<p>If you have a smart phone, there are apps that can tell you step by step how to get around in NYC ( and other cities). They are very detailed and make it easy.</p>
<p>Depending on where you stay, you will be able to walk to a lot of places. If you are visiting NYU, it’s very easy to get there via subway. It’s all safe and lots of folks will help you. Cabs are available into the city from La Guardia - plan on around $40, or you can take subway or train from JFK and then a cab if necessary.</p>
<p>Subways are so easy and fast. You buy a metro card at the entry to the station at a kiosk. You can load it with however much money you want. The easiest way to figure out which subway to take is to download a NYC subway app (free). The metro card also works on buses. Cabs are expensive but if you are running late - or feel unsure of how to get to your destination, they are really helpful.</p>
<p>All NYC Unified auditions are within a block of each other, including those schools who ar not officially part of Unifieds (with the exception of NYU and other NYC schools such as Pace, Wagner or Marymount). If you are not auditioning at those schools and you are able to book a nearby hotel (I highly recommend), once you get to your hotel you will not need to do anything but walk. NYC is a big walking city. The audition venue is only a little over a 1/2 mile from Times Square. FYI, 20 blocks = 1 mile, so if you are going from 32nd Street to 42nd Street = 1/2 mile. It takes more or less one minute to walk a block, so 10 blocks = 10 minutes. Avenues are longer distances than streets.</p>
<p>We stayed at the New Yorker for NYC Unifieds, which, for those not in the know, is ALSO one block from Penn Station. My daughter had 5 auditions while we were there (she could have done more). We got there Wednesday night and she did NYU on Thursday, Emerson on Friday, Pace on Saturday, and Montclair and CMU on Sunday. NYU and Pace were not officially part of Unifieds. We tried to keep it leisurely and stress-free. My daughter, who is not a morning person, scheduled NONE early. And for all auditions (except Pace, which was on campus), I took her there, stayed for the parent/intro talk, then went back to the hotel (right across the street). I get more nervous than my daughter and thus I make her nervous, so it’s better for both of us if I don’t hang around. She just came back to the hotel when she was done. We saw a couple of shows in the evening. It was not at all crazy like I expected it to be.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me about how many schools one can expect to realistically audition for in a weekend at Unifieds…specifically NYC. I am just beginning this process and have no idea. Also…do you think it lessens your chances of getting in if you don’t audition at the College?? Thank you for any input!!</p>
<p>^^The quick answer is that it is easy to fit in two auditions per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. As noted elsewhere, NYU, Pace and Marymount Manhattan hold their own auditions at their campuses so you could potentially fit these in as well outside of the unified dates. We fit in 8 auditions in 5 days. Last year, NYC unifieds were 3 days and we had auditions on the day before and the day after these specified dates. We arrived in NYC the night before auditions and the first day was my D’s only half day due to the time difference (we are from west coast). That first day she only had one audition that started at noon.</p>
<p>The next 4 days had an audition in the morning with a different one in the afternoon. The one school that needs some tweaking on your part is BoCo b/c they have the monologue and dance calls in opposite parts of the day (if you sign up for the morning monologue - you get afternoon dance and visa versa). But they let us move the 2 parts to one afternoon once we got there. Very accommodating.</p>
<p>We didn’t do any auditions at the school campuses other than the NYC schools mentioned above. These were full days with a lot of waiting.</p>
<p>Nordeal, We only did two auditions on a Sunday last year. We could have fit more. For most kids we know they don’t like doing more than 3 or 4 a day, just because of anxiety, getting to and from, etc. But I know of some, girls especially, who did more than 4 a day. I would say early, early research will help you plan. First, some schools come right out and through conversation, website, emails, etc mention that they strongly encourage a student to audition on campus to appreciate all the school can show them while oncampus. In those cases where they actually state this, I would definitely try to do the oncampus trip. Our experience found most schools mentioning they were satisfied with either type audition and no preference is given for acceptance. We even know of a few students who did walkins at Unifieds and were accepted at competitive programs. After you get those answers, monitoring each school’s site to get audition dates, prescreen deadlines, time slots, possible callback time slots, etc will help you schedule NY auditions early on in a pretty organized fashion. We even had to make a switch from pm to am for Syracuse, in NYC the same weekend as Unifieds in '12, and there was no issue. As folks have already mentioned, most of these auditions are within a block or two of each other usually, so it is logistically possible to schedule several auditions over the weekend. It will probably depend mostly on your child’s comfort level. Our son could have added more - and he admitted this afterwards. But our feeling was less was more and it was a fairly stress free weekend in that regard. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>You can do more then that too. I did Chicago but research how long each one takes because some it’s like come sing and act 5 minutes leave and come back and dance. Some do that without a dance call some schools (Syracuse, Emerson, BoCo) make you schedule out a block of time like 4-6 hours you have to stay in that area. Then you can also sign up for walk-ins. I ended up doing like 6 auditions the first day, 5 the second day, and 2 the last day (both block ones). If you plan early it is certainly doable.</p>
<p>Like abparents S - my D realized she could have added more to the day. We originally scheduled 2 the first day 3 the second day 1 the third day and 1 on Thursday morning before leaving. We did ours in Chicago and with this schedule it left plenty of room for walkins. My D usually gets nervous about auditions but found she really enjoyed Unifieds. Had we known she wouldn’t feel stressed by all of it we would have scheduled more. However i do know people want to stretch it out just in case of illness-since all of this is during cold and flu season. I think the one thing I would have done differently would be to make sure my D had lined up a couple auditions in the fall. It can be very unnerving waiting for all of the replies.</p>
<p>New to this whole process…Are there walk ins at the LA unifieds? And it occurs after applications are due for most schools. How does that work?</p>
<p>@bisouu: many schools with MT programs have application deadlines of March 1, April 1, May 1, and some even later, so there is still time after Unifieds in February to apply. Some schools can get exceptions to deadlines for “special admissions status” such as atheletes and fine arts performers.</p>
<p>The only 2 schools there was an issue for us in Chicago was BOCO-they did not take walkins because they were past their application deadline and Utah - you were not eligible for scholarships because you needed to apply by December 1st. That was also the only school other than instate that we didnt get financial aid. I’m guessing because of the deadline.</p>
<p>I’m a parent and so this is all new for me; a few questions -is there one location better than other ones for auditions? Do all the participating colleges go to all the sites? Do you have to have an application in to a college you are interested in before auditioning at unifieds. Thanks in advance</p>
<p>@gotdramainov - here are what I believe are correct answers to your questions:</p>
<p>Is there one location better than other ones for auditions?
The largest number of schools attend Unifieds in Chicago.</p>
<p>Do all the participating colleges go to all the sites?
No, in the sense that “participating schools” is a very loosely definied idea at Unifieds, since many schools hold auditions in the same location or nearby during Unifieds that are not “official” Unifieds members.</p>
<p>Do you have to have an application in to a college you are interested in before auditioning at unifieds?
Not for all schools, but you should check with each school well in advance, it varies from school to school. For example, there will be schools offering walk-in auditions that do not require an application in advance, but by no means do all schools offer walk-ins.</p>
<p>Gotdramainov – first got to the Unifieds website and see the lists of schools scheduled for each location. Then go to the website of each school your child is interested in and check their individual audition requirements. You sign up for auditions through the school itself. You will also find schools that schedule auditions at the same time/city as unifieds and that will help cut down on your travel. There are also walk in auditions if schools have room. Each school is different as far as application and audition requirements so read, read, read!</p>
<p>Just beat me to the punch, EmsDad! ;-)</p>
<p>Hi there, new to this whole process as well. Can someone also recommend a hotel in Chicago?? My S and I are planning on attending unifieds in both NYC and Chicago and hoping to pick up some walk-ins while there. I’ve read a lot on CC and can’t really come up with a good number of schools he should audition for. We had a list of 24, took it to 17, but then after reading several posts, I just added back 4 as “safety” schools - still audition schools, but a bit more affordable, and don’t participate in Unifieds. So glad this site is available!!!</p>
<p>Folks on this board highly recommend The Palmer House (that is where Unifieds takes place) You can find good deals… another recommendation is tot stay on the executive level where food is available and the elevators are less crowded. We did not do Chicago so someone else might chime in here…</p>
<p>Recommended for NYC is The New Yorker… can find deals there as well… a block away.</p>
<p>We absolutely loved the New Yorker. Loads of atmosphere, great views, and surprisingly quiet. It was a very short walk from Penn Station, and we could walk to the Empire State Building and Times Square, in addition to all the places where my son had auditions.</p>