<p>Yes, join hilton honors. I wound up booking Hilton hotels for the entire audition season. I was able to get free wifi and breakfast at the Hilton which worked out perfectly! Like broadway95, I called and asked.</p>
<p>I looked at prices last night and the lowest I could find was $199/night. Are you guys finding lower rates at other sites?</p>
<p>Internet tip: We upped our data plan on our cell phones and I used my phone as a hot spot for all our internet needs. (I used both my iPad and laptop connecting to the hotspot on my phone) We got 2 gig more for $10 vs $12.95/day. </p>
<p>To do this on an iPhone - go to settings and turn on hotspot - it will ask you to name your device and create a password. Then, on your iPad or laptop - go to the WiFi connection screen, and connect to whatever you named your phone. You will have to enter the password you created to connect. </p>
<p>I have found that if I turn off my iPad I have to reconnect it - but it’s quick and simple… and once you connect once, it remembers the network and password - so it’s much easier. Worked great on my laptop as well! If I had a big file to send (we had to send dance videos to one school that cancelled the dance call) - I went and found a public WiFi to use.</p>
<p>About the dates–are NY Unifieds definitely going to be the week before? I thought that was just because of the Super Bowl last year. I’ll probably just go to Chicago even though New York is train distance, because I’m even closer to a lot of the Unifieds schools I would audition for (if I pass prescreens)…and the others only go to Chicago. Plus I will probably apply to a couple of non-audition schools there, which I would like to visit. </p>
<p>@MTVT2015 - I got those dates from my D’s coach so I am pretty confident they are accurate. She’s a sharp lady! VERY together…</p>
<p>Awesome. Maybe I can fit both in then 
</p>
<p>I booked the Palmer House last year for a rate of $99 per night from a very helpful post I saw on CC. If anyone finds a sale please post for those attending next year. Also book your flights with an extra day before auditions start. Our Saturday flight was cancelled due to snow storm with no other flights out that day. Luckily we were able to get there on Sunday before auditions started on Monday. Always allow extra time on the front end for bad Chicago weather.</p>
<p>We got a special rate which required we prepay the full amount. We called Palmer House the August prior to Unifieds in order to get that rate.
Last year you could find the special rate online by selecting a room with 2 double beds then looking under special promotions for that room type. Last year there was a “just chilling” promotion that offered executive level rooms with 2 double beds for $124 - a savings of $100 per night. The special rate for a double room on a regular floor was $99 per night. The $25 difference between the floor types got you “free” breakfast each morning, specialty coffees, teas, juices, all day cooler stocked with water, soft drinks, etc… Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres at night if you were on tje Executive floors. for us that was a great choice. There were a couple of days we didn’t even go out to eat because we had plenty to snack on from the lounge. The lounge was also great for me to go to if D needed time in the room by herself to practice, get dressed or get ready. I will say some of the rooms on the regular floors were quite large and very nice. Some even had 2 bathrooms. So there are perks either way you book it. So it really just depends what you think will work best for you and your child. </p>
<p>The exec floor was closed for renovations this year I believe so you won’t hear the most recent crop of Unified attendees talking about it. </p>
<p>You’re right, dramamom, it was closed during this year’s unifieds. 
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<p>toowonderful is correct in recommending that you not do your top choice schools on the last day if you can help it. Also, don’t go at the end of the day if you can help it. My daughter didn’t go to the Chicago Unifieds, but for some on campus auditions, she happened to go almost dead last. The auditors were tired and didn’t even care to pretend they were in the least bit interested. It was very disheartening. That being said, one of my daughter’s offers came from a program where she was the very last auditioner of the day. But for the most part, going last was awful and the results were not good. She waited around for four hours between the dance call and the songs/monologues portion.</p>
<p>^ I would agree. At least 2 of D’s auditions where she was very near the end of the day felt rushed, and like the auditors were just going through the motions. She was rejected from both of those schools. It’s not always possible to change your time, though - or to predict that you will be among the last. One of those schools had originally been scheduled to do walk ins the remainder of the day of D’s audition (she had a morning audition) but due to weather, they had rescheduled their flight, cancelled the dance call, and were focused on making it to the next city by the time she auditioned. They were very nice - but D could tell that they just weren’t “present” with her in the audition room. Auditors are human! </p>
<p>How much control do we really have over the scheduling at Unifieds? Do we just get out presreens in early and than ask for early slots from the schools we care about most? And advice about HOW to do this would be great :)</p>
<p>Schedule the auditions with the schools as soon as you can. Some schools let you schedule without having the application complete so double check that too. My D actually had a walkin scheduled late on Wednesday and we went over early just becasue she had finished another. The department head spoke to her as she was rudhing to catch her flight and remembered her from the dance call and left her with the head of vocal and that was actually her first acceptance. Typically I would agree that end of day is not optimal but it does still work. </p>
<p>Also my daughter wore leotards to the dance calls that matched the color of her dress and on several occasions they commented about her dress or remembered her because of that.</p>
<p>Do you schedule with the schools by phone or email?</p>
<p>I know this piece of advice has been given in several threads- but start working the common app early!! Ask teacher for recommendations before school year ends, let them know you intend on submitting asap, they may be willing to work on them over the summer. I wanted to start the day the app opened, but at D’s school - the guidance counselor did a thing were they had all the seniors start their common app together the 2nd week of school. She wanted to do that (bonding thing I guess) so we waited- a bit. I had looked on school websites, many of them post their application questions (if they have specific things) on the site- so we had lots of the essays done. Because we were prepared, common app was done in early sept- and we could schedule audition dates as SOON as they opened. Do your prescreens early too (if needed) That way you can do them over if you don’t like the way they come out. D had several friends who threw theirs together last minute before a deadline- and it showed…</p>
<p>Here is a really dumb question. How do you ask a teacher to give you a recommendation in the common app. Send them a link? How can you do that when the app isn’t online yet. My S only applied to 3 schools and did not use the common app. I am asking for the logistic of it. Help…</p>
<p>You enter their e-mail address into the common app. You cannot do that until it is online.</p>
<p>I teach HS, and our counselors use Naviance to connect the teachers/students. So when I log on to MY college confidential account (which is the same common app homepage, just asks you how you want to log in) the students I am recommending are already “found” for me- then I cut and paste into the appropriate boxes- just like the students :)</p>
<p>@LoveMyMTGirl, thank you! I guess what we will do then is give her/him the ones that he can do on a form and a heads-up that the common app will be coming as soon as it is released.</p>