<p>My daughter is going to her first audition at Emerson in Boston in a week. She is applying for BFA Acting programs. She has a killer weekend in February flying between San Francisco and Los Angeles and maybe Las Vegas. On some days she has two schools in one day and I know these are unified auditions and that the auditions don't take all day, but I was wondering if some of you more experienced folk could give some advice on how to handle auditions. What should she expect? How do you handle those long, two school days? How many schools can you really handle in a day? Any advice on clothing? I've seen the "no heels" comments. Any other suggestions? Maybe if some of you could just run down what to expect. She is applying to Emerson, NYU Tisch, Carnegie Mellon, North Carolina School of the Arts, Juilliard, and Cincinnati Conservatory of the Arts. She is also applying to Cal Arts, USC and UCLA, but since these are only a little drive from home, it won't be quite such a big adventure to go to those auditions, and they won't be on that killer weekend. Any advice is much appreciated.</p>
<p>Doing two acting school auditions in one day should not be a big deal at all for most students as long as they are arranged so there is ample time to finish one before the next one begins. Most acting auditions are fairly quick: you do your monologues and maybe chat with the auditors and you are out of there! (Musical theater auditions, in contrast, can take much longer, because many include a dance portion and the kids have to sing in addition to doing monologues.)</p>
<p>Re: clothing. Though last year we saw plenty of acting candidates wearing jeans and ripped tee shirts/hoodies, I would strongly recommend that your daughter consider wearing tailored pants/slacks and a nice top/blouse/sweater. Nothing flashy: just something in good taste that is attractive on her but doesn't distract from her. (I didn't see very many acting candidates in dresses or skirts, which doesn't mean she should not wear those. I just saw many more in pants.)</p>
<p>How mdoes your d get all of those schools scheduled in one week? She applies to the university, then gets accepted. Then they write her saying she has to audition, but how do you schedule all those schools in one week? Tell them?</p>
<p>Javon, no, that's not really how it works most of the time. There are schools which require a student to first be accepted academically, but I think I am safe in saying that, for the most part, schools let kids register/sign up for auditions without having to first be accepted academically. Some schools have an online registration system where you request a certain time (exact) or, more commonly, a morning or afternoon slot, and you just sign up!</p>
<p>Scheduling the auditions is a bit like piecing together a puzzle: you have to start with one and then work each audition around the other, making sure that if you have more than one in a day, you know how long (approx.) each school recommends you set aside and that you have ample time to travel from one to the other. </p>
<p>I am not sure if you personally are planning to audition for schools this year, but if you are, I would definitely get going with being in touch with schools and setting the auditions up. Things really pick up after Thanksgiving, and slots could grow more scarce. </p>
<p>Just start by going to each school's Web site and looking at the audition requirements, dates and times. Best wishes.</p>
<p>With us, we started with Emerson because she did early action, so that's the one we scheduled first. Then, as soon as Tisch sent us the flyer, we signed up for NYU (you didn't have to have the application in yet.) The same with Carnegie Mellon. Then with Juilliard, it just worked out that they gave us the date and time she wanted because she got that application in early. Then she got her Cincinnati Conservatory application in early, and once again, they gave us the slot that worked perfectly. It is almost like they talk to each other. The only one that is missing now is NCSA. They are more challenging because they won't schedule until the application is in, and your paper is "signed". You can't just submit the application, you have to submit it online AND sign this paper (parents too if the student is under 18.) Then, and only then, will they give you an audition time. I'm worried that one may conflict, and we will have to negotiate a new time/date.... Cal Arts we scheduled on line before she sent in the audition. USC we haven't done yet, but to be honest, it is not high on her list (she says it feels like her high school....) She will send in her application in the next week or so and hope she gets the slot. UCLA doesn't even have the slots open yet. I'm hoping that before she goes to the long weekend of auditions, she will have had Emerson, Cal Arts, UCLA, and USC so she has some audition experience and she has done four of the nine schools already.</p>
<p>chrissyblu, thanks for posting all of that! That is <em>exactly</em> how it's done and it is surprising how often (if you begin scheduling relatively early) the pieces just fall into place, or rather, you are able to make them fall into place with a tiny bit of planning and negotiation! It sounds like your daughter is very on top of the whole process, which surely will hold her in good stead. (Just a suggestion: set aside an entire day for Juilliard. They are there for a lonnnnggg time, because Juilliard auditions all the people they scheduled for that morning or afternoon and <em>then</em> posts their callback list and <em>then</em> the kids stay forever while they are called back. Last year, my D's friend had scheduled another audition the same afternoon of her Juilliard audition and had to skip it, because she was one of three people called back out of the hordes which auditioned in the a.m.) </p>
<p>The key to scheduling these auditions is to start <em>somewhere</em> and keep going. Early on, most schools are willing to switch your audition time if you have a conflict, but again, as the slots fill up, the schools have less "wiggle room" and cannot be as accommodating. I remember my D had to ask Minnesota/Guthrie to adjust hers, and they were very nice about it and didn't charge anything. On the other hand, I have heard that CCM does allow a kid to switch up audition times, but if you ask them more than once, they charge you for the change. (If anyone here has a kid who did CCM drama and can verify this or tell me I am wrong, please do so. I <em>think</em> I am right, but I am not sure, as my D did not audition for CCM.)</p>
<p>Best of luck, everyone!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. I'm not going to unifieds this year because I'm a junior, but next year I really wanna go so I have plenty of time. So what your saying is that you schedule an audition date WHEN you apply? So If I plan on applying to at least 6-8 schools, I should schedule them around Feb. (cuz i'll do the Chicago unifieds) unifieds?</p>
<p>NotMamaRose: Hmmm.... We still haven't heard from NCSA. I think we asked for Friday in S.F. But if we don't get that, and they put it on Satuday the same as the Juilliard, would you recommend that we try to get them to change it to Friday in S.F.? She really wants to audition for NCSA. I know the odds of getting the call back at Juilliard are slim, but.....</p>
<p>Trying to answer both javon and chrissy here:</p>
<p>Javon, no, it's not exactly as if you apply to the college and get an audition at the same exact time. Let me figure out how to explain this. Hmmm. OK, you apply to colleges by sending in, electronically or on a physical piece of paper, the application that you have filled out. Most colleges want you to do this by January 1, but others have different deadlines. So you do that whenever you get the applications done. In the meantime, many BFA programs open their audition scheduling much earlier than that, so you go to their Web sites and see when they offer auditions and you request an audition in whatever method they ask you to. Some just require an email or call to the drama office; others have online registration systems that are automated. So, for schools which do not require you to have already been academically accepted to get an audition, you ostensibly could call the school in early October and sign up for an audition date and time. In this way, you begin piecing together your audition scheduled. Does that help? If not, PM me and we can walk through it together. You are smart, indeed, to plan ahead!</p>
<p>Chrissy: that's a good question. All I can tell you is that Juilliard audition process (at least in New York <em>at</em> Juilliard) is a long one. There were at least several hundred kids there the morning we were there, and it was a long wait for parents, who are taken to a waiting room (or can leave and do stuff in the city) while the auditions are going on. (Unlike some other schools, kids who are auditioning can't hang with their parents until their number is called. They are taken to another area completely.) It was well into the afternoon when the callback list for the morning went up and then those kids called back were there until quite late at night, which caused my D's good friend (who was one of three called back) to miss her afternoon audition at another school. So it behooves your daughter not to have any other auditions on the day of her Juilliard audition, in case she is called back. (Yes, the odds are long. But as my D always said "<em>Someone</em> have to be called back/get in." :))</p>
<p>If scheduling NCSA and Juilliard on separate days is too cumbersome or can't happen, then don't sweat it. Just do what you can. </p>
<p>I know this all feels very overwhelming and very stressful right now, but it's not as bad as people say as long as your kid is well prepared and the schedule is a reasonable one. Acting auditions, especially, are less time consuming in general than are musical theater auditions. Your daughter will do fine. Please let us know how it goes, and if I can help in any other way, PM me. I am happy to pass along anything we learned last year.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement. I'll write next week after we get back from Emerson. She has been working with her coach and director and feels really good about the audition. She will then start getting the rest of her monologues ready. But my daughter has always been one of those kids with six monologues in her back pocket, so she just needs to tweak them for time limits and what particular schools want. I will let you know..... Thanks for everything.</p>
<p>Wait...you get callbacks at college auditions? I didn;t know that.</p>
<p>BTW, NotMamaRose thanks a lot. I'll PM you if I have more questions.</p>
<p>Javon, <em>some</em> -- very few -- college BFA programs have callbacks in any real sense. The two that come to mind immediately are Juilliard and Minnesota/Guthrie. Juilliard has two callbacks, essentially: at the end of every session of auditions (the same day), they post a callback list (usually of very few people ... less than five) and those kids stay on through that day or evening, working with faculty. Then, a month or so later, those they have selected from amongst those that they originally called back at each session come for Callback Weekend.
At Minnesota/Guthrie it is a little different. Kids do their 10 minute or so auditions (either in Minneapolis or offsite, wherever M/G holds auditions) and then a group of kids are called back to the campus in (I think it was) March for callback weekend. A few weeks later, the group that Ken Washington and his team have selected are called on the phone, one by one, to be offered a spot.
Kids who audition for SUNY Purchase @ Purchase apparently also have callbacks in that after their session, a list of kids who are called back is posted and they audition again.
But most schools don't.</p>
<p>Hey NotMamaRose:</p>
<p>Well, we are back from Emerson. Here are some recent stats and I will post these elsewhere because they are very useful. For BFA MT, Emerson thinks it will have 700 audition, and it will accept around 50, of which about 22-24 will say "yes." For BFA Acting, they think around 400 to 500 will audition (not sure yet) of which they will again accept 50, of which 22-24 will say "yes." At the end of sophomore year, they will reduce that to 16. (Usually, they claim, it comes as no surprise who is asked to transfer into the BA Theatre Studies programs.) Grades are "very important." But they don't "slot"; still, if they have nine 5'9" white guys, they may have to reconsider because they can't do alot of plays. The look for ethnic and geographic diversity just to make sure the class is interesting and they have a range of plays they can do.</p>
<p>My daughter loved the students and the evaluators. We met students who were working jobs on Newbury Street. They were great and so positive and supportive. We met students who were helping with the auditions. They were enthusiastic. And the instructors both my D met and I met were funny, informative, very positive. Good experience overall.</p>
<p>In terms of my daughter's audition, she thought it went well. She did her monologue, then she was asked to modify it two very different ways (which should be a good thing because that usually means they are seeing how well you take direction.) Then the evaluator had a conversation with her about methods of acting before she left. My D was in there quite awhile, whereas the girl before her just did her monologue, then evaluator asked if she had any questions, she didn't and left. (My D could hear through the door what happened with the girl.) </p>
<p>So, my D left feeling very good about her first audition.</p>
<p>Hopefully all the evaluators will be as friendly as the ones at Emerson were.</p>
<p>What do you know, we were there too but for the BA program. My D also was asked to do her monologue another way, then was asked a few questions such as: how did she choose this particular piece, what has been her biggest acting challenge to date and what was a character she could see herself playing at some future point (and why). All in all, it was a very postive experience. We did hear in the Q&A that the majority of EA applicants would be deferred with just a few given a yes or no answer by December 15.</p>
<p>Yes... my impression was that not that many would be accepted EA too. Correct any of my facts if I heard wrong, please....</p>
<p>Did the auditors at Emerson talk much about the cuts?</p>
<p>I assume you mean between sophomore and junior year. Yes, they discussed those. They take the class from 22-24 to 16. They said that is the "normal size" for a college program. They said often the attrition happens on its own. They said the students are not "kicked out." They are moved from BFA to BA Theatre Studies. They said that it is "not a surprise" when the student is asked to move. They just decide the time is better spent doing something other than 16 hours a week in studio for that particular student.</p>
<p>The "cut" issue, even if the students are moved to a BA program rather than asked to leave the school entirely, is one that prospective students truly need to think about. I know that this has been discussed previously here, ad infinitum, and usually with schools other than Emerson being the focus, but the issue does exist at Emerson, too. They are effectively planning, in advance, to cut 1/3 of the kids they enroll every year. Although the school does say it isn't a surprise, that is rarely the case with all involved, as has been evidenced by discussions here on CC. As with every school that has a cut program, and again, a Latin phrase says it best, caveat emptor.</p>
<p>Amen, alwaysamom. That's why I brought it up. I don't think any student enters a program thinking "I may be the one cut." But it does happen. So, as alwaysamom cautions, students and their parents need to factor this in when deciding on programs. </p>
<p>Though most programs will tell kids that the students who are cut or moved to the BA track know in advance and are not surprised, we here on this forum have, unfortunately, heard from students who were surprised (at some programs, students receiving A's in studio classes found themselves cut or moved), so just be aware.</p>
<p>One nice thing, though, about Emerson is that they are "blind" to major at auditions. So, even if a kids was cut into the BA Theatre Studies program, they would be able to continue to do shows and particpate; they just wouldn't have studio classes. Moreover, at Emerson only the BA Theatre Studies kids can do the LA "abroad" internships their senior year (the BFA kids can only go to LA in the summer.) And the BA LA "abroad" kids get to do a SHOWCASE too (just like the BFA Acting kids.) So, at Emerson they do make sure those who are "cut" are having a good experience nonetheless. But your comments are well taken.</p>