<p>Thanks, but I don’t think it is. Look, one of the things that gets lost in all of this is that the schools are looking to train the next generation of artists. We aren’t looking for money (although that would be nice), or the next Broadway star. We are looking to keep the art form alive and well. And we will spend time, money and energy rooting out that group. If there is a way to make this work, to give the person from Montana (I have two from Montana actually) or North Dakota an opportunity to study theatre wherever they like, I’m all in. (Montana has a good theatre program, maybe North Dakota does as well, but I’m not familiar with it.) </p>
<p>On a totally separate note, my child is a soccer player. And I am constantly bringing up the similarities between that system of development and recruitment to the BFA program at my institution. So much so that people now roll their eyes, but they are remarkably similar. (I bring this up because Soccer was mentioned earlier in the thread.)</p>
<p>^ It’s still nice to hear the schools’ perspective. Sometimes in the crazy hunt for admission people do forget that schools really do want committed students as much as the students want the school.</p>
<p>Guess how many schools come to Jacksonville, Florida? We drove 5 hours to Atlanta for two regionals and one of those is where my son goes to school now- NYU (straight acting). That’s 10 hours of round trip driving, hotels for two separate weekends, and food for two separate weekends. That did get expensive. I believe it cost less for my daughter and I to go to NY Unifieds for one weekend than it did for the multiple trips for my son.</p>
<p>I guess it is all perspective!! I would have been happy to be able to drive 5 hours for an audition!! Of course living in Hawaii you get used to having to endure a > 5 hour flight just to get to the west coast!! I know that 3 days in LA could have a made a big difference to us in terms of distance to travel. I am speaking with someone now going through the same thing we did - it is not easy. Regarding another Unified location - would any programs care to come to Hawaii? It’s especially nice here in February…:-)</p>
<p>One of my other kids is a classical musician. There are no unifieds, and if you’re lucky enough to get an audition through your prescreening, you get to fly to places like Cleveland and Rochester, NY in the middle of blizzard season. I was pretty happy to hear about the Unifieds for drama!</p>
<p>and to think there was a time where unifieds didn’t exist and people HAD to travel to the school to audition. Best of luck to all the students and parents starting this process. It takes a lot of time and energy, but it’s all worth it at the end!</p>
<p>Makes me want to get out all the receipts for our ‘journey’ last year! I never did that because I didn’t really want to know ; /
17 RT plane tickets (4 free with FF miles)
18 hotel nights (thank goodness for Marriott points)
7 rental cars
Application fees, Misc MT audition fees, prescreen fees for making DVDs, postage, audition clothing/shoes, multiple leotards/tights, many meals out…</p>
<p>AND D did 5 schools at LA Unifieds which was within driving distance.</p>
<p>A crazy time which proved both stressful, yet wonderful, when the offers were made and the decision was final. Believe it will all end up as it should.</p>
<p>“We are looking to keep the art form alive and well. And we will spend time, money and energy rooting out that group.”</p>
<p>I appreciate this remark. Here’s one suggestion you might want to consider, if there is enough interest. Our D (senior) attends a boarding arts high school, and I asked the director of their theatre department about two particular schools that she was interested in applying to that do not participate in Unifieds, and that require on-campus auditions. I asked if these colleges would consider coming to the high school to allow students the opportunity to audition there. Two schools, possibly three now, are doing so this year. Last year I know of one particular college that made this trip and ended up accepting 4 students, and admitting 3 of them. It is hard for students who do not live at home, (we live in Alaska, and many are even from other countries) to attend many on-campus auditions, w/o a parent available nearby to transport them. Most of these theatre students travel by bus to attend Chicago Unifieds together. Just a thought, but there are other such schools and many more talented students who just cannot access some programs unless someone reaches out to them in this way. I think it is a win/win situation for both the students and colleges that are able to do this. BTW, I believe you have one of our fellow Alaskans as a freshman in your program this year…a lovely young lady. My D is a friend of hers. :)</p>
<p>ATLAST, there is a unified BFA audition in Washington State. I believe Western Washington is the host. And, as I said, we will send representatives wherever there are a decent amount of motivated students who are ready willing and able to move out of state. We go to TX each year and have found great students. However, we have also found that there are many, many students who simply do not want to leave TX. I completely understand that, and there are enough students in these large auditions to mitigate the students not interested in leaving TX. I’d travel to Alaska if I knew the students were interested in coming all the way to my institution. (Did you really say that the students go by BUS from Alaska to CHICAGO? Oh my.)</p>
<p>kjgc, I know I’m not alone in really appreciating the time you’re taking to communicate with prospective students & families. And I really admire your commitment to the future of the arts. Thank you so much.</p>
<p>kjgc,
ATLAST was saying that her kid goes to a boarding arts school and that the boarding students go by bus to Chicago Unifieds. The school is not in Alaska. </p>
<p>ATLAST, it must be tricky for boarding school students to attend auditions (I have advised some boarding school students) when their parents do not live nearby. That said, I don’t love the idea of the colleges holding auditions at boarding arts schools because the vast majority of kids, like mine, attend regular high schools that will never have performing arts colleges come to audition their students. </p>
<p>By the way, my niece is a recent BFA in Acting grad and she grew up and went to HS in Alaska. She went to Unifieds in LA and San Fran (or colleges that held auditions in those cities). She landed at UMichigan.</p>
<p>I agree with soozievt. I think the point is to reach the students who are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to go to on-campus or even Unified auditions b/c of their distance and money concerns. Maybe I am wrong, but I assume that the majority of kids who go to private performing arts high schools do not have the same money issues as kids going to public high schools in the middle of nowhere. Don’t jump down my throat - of course there will always be the students at the performing arts high schools on scholarship, and there are some public performing arts high schools. But again, the majority of the kids in the private high schools will likely have the resources to get to auditions. Are logistics more difficult b/c the parents are in one part of the country and the kids in another? Sure. But that’s not the same concern as simply not being able to afford to fly anywhere for auditions.</p>
<p>We have to fly to 6 cities around the country b/c 6 of the schools that my D is applying to do not go to Unifieds. Is it expensive? Yes! It’s crazy expensive. We have saved up for these trips by forgoing vacations for several years. We are fortunate enough to be able to afford it with some belt tightening. I realize that there are many, many talented kids out there who cannot afford trips like this no matter what they forego. These are the kids that the schools are not seeing. </p>
<p>I don’t think there is a good, fair answer. I think the prescreens are a good first step, b/c it allows parents to eliminate trips to schools where their kids are not a good fit for whatever reason. </p>
<p>I also know that, living outside of Boston, we have so far hosted 2 of my D’s friends and their parents at our house so they could have a free place to stay while auditioning or touring Boston schools. No, it’s not enough, but I hope it helped a little. And we have had very kind offers to stay with friends in other cities. Saving the $100 - $200/night on hotels is not the answer, but it helps take the sting out a little.</p>
<p>monkey13 - I think it is wonderful that you have offered up your home. That must have surely helped reduce costs for those families. That may not be the answer, but it is definitely a show of great kindness!</p>
<p>Yes, many of the boarding school students, including our D, are there on scholarships, so there are plenty who do not have the means to travel to many colleges. And yes, it is rare for colleges to travel to her high school for auditions. Definitely not the norm, and we will still be spending thousands of dollars on travel for Unifieds, some on-campus auditions, and many college visits, even with consolidating our travel and with a few schools visiting D’s campus. It is the airfare from Alaska that kills us, and there are no regional auditions nearby. Most of the schools she is interested in will be at Chicago, more so than the other Unified audition locations. We had to eliminate some schools of interest simply based on the fact that they required on-campus auditions and we just couldn’t afford to make any more individual trips to do that. I can empathize with the financial sacrifices in this crazy college prep process, as we too have foregone any family vacations for many years, have another D in her third year of college, and have made cuts here at home wherever possible. I am grateful for the (very few) schools that are able to come to her school to audition. But I’m also resigned to the fact that every penny I make is going towards the cost of our kids’ education for many years to come! Can’t think of anything else I’d rather invest in. :)</p>
<p>Like alibabba808, I feel that adding a day (and more schools in attendance) to the LA auditions would help the folks in the West. We live in Oregon and chose to attend Chicago Unifieds because of that extra day to fit in more auditions. We were lucky with weather in Chicago last year, but in other years, like alibabba808’s D’s year, the weather nearly halted their travel . . . and others’ plans who were flying via multiple flights through multiple cities. </p>
<p>Again, like alibabba said, it’s all about perspective . . . being able to drive to several on-campus auditions within five hours of our home would have been great. My daughter loves her program and is thriving, so I have no regrets, but in the spirit of sharing . . . our financial situation and extreme distance from schools precluded us from going to some on-campus auditions for programs that would have really been a great fit for my girl. If we would have been able to do that, we would have taken some schools off her Unifieds list.</p>
It’s still nice to hear the schools’ perspective. Sometimes in the crazy hunt for admission people do forget that schools really do want committed students as much as the students want the school.</p>