Planning for Next Year's Auditions and Debunking Myths

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>As this has been a very long year full of growth, lessons learned, and not a little anxiety trying to figure this whole process out, I wanted to share some of what we learned this year, and how that applies to some time honored myths that are always kicking around. It is my hope that this post will save some angst for next year! So here goes:</p>

<p>Myth #1: When you audition can determine whether you get in
For what it's worth, my D auditioned at two schools early action; one she got in and one she did not. She also auditioned in mid to late February for two schools; one she got in and one she did not. She also auditioned at a bunch of schools somewhere in the middle of the process. The timing of auditions did not seem to have any affect on whether or not she got in.</p>

<p>Myth #2: You can figure out whether someone got in by what happened in the audition room.
Quite simply, you cannot!! Try not to drive yourself crazy. Whether your child is worked with , barely spoken to, complimented generously, etc, has NO bearing on whether or not they will get in. My daughter got into schools where she was not worked with and she also got into schools where she was worked with, and she was rejected from schools where she was worked with. She was told in one audition that she was 'very very talented' and she did not get in. You cannot figure any of this stuff out so do not try, just do the auditions, celebrate whatever happened in the room and move on.</p>

<p>Myth #3: Thank you's are something that may help you get in.
Perhaps thank you's matter, perhaps they don't. In our case, for the schools that my daughter got into, she did not write a thank you. The school where the person handed her a business card during the audition, and my daughter promptly wrote a thank you--she did not get in. Again, you cannot figure any of it out.</p>

<p>Myth #4: If you audition at NYU Tisch and you are not asked what studio you are interested in during the interview, you are probably not getting in.</p>

<p>My daughter was not asked this question and she got in. I worried quite needlessly over the lack of this question during the interview. Again, you cannot figure any of this stuff out so probably best to resist trying. </p>

<p>Myth #5: BFA schools that separately admit your child academically will be a good safety, and BA schools that happen to have theater programs will also be good safeties.</p>

<p>Here's the thing about safeties: Your child has to want to go there to make it a true safety. Just because a school has a strong non-audition theater program doesn't mean your child will automatically love it. Make sure you visit and plan for safeties that your child can actually see themselves at. Regarding the academic acceptance fallback, some kids, if they are rejected artistically from a school, may be turned off from that school and not want to consider going there for something else. And this may not show itself until after the rejections come in. In which case that school is no longer a safety. Know your child and know your safeties well! It will make this process a lot less stressful to have very good safeties lined up while you are waiting to hear from the audition programs. </p>

<p>That's all for now! Good luck to all planning for this next year!</p>

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<h1>2 and #3 I share the EXACT same experience…</h1>

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<p>Oy - my anxiety is already rising…</p>

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<p>I hope this excellent post doesn’t get buried by the time you 2014’ers hit the pavement. Merlehay… you’ll be fine. Serenity now.</p>

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<p>Terrific post! We agree on all counts! For those reading this for next year, don’t let this raise your anxiety - let it lower it. Just do the work. Get your kid prepared and you be prepared. I think the take home message for this post is that you can’t predict a thing - so go out and do your best and then just relax. Don’t read the tea leaves or obsess over what just happened in that audition. Best advise: breathe.</p>

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<p>I will add another myth to this post. Geography. You don’t need to go to NY, LA or Chicago to get an excellent performing arts education. Look at the faculty, look at the program, the connections, the opportunities. That was one of the biggest surprises for me in this process. There are some amazing programs in parts of the country that I wouldn’t have associated with big theater cultural centers. Don’t discard something just because it’s not in one of the “big” cities.</p>

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<p>Great post, kadieblue! There are two other “myths” that you did not address that I would love to see debunked…but I am not confident they can be.</p>

<p>Myth #6: if you don’t see Barbara in a CMU audition, you will not get in. Every year, people (including CMU) say this isn’t true. But every year, it seems like the only people who get in are the ones seen by Barbara (whether they are passed on to her, or start with her). And this year, one of my D’s friends confirmed this was true. I would love to hear from someone who got into CMU without being seen by Barbara so we can put this one to bed. Anyone?</p>

<p>Myth #7: if you don’t get an on campus callback at Pace, you will not get in. Similar situation here…Pace insisted you can get in without a CB, but I have not heard of anyone who has. (Exception here is kids auditioning at Moonifieds…I am talking about people who audition for Pace on campus.). Anyone get into Pace who did not receive a CB?</p>

<p>I think it is inevitable that you try to read what happens in the audition room…how can you not? But the bottom line is that in most situations, you will be wrong, so the best bet is to let it go. My D’s motto this year was “You win some, you lose some.” She came out of the auditions, told me what happened, what she felt, talked about what she could improve, and we moved on. You have to have a sense of humor…because some day, you will look back on this process and laugh. It is so crazy that you either have to laugh or cry, and given the choice, I prefer laughter.</p>

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<p>monkey13, your “myths” seem more like “facts”? You are saying things that are true…</p>

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<p>kadieblue, great post, but can I say I disagree with #1? This was certainly your own experience, but one individual person’s experience can’t always be generalized. I’d talk statistics–it is a fact that a BFA program has limited slots, and that in most programs, these slots get filled as the season goes on. Therefore, statistically, you have a smaller chance of getting in later than earlier. That doesn’t mean that you can’t get in if you audition in March!–my own daughter did. But it does mean that statistically you just have a greater chance earlier. Especially for a BFA program that seeks to ‘balance’ the class based on type, and which is very small, when you audition can matter a great deal. </p>

<p>It’s similar to ED in an academic program. YOu statistically have a higher chance of getting in than RD. Just as with BFA programs, how much of a higher chance depends on the particular school.</p>

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<p>Regarding Connections’ comments on Myth #1 - It depends on the school. Some schools have Early Action or Rolling program decisions. Those programs could theoretically fill their slots for a specific type at an early audition. (Not that they necessarily will, they sometimes use a Deferral if they want to put off a decision to a later time). However, there are plenty of other programs that don’t release any program admissions decisions until a certain announcement date, let’s say March 15 or April 1, or simply a week after the final audition. For those schools, you just can’t be sure whether it helped to be in the earlier or later auditions. Program directors swear they wouldn’t be holding auditions if there weren’t any spots left, but for some schools I too am a bit skeptical.</p>

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<p>@connections, I think my intention was just to illustrate that I too read those posts about slots filling up but yes, in my experience, we had success at both early and late dates. Having gone through it I wished I had not stressed about my D auditioning for some late in the season because the stress turned out to be unnecessary. Obviously early action can be a great thing to do, and I highly recommend auditioning early and throughout the season. But if people are panicking and thinking I cannot get in because I auditioned later, well that was empirically not true.</p>

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<p>I agree with connections with regard to Myth #1.</p>

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<p>Regarding #1, I too would suggest checking with schools about whether or not they have Rolling Admissions to plan your audition dates. We saw a change in acceptance notification policy over a span of 6 years from when our older son went through the process in '05/'06 and our younger son last year. More schools last year were offering acceptances throughout the audition season than years ago, and not just in EA situations. I don’t know that it would make a major difference in acceptance versus rejection, but I do think with some of the smaller schools it could mean the difference between acceptance and waitlist at the end of the season. One school even told my son that if he had been in the previous year’s audition season for them when that school did not use a waitlist, he would have been accepted outright when they made all of their offers. If you read through certain acceptance threads, posts, etc. here you will see which schools offer acceptance throughout the season, whether a student applied EA or not. In these situations, if the program is not higher in numbers for typical class size, we would suggest not waiting until the end of the season to audition if possible. As folks make spring visits to some schools, it’s definitely a question to ask. Do you make offers throughout the season, will this be your policy next year, etc?</p>

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<p>AS to “Myth #7” that Monkey brings up about Pace: I do not know of a single person who got an offer from Pace if they did not get a callback - and that is for both MT and acting. They downplayed it at unifides but it was clear to the students that if they did not get a callback they were not being considered for a spot. This is backed up by the lack of any “rejection” letter or email. No need. You knew. However, my D got a letter from Pace saying she was first alternate for their BFA in FTVC (Film, Television, Voice-overs and Commercials) a new program they do not even have authorization for as yet. She did not get a callback but somehow they are considering her for this.</p>

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<p>When D auditioned for Pace for MT, they were very clear that if you did not get a callback to ‘sing for Amy’ you were no longer being considered for the MT program. For the acting audition (she did both), they were adamant that you could still get in even if you don’t get a movement callback. I am pretty sure that is what you are referring to? The movement callback for the Acting program?</p>

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<p>Parents who have not been involved in adjudicating applicants for positions based on subjective performances (arts- but also other things) may believe that timing is not a factor for auditions, both in terms of the how early/late in the season and how early/late on a given audition day. But timing is always a factor.</p>

<p>Here is a fascinating essay on decision fatigue, published in 2011 in the New York Time magazine. The first time I read, lightbulbs were popping inside my head.</p>

<p><a href=“Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? - The New York Times”>Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue? - The New York Times;

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<p>^^ this is great research and I agree it applies. But, one of the added complications we also experience in the performing arts audition/interview arena is that not all adjudicators participate at all audition sites and/ or dates. So, I agree that some will indeed be vulnerable to the fatigue factor but others may be comparatively refreshed even later in the season. In some programs the head of that concentration sees everyone, but not all programs operate that way so those may be good to suss out in advance. There is also a body of evidence in the psychological memory literature that what happens first and last in a sequence is most memorable- so maybe a good thing is to avoid being sandwiched in the middle of the day? Probably also good to avoid being right before lunch :-). </p>

<p>Again, no “best” formula. As so many of you have articulated so eloquently, every program knows what they’re looking for and need in any given year and the best we can do is encourage our kids to cast a very wide net, see these auditions as phenomenal professional experience, assume worst case scenarios fimancially ahead of time to be emotionally prepared for potentially painful decisions, really pay attention to each program’s application/ audition/portfolio requirements. (be prepared for an electronic pre-screen) and include “safeties” they really want to attend. </p>

<p>I’d also recommend start saving money for all of these audition trips as far in advance as possible and plan to have November through February whiz by. Don’t over-schedule yourselves during this period. Set up a filing system for each program, and get your applications essays completed over the summer!</p>

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<p>Prntosome I to also received a letter from Pace stating I was 1st alternate for the new BFA Acting for Film and also commercial dance and I don’t dance LOL! I did not receive a movement call back but ,they did review my accepted pre screen again!</p>

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<p>MYTH: Without using a professional coach and going to summer intensives/pre college programs you will not get in the top programs (whatever “top” may mean and I know that’s a whole other discussion!!!) We did not use a professional coach and my D did not go to any pre-college/summer intensive programs (she did regional theatre here in our area suring the summer). She did all her auditions at Unifieds in Chicago, and our state does not have a very active Thespian organizations, but we do have lots of excellent regional theatre programs. She was accepted into BoCo, Ithaca, Point Park, waitlisted at Carnegie Mellon and Ball State, and Priority Hold for TexasState and received talent and/or merit or presidential scholarships at every school she was accepted at. I am saying this not to brag but to give hope to those who will be going through this process next year and in the future. There were several times throughout this process that we wondered if she was going to be prepared well enough because we didn’t have the extra money or live in proximity to do all the extra things that people on CC were posting about, such as Moonifieds, summer intensives, etc. etc. So to those of you who are in the same boat: keep your nose to the grindstone taking voice lessons, dance classes, doing local workshops, keeping your grades up, etc. etc. as much as you can and then when you go into those auditions show them your passion for this art! Be proud of who you are and what you have to offer, and you will land where you are supposed to land. Coaches and summer intensives are certainly excellent opportunities, but please don’t feel that without those experiences you are not good enough. You can do it!!!</p>

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<p>Excellent addition momarmarino!</p>