@bsc57 ~ I have heard good reviews about Saramonic mics at about $75. No first hand experience but someone recommended it on another forum… and of course halo lights.
@AmarilloTX Thanks for the info! I have seen the Yeti on another site but I am not familiar with that brand…or microphones at all! And I wasnt sure if it was more for band/instrumental or vocal…We did purchase her a ring light for this past Christmas as she was auditioning for summer programs and I was told they were a must! She loves it! She even uses it for better lighting for her makeup and for Tik Tok of course!
LOL.
@prarie I too am worried about the amount of applicants now that the travel is getting taken out of the audition equation…sigh…along with this years class possibly taking a deferment or gap year…Trying any way possible to increase the ever increasing odds!
The turn towards video auditions will be helpful for your kids. Learning how to do a good video audition early is so important–almost all of my professional work that I’ve booked has come from projects that I was first seen on video for. Additionally, this is a great way to make auditions more easy to accomplish (financially and logistically) for families who might not ordinarily be able to manage the amount of travel for auditions required to go to school for performance.
Hi- trying to choose between two coaching companies. PYP and MTCA. any insights? thanks
@conpar39 we were very happy with MTCA- you can read our final decision post from the class of 2024 for more details.
@CanadianMTgirl - I certainly can’t argue with what you have experienced in the professional world, but I can say we had many video rejections via pre screens and ended up with some amazing results from live auditions. I feel for the families/kids who the video submission is best and final as the video does not always show the complete artist. At least thats what we experienced last year and I think many would echo the random outcome of the video process. I’m not trying to scare anyone and of course if its beyond your control -it is what it is, but I don’t agree that as far as college admissions goes that the videos will be helpful to all kids ( at least as it relates to acceptances).
my honest opinion is that the 2025 audition season will be like no other ( & I thought 2024 was insane, but I think the pool of applicants will be higher than ever and the ultimate decision being from a video…I guess I’m just old fashioned & consider theater a live art form??
just my 2 cents
My D (BFA - Theatre Tech) had a mix of in-person and Skype (Nov/Jan/Feb) or Zoom (March) interviews. She felt much less confident about the Skype/Zoom interviews than she did with her in-person interviews at the time, although her acceptance results ended up the same. However, she pointed out yesterday (when we were talking about how crazy this year’s admission season will be) that everyone will be on equal footing with video/Zoom auditions and interviews if that’s the predominant admission M.O. this year. Capturing their energy and personality on video is definitely a skill that can be mastered!
@NYYFanNowMTdad I disagree but understand where you’re coming from. I’ll reiterate that I encourage high school seniors to look at this year as a great opportunity: whereas nerves, sickness, etc. might get the better of them in a live audition, the video audition is a chance to submit a take as close-to-perfect as they can get it, and it gives them the chance to start honing an important practical skill that they will need in the real world.
There is merit at looking at it as a skill building opportunity and it definitely levels the playing field a little bit more. Because of the situation this year, most current MT students had to film coursework, final scenes and auditions/callbacks for next year. We really scrambled to pull together an appropriate space in our house and equipment do that “professionally” at the last minute but my son worked through the challenges, learned a lot and now it’s something he’ll feel more confident about going forward. This upcoming class of applicants has several months to figure it out and start practicing and I feel confident they will rise to the challenge.
For the record I agree this is a skill that will be needed going forward No argument here
I think this will help some auditioners and hurt others. I believe jit would have hurt my D chances. That said she will need to work on that skill going forward, no doubt
Just as 1 example I know Baldwin Wallace MT did video pre screens 1 year a few years ago and HATED it , so they went back to in person auditions only - will be very interested to see what they do this year
Luckily my daughter has been pretty comfortable with zoom classes/coaching sessions. She is doing Ithaca College’s summer intensive which is all online so we are hoping to gain some footing in the way of video submissions. I personally am hoping they do more online submissions. My employment requires that I quarantine after returning from travel. Depending where you travel dictates how long. I am sure the few days in NYC for Unifieds will require a 2 week if things dont change by then…Then add in short jaunts to campus’ if their auditions are in person and I will probably not have enough time to cover all of the time off.
We had a similar experience to @NYYFanNowMTdad re differences between prescreens and live auditions. I think part of it for my D was more time to gain confidence. I will say I think we rushed our prescreens a bit because of the pressure to get everything in on time and how stressful it was for her. However, she filmed a short musical during the last portion of school (after all auditions were completed) and she really was able to get her energy across thru the screen. I think all those auditions made a world of difference. So all the kiddos who feel nervous like mine did, find every opportunity to be proactive and practice. Do the mocks, tape test auditions, do a program if you can to get outside, seasoned advice, use a coach if you can. Don’t wait but also don’t rush either. There are some schools you have to submit to get a slot (like Baldwin Wallace) and others you can take a little more time. It doesn’t have to be all at once even though the process can feel like it makes sense to do so, if that makes sense. Sometimes the spreadsheet becomes too much of a control freak and you have to make sure the artistry takes priority!
Greetings all - first post here but I’ve read lots of interesting tales on CC re this daunting process. Thanks for all the insight. Looking for ways to narrow down the large number of schools on our D’s list so here’s a question. Which, if any, of the audition-based schools out there give meaningful weight in the MT admissions process to someone with really high grades/test scores? Or is it more a case of - once you reach a minimum academic standard (e.g., B average) everyone is on the same footing and it’s all based on the audition?
Thanks for any info/thoughts you might have on this!
@MTdad7777 - welcome!
NYU, Elon, BU and Northwestern, & University of Miami are the ones most often noted as weighting grades equal to( or at least considered “alot”) the audition. I have also heard that Syracuse send the people who they want based on audition then admissions makes the decision.
Michigan has a minimum test score and GPA listed on their website, but if you pass their prescreen it is said that you meet the minimum threshold and if you did not academically qualify then you would not have passed the prescreen.
My D had a high GPA & just OK test scores and she was academically accepted everywhere ( except UM- pre screen). but we didn’t overall have a great pre screen result so we will never know the true answer there- its not like they tell you when you get the NO…unless the school has separate acceptances academically & artistically
Also there is a rumor out there floating around that most if not all schools are going to be test optional in light of the pandemic- at least for 2025. but then again we found that even the test optional schools used test scores in determining Merit awards…
So like everything in this process there’s no truly uniform response. sorry it cant be more clear, there are others on here who are advisors like @soozievt who can likely give you more definitive info , but I hope this helps a little.
GOOD LUCK weaning down the list, this is one area that I was an epic failure at 
Hi @MTdad7777, if my memory serves correctly, Syracuse and Michigan’s MT BFA processes involve academics more than most. I believe we were told that at Syracuse the artistic application is judged first, then the group of artistic admits is passed along to the academic folks to make the final decision and offers. (My D auditioned there but was not offered admission despite terrific grades at the top public HS in our state, and an outstanding ACT score…so we assume it was an artistic decision). My D didn’t make it past prescreens for Michigan so we will never know, but I recall that if you don’t have a certain standard of academics they won’t even consider you artistically. For the rest of the schools my D auditioned for, academic achievement came into play mostly for honors programs and scholarship awards. If you’re lucky, you can score a great MT program and even if the overall academic strength of the school is not, shall we say, Ivy League, you can still be placed in an honors program and get a sizable scholarship. Happily, this is what happened with my D. Best of luck to you and your D!
Like @BoogieMa and @NYYFanNowMTdad said, Syracuse makes the artistic decision first and then passes it on to admissions for a final decision, but it’s not an all or nothing proposition. My D ended up not being accepted into the Syracuse MT program, but she was accepted into the school itself with an undeclared major.
U of Michigan has a different (and lower) set of criteria for the School of Theatre, Music, and Dance than their other schools (you have to apply to each school individually with what is called a dual application). My D applied EA to the School of Arts and Sciences and then applied RD to STMD. At the audition they did say that if you passed the prescreen it meant that you met their academic requirements (I think the website or live audition invitation said the same thing because I remember reading it somewhere).
Elon also makes decisions based on academics although if you do the early prescreen submission you can pass that without knowing if you made the academic cut. We know someone who passed her prescreen and did the early Elon audition in November only to find out she was not academically accepted in December. She got her “no” from the department within a week.
U of Miami was very clear during the auditions that if you did not meet the school’s overall academic requirements you were not getting in regardless of how talented you are.
FSU is starting to get a little more stringent with the academics as well, but the department does have some weight in the decision. If you are an audition based major but don’t quite meet the general academic requirements for admission, you are wait listed pending the artistic decision and are typically required to start in the summer. Academically wait listed students who are not accepted into the program are not given the option/link to pursue at BA at FSU in the rejection email.
To be honest, test optional makes me nervous. I read an article today that some schools are saying that if two applicants are the same, but one submitted scores and the other didn’t, they’d chose the one with the scores. And, honestly, I don’t blame them. If I were an admission counselor I would wonder why a student either a) didn’t take the tests or b) didn’t submit their scores… In my opinion, test optional just makes the whole thing even more confusing; if they are truly going to help class of 2025 students they would make it test blind. All of my D’s friends that are rising seniors are all still taking and submitting test scores because it doesn’t really feel “optional”.
@jupdancemom Unfortunately not all of the students were able to take their SAT’s and may not be able to get in to take a test before the deadlines. I think they are trying to level the playing field a bit…Its not really fair to judge based on whether you were able to take the tests or not. I know Baldwin Wallace was already test optional but if you didnt submit your scores then you had to write an additional essay. I think that would be more fair…
2bsc57 I agree with what you are saying. My D was trying to take her SATs one more time to up her merit $ and it was canceled 3 times. Fortunately the school worked with us on her package. I was saying that I don’t really think making the test optional is really optional; if some kids are able to take or retake it and others are not but they’re ultimately still considering the test when making admissions or scholarship decisions, is it really optional??? If they’re trying to level the playing field make it test blind this year Or, do what BW does and there is a supplemental essay or packet in place of submitting test scores.
@jupdancemom Very true with the “optional” I wish they would just scrap the whole idea of the testing. Both of my kids are in the top 10 of their class but tend not to test as well for any of the standardized testing. Actual tests for their classes they do just fine…essays they do just fine…Put them in one of the higher stakes tests and they get brain freeze! LOL. Luckily my sons college went more on actual GPA for scholarships! I remember being so stressed during his application process. Now I look back on it fondly and just laugh and think about the road ahead with my daughter…Ugh…
My D was accepted ED to Syracuse for acting and did not submit SAT or ACT scores. Scores are not needed for audition based programs at Cuse. If you apply For a non audition program as an alternate choice then they will be needed. D received merit aide based on high academics and I also believe that her interview with admissions helped with aid.
@dramamama3 did your daughter wind up going to SU? My daughter is on the fence about applying there. It is not super far from where we live so that is attractive but she has heard mixed things about their program…