I auditioned for the USC School of Dramatic Arts on Tuesday. This is just a summary of my experience with the intent to inform other prospective auditionees about the process.
I arrived at the audition location at 1PM. We all sat in a sizable conference room with lots of chairs lined up in rows. At about 1:15, the associate dean of admissions came in. What followed was an information session that lasted for about an hour. Lori was very thorough in her descriptions of the BA and BFA programs. She said that the BFA was for students with “blinders” on who only wanted to focus on acting, while the BA was for those interested in other aspects of the industry or those who wanted to minor or double major. She was very calm and talked with a nice gentle tone. She joked around and definitely made the room feel less tense. Never once did her spiel sound pretentious or snooty. That being said, it did seem like she spent most of the information session plugging the BA, stressing it as the alternative choice to the highly selective BFA program. It was nice to hear about the BA program, and she never made it seem like it was anything less than the BFA, but since we were all there for BFA auditions, I would have liked it if she had spent more time discussing the BFA program. After the session she took questions from the audience. She took every question and answered each in great detail. You could really tell that, even though she was not technically part of the school of Dramatic Arts, she definitely new anything and everything about the program. After the question time she introduced us to the auditors, who were the heads of the BA and BFA departments. They both took about a minute to introduce themselves and gave a little pep talk to the auditionees. It was really nice to meet the auditors. It made the whole process seem more personal and inviting.
After this, we were split into three groups: A, B, and C. Each group rotated through auditioning for the auditors, being interviewed, and having prep time. I was in group A, so I auditioned first, then had prep time, and then the interview. Auditions started about 30 minutes late, but I was third to go, so I didn’t have to wait long. We were called into a room one by one to audition. The associate dean said that anything could happen in the room. I preformed my comedic monologue and was then asked to preform my dramatic monologue. I think some people only did one, and others had a mini workshop with the auditors. I wouldn’t read too far into it. Both auditors were smiling and very polite.
After my audition, I went back to the check-in room. Because I went so early, and I had an additional hour of prep time, I had a lot of waiting to do. This was my only big gripe about the audition. The time elapsed from my audition to my interview was almost two hours. However, I did get the opportunity to meet the other auditionees from my group and they were fun and interesting to talk with. I also played a lot of tiny wings. (I beat my high score!)
At about 4:45, I was called up for my interview. The interviews are in the same room as the prep room, so it was a bit weird but didn’t get in the way. The lady who interviewed me was a woman who had retired from admissions the previous year but due to the snow, she was called in to replace someone whose flight was cancelled. Bless this women’s heart. She was extremely kind and generous. She asked me about my leadership skills, and about my campus visit. I overheard the other interviewers asking questions about other schools applied to and what program they felt best fit them. Every interview was different. She then asked if I had any questions. We talked for another 15 minutes. She listened to every one of my questions and answered them extremely well. The whole process took about four and a half hours.
Overall, I did a lot of waiting, but the USC audition was extremely informative, fun, and relaxed. Best of luck to anybody auditioning!
