go into one room and audition for a panel of schools? Or different auditions for each school? Thank you so much for the information!</p>
<p>In NY, the auditions were at The Pearl Studios and at Ripley Studio (pretty close to each other near Macy’s). At Pearl, there is a check in desk once you enter from the street. You sign in and they will direct you to the elevators. The auditions were held on about 2 floors (12th and 4th). You check in with the people at the front desk on the 12th floor and they will direct you to the proper room for the school that you are scheduled for. It’s basically a bunch of rooms (like classrooms if you will). Each school has their name outside the door. Some rooms are larger than others. You will go in at the time of your scheduled audition unless you are doing a walk-in (there will be signs on the wall or you can walk around and ask if there’s a door open and no auditioner is in there- that’s what I did). Some schools will send 2 or 3 people and some will only send one. Some rooms will have a piano and others will not. So- to answer your question, each school is assigned to a room!</p>
<p>Yu will audition individually for each school. Each school has different requirements which can be found on their websites. In LA (and it is similar for all Unifieds), Unifieds are in a hotel with the name of the school outside the door of each audition room. You will check in with each school individually, and then go into the room for that school when they are ready for you. You do not do a mass audition for a panel of schools. Some schools may have you come back to the same or a different room for a dance call-it just depends on the school. If you end up wanting to do any walk-ins, be sure to get to that school first thing in the morning to see if they will take walk-ins and are able to fit you in. They are more apt to fill later in the day. My D LOVED the energy that fills the Unifieds and had a great time.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much!</p>
<p>Updates for 2013 Unifieds (NYC)… any help on hotels would be great, some place near Pearl studios.</p>
<p>Also what to except would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone</p>
<p>The New YORKER is right next to NYC unifieds but is pretty pricey (and I’m not sure if they are full) but that’s where D and I are staying</p>
<p>We stayed at the New Yorker last year, and liked it so much we stayed there again next time we went to NYC. The location is perfect for Unifieds and it’s a very short walk from Penn Station, and a short walk from the bus terminal. There’s a 24-hour diner connected to the lobby. Our rooms were very quiet because it was built in the 1920s with a whole lot of material.</p>
<p>We got some kind of good deal online, so it might be worth doing a search or two.</p>
<p>We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn on W. 35th Street. The hotel was mentioned in an earlier thread, as was the New Yorker, so try a search to to find more options. I would have loved to stay at the New Yorker, but there is also the Chicago Unifieds trip to pay for 
I used google maps to get an idea of distance and it appears to be two blocks (the long ones) and around the corner from Pearl Studios.</p>
<p>There’s also a Hilton Garden Inn on 8th Avenue and west 49th. Slightly more expensive than the one at Herald Sq -34th street) but very convenient also.</p>
<p>Unified’s are like a scene out of FAME. An electric buzz, kids doing vocal exercises in the corner, practicing monologues on benches, mom’s trying to remain calm, a warren of small to medium sized rehearsal rooms throughout the floor of the two buildings where they are held- Ripley-Grier and Pearl Studios, with sign in tables at each denoting the school running auditions in that room. You sign in ( or try to register for a walk-in spot if that’s what is needed). Pay close attention to the amount of time each school tells you to allocate so you know how to schedule. Arrive a few minutes early to sign in. Have everything with you and double check before leaving home and the hotel. Mom or Dad’s job is to wait calmly, be your child’s Sherpa, don’t ask too many questions, take your lead from your child, handle the travel logistics, and enjoy this super-charged but fun and exciting experience with them. For the most part, the auditors are quite encouraging and supportive. It’s hard to red the tea leaves. Parents spend an enormous time debriefing afterwards about what it means if you are sent on to another auditor, or not, given business cards, or not, etc. in the end, it doesn’t seem to add up to much that is statistically reliable. Just do your best and move on to the next audition is probably the best advice along with be yourself and have FUN!</p>
<p>I just looked and for 3 nights during Unifieds it was still less than $200 a night at the New Yorker for 2 double beds (and like $150 if you’ll take a queen) which is NOT expensive for NYC.</p>
<p>The main thing about Unifieds is that you can audition for multiple schools in one place (in the past more schools were in Chicago than NY or LA, but this could be changing - not sure as we went to Chicago). If you live a long distance from the schools that you want to audition for, it is a time and money-saver. So many MT kids audition for lots of schools, it is very helpful to be able to knock out several over a few days. In Chicago most of the schools are based at the Palmer House Hilton on several floors in meeting rooms. It’s wonderful to be able to go from your room to an audition and back without going out in the weather (although our TX State dance call was several blocks away, and a few schools audition elsewhere). And lightingmom’s description was a perfect for the Palmer House too!</p>
<p>Calliene - I just reserved for son and I at the New Yorker and canceled the Hilton! The rates have changed since last April, and I saved over $100!! Thank you!!!</p>
<p>Thanks Cellomom51… I just booked at the New Yorker, it was around $200.00 a night but we were booked at the Hilton near Times square (a little less money)… but for the convenience of being across the street (walking distance) is worth it :)</p>
<p>Lol, yes it is worth it to keep checking! Last year I had booked the New Yorker already, but then got an email advertisement for way lower prices, so I called them and was able to switch and ended up with a 2 room corner room with unbelievable views for about $150 a night. A better room for less money!</p>
<p>So everyone who already has reservations at the New Yorker: check to see if the prices have gone down! You can call and get the lower price!! January is generally cheap in NYC but often the rates don’t go down until closer to January.</p>
<p>I re-booked my room at the New Yorker last night and saved $50 but I’m going to keep on top if any price changes too. </p>
<p>We are only coming from CT but D has two auditions with 9am starts (she is already NOT a morning person but what teenager is?) so I couldn’t see hauling her out of bed and making sure she had everything in order for her auditions to take metro trains into the city at 6am and the subway or a taxi. I’m paying for the convenience of having a NYC base for 2 days! </p>
<p>Let the fun begin, D has 2 other auditions this month before unifieds but once she gets to unifieds she doesn’t have a free weekend until the 2nd weekend in March (and that’s when her HS musical starts!)!!! Break legs everyone!</p>
<p>As I said before, we really enjoyed the New Yorker Hotel. It was built in the 1920s and definitely has its own unique vibe, different from the standard hotel thing where all the rooms are the same shape and everything opens onto identical long corridors. Higher up is better. We paid a little more for that and were glad, because it was part of the whole New York City experience!</p>
<p>Incidentally, when we were there for Unifieds we got two rooms, and used one for all of us to hang out in when we weren’t being tourists, so our son could go obsess about his songs and monologues, and do all his weird vocal warm-ups, in privacy. When we went back this November, with only one kid, we got a suite. It was very tiny, but unlike some modern hotel suites there was a door between the living room and the bedroom. Our daughter slept on the sofabed in the living room and said it was quite comfortable, and she was glad not to be sleeping in the same room as her snoring parents. </p>
<p>The suite had a dining room table and a refrigerator and coffeepot – I can’t remember about a microwave or not. The table and refrigerator made it convenient for takeout food, which saved us some money, and the tower suite was much less expensive than getting two rooms. We also got some kind of breakfast included with the suite.</p>
<p>One more note (maybe a lot of hotels do this, but we never had the need before). Our train was leaving several hours after our hotel check-out time. We wanted to visit a museum unburdened by our luggage, so we left it in a checkroom at the New Yorker, went to the museum, came back for our luggage, hung out in the hotel lobby for a while, and then walked the block or two to Penn Station for our train. It worked great.</p>