<p>With auditions and interviews? Well, you all survived! Maybe to help those preparing for next year . . .</p>
<p>What was the best part of the whole experience for you? </p>
<p>And what would you have done differently?</p>
<p>Done with BU last Saturday. BU did a very nice job with the on-campus auditions. For what it is worth, this is how I would rank the on campus audition experiences </p>
<p>Top group:</p>
<p>CMU
Syracuse
BU
U of Arts
Juiliard </p>
<p>Middle Group:</p>
<p>NYU
Ithaca
Hartt
Rutgers </p>
<p>Bottom Group:</p>
<p>Purchase</p>
<p>Glad we tried to do as many on-campus as we did. Don’t know that i makes a difference on acceptances (I guess we’ll find out) but it is just a more comfortable experience. </p>
<p>Best part was hanging out with my daughter. Drives could be tedious but there was a fun roadtrip aspect to this that I’ll miss.</p>
<p>Finally figured out how to submit the last application today (The New School). He did a walk in audition at Unifieds and they emailed yesterday that they really wanted his application-we thought it was submitted but had skipped a part.</p>
<p>The best auditions he had were:
Hartt (on-site)
Montclair
UNCSA (Unifieds)
Julliard (on-site)
University of Utah (Unifieds)
The New School (Unifieds)</p>
<p>The middle group:
Point Park (in Atlanta)</p>
<p>The bottom:
Shenandoah (on site)
Emerson (Unifieds)
U of Arts (Unifieds)</p>
<p>He came out of the first group feeling even if he did not get in, he had a great audition experience. The middle was not bad, not great, just felt like he did ok, more about himself than the school. The last group, he walked out of each one feeling that he was not getting in to their program.</p>
<p>Loved the time spent with him, as ActingDad said previously… Probably would have done this the same way, basing it around Unifieds definetely limited our choices but was less stressful in the long run.</p>
<p>I still technically have one more to go (University of the Arts London), but if I get acceptances, I’ll withdraw.</p>
<p>The best part of the experience for me was:
Even though I was too tired for having spent hours on a bus, even though I hadn’t slept all night because I was staying at a hostel right next door to a party (and with some loud people sharing my dorm), and even though I was feeling terrible for getting a rejection the day before, and even though I had the worst headache and no aspirin, and even though I didn’t rehearse at all before the audition: I found that if I could just ‘let go’ I do great things in the moment. (Maybe that’s why all of this happened haha. I had to think that I had no chance at all to let it go and to trust myself).</p>
<p>Also, finding out where I stand as a young actress was great. I saw people who are far worse than me and people who are much better too, so I’m happy I’m ‘in-between’.</p>
<p>If I could do anything differently, I would have probably been bolder with my monologues from the start. And maybe I would have gone to Unifieds to do walk-ins, just because I got such a kick out of auditioning that it made me want to do it more times.</p>
<p>Oh, and of course, an important note to future international students: I would have memorized a monologue in my native language.</p>
<p>The auditions I felt the best about where they made me feel like a individual rather then just another auditioner regardless of getting a callback or not.
CMU
JUILLARD
U OF MINN.
MONTCLAIR (walkin acceptd on the spot)
CALARTS
DEPAUL
ROYAL WELSH
WEBSTER
The schools that had the most confusing and negative auditions.
CENTRAL SCHOOL OF SPEECH AND DRAMA
PACE (the worst)</p>
<p>We’re done…except for the waiting. </p>
<p>Best part of the experience: the road trips for sure (and train rides); seeing and even staying overnight with friends and family at some of our destinations; learning more about what my son liked and wanted in a program as he experienced each school, often for the second or third time. And best part by far was that feeling following an audition where the auditor(s) gave real feedback and made it clear that they had genuinely heard, seen, and appreciated S’s work. That experience feels valuable even if he doesn’t end up being accepted into those programs. He is SO glad he put himself out there and was able to go through a college application process that was direct, physical, competitive, and more than words on paper–for him, this is a better way of showing who he is. And he’s done a good job of thinking through what will happen if he doesn’t get into a “dream” program. It’s been an irreplaceable exercise in facing reality and thinking through choices.</p>
<p>What would we do differently? Hmm, I keep reading about schools that he didn’t consider seriously, and I can’t stop second-guessing the final list. Wish we had looked more thoroughly at some conservatory schools (e.g., UArts) or some newer programs like Coastal and the New School. Also, we chose not to hire a coach, and I’m not bothered by that decision, but I do think that the one advantage of a coach would have been getting advice about which programs might be looking for his “type.” As a parent, it’s hard to find a way to get that information without an inside track.</p>
<p>Biggest surprise to me has been his good track record at academic/non-auditioned acceptances, including scholarships. We first started down this road back when S was a high-school freshman and we thought he needed a boost in the college process as his academics didn’t seem strong. What began as an exploration developed into a passion. He is committed to this path and to pursuing it in college, whether it’s a BA or BFA, auditioned or not. Having other options hasn’t changed that for him, but it’s been a pleasant surprise! </p>
<p>He just closed out his final high school mainstage show, and I can’t believe it’s the same kid I’ve seen on stage before. I know that some of the growth and maturation is a direct result of the audition process. How many chances do high-school students get to test themselves, over and over again, and push themselves independently? He did this on his own, and I’m blown away by how much courage and self-direction is required for kids to go through this process. All of our kids deserve some kind of medal! 
It’s been transformational and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.</p>
<p>Times3</p>
<p>I have followed and enjoyed your posts ever since I started reading the Theater/Drama Majors message boards. </p>
<p>Your ability to not judge the process as good or bad; but rather enjoy the moments at hand is truly inspiring to me. I am going to work hard over the next two years to keep that mindset and live in the now. </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Love the idea for this thread! My D is a junior and I feel like we are just ramping up. We have our schools picked out for the most part but my D has a lot of work to do over the next 6 months reading plays and choosing monologues and rehearsing.
We appreciate hearing all of your thoughts on how to manage this crazy process, from the logistics side to the artistic side. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I was just thinking about this over the weekend. I was cleaning out my evernote notebook about colleges and was looking at the original list (about 20) compared to the final whittled-down list(only 6!). </p>
<p>I loved watching my son “own” the process. He knew in the end exactly which schools he thought would be a good fit and why. And then as we have gone through the audition process, he is really beginning to think about if the “TOP” schools are worth the debt in case there is no merit or not enough financial aid. He really has grown up so much through this process! </p>
<p>In August, I was just in downright denial about him going FAR away to school. (The closest one he applied to is seven hours away), but as we went though this process, I know it’s the right thing for him to do. I will always cherish the time in the car and on the road!</p>
<p>I try not to second guess the schools he didn’t apply for - which is only made worse reading about them on CC - I really should stop. But he chose what he chose and knows why and feels good about it, so I cannot complain. </p>
<p>He applied to 2 schools on campus - Wright State and Carnegie (which were both WONDERFUL experiences), and the other 2 in Atlanta - NYU and Webster. Then he has one local LAC and already had an acceptance to AMDA from his junior year.</p>
<p>So now he has his last HS musical coming up in two weeks, and then I’m not sure how to fill the time until decisions (good or bad) start rolling in… Actually, I believe they will all be “good” in the sense that I am confident that God will put him in the right place for him :)</p>
<p>I have to say, the parents and students on this board are some of the most incredible people I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know. I am so happy I have a theater kid( I have 5 so the odds were good one would be a thespian coming from a huge arts family), and I came on this thread to get ideas, support, advice for my HS Junior who is just putting together a list. The information I have gotten has been invaluable and I feel as prepared as I anyone can be in this process, to head into audition season next year. My DS just finished his last “big” play of the year and it was so amazing to see how much he has grown over the years. You can really tell how much he loves acting when he is on stage.</p>
<p>I wish you and your kids the best as they start hearing decisions in the next few months. Thanks to all of you…you are all so inspiring. I wish more of CC could be as wonderful as you all are.</p>
<p>WOW - so many more positive experiences than negative. Spending time seemed to be key for everyone. Unfortunately, my D and I (she was not looking at theatre programs) did not have a great time doing the campus visits - I think we went to 12 colleges. It seemed loaded with stress from the get-go. So I can’t imagine adding in the audition piece to that, especially doing something like unifieds.</p>
<p>So, those beginning the process for next year will surely love reading this thread. As others said, this is a great group of parents - mostly laid-back and accepting of their role as chauffeur, banker, sounding board, whipping post, and of course “biggest fan”.</p>
<p>What a great thread…I definitely have learned a lot from the ccers…but will share now with you our best/worst…of the process/auditions/acceptances.
First of. let me say that my D has known that she wanted to be in the theatre since she was 10…and we have two sons in college now, one in liberal arts, the other in business school, so we took on the task of preparing her along with her coaches and teachers as early as her freshman year. She has done the majority of the work and we are very proud of her, as she makes her decision.
Best college audition experiences in terms of the actual audition from Best to mediocre…did not really have any BAD experiences
Albright college–BA theatre and costume design
Rider University–BA theatre performance
Hartt-BFA Actor training
Rowan University–BA in MT
Pace—BA international performance ensemble
Stockton college.–BA theatre performance
We feel blessed that she got into every school she applied and are now weighing the programs and the talent/merit financial aid offers.
I think that patience and preparedness was key in her success. good luck to everyone still awaiting their offers.</p>
<p>My son is a senior in a BFA program this year, yet here I still am on CC, re-experiencing some of the emotions of spring of 2009 through you all. I must saw this is a really great group of parents this year. Congrats on the acceptances so far and best wishes on results to come.</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-I400 using CC</p>
<p>I asked the “what would we have done differently?” at the dinner table tonight. Since my S applied to both MT and acting programs, our answers might be a little different than a pure acting major.
- Cast the net a little wider. We were pretty selective in the schools to which we applied, with a gap year as a backup plan. I think we could have maintained selectivity and found more schools.
- Paid more attention to the pre-audition DVDs. One of the pre-audition DVDs just did not show off the work well. We were too rushed in getting it out, so did not have a chance to redo.
- Better contrast between the ballads and the uptempo song selections. The uptempo song in particular was not a great choice. I also was less than thrilled with some of the monologue choices - one had profanity, another was just sort of painfully intense. We deferred to his excellent youth ensemble of a theatre to which he belongs. They were terrific in so many ways, but I’m not sure if the decisions of a cutting-edge urban theater were suited to every audition. I would have wanted to discuss this more with them.
- My S said he would have liked to do some drop-in auditions at Unifieds, just to have a chance to share his work in less of a high-stakes audition. He felt it might have calmed him a little for his top-choice auditions.
- We’re still waiting to hear from his top choice school. I think I would have done that audition on campus (rather than Chicago) if we had to do it all over again. I think my S “shows better” if the auditioners have time to talk to him for a minute or two.
- One thing I think we did do right is start early, attending an Arts College Fair in both his sophomore and junior years. We also started college visits in the summer between sophomore and junior years.
- One we did not start early enough were the college essays. Some of my S were really great, some more boilerplate. I wish we had those done in the summer, both to raise the quality and to free up time during the school year.</p>
<p>MARBLEHEADER- thanks for starting this thread - been meaning to write - our sons played opposite each other in the 8th grade Godspell at MVMS before we moved!</p>
<p>Oh my goodness - now I see the “korz” part in your name! Was there anything better in the world than those two boys using those canes like lightsabers! They must talk on Facebook, because we were just talking about you guys and which schools you were applying to (impressive list!).</p>
<p>Best wishes to The Most Holy one - lol! Hope he hears from his top choice soon.</p>
<p>My D has been done with auditions for a couple of weeks now. I am sure we’ll have more advice once the results are in, but for now:</p>
<p>*We would have coached her to cast a SMALLER net, eliminating many schools that were not an academic match.
*She did three on-site auditions. I think the benefits of that were so great that I would probably spring for more on-site auditions.
*Choose a BA safety that does not have a BFA program. Now we realize that based on how much she wanted a spot in the audition BFA, it may be hard for her to be at one of those schools as a BA student, i.e. Minnesota, Rutgers. Wish we woulda thought of that sooner.
*Find more Performance-oriented BA programs to add to the mix, as opposed to liberal arts programs. Late in the season, we discovered BA programs where auditions are required to get into upper level acting classes. Those may offer the best of both worlds!
*Win the lottery. ;-)</p>
<p>Also, by the way, her most successful audition was a walk-in at Unifieds and it may turn out to be the best fit!</p>
<p>skewlcounselor - could you please share some of the BA programs you mention here:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I have one more callback in late March, and then I will be completely done!</p>
<p>I think the best part of this process was surprising myself with how independent I could be. I mean, I would have been unable to do this without my parents, but just in terms of the lack of information or support where I come from, I was really proud of being able to follow my instincts on audition material and on choosing schools, and being outgoing enough to do walk-ins. It was a really eye-opening and positive experience to have right before leaving for college.</p>
<p>I am also really glad that I had the pleasure of working with the monologue coach that I did who really taught me some skills that I can use in the long run, and became a sort of surrogate theatre-dad throughout the process. Choosing to go to Unifieds was another wonderful experience (excepting a few inevitable bad moments,) and I am also really glad that I found these boards – you have all been immensely helpful, and I cannot really express my gratitude.</p>
<p>Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda’s include, surprisingly enough, preparing a song – as a straight theatre actress, I never realized how many of these schools ask you to sing! I also would have avoided doing more on-site auditions. I personally just did not like the tension at these, and it is so easy to fall in love with a school but then have to possibly suffer rejection by the department. I also think I should have applied to the schools that I eliminated after thinking them too costly, because now that I am going back after Unified walk-ins and applying, I have missed some really great scholarship deadlines, and I am kicking myself a little bit.</p>
<p>This is all so helpful for people coming up! This Forum really is a terrific gift to people going through such a difficult and confusing process.</p>
<p>skewl, if it makes you feel any better, UMinn’s BA really doesn’t feel like a second fiddle to the BFA. The school is so big, and the programs are designed so separately, that the BA students really “own” their department and do great things. We know kids who have gone through the BA and felt really great about all of it, even knowing there’s a BFA going on simultaneously.</p>
<p>I’m going to post a really important FYI I just thought of in a new thread about safeties. Thanks for making me think of it.</p>
<p>It’s so interesting how people’s experiences are so different! I think my D realizes more on-site auditions might have helped her, because Unifieds for her was so tense, but then Aspiring says it was the complete opposite for him/her. Isn’t that fascinating!</p>
<p>We didn’t do everything perfectly. I wish we could have found a professional admissions coach, or I would have pushed using Skype, because I think my D would have felt less alone and nervous in her preparation (even though she had some wonderful directors and mentors who did help her). But at the time she made the decision she made, and we are happy with her results. She really only was rejected by reaches with extremely low acceptance rates; I truly couldn’t say that she should have gotten into those schools, or that coaching really would have helped. I just think she could have felt more confident, and that would have been nice.</p>
<p>If she hadn’t applied to a few reaches, she wouldn’t have had rejections. Well - as much as I might have wanted to spare her the stress and the sadness, I am proud of her for taking a few risks, and I can see that she survived the experience. My older D, who was one-and-done with an ED school, told me at one point during college that she probably could have stood to get some rejections, because she really had no experience with it when she was starting to apply to internships and jobs. Ha - these theatre kids sure find out what rejections feels like at a young age!</p>
<p>Rejection – yes, that’s such a big part of the life of a performer. On the other hand, athletes have the experience of losing. One of my “drama mama” friends pointed out that in theatre, you get the rejections up front when you don’t get cast, and in sports, you get the rejection somewhere along the line when you or your team fails to win.</p>