<p>In the interest of having real stories to share with way too overthinking applicants:</p>
<p>Curious about any past specific examples of:
1. You got into a school where you thought the audition totally bombed at or
2. You didn’t get into a school where you thought everything went perfectly and all the buying signals were there and expected them to be prepping to name a scholarship after you? :)</p>
<p>Can anyone (parent or applicant) who has been through college auditions before comment with their own experience and be as specific as possible? I’ve read plenty of general advice on not reading too much into audition room comments, or lack of comments. I get that. However, specific examples will be more likely to actually be listened to than generalities without the specifics in the heat of the moment by a 17-18 year old over-thinker who 5 minutes ago walked out of an audition at a school they would kill to be at. </p>
<p>Thank you so much in advance from one that is at the moment in the trenches. Ask me this same question next year. :)</p>
<p>My daughter was disappointed with her first audition. She had some vocal problems with her ballad, a song that she usually sings easily – nerves, I guess. The adjudicators asked her to perform it again, and also asked her to make some changes in tempo and interpretation – she followed their directions but was pretty discouraged and felt like she really blew it. Yes, she was accepted and ended up attending that school.</p>
<p>At another school she was actually called back for a personal interview after the audition. She was pretty hopeful about that one, and no, in the end was not accepted.</p>
<p>My daughter had to do a dance in a tiny hotel room at Unifieds, after her appointment started 15 minutes late even though it was the first one of the day! She kicked the chandelier, tripped over an overlooked DVD case and was sure that opportunity was blown - and yes, she was accepted with a large scholarship! Didn’t end up going there, but it was one of the major contenders! Other places she had long auditions, was passed from auditor to auditor and then wasn’t accepted - you just never know . . .enjoy the process and know you will end up where you should be!</p>
<p>Can I please take you both (plus a great PM contributer) to the next audition series? Please keep these examples coming as I’m certain that my daughter is not the only one overthinking and sweating the small stuff.</p>
<p>My daughter was auditioning at one of her top schools. A third of the way through her 32 bar ballad, a real signature song for her, she heard one of the auditors say to the other “She doesn’t have it.” Daughter freaked quietly to herself, felt thrown off for the rest of her audition and was sure she was toast. Accepted with a large scholarship. Another audition , auditor was effusive in her praise, particularly with regard to my daughter’s voice and song selections. Enthusiastically invited my daughter to a call back with the head of the vocal program. My daughter was rejected. Moral: don’t read anything into anything, just do your best at each audition and then move on to the next. Applies to college auditions, auditions for school shows when in college and after graduation when auditioning for work.</p>
<p>My daughter’s voice cracked during an audition for one of her top choice schools. She was mortified, but kept her cool and apologized to the adjudicators. One of the adjudicators explained to her why her voice cracked, gave her instructions on how to prevent it from happening, and asked her if she’d like to try it over again. Using the adjudicator’s tips, D was able to complete the song. She wrote the audition off as a learning experience, not really expecting an offer, but she got one and is a very happy freshman at that school. I wonder if she would have received an offer to this school if she had a flawless audition, or if she was able to capitalize on the opportunity to show how she handled stress and instruction.</p>
<p>D waited eagerly and in terror, after an audition…she thought she’d done well at first but as the days went on she remembered one detail and another that horrified her. When she was accepted (and only then!) she remembered that her auditor had invited her to an accepted student day after the audition-- a pretty clear sign! But she completely forgot that part until after she knew she was accepted.</p>
<p>I think auditions are like car crashes and acts of war-- the adrenaline gets going and you’re focused so entirely on what you’re doing every second that you can’t really process anything else. Add that to the fact that it’s impossible to read the auditors and you have…no basis to make any guesses on, at all!</p>
<p>I have a friend who went to Chicago Unifieds. After the audition, the faculty at one of the schools there told her: “Sometimes we want to jump over the table and offer a student a position in the class on the spot. But we can’t do that because of a technicality.” She didn’t get accepted.</p>
<p>I’m still in high school, but once I had to give an interview for this middle school I wanted to attend (it’s pretty awesome). When they asked me to describe myself, I froze up, stuttered, and ended everything with two sentences, then said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know anything else”. I thought for sure I was going to be rejected, buuuut they ended up accepting me. I didn’t go there, though. Didn’t want to leave my best friend at my old school, haha…</p>
<p>Last year my daughter had an experience at her first audition that utterly convinced her that you just don’t know, until you know on paper!</p>
<p>We traveled across the country to a school that does not go to Unifieds. Absolutely gorgeous school…with a great program in MT. She felt the audition day went really, really well. She connected easily with both the faculty and the students she interacted with. The director of admissions came up to us (after D had been part of a prospective student-only question/answer period) and told her that her question was one of the best he had ever heard, and that “she was the kind of student they want and needed”. This is at a school where academic acceptance and artistic acceptance are totally separate. We got home to find a personal email from the director of the MT program, praising her audition and saying how delighted she was to have met her (this is all unsolicited!). Because she auditioned in early fall, they would tell her about acceptance (both academic and artistic) by mid-December. At that point she could be accepted (1 or 2 would get that) or deferred until later in the process. All signs looked positive. We were super hopeful for an acceptance, but felt like a deferral was more likely…on December 15th she was rejected artistically. On December 20 she was wait-listed academically. She eventually was accepted academically, but didn’t attend, as she was accepted other programs for MT. So even a personal note from the director and a very personal conversation with the director of admissions was any indicator of what was coming. </p>
<p>Here is another kicker in all of this…her BF applied to same school, but not for MT. She was salutatorian, crazy involved, etc… my daughter had great grades but not a 4.0…her friend was also wait listed, but eventually rejected. Just goes to show that there are “surprises” whether you are applying as an auditioned candidate to college or not!</p>
<p>We harbored no hard feelings against the school…and mourned knocking it off the list…The best thing about that experience was that it showed daughter that there actually is more than just the audition under consideration…and no matter how much the “guy in the room” likes you at that moment, you just don’t know for sure, until you know on paper.</p>
<p>Great thread, and I’ll bet all of these stories feel familiar to many here with years of being around auditions!</p>
<p>I assume that in most MT programs the final decision is made by a group rather than an individual. If so, I’ve been on enough hiring committees to know how common it is for one person to send clear signals to a candidate only to later be overruled by the group. I’m guessing this is the reason so many experienced adjudicators work hard not to send any signals during an audition.</p>
<p>I am constantly amazed by the level of bravery our artistic kids display every time they walk into an audition room. Such courageous kids will surely be hugely successful in whatever they ultimately pursue!</p>
<p>I am so appreciative of everyone that took the time to respond. These specific stories do sound so familiar (except I don’t know the outcome for my daughter yet) but the feelings, overthinking, instant doubt, delayed doubt, potentially misplaced confidence etc. all loom large at the moment. It has to be so tough on these kids and I agree that they are courageous to put themselves out there like this. I’m in awe of it frankly.</p>
<p>In the stress of the moment when a kid comes out after a day of auditioning, the last thing they want to hear is “you never know” either when they feel like they did poorly or even as a word of caution if they feel that it went well. But these examples give some teeth to the wisdom and make it more believable. I’m going to suggest that my daughter reads this thread before she sets out for her three remaining auditions or starts to hear back. This is good stuff. Thank you all!!!</p>
<p>A good friend of my daughter, who is from the west coast, flew to Chicago and stayed with us for Unifieds. When we saw her after one of her (acting) auditions, she basically said the audition was a life changing event because of how much they talked to her and worked with her on her piece. When she came out after 15-20 minutes, everyone waiting in the hall figured she must have been accepted since audition slots are 5 minutes. She felt really good about it and felt like she really connected with the auditors, but she ended up being rejected.</p>
<p>A month later, she she came and stayed with us and I took her and my daughter to another (acting) audition. She came out and said it wasn’t her best. But it was good enough because weighted with the other factors that this school considers in addition to the audition, she was wait listed and eventually accepted. I met her for lunch last week when I drove another friend to this year’s audition and she said very clearly that once you are accepted, you are accepted and there is no difference if you were accepted in the audition room or if you were accepted off the wait list. She is in her element and very happy!</p>
<p>Like we said, don’t over analyze it. Maybe they had heard enough, maybe he didn’t like the song, maybe that song has been overused. Who knows why? Don’t worry about it. Sounds like they enjoyed his second song. ;)</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies. I know there is no point in reading into any of what happens but it’s hard not to. I need to try to be less involved :)</p>
<p>On the one hand:
At an on-campus audition and interview, she was told “I like the way you sing”, and later, at Chicago Unifieds was recognized by the same faculty member, who stopped her for a chat about how the auditions were going. Rejected.</p>
<p>On the other hand:
During an audition at Chicago Unifieds, the monologue part of the audition was troubling. D was stopped several times, was asked to repeat parts of the monologue. Various suggestions were offered. It felt like nothing she did was right. Wait-listed, and ultimately accepted. (And enrolled, and VERY happy.) :)</p>
<p>What a great thread. I have to send my D and her friends here to read this. All of them are quietly freaking out, and meanwhile all working on their HS spring musical. I don’t remember my audition process back in the 80’s being so stressful! Fortunately she is academically accepted at her number one MT school, so she will go there and major in something else if she doesn’t get accepted into the MT program. We will still be attending her other auditions just for the experience of auditioning, but all in all, I feel for these kids and this process.</p>
:)</p>