<p>With regard to the Pace myth that you cannot get in unless you get a callback at auditions - we were told this was true except for the brand new program for their BFA in Film, Television, Voice-Overs and Commercials (FTVC). My D auditioned onsite and did not get a callback for MT. But she did get accepted into the FTVC. She had not applied for it, nor had she been asked if she were interested to be considered. I assume the next year will be quite different for this program as it will be up and running (??) and they will hold specific auditions just for it.</p>
<p>Wow - MTCoachNYC - you nailed it. So many kids just think they are getting in to programs just because they have had success in HS. And it is just not happening. There are even cases here that certain kids get cast because the mom is a PITA and the director would rather have her in his corner, than out of it. Poor kids - I feel bad that they will get a dose of reality during audition season, which is hard enough when you go in with both eyes wide open.</p>
<p>I’ve said this before–I disagree completely that when you audition has no impact. When posters say this, they go by their own personal experience: “My D auditioned in March and got in, so therefore when you audition has no impact.” </p>
<p>But anecdote is not statistics. I would hate for a new person to read this and conclude it really doesn’t matter when they audition so they might as well schedule their stuff for late February so they have more time to prepare.</p>
<p>Look at the big picture:<br>
BFA programs accept people starting in the fall.
They have limited slots, often a very small number, under 20.
In many BFA programs, these slots are not based purely on ‘talent’; they are also based on fit, body/voice/looks/type, balance with the entire class, and gender.
Therefore, you will simply have a lower chance of getting accepted if you wait until February or March.<br>
Yes, of course you can get in then.
But you will statistically have a lower chance.
In this competitive environment, do you want to risk that? If your answer is: “Well, my kid is just so incredibly talented and unique that he/she can afford to wait because surely there will be a slot for him/her based purely on his amazing talent,” I would say good for you and good luck.<br>
I just would not risk it. I would want to boost my kids’ chances (or my own) as much as possible, especially considering the very low percentage accepted.</p>
<p>connections: Your post assumes schools admit after each audition. In fact, many do not. Many wait until all auditions are complete before making offers. Therefore, being first or being last has little or no bearing on the outcome. Now, there are many schools that do make offers at intervals in the process. For those schools it is highly likely that they make multiple offers in the hopes of getting a full class. For instance, if they desire 6 boys, they will make as many as 15 offers. It is highly unlikely (although statistically unverified) that this type of program would hesitate to make offers to the men in the last audition any more than they would in the first.</p>
<p>The exceptions come with the programs that make fewer invitations. For instance, there are programs that assume that if they take 10 women, they will make no more than 12 offers and then place a few on the waitlist. Many of those programs do not make offers at regular intervals. </p>
<p>I’ve been at this a long time. We will make an occasional “early” invitation for a potential student. But if another person later in the process was - in our opinion - an equal or better fit and was essentially the same type, we would not hesitate to make another offer. We make only a small number of offers and keep very few on a waitlist. Then again, our classes vary in size from 8-14 so our “need” to reap a specific number of students doesn’t exist. This isn’t true for all programs.</p>
<p>Connections, I think you are right if there are rolling admissions, but if the school waits until all auditions are done before deciding their class, then it might be better to wait. One of my daughter’s coaches told her NOT to audition for a top choice early since they did not have rolling admissions, and it would be better to have more auditioning experience under her belt. On the other hand, same coach said that one particular rolling admissions school historically is a LOT HARDER on their early auditioners than their later ones because they don’t want to give too many of their slots away early. So statistics don’t lie, but there may be exceptions.</p>
<p>Personally I would think the school would be making a mistake by holding rolling admissions. If a top talent auditions for a school, chances are the top talent will wait and evaluate all acceptances before making a decision. I think the same thing could be said for the schools point of view as well.Why give up slots until you had the chance to see everyone.</p>
<p>Where I teach we wait until all auditions are complete before we make any decisions, so auditioning early would have no influence. </p>
<p>RD academic admissions does not complete decisions until middle to late March, and we choose to wait to make artistic decisions on all EA academic admits until we have completed all auditions in mid-February as well.</p>
<p>Like KJGC we aim for a small freshman class… 8-10.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Agree with others that particularly at programs that do not have rolling admissions, and wait until they see all applicants’ auditions before making admissions offers, it should not matter when you attend the audition date. It didn’t for my kid (yes, that is anecdotal, and she got into several places on the last audition day) or for many kids I also know or have advised.</p>
<p>PS, I agree with what Callienne’s D’s coach advised.</p>
<p>That being said, I think it is wise to audition for EA programs if the programs on your list offer this. There are a few programs who do a true EA and it is such a feeling of relief if your child is accepted. Again, it is a risk, but one we felt was worth taking.</p>
<p>photomom5…I agree that EA is a good thing to do as finding out earlier from a school or two can be beneficial. My D did EA at Emerson. Unfortunately, she got accepted academically at Emerson in Dec. but deferred in EA until the RD round for her decision on the BFA which she was ultimately denied in March. But had she gotten in EA for the BFA, she would have had one in her pocket early on, though purposely didn’t make her first audition (Emerson) at a favorite on her list. She did one EA school in Dec. and the rest mostly in Jan. and Feb. with one the first week in March (that last one was BOCO and she got in, btw).</p>
<p>Come to think of it, only one of my D’s schools was somewhat of a rolling admissions one…Ithaca…and also I guess UMich…the rest were not. But even Ithaca and UMich, while making some offers along the way, still decide on a lot of the class at the end of the audition season.</p>
<p>Perhaps some got early offers from Ithaca but I don’t believe they do what one would call “rolling admissions”. At least they didn’t this year.</p>
<p>Right, I don’t really think of Ithaca as rolling in the true sense as some other schools that admit as they go along. But I believe Ithaca admits some in the winter and the rest at the end. My D got into Ithaca in February, two weeks after her audition, but they seem to hold onto many they are interested in until all auditions are completed. Same with Michigan, I think. That’s why I was saying that the schools my kid applied to were not really the rolling kind overall and most notified at the end of all auditions in late March or April 1.</p>
<p>^Yes, Ithaca accepted in “waves,” at least this year!</p>
<p>Re: EA schools, it helps to ask around about each school’s acceptance patterns. My son was going to apply EA to one of the programs that does academic and artistic reviews separately–just wanted to get his academic application in early–and his college counselor said NOT to do it as it’s tougher to get into that school EA than RD. (He applied RD, auditioned at their last date, and was accepted by univ. and program). I know it varies a lot depending on the college, but it’s worth trying to find out whether or not there’s a real advantage to early action.</p>
<p>Times3…you’re right…with BFA programs, EA is not necessarily an advantage as it may be in regular college admissions. Sometimes, with BFAs that have EA, they take so very few in the early round, wanting to not use up too many slots so early in the process. I think the year my D did EA at Emerson, only a few kids were accepted in the EA round for the BFA (though she was accepted academically in the EA round, not that she’d ever attend without the BFA acceptance). However, sometimes with EA, a student can be deferred artistically (my kid was) and some of the deferred kids get admitted in the spring (her local friend was accepted by Emerson that year after the EA deferral). In that sense, doing an EA school has some benefits just in case you do get accepted early, you have an acceptance in your pocket which makes the rest of the season a whole lot brighter. </p>
<p>I had a client one year who auditioned in Nov. and Dec. at a number of schools and did not get into those BFAs and found out early enough that we added a few schools to his original list and it was not too late to apply, and so even a bunch of early rejections can possibly be beneficial in terms of the rest of the admissions cycle.</p>
<p>Lastly, the advantage of one or two early auditions (before New Year’s) is to get some auditioning under one’s belt (preferably not at their first or favorite choices). I’m glad my kid had that one Dec. audition because she changed one of her songs after that audition and was quite successful in her admissions at all the other auditions that came later.</p>
<p>I dont think it matters when you audition matters in terms of earlier or later. However, I will say that in my experience the earlier you audition the less people there are physically at the audition because people did not get in their application for that date. </p>
<p>Also the prescreen can allow you to do what soozievt’s client did and add more schools if you dont get past them and it’s not too late in most cases to apply to other schools, but that does not allow to get experience under your belt.</p>
<p>dg…correct about the prescreens. The whole prescreen thing is relatively new in the past year or two with the colleges that are using them and so now there’s that factor as well at several places. The student I was talking about was a few years ago before most schools even had prescreens. But one of the schools I had him add, is the one BFA he eventually got into and is attending.</p>
<p>My daughter was fortunate to have a selection of which schools to attend. However, she changed her mind so many times, and did not make a final, final decision until all schools were visited. AND she went with the last school she visited! EA would have been a huge mistake in her case.</p>
<p>beenthereMTdad… I don’t think EA (Early Action) is usually binding like (ED) Early Decision. It generally means that the school has a policy where they will act quickly to give you an answer (accepted, rejected or deferred) but you still have no obligation to accept their offer before May 1.</p>
<p>^^^Thanks for clarifying that. I did mean ES. The point I was trying to make is that you really what to make sure you take your time, visit each and every one of the accepted schools (unless you already ruled them out) and make the best decision for yourself!</p>
<p>Bumping this for us newtimers.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I read pages 1, 11 and 12 only. Hopefully, it’s mostly drama- and mean-free!</p>