<p>As a mom of a junior I have been lurking for awhile but now want to dive in! Could anyone give an idea of the timeline of senior year. I feel some urgency for next year because I notice most of the auditions and unifies are happening this month, which is smack in the middle of her school's theater season. Her performances for her school play are always in late February. Is it possible to have your pre screens and admissions and live audition done before this month? Or are auditions offered into March? Thanks so much for any input!</p>
<p>First of all I would let your school know when Unifieds are scheduled and hopefully they would avoid that timeframe (usually early Feb). If they are a strong theatre school they would respect that need. In addition, while possible to do earlier auditions (many hold them in Nov/Dec/Jan) the potential for February audition needs is quite strong. So as much as you can do to prepare your Theatre director for this reality, the better. If you enlist them in writing recommendation and being involved now, they might have more ownership of the process next Feb! Also knock that SAT/ACT thing out soon so you aren’t worrying about all of that on top of audition videos, applications, etc. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>My daughter leaves for Unifieds today (LA) and is also in the throes of Our Town. Tech day/Dress rehearsal is Saturday! Somehow these kids figure out a way to make it work. Her theater teacher is making wonderful allowances for my daughter being gone and reducing her stress level. </p>
<p>Unifieds happen this month but on campus auditions are from November through March. My S chose all on campus auditions so the first thing we did was narrow the search for a college down by driving distance. He completed all applications by Sept, and most of the prescreening videos, so that he was sure to get his choice of audition dates (to satisfy my carefully crafted audition schedule). We scheduled them is such a way we believed he would have some early decisions and this worked out. After a few decisions were received he reevaluated the colleges and withdrew from 3 of them. So…long story short there is a way to be done or have minimal auditions at this time. He had 1 on 2/1 and his last is 3/1, but if we could do it over knowing what we know now I think he could’ve been done in January. I think it depends on how many schools she wants to audition for. </p>
<p>She should be reading plays now…monologues in my opinion were the hardest pieces to chose. </p>
<p>Good luck on your journey, you won’t regret it!!</p>
<p>My D was in the same boat last year as a senior, as well as several of her friends, and they simply did not audition for the winter performance, also held each year in February… The reality is that there are just too many audition dates that month. </p>
<p>I see others somehow worked in out so didn’t mean to sound harsh. A contributing factor for my D and her friends is they were also in show choir and that was also the same time of competition season, which affected scheduling as well. </p>
<p>My D auditioned for 17 schools - sunmitted 18 prescreens - she was Done by Feb. 1st.(for the same reasons- school show Feb. 22) </p>
<p>Make school list
Become familar with their websites --REMEMBER: you have to apply twice- once academically - once artistically.
****APPLY THE MINUTE THE WEBSITES GO LIVE - some in july most Aug 1st<br>
It can be done.</p>
<p>Things to do now!!
- Finish sat/act by june
- Take ap sat 2 test by aug
- Write 7-8 essays by august
- Select 4 monologues and songs now -16 and 32 bar each and learn them well
Golden age pre 1960
Rock
Broadway contemporary
Braodway classic
Strong ballad
Uptempo
5.prepare to to record prescreen videos in july/august
Optional: - Attend a summer program to ready for auditions- shake out nerves in front of auditors- there are other benefits- pm me
- Sign up for Online college prep- this allows child to attend Moonifieds in November - many schools are represented - allows for some final auditions some live prescreens.- if ur not sure what this is PM me. </p>
<p>Ditto what iammtmom said. My S chose NOT to audition for fall musical at school so he could devote prep time getting ready for auditions - as well as do two auditions in November. Same goes for Jan/Feb school productions. SChool productions are fun, but perfecting your MT skills and dealing with all that goes into, applying to and auditioning for college should take precedence (yes, I know many kids did both, but the stress can be overwhelming). DEFINITELY get SAT/ACT done by June of Junior year - do a second one no later than September of Senior year. Spend summer after junior year woodshedding for prescreens - MORE SCHOOLS WILL BE REQUIRING PRESCREENS FOR 2015-16 entrance. For my S, I played personal assistant - searching for information, scheduling, keeping him on task, etc. - while he did all the “work” to keep up at school and hone his MT skills. It really is a part-time job, and while other kids may be able to take on this role, my S would have had difficulty keeping all the balls in the air. Fill up your checking account. It’s an incredible roller coaster ride that will be over before you know it.</p>
<p>My daughter’s high school’s big annual musical is also ALWAYS the third week of February. She is a college freshman now. But last year she was cast as Mama Rose in Gypsy in her senior year, which was a total dream role for her (and her last chance before falling to the bottom of the food chain again) so she wouldn’t have given it up for the world. It was NOT EASY with all the college auditions. But by the time rehearsals started we knew her audition schedule and let the director know. He worked around it. But she was pretty overwhelmed, no doubt about it. What she probably SHOULDN’T have done was another musical at a local youth theater in the Fall, because she missed some Fall audition dates that would have made things a lot easier. She did NYC Unifieds. But she did give up her a cappella groups, regional choruses, and dance classes for a while senior year. Something HAD to give. So yeah, be as prepared as possible as early as possible. Have your list of schools. Know what their requirements are. Pick songs and monologues. Get coaching if you can. Study for SAT’s. Read CC. You are ahead just being here. </p>
<p>Many people do their auditions at campuses and avoid the Unifieds. Some terrific schools don’t even attend the Unifieds and offer a lot of on-campus auditions. There are audition opportunities at many schools in the late fall. Also, Unifieds take place in several cities, and if you have a conflict for New York, maybe you could do Chicago or LA. So if there is a definite date for a school production, look at the calendar and block out the performances and tech week, then see what the options are for avoiding. Bear in mind that after a production kids are usually exhausted, and after Unifieds kids are also usually exhausted. Also that it is cold and flu season, and some kids have really strenuous academic schedules senior year. There’s a lot to do. You are very smart to start thinking about it all now. </p>
<p>Some of the monologue and song selection can best be done in the summer. Likewise application essays. A light class schedule senior year can be easier to achieve with a summer school class (or community college or online).</p>
<p>Some thespian festivals in the summer have an audition component that can give great experience and even bypass prescreens later on. Check into the SETC which I think is in March – something I wish we had known about during my son’s junior year.</p>
<p>Momofnine, you can definitely make it work, as long as your daughter knows what she’s getting into and has good stamina. My son’s winter musical was in February last year; he auditioned every weekend in January, plus NYC Unifieds; he had a weekend off, then his final audition on February 9th, with tech week for the musical starting the next day. Three of the leads in that musical were auditioning throughout rehearsals, so the director got their schedules up front and they made it work. He did one very early audition (October, for Muhlenberg) and two in early December. One thing he found was that the “bookend” auditions were his best, not the ones packed into January or at Unifieds, but that’s an individual thing for each kid. Look through your daughter’s list for schools that offer audition days prior to Christmas; that helped us a lot, and my son got into the two December schools, which were at the top of his list. It’s smart of you to think about this now! :)</p>
<p>I agree with LuvMTs suggestion to get the school involved as soon as possible. Son is from a big state with a small population, and is the only student in his school auditioning for college MT. His friends, teachers and school drama director all feel they have an investment in him and are very supportive. He is cast as the lead in this year’s musical, but the drama director and he planned ahead so his recent trip to Chicago Unifieds did not disrupt rehearsals too much. He also was in the school play first semester, which I discouraged him from doing, but for him it was essential. My stress level was peaking due to all the time spent on the play, but each student is different and needs to gauge what will work best for them. My most important piece of advice is to read these threads and ask questions. I knew nothing about this process a year ago, and now I feel like a para-professional!</p>
<p>And are you really a mom of nine?? You will need to start drinking…</p>
<p>Our son decided not to get into a BFA program directly out of High School. He looked into where he wanted to go, looked at the Gen-Ed classes required in that particular BFA, then loaded up on those classes at a Junior College. He concentrated on his college auditions without the stress of that interfering with a fun Senior Year. This all had a lot of upside. He only had to take one Gen-Ed class when he got into his BFA program. The University took all of his credits and he came in as a sophomore as far as the university was concerned. We paid 82 and 92 dollars an hour at the JC instead of 292 dollars an hour at the University. He worked at home, saved money, and got some life under his belt before diving into the full University experience. He is older than his class and was able to better endure the rigors of a big-time BFA program. Even as a senior in High School he made a very mature and professional decision about his theatre training. He looked at it as one long process to get to a top professional stage. A bit of the down-side is that he would be getting ready for his senior showcase this semester if he had gotten into his preferred school a year earlier, but he doesn’t look at it that way. Many at his school started somewhere else first anyway and ended up spending 5 years for their undergrad. Having a long-term vision is key.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone! This is great advice and confirms a lot of my ideas. Not going to be an easy year, but I am strangely excited! And yes, I do have nine kids, all single births, all my husband and mine, and range in age from 21 to 2! Number 3 is the theater kid, a girl. </p>
<p>Mom of nine – was your D at Interlochen last summer?</p>
<p>I second what prodesse mentioned about SETC (SouthEastern Theatre Conference) - usually around March 6-8, this year in Mobile, AL. My S went to Louisville, KY last year as a junior and the experience was invaluable. He auditioned for 100-ish (?) schools (got a prescreen waiver for the school is auditioning for on Saturday), participated in tremendous workshops. Got terrific feedback and tips. Great “practice run” for his senior year. Keep visiting this site. Folks here are awesome.</p>
<p>Yes she was! Did you have someone there?</p>
<p>Yes! I think we had lunch together – my daughter is Devon. Yours played Elle Woods, right? We should keep in contact as we go through this next year.</p>
<p>Is your d doing a summer program this year?</p>