<p>Hello!
I'm a senior from Portland, OR and planning to audition for MT programs this winter. Seeing as my family is in a bit of a rough place financially with the economy, I can only afford to audition for my schools at the Chicago Unifieds; no other on campus auditions. The problem is I live across the country from all the schools on my list, and it would be virtually impossible for me to fly out almost every weekend for an audition. I've heard from several people that some schools don't consider students at Unifieds as seriously, and suggest to add several on-campus auditions into the mix. I was just wondering if anyone had input as to whether or not this is true, and if I will be okay just attending Chicago Unifieds? If I am academically accepted to everywhere I applied, I should be auditioning for 10 schools. I'm just really worried, because I feel like everyone else is getting an opportunity to audition on campus. I just want to make sure I get in to at least ONE school!
Thank you so much for your feedback!</p>
<p>Hey legallyblonde,
You need to pm me. I also live in Portland and my daughter is a freshman at NYU Steinhardt! We did Unifieds in Chicago and a few campuses last year. I don’t think you need to worry about only auditioning at Chicago. Many students we know were accepted into programs from there, my daughter was accepted into 2 of the 7 she auditioned for. You need to plan who you audition for very carefully, and make sure you have a mixed list of schools; those who are well known, those not as much, those who accept many and those who accept only a few. Also be sure you soon send in any prescreens that are necessary. Go for all three days, and I recommend arriving a day early at least. Also, know that both Michigan and Roosevelt do auditions on Sunday, a dey before most.</p>
<p>If you pm me with your email address, I can send you a list of all the schools that were there last year. Depending on whether you audition for any schools that use 1/2 day amounts of time (Carnegie Melon, Boco, maybe a couple more) you could probably fit up to 12 into your time, although it will take some finageling with your schedule. With 7, my daughter had lots of down time.</p>
<p>I think who they don’t take as seriously are walk-ins, primarily because they already have so many prescheduled to choose from, so I would advise getting all your stuff in and scheduling all ahead of time.</p>
<p>Make sure you also have on your list at least one nonaudition school where you know you will be accepted, even if it is a BA program that puts on musicals. Use the lists on CC to help you find some. Many of them are as thorough in training as are BFA’s. Have you considered adding Southern Oregon, in Ashland, onto your list? They have a new minor in MT, and you know you will get great dramatic training there. It would be an excellent backup. You should also look into auditioning oncampus for Central Washington and University of Utah, who are fairly close and have extremely well developed BFA MT programs. Look them up!</p>
<p>Feel free to contact me for lists and any info.</p>
<p>Auditioning at Unifieds is not at all a disadvantage–the schools would be wasting their time if it was! There is a forum that you should look at in the Theatre/Dance Major forum that discusses this very issue! The link is: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1228851-advantage-auditioning-campus.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1228851-advantage-auditioning-campus.html</a> </p>
<p>I am a freshman at Ball State University, so I have just gone through this hectic time and if you have any questions about your college search I’d be happy to help!</p>
<p>I think the only disadvantage to Unifieds as others have noted is if you happen to get sick that weekend. We are from CA and had to limit to Los Angeles Unifieds. My D has gone thru the process twice. First in '08, where she auditioned at Unifieds and was accepted to all of her programs. After deciding where she ended up just wasn’t a good fit for her, she left the first program and reauditioned at Unifieds again. This time she got in as a transfer to all but 1 of the schools. Interesting to note that she was admitted both times to walk-ins that she did, and is in fact now attending Penn State where she was a walk-in audition. The only on-campus audition she did was UCLA as they are close to us. We also did not do any campus visits until after she was admitted and had narrowed down those she was most interested in. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Thanks for all your input! Christie2, I’ll definitely pm you to get more information about the schools that were there. And I’d love to here about your experience at Ball State, taylor 11! It’s definitely one of my top choices. Here’s the list of schools I should be auditioning for:</p>
<p>Ithaca
Webster
Syracuse
Emerson
Hartt
Montclair
Penn State
Ball State
Ohio Northern
Point Park</p>
<p>As far as academic admissions go, are most schools a little more lenient to students applying for Musical Theatre? My grades and test scores are pretty impressive, but I know Syracuse requires 3 years of a foreign language and I only have 2. Do you think that’s a big deal?
Thanks again for all your feedback!</p>
<p>Hi again legally blonde,
Do pm me, as my daughter wants to know if she knows you! After all, the Portland tehatre world is pretty small!
Anyway, yes, if your grades and classes and test scores are up there, I think you will be fine with 2 years of language at Syracuse. My daughter had 2 years also, and although she didn’t apply to Syracuse (which I loved, but felt too big for her, and then she ended up at NYU!) we had some other schools where we asked that question, and it did appear that they weren’t as stringent with kids going into theatre.</p>
<p>Your list looks very balanced as to competitiveness of auditions. If you pm me, I can give you some info on specific schools that may not apply to everyone reading this thread.</p>
<p>My D was accepted for Webster at NYC Unifieds but she is now attending Syracuse. I believe she needed 4 yrs. of Science and only had 3.5 but was accepted academically to SU. She just couldn’t fit it in her schedule Senior year. You will be fine only auditioning at Unifieds. Good luck and definitely have 1 or 2 non-audition safety programs that you would be happy to attend. Every student should!</p>