<p>I take it @MTmom2015 that the choir director is not from school? Usually the school website will tell you if it needs to be a teacher or not. I found most often it was both an artistic and school letter. During my D’s time in HS the drama teacher/director changed and my D did shows elsewhere. We used her AP teacher and choir director for school letters. We also used a director from outside school and a voice teacher for some of her artistic letters. </p>
<p>Thank you, The choir director is at the school. S also has a private voice teacher who is a prof at a local university and has worked with several community theatre directors. :)</p>
<p>My D asked her ASL teacher to write the LOR for academics and had 2 artistic LORs from a director and her voice teacher which were both outside of school.</p>
<p>It seemed last year that every school had a slightly different requirement for LOR’s. Just added to the fun! 8-} </p>
<p>@addicted2MT – I think we are going to get along very well. Spreadsheet started – 16 schools selected. </p>
<p>Could not have made it without my spreadsheets! They are a living breathing tool!</p>
<p>As far as LORs, I’d recommend trying to get 2 academic and 2 arts. This covers just about any combination the schools would look for. And definitely ask the teachers by September. They understandably get very annoyed when they receive a ton of requests in November with December deadlines!</p>
<p>If you can make room for it, bring a humidifier! The rooms are very dry with higher heat. And we asked for a room up on a higher level as some auditions were happening on the lower level hotel floors (especially at LA unifieds) And, there is a Target right a few blocks down from Palmer house, so anything you need is right down the road with in walking distance. Good to stock up with water and snacks. We had very little down time from audition to audition, and it was nice to grab snack and H20. The rooms are small, so if you have the ability to get a bigger room, go for it! Also, we brought a sound machine. Trust me, it helped drown the lovely soprano next to us at 5am warming up!</p>
<p>You can get a small portable humidifier at any drug store that you just use a standard water bottle with. We had it running 24/7 at the Palmer House. We also got a Double/Double - and pushed the beds to the walls - helped the room seem a bit bigger, and gave my D a space to warm up/stretch for dance calls. We preferred our room on the 11th floor that meant in a pinch when the elevators were really jammed up - we could use the stairs. It also meant we could use the additional bank of elevators that only served the L-11th floor. (We got placed on that floor by chance - but in the end, we were happy with it!) Rooms are small - but they have the biggest hotel closets I’ve ever seen - which was great for stashing suitcases and shoes, keeping the small room less cluttered.</p>
<p>Humidifier has been added to the list! Check!</p>
<p>So as the mom of a high school junior, I thought I was ahead of the curve because I’m PLANNiNG to start a spread sheet. Now I feel like I’m already behind, lol. Trying to organize our list and whittle it down from about 25 schools to something manageable. And the list of what I’ll need for auditions already includes: humidifier, sound machine, gerbana scarves, secret of thieves spray, dance clothes, music, mp3 player, sanity? Anything I’ve forgotten? My hat is off to anyone who’s gone through this already, don’t know how you did it. Not afraid to say I’m scared. And as long as my D still wants to pursue this I will do what I can to help. Here’s to the adventure the class of 15 will soon embark on, and to the classes above us, thank you!!</p>
<p>Hang in there mtflmomof1 - it really does get easier, once you get some kind of system going. I packed ear plugs too. We did all on campus audition so we had a few hotel stays. At one of them there was a baby crying next door, the ear plugs came in handy so my S could sleep…me on the other hand I was too worried about sleeping in.</p>
<p>I felt just like you at this time last year! You will fluctuate between feeling ahead and behind all year. But by this time next year, you’ll be reassuring a Junior parent that they, too, can make it through to the other side of auditions!</p>
<p>Back to letters of rec - I was actually surprised at how few schools allowed a letter from an artistic teacher. 11 of our 14 schools required letters from academic teachers. It would say “core subjects.” Which is fine; my D is strong in academics. Even Juilliard says academic.
But she had a great letter from her acting teacher discussing how she had already been involved multiple times in a conservatory type program which I would think to be helpful for schools to know. But we couldn’t use it for most schools. Interesting that her two “arts” schools (U Arts and UNCSA) did ask for artistic recommendations!</p>
<p>I worry about those recommendations. My son transferred out of his high school after his sophomore year. Now he’s in a early college program at a local college. It’s going to be hard to find someone who can speak to his academic work (which isn’t that stellar anyway). I was hoping the directors who know him could write the letters, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.</p>
<p>My S and I will be at Unifieds in 2015. He is a junior also and I have been prepping for all of this for the last 6 months. It’s crazy intimidating! But it also looks like we are all in store for a fun weekend! A humidifier, great tip! My S is looking at a BFA in Acting with either a vocal performance minor or a BFA musical theater without a heavy concentration in dance. We have been doing our research. But I am sure it will sneak up on us as time is flying. Any advice is greatly appreciated. He is looking for a school that is not so heavy in the Gen Ed department. Our list is: Northern Illinois University, Point Park University, Emerson, Boston University (not at Unifieds), Cornish College of the Arts, The Hartt School, SUNY Purchase (not at Unifieds), Rutgers (not at Unifieds), Viterbo University, Pace (not at Unifieds), UCONN (not at Unifieds) and maybe Juilliard. We visited University of Rhode Island last weekend (its a non-audition BFA, more of a back up plan) and were impressed with their program. They seem to be flying under the BFA radar and maybe an underrated school. He will also apply to Plymouth State University and perhaps University of Massachusetts BA Theater program in case auditions do not go well. I know there are plenty of other great BFA programs out there, but my S prefers to stay ‘up north’ so to speak. Any other programs light on Gen Eds that we may not have heard of that y’all might recommend? Thanks!</p>
<p>Rider, Montclair, UArts, are a few. If you are looking in Illinois you might also consider dePaul (straight acting) or Roosevelt-CCPA in Chicago. I see you also have Viterbo in Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has a nice program too.</p>
<p>Pace will be at Unifieds - they are one of many schools that don’t appear on the NUA list, but they will be there the same weekend, possibly at same or nearby hotel. Rider definitely has gen ed requirements and a lot of dance. </p>
<p>Excellent! I never thought of Rider. My S was there 2 summers ago for a theater workshop and the kids were housed at Rider. </p>
<p>I thought Point Park was heavy on dance?</p>