Organizational Strategies

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>I was just reading on the "Debunking Myths" thread some really great organizational strategies that parents and students employed this audition year.</p>

<p>I'd love to get some great ideas for organizational strategies. I'm working with my class of 2014 on getting them organized for the year to come and ANY tips, tricks or strategies would be welcome.</p>

<p>Everyone's brain and way of organizing is different, so I'd love to give them as many tips as possible so they can find what works for THEM. </p>

<p>I'm also assuming this would be VERY helpful for anyone getting ready for the process.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance :)</p>

2

<p>I used an excel spreadsheet (as an engineer, it speaks to me!). One tip that I have is capture in sections, or in tabs, all the requirements for each school. For example, I tracked the application process for both admission and auditioning. I not only had a column for SAT, Transcript, Reference 1, Reference 2, Application Fee, etc., I placed the date in which I requested the item. Then once I confirmed that the item was received by the university, I filled the cell with a color to let me know it was all completed.</p>

<p>When students are applying to 10 - 20 schools, it was necessary to know what was completed and what wasn’t. I even recorded the essay topic(s) when an essay was required. Once she finished the essay and posted it, I filled in the date she posted or emailed it in.</p>

<p>I also kept the website for checking the application, username, and password in the excel spreadsheet so it was all available in one spot. My D liked the fact that with Excel, I could hide columns and print reports for her about the music audition requirements or number of plays/musicals each university performed yearly.</p>

<p>As she received acceptances, I created a tab for each university with the degree plans on their website and notes I took about that university from information on CC, like the freshman experience.</p>

<p>Since I am not a music or theatre person, I was thrilled that I could contribute something to this process with my engineering/organizational skills.</p>

<p>P.S. We are currently using it to compare and contrast the final 2 schools in the running!</p>

3

<p>I love excel (I use the Mac version- Numbers) and I love making these types of spreadsheets. I think what’s helpful about your description of your spreadsheet is that I often forget what types of information might be helpful on a spreadsheet beyond the basics so thank you for that.</p>

<p>I also love Google Docs Spreadsheets because they can easily be shared between people.</p>

4

<p>Spreadsheets are your friend. And having someone with organizational skills to help if that’s not your thing is another advantage. Plus get started early, like right now, looking at schools, audition requirements, the school’s academic requirements, and have a sober analysis of how you match up.</p>

5

<p>I also am a spreadsheet person but for those who are not keep a notebook with dedicated page(s) for each school or a file folder dedicated to each school</p>

6

<p>Another vote for spreadsheets! I think mine sounds pretty identical to MTdancerMom’s! Tabs for everything and all info you could possibly ever need (or a link to it) on one spreadsheet.</p>

7

<p>While I used a spreadsheet at the beginning, I eventually evolved to an evernote notebook stack, with a notebook for each school he applied to. I found much more flexibility in the notes than referencing a spreadsheet, since some things just didn’t fall into the same column across the board. But then again, I am STEM-atically challenged, so this might only work for me :)</p>

8

<p>I used a giant spreadsheet with tabs for different types of research…audition schools, non-audition schools, academics, general stats such as size and location. It evolved and I added and deleted full spreadsheets and columns and rows all the time as needed. A couple things I found particularly helpful: I created a tab to list the schools I had eliminated with a short explanation of why I had eliminated the school. Until then, I had found myself researching the same programs repeatedly. Also, finding the information you need on college websites can be time-consuming, so I created hyperlinks to certain pages at the schools we were interested in. Hyperlinks to audition details and to curriculum maps were especially useful to me.</p>

9

<p>I used two big blackboards (the peel and stick, very large size). I am a spreadsheet lover myself, but we needed a visual that was very conspicuous for my son and I to see at any time. A spreadsheet sitting on a computer turned out to be to hard at times to quickly pull up and refer to, especially when you have a dozen application website instructions up on the screen as well. I am a big fan of color for organization, so each school had its own chalk color. We used one board for applications–posting requirements, payments and audition confirmation info in columns by school. We used the other for all audition details, where, when, number of songs, monologues, time constraints, and other required items like whether we needed sheet music or playback device. The boards really made it easy to refer to at any time as they were posted in the hallway area on the way to the kitchen. I am kinda sad, now, at the thought of taking it all down now that it has served it’s purpose. It certainly caught a very vibrant time during my S’s Senior year.</p>

10

<p>We also included the above variables on a large calendar with dates for apps, dates for audition booking, requirements, notes on finishing, etc. As time went on, our notebook eventually went into more detail noting surrounding area, feel of the environment, rapor among current students, rapor with faculty, estimated net tuition to be paid and estimated loan burden, industry networking, training elements, showcase or not, large city vs. rural, etc. The more detailed notes really mattered when it came down to our son making his final decision which was quite difficult and a lengthy process. With so much going on in the lives of these kids during senior year, it can easily become a blur if little details aren’t noted, no matter how much the student likes a certain school. Good luck to you as you embark on the journey with your students!</p>

11

<p>^AdaQuince, why not take a photo(s) of the board before you take it down as a way to always have a record of it for the future? Maybe make a scrapbook of all that went into this crazy, hectic, stressful but important and memorable time in his life?</p>

<p>Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using CC</p>

12

<p>DramaMamaZ, that is a great idea! I did take pictures of the board! Thank you for the idea.</p>

13

<p>Good Point about the the details that make a difference for decisions, abparent. Every where we visited, heard an overview, or just researched a website I acted as a scribe for my daughter. We kept the notes, key emails correspondances with program/professors, and any pamphlets in a folder. We also kept an audition reflection sheet for each audition (some schools have 2 or 3 depending on prescreen and callback requirements). We have one folder for each school. We did record why each school was retired along the way.</p>

<p>At this moment, my D is down to the last 2 folders. They are unceremoniously displayed on either side of my dinningroom table with a couple of spreadsheet printouts (cost, number of plays, etc). She is still making notes on a running pro/con sheet! I catch her wandering into the room every day or so, still trying to decide between the last 2 schools.</p>

14

<p>Ha, AdaQuince, I photographed our giant bulletin board o’ fun too, before I took it down! Re: the original post, I used pretty much every method known to man. My son applied to 11 schools, but originally had about 15 on the list. We started a spreadsheet during spring of his junior year–actually had two, one for audition info (requirements, scheduling, etc.) and one for the application logistics (who needed what and when). Recommendations had their own spreadsheet for awhile, since every school had different expectations. BUT: what I found was that while the spreadsheets were helpful, I was like Dramamamaof4–I couldn’t really relate to them visually. We had a small notebook for recording information during college visits and audition info sessions, and then relied on a huge binder with a double-sided pocket for each school. I made a cover sheet for each school that had key dates and info (when everything was due, including financial aid info, monologue requirements, standardized tests, etc.) and then we stored all correspondence and printed information about the school in the back of the pocket. Business cards from admissions officers, programs from productions we saw, etc., all went into the pockets. Monthly calendar pages were in the front so when we opened the binder, we would see the current month and what was due when. We also had a giant dry-erase 4-month calendar for planning audition trips and keeping track of deadlines. Nothing slipped through the cracks, so I guess our multi-method approach worked okay! :)</p>

15

<p>We are low tech. We did a binder with a seperater for each school. Printed out audition requirements, audition schedules, times confirmations as well as hotel/air reservation confirmations. The first page was a master packing list.</p>

16

<p>Good stuff. Since this is something that you’re looking at for your students, from an instructor’s perspective, I, too, am a spreadsheet fan, but I suppose there are a few things I do differently.</p>

<p>First, with the spreadsheet, I also organised by school, then listed things like prescreen, prescreen due date, prescreen material, all artistic requirements (song cuts, monologue length(s), dance reqs), Unified options, audition dates. Once things were selected (like an audition date), I would bold it. Also for artistic reqs, since I also use Numbers, I used the option to create predefined cell pull down menus with a student’s song and monologue options (e.g. “Pulled” 16 bars, mm. 4-20; Much Ado, Hero, Act III, lines 100-200, 90 seconds, etc), so that I could see a school, see what they wanted, and then instead of going from memory what that student had for options, I could just go to a pull down menu to see their choices and pick the best 32 bar cut, or whatever that school needed. (Did that make sense? If you’re not familiar with that function on Numbers, it’s really great!). I also kept what schools provide an accompanist and if not, what their backtrack requirements were. The spreadsheet was more of a way for me as a teacher to be artistically OCD haha.</p>

<p>I also kept a separate folder on my computer for each student. The folders were organised with:

  • a copy of their sheet music (if I had it digitally, which I mostly do) separated by full song and cuts (since you’re a Mac user, you can cut down songs into cuts using “Print PDF” in Preview- another good function if you’re not familiar), which was helpful in case I got a call that something had happened to the music, and I could just quickly email a new copy or print one without much work
  • monologue copies with any notes from after working them
  • their edited and unedited audition or prescreen videos
  • a copy of their resume, rep list and headshot: this is partly to have for reference, partly to be able to help them edit them if necessary, and partly to make sure they get done in time
  • the student’s recommendation letter(s) from me
  • recorded background tracks (I also keep an iTunes playlist for each kid with these) separated by full song, 16 bar, 32 bar, etc
  • the spreadsheet, of course :)</p>

<p>THEN… completely separately for myself, I keep a running list of programs - as many as possible, anyway - with updated information about the schools (campus info, academic requirements, etc), the program itself (curriculum, info on professors, class size, cut/cut-like systems, etc, etc, etc) and the general audition requirements, along with whatever notes I have that make sense probably only to me haha. I also keep a copy of info from past or current students when possible. This just keeps my brain slightly more organised so that I know how to more intelligibly talk about the programs, or give better informed advice based on what each student is looking for. </p>

<p>I feel like I’m forgetting something, but that’s the general idea of what I personally do. I’m kind of a control freak, so I’m also an organisation freak. If I think of anything else, I will surely post it here. MTCoachNYC- you already know you’re welcome to get in touch any time :)</p>

<p>Also on a separate note to parents, I notice that some of you have had your kids fill out an “audition reflection” or something similar (and/or a “visit reflection”), and I think that’s a REALLY good idea. Make an immediate pros/cons list, or similar, so it’s fresh in your mind, then make another one later based on research, etc, and I think once the time comes around to make a decision, it will likely help. Similarly, making a preliminary pros/cons list before the audition (and/or visit) might help inform the student of questions to ask or discussion points about that specific program (for the interview, or otherwise).</p>

<p>Hope that helps some.</p>

17

<p>MTCoach- that was amazing. So much good information. I’m sure I’ll PM you for more information about this and tips. I’ve decided this year to be a lot more hands on so this kind of information will really help ME to be more organized.</p>

<p>How do you go about encouraging your students to be more organized? How do you promote self-motivation and a sense of independence in the process?</p>

18

<p>Glad it was useful to you! When I talk about how I do things, I feel like I just ramble on (and on…and on…). </p>

<p>I think the answer to your questions are sort of one in the same, but also really complicated…so I’ll try to somehow simply it. I guess I keep them organised by keeping myself organised. Some kids have super involved parents and some don’t, so there are varying degrees to which I have to take control, but in general, I give a kid a list of things to do and when they need to be done by, and try to give them reminders or check in to review the list along the way. I feel like as long as I’M organised and diligent, they’ll be able to do what they need to do. The second question kind of goes hand-in-hand with that answer because you can sort of start to feel what the kid needs and how independent they are. I started to type more here and realised I was going to drone on and on again, so I’m instead going to send you a PM later on!</p>

19

<p>I love spread sheets too, but I was low-tech on this one. Binder with a separator for each school (we only did 5, so I guess this could get unwieldy if you had 25). For each school we created a “summary” page with info for Admissions (what needed by what date), Audition (what needed by what date) - we just taped the pertinent part of the printout right to the sheet so we could refer to the exact wording when needed. We recorded when we sent things. I guess I felt that if I had too much detail on a spreadsheet, some of the important info might get lost in the shuffle because I was so proud to fill in the boxes!</p>

<p>The front page (created after acceptances received) is a simple cost comparison (Tuition - Scholarships - mom & dad’s part = student loans needed) with the pluses and minuses of each school listed underneath.</p>

<p>The best piece of organizational advice I have is to DO YOUR RESEARCH AND CUT DOWN YOUR LIST! (What better way to be organized than to have less to organize?) Make a list of your criteria/ultimate goals from this process and stick to it! Don’t do “panic shopping.” I feel like this will just cost extra time, money, and stress when decision time comes.</p>

<p>I see a lot of talk about hiring a coach…this is why. Yes, they can help you work on monologues and song choice, but ultimately you are paying for their advice to help narrow down what YOU want out of a program, where you are a good FIT. It’s sort of like hiring a wedding planner…can you do it without them? Sure. But sometimes we just keep reinventing the wheel. With the money I see some people spending on application fees, plane fare, etc. it seems money well spent. We did not even go through an MT agency…we were lucky enough to have a former MT grad who helped coach our son. He knew where his strengths were and what programs would be a good fit from working in the industry. He cut our list down to 5 based on the criteria we were not willing to compromise on. And he ended up being very right - three out of 5 accepted! Do your research. (End of sermon.)</p>

20

<p>I’ve been through this process with both of my kids, a nephew, and several of their friends. The thing that consistently surprises me is how much help the kids need to find the information they need from college websites. This isn’t quite an organizational tip, but more of a warning. </p>

<p>I found out that I couldn’t just say, “the next step is that you need to look on the college’s website to find the audition requirements.” They needed A LOT of coaching before they could do this successfully. For all that they’re so tech-savvy, they didn’t seem to have the patience to dig through the layers of pages. Even the college’s home pages would stymie them; they just didn’t know where to start. And they’d get frustrated pretty quickly, too.</p>

<p>So, I recommend that you plan to spend some time side-by-side navigating through college sites until the kids become familiar with the key words to look for and how the sites are organized.</p>