How difficult is it to do two on campus auditions in the same weekend if travel between the two schools is five to six hours? I realize this is a case of YMMV, but wondering if anyone has ever attempted anything like this, and whether or not they found the schedule / travel impacted ability to perform well in both or one audition (i.e., just too exhausting)? Did anyone attempt this if the schools were closer together, say two to three hours apart, and both auditions went well? Thank you for your feedback.
It will depend what time each audition is and the length of the first one. Additionally, time of year and weather considerations possibly affecting travel between the two. Most would want time to do more than just the audition, in my opinion, so that may impact your timing as well.
We didn’t do this so I can’t claim personal experience. That said, I would plan to be at the school from 8-5 on your audition day. If the other school isn’t too far and your child has the stamina for two really full days, I think it’s doable. You may want to see the show at one or both of the schools as well which would lengthen your day(s).
I did this (and have done this for summer stock auditions, and have done similar things as an actor on a non-union tour–going from a travel day straight into a show) and don’t recommend it. Even if you’re strong mentally, this is very hard on your body. If you can do one audition on a Friday and one audition on a Sunday (with Saturday as your travel day), that’s a different story.
My D did two weekends of this sort but the schools were not as far apart as your first example. She did Syracuse and Ithaca on campus in one weekend. She did Penn State and CMU on campus in one weekend. It was all good. Admitted to the first 3; priority-waitlisted at the 4th.
We did this for Indiana U on Friday and UMich on Saturday (or was it Saturday to Sunday? First UM, then IU?.. Hard to believe those once-crucial details are fading). It was last day of January into February. We drove from Bloomington to Ann Arbor after the audition so S could get a decent night’s sleep before the next audition. We drove in snow flurries in Indiana as it was getting dark and awoke to icy road conditions in Ann Arbor with freeway backups (Always recommend arriving the night before for winter auditions in the midwest). Fortunately, we allowed PLENTY of time for these possibilities and everything went fine. Others driving longer distances into Ann Arbor that morning had more difficult road conditions to deal with. S handled both auditions and school visits with no problem. H and I were glad to knock two off the list in one weekend.
D did this for Syracuse and NYU this past fall. She had the morning audition at Syracuse on a Friday and the afternoon session at NYU on Saturday. Our only issue that weekend was the blinding snowstorm we had to drive in to get to Syracuse. A five hour trip was a 13 hour journey.
My S did this for Point Park and Baldwin Wallace on the early November auditions. (We drove overnight from NJ as he had all-state choir in Atlantic City) arriving in Pittsburgh early am for the Saturday morning audition then drove to BW for the Sunday morning. Worked out well he was admitted to both.