Alrighty, so this post may not be as helpful for future auditions as I hope my other ones are, since I actually auditioned for NYU in Dallas at Booker T. Washington High School, and not at a bigger audition setting like Unifieds or in New York. But here goes.
I was led by a student of Booker T. to their blackbox theatre, which was acting as their waiting room. About 15 minutes before the actual audition started, the head of admissions for Tisch started taking our pictures on her iPad to check us in. Once everyone had pretty much trickled in, the lady (who was SUPER nice) talked to us for a bit about how NYU Tisch works. She talked about the studio system, the opportunities available to Tisch undergrads, and what the audition would look like. When the two actual auditors arrived, we were divided into two groups, and I got a look at just how small the pool was that day. There were only eleven of us, and I was in the smaller group of five. I know that probably has zero impact on my audition, but I was just surprised at how few people there were.
We went with the female auditor to a movement classroom, where she introduced herself to us and then led us through some warm-ups: stretches, moving about the space, acknowledging each other in different ways, things like that. Then we were sent out into the hall to sit and wait to be called in.
I was last to go, and the wait felt really long, even though there were only five of us. I personally really like socializing with other auditioners, so I got to know the other kids there, which helped me relax. Once everyone had gone, I was finally called in. I introduced myself to her, handed her my headshot and resume, and went into the room.
We didn’t have to slate in this particular audition–since they already had our names and the monologues we were doing in their system (you upload those prior to your artistic review), I was just told to begin my first piece when I felt ready. I did my first, and then waited as she wrote some notes (she didn’t write any during the pieces, which maybe is a move to make the auditioners feel that they really are being listened to). Then she indicated for me to start my second. I did my second, finished, waited for her to take all her notes, and then sat with her to do the interview.
The interview was pretty straightforward. I wasn’t sure what direction it would go–I had a friend audition for their directing program, and they just had her talk about her portfolio for half an hour and didn’t actually ask any questions besides “Why do you want to go to NYU?” (Have answers other than “Because it’s in New York!”) I had another friend audition for their musical theatre program at the Chicago Unifieds, and they asked her questions like “What is truth to you?” and very thematic stuff like that. My interview was much more standard fare. She asked me a little about my resume, what theatre things I do over the summer, how I’m involved with the community, things like that. She also asked me if I was familiar with the studio system, which I took as an opportunity to ask about how casting works within the studios (shows are cast within the studio, and some shows are cast between all the studios). Overall, my auditor was laid back, neither overly welcoming nor cold. At the end, she handed my headshot and resume back to me (they also have these on file since you upload them prior, but bring them just in case), and I was through with the audition.
I was just slightly disappointed with how the audition went, but I can’t really pinpoint why. When I left my auditions for Boston University, DePaul, UT Austin, and Pace, I felt energized. After my Emerson one and this NYU one, I didn’t really feel anything. I know it can be hard to get a good vibe from a school when you’re not actually auditioning in their space, but all the same, I didn’t leave feeling as electrified as I had for other auditions.
NYU had been my first choice for a really long time. But once I actually applied, I realized I’m not as comfortable with the studio system as I thought I was. I talked to a lot of people and did a lot of research and did a lot of thinking, and an incoming class of 400 students just seems too big, even divided into studios. And I don’t like the idea that in the studio, I’m only learning one method of acting. What if Strasberg’s Method doesn’t work as well for me as Atlantic’s Practical Aesthetics, or that doesn’t work as well for me as Playwrights Horizons, etc? And how would I know, since I can’t sit in on classes or really test run the studios? It just seems like a way-too-narrow approach. I’m sure I’d get excellent training there, but maybe the creeping feeling of “This is no longer exactly what I want” contributed to my slight disappointment with the day.
This is not an indictment of NYU or their way of doing things–obviously they do them very well. It just may not be for me.
