<p>I have a question. At one of my D's audition, 3 kids were called back from the same HS (must be from a really talented HS). We were wondering what are the odds that they will accept all of them, or even 2? We were even wondering about the areas? Are colleges taking note of that when they are making decisions? Say like how many students will they accept from NYC? I know sometimes diversity plays a part but are they thinking they want their 42 to come from different HS, states? Anybody out there know of a BFA program that accepted 3 kids from the same HS for the same major - Acting/Musical Theatre? btw it was 2 guys and 1 girl that were called back. I know guys usually are the frontrunners.</p>
<p>I talked to a mom at Unifieds that said 3 guys from her d’s (magnet arts) school were accepted to SMU.</p>
<p>After having been through auditions, there is a huge bias toward kids from performing arts high schools. I think they have a real advantage in selection of monologues, songs, etc.</p>
<p>abtsmom- in the case of my daughter’s performing arts high school- she received zero help from her teachers. She, her voice teacher, and I did all the research for my daughter’s material. Not only that, but the head of the theatre dept. never saw my daughter’s material before she went to Unifieds and never asked her how her auditions went- which by the way were fabulous. I also believe that sometimes, kids who go to a performing arts school are held to a higher standard. The advantage I do believe they have is their passion for theatre- enough to go to a magnet school- and their exposure to so much material.</p>
<p>There’s an interesting thread on this topic over on the Musical Theater forum–it’s dated 2/23/12, and the subject line is “MT acceptances of kids from same town?” (posted by Monkey13). It includes a couple of replies from college reps, so you might find it helpful!</p>
<p>abtsmom, I definitely agree with you. I know for a fact that Juilliard prefers that students come from an “arts” school. But they are Juilliard and with only accepting 18 kids, I doubt if they ever took 2 kids from the same year from the same performing arts" school. </p>
<p>Times3, thanks for the info. I am going to check it out.</p>
<p>Again- about 15 years ago- 3 boys from the performing arts school where my kids attend were all accepted to Juilliard in the same class. They were all in the same play together and all had strong audition pieces. They also had a teacher who had prepared them very well and he is the same one who helped my son- who is now at NYU in BFA Acting. Of course, they are ALL boys! However, one boy from my daughter’s class this year was rejected from Juilliard.</p>
<p>no offense supportive, but that was 15 yrs ago. Auditions have definitely changed since then. For instance I heard on the audition circuit from some of the auditioners, that if you are a very talented Asian girl/boy, it is very likely that you will get accepted into a BFA program because diversity is key nowadays. Which leads me back to that colleges are definitely seeking out kids from different states/High Schools for their coveted 32 to 42 slots. Congrats to your son getting into NYU.</p>
<p>D who played Belle and her best friend who played the Beast were both accepted into NYU with matching talent scholarships (merit aid.) The year before a girl from her school was also accepted and attended the same program. Head of the program asked when younger D (who had leads in the same high school) would be applying. (She did apply and got accepted into NYU, but into studio art.)</p>
<p>Actually the assistant director of vocal performance offered to help place younger D with a good voice instructor if she wanted lessons. Since she has never heard younger D sing, they are obviously assuming she has talent because she has been cast in leads at this particular high school.</p>
<p>So yes, I believe coming from a well known high school can be a positive. However, they are still going to consider type when creating a class. So they might not take a lot of kids if the kids are the same type or all have a particular regional accent.</p>
<p>No offense taken. The point was that it is possible for people from the same school to get into the same program in the same year and the odds are probably higher for kids from performing arts schools. Also, there are kids in my daughter’s class that are getting accepted to the same school this year. I also know a girl who is doing MT at Ithaca but didn’t major in theatre at our performing arts school. She is African American with a ton of personality who plays an instrument. She did do some summer musical programs. On the other hand, 2 kids from our school did the summer program at Ithaca and both were rejected. There’s no rhyme or reason to most of this. When you consider the small number of performing arts schools in the country, it IS possible for the same kids to get into the same schools. I have also seen boys without near as much talent as some girls get into a program and I believe that northern schools like southern students and vice versa to keep some diversity. :)</p>
<p>It’s actually commonplace at some of the more prestigious arts high schools. Think of it like prep school kids and and Ivy League. </p>
<p>It was six years ago, but four out of my class were accepted to SMU. Only one attended, though, because two of the same people went to Juilliard and the other to CMU. The CMUer also had a Juilliard callback and one of the Juilliardians was also accepted at CMU … Some other schools I’ve seen accept more than one are Rutgers, UNCSA, UM Guthrie, CalArts and NIU. Actually, I believe half of UM Guthrie’s last graduating class came from the same two arts high schools. </p>
<p>Now that was indeed six years ago, but my understanding is that the trend has continued. Sorry if some find that disconcerting, but it is part of this landscape …</p>
<p>Oops. I just looked back at this and realized I actually first went through this process SEVEN years ago. 2005 graduate here. They say time starts to fly as you get older … ;)</p>
<p>I agree with you supportive that boys definitely have the advantage. When my D was called back at DePaul, she was 1 of only 3 girls, but there were about 9 or maybe 10 guys that got called back and my D just told me that she thinkgs most of the guys were admitted. </p>
<p>also supportive and fishbowl you are correct - just found out that 2 kids from the same HS got into CMU. again though GUYS…LOL.</p>
<p>This is interesting. When i auditioned for Depaul not a single guy was called back, only girls…</p>
<p>That is very interesting waitwaitwait…My D auditioned in NY, where were your auditions? I was just happy that some of the kids were called back. One of the administrators told us (the parents) that the director sometimes doesn’t call anyone back on call back days. That he just simply walks in the room and tell eveyone, thanks for coming, there will be no call backs today!..We were like OUCH!!!</p>
<p>I’m a junior who goes to SMU, and I’m one of four of my high school to attend in my year, and there was another girl who was accepted but chose not to go. Two boys, two girls, two theatre studies bfas, two acting bfas. The year under me has two boys in the acting track that are also from my highschool. So it happens!</p>
<p>It is possible that some colleges are very familiar with the programs/faculty/graduates of certain high schools, perhaps due to geography, alums, etc. This might create a bias on the part of the college auditioners (whether it is conscious or not) in that they know what type of education/training has occurred at that HS. This might result in more students from a particular high school being selected.</p>
<p>On the issue of boys/girls…a funny story…the night before my s auditioned at a school, he got a text from a friend of his (girl) who had auditioned that day for the same school. She said that there were only 3 people called back–3 girls who were all close to 6 ft tall and had long blonde hair. I told him that night, sorry charlie, you only meet the height requirement! He auditioned the next day and did get a call back (though there were no tall blonde girls at the audition!)</p>
<p>After taking my daughter to numerous BFA MT auditions last fall and this spring, I firmly believe that you are SOL if you are not in a performing arts high school or do not have the financial means to attend prestigious summer college theatre camps or pay for a professional coach. Basic talent is not what they are looking for. They want kids who are already professional level. I thought college was all about learning and training. But apparently not. I was surprised by the number of kids and parents at these auditions who talked about the programs they had attended, their coaches for this or that, etc. The amount of money this represents is appalling. It is more than many colleges cost in a year! We are lower middle class and send our daughter to a public high school with a good theatre program. There is no performing arts school option in our area. We cannot afford private school or these summer programs. We have sacrificed so our daughter could take voice lessons, and she has won awards for her acting ability. That said, she felt extremely unprepared for the level of competition at these BFA auditions. I think all schools should have a DVD screening requirement so that parents and kids do not waste their hard-earned money going from audition to audition when they have no chance of being accepted.</p>
<p>Draco- I can understand what you are saying. Neither of my kids went to any of the performing arts camps or summer college programs because of the astronomical expense. I truly believe that many of these programs are money makers. Even though my kids went to a public performing arts high school, their teachers did not help them with the audition process. (that’s another story) I did my own research through many boards and my daughter did have help with her voice teacher. One girl in my daughter’s school who is a MT major attended Ithaca’s summer program thinking it would help her chances. She got rejected from every MT program in which she auditioned. That summer program was supposed to help with the audition process. That girl took songs that my daughter and other people had done and used them- even though they were completely wrong for her. Anyway, so sorry that you all had to go through all of this with such disappointment. :(</p>
<p>I think there’s some truth to the fact that your average high school student is likely to get run over by this process. It’s easy to forget that CC is not the real world and there are hundreds of kids who learn songs, struggle to find monologues at the library, and end up with a pile of rejections. And it does not mean they are not talented. If they spent a year working on every tiny detail with an audition coach I’m sure many of them would do just fine. I think DVD screenings make sense for everyone. If a school is taking 5 people there is no reason to see 1000.</p>
<p>If they did DVD screenings, would auditioning still cost the same??</p>