evasmom

dancermom
My D plans on staying until the last possible moment! I thought that I would drive down on Friday and start packing her up so that she is all set to leave on Saturday morning.

Last year people talked about an admissions interview but I haven't heard anyone mention it this year. Are any of your kids planning on talking to admissions? And what are the benefits of doing this?
Thanks

BroadwayWannabe

i did an admissions interview. i think it is beneficial to do at any school if you have the chance (even though i did not get int CMU) because it does confirm that you are interested in the school. That said, i felt that of all the schools I applied to, CMU was the school that cared the least about my grades, SATs, etc. So probably that interview is not the be-all-end-all. For better or for worse, CMU says that the audition is 80 percent of the audition process. It was made very clear to me that it is a rare student who gets "accepted" to the drama program, but doesn't get in because their academics are just really really bad. So, this interview is probably not going to be the deciding factor.

However, i still suggest to do it because it is good practice. I was asked typical "interview" questions at a lot of my auditions (they were just more relating to theater....what are your career aspirations, dream roles, etc). so i say go for it if you can. but if not, that's ok too.

but schedule it soon if you choose to. as i recall, a lot of people from precollege and elsewhere scheduled them for over the summer.

NotMamaRose

BW, is this a REAL admissions interview that the kids get to do, or is it intended as "practice" for the upcoming senior year *real* admissions interviews?

Also, did they ask you what other schools you planned to apply to/audition for? I am still stunned that kids have to figure out how to navigate that question gracefully ... telling the truth without showing their whole hand, if you will.

Did you find the interview stressful, BroadwayWannabe, or was it more relaxed, as you had just spent five weeks with these people?

And does doing an admissions interview (if it was the real thing) at the end of the CMU pre college session mean you did not have to do another later?

Sorry for so many questions!

soozievt

While my D did not attend CMU Pre-College, she did have an interview with an Admissions Officer from CMU who was conducting interviews for applicants in our region. This interview is what I think BroadwayWannabe is also discussing. It is not with the Drama Dept. but with Admissions. It is really like ANY college interview and not focused on the artistic stuff so much (nor the question "where else are you applying"). While CMU's admissions is heavily weighted on the audition, there still is a small percentage weighted on regular admisssions review....academics, application materials, etc. It can never hurt to do an interview. Besides, it is good practice. You can get into a college without an interview. However, when one is offered, it is good to do it and like she says, it shows interest in the school. My D's interview was like most college interviews. She also brought her activity resume (not to be confused with a theater resume, though her performing arts activities were on it) and this particular interviewer also asked questions right off of her perusal of it. Since CMU takes SO few students and many have the requisite talent to get in, you never know if academic criteria, application materials, recs, interviews, etc. can make the difference between one candidate or another. I don't recall admissions interviews with my daughter's other BFA schools, however. CMU offered one by the admissions officer who came to our state to conduct interviews and I always would recommend taking up the offer. My D ended up waitlisted at CMU. My other D, who applied to regular colleges, did interviews for about 3/4's of her schools (all that offered them).

My guess is that by doing the admissions interview in August following Pre-College, one would not do it again in the fall. The idea would be to have the chance to do it while on campus. This IS the real admissions interview. By the way, it wouldn't be with the people they had spent five weeks with but I believe this is an interview with the admissions officers in the university's admissions office. Also, like BroadwayWannabe says, even if you don't do admissions interviews at the other BFA programs, often the audition can include some interview types of questions, though it is briefer and more artistically focused. People get better at interviews (and auditions) through practice.

NotMamaRose

Thanks, Soozievt. That makes sense. It seems to me that any student at precollege who is going to apply to CMU should go ahead and do the admissions interview while he or she is there. Why not? As you say, if nothing else, it's practice for others upcoming, and at best, it will show your level of interest in the school.

lynnm

If I remember correctly, it was rather difficult to set up an admissions appointment at this point in time (after 3 weeks at CMU pre-college) when my D went. They were all booked up for the rest of her time there (of course, she could have been fibbing on that one!) It is good to get it done while the kids are in Pittsburgh, as it's one less thing to do at a later point in time. I believe CMU was the only application that really highly recommended or required an interview. My daughter was scrambling at the last minute back home trying to meet up with a woman from our state. Eventually they had a phone interview instead. Like I mentioned, if possible, get it done now, while it's more convenient.

evasmom

Thanks for all the input. Does it look better if D makes the appointment or can I call? Also, as she won't know her audition schedule until next week it might be hard to know when to schedule the admissions interview? Maybe I'll call just to check on availability...

BroadwayWannabe

yes, this was a formal admissions interview...so it was with someone who worked in admissions who i had not seen at all during the summer. i agree with everything soozievt said. it doesn't hurt and make sure to have your activity resume. i say go for it if you can.

evasmom, i don't think your daughter should have any problems scheduling it herself. the admissions office is right next to the theater buliding, so she won't have any problems finding it. if she accidentally schedules it during her audition, the theater dept is totally flexible about changing audition times. i had to change the time my dance audition was and they were so nice about it....

kaysmom

I also asked my d if she had scheduled her interview yet and she said she knew nothing about it! I think she was expecting a sign up to be posted like everything else has been. I will tell her to contact the office directly (If she can still get a spot).

My d also wants to come home at the last possible minute! We are planning to do the same thing: pack some Friday night and leave Saturday by noon. D was thrilled with her tap class this week and is still having the time of her life! She is so excited to be going to Cedar Point Amusement Park in OH tomorrow (even if it is over a 3 hour bus ride each way!). She is a roller coaster enthusiast and getting the chance to ride the top 3 coasters in the nation is extremely exciting to her! Tonight is the last CLO show for her....Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She is looking forward to seeing it and has been incredibly impressed by the talent there and what it takes to put those shows on in so little time. What even impressed her more is that a beautiful girl who is in MT at Michigan was at pre-college doing the same thing she is doing only a few years ago! My daughter would LOVE to be working at the CLO some summer!

I asked my daughter about the audition packet. She said she did get it with lots of info but it isn't near the info that I had already printed out and organizaed for her! It does help to read this forum to put things in order. The file folders are ready, spread sheet together and calendar ready to put dates on it. Secretary is a good job for me!!

kaysmom

How are all the CMU kids doing? D is doing fine and just got her audition times for next week. She is in the last group (group 11), so she will be auditioning all three days! Dance on Wednesday, Songs on Thursday and Monologues on Friday. We will be there before her auditions are even completed!! I guess we should just take our time driving up! She said that many of the kids in the first groups will do all three auditions on Wednesday. That will be nice for those students to get them over with!

She said this is a busy week for everyone (not that the other weeks haven't been), but the students are performing their songs, monologues in class to prepare for next week's auditions. My d went to a wonderful workshop the other night on Acting a Song, given by Gary Klein that she said was amazing! Last night she was going to watch Evasmom's D and others at the Boal workshop. There seems to always be so much going on and plenty of opportunity for extra classes and workshops.

For anyone thinking of going to pre-college next year, my advice would be for your child NOT to do the Cedar Point Amusement Park trip. That has been my daughter's worst experience so far (which was something she was really looking forward to)! Over a three hour drive each way....100 degree temperatures and absolutely mobbed! Her group got on three rides the entire day!! (would have gone on a fouth but after an hour and a half in line, it broke down!). It certainly wasn't worth the $40 to go! Are all of your kids doing the cruise next week? Hopefully that will go better as their last big event together!

I hope all of your kids have a great experience auditioning next week and that things go well for them! Hopefully I will get to meet some more CC parents at pick-up next Friday and Saturday. Safe Journey!

evasmom

This time really has flown by and I am excited to have my d home again but I know leaving CMU and her friends will be very tough for her.
Today will be my first taste of real empty nest. My S is competing in the Empire Stage Games and will be away until Sunday. Of course we will get to go see him compete Thursday and maybe Saturday if he makes finals.
D is definetly going on the cruise next week.
I have my spreadsheet ready also, but I am boggled by trying to work around school and show dates that I don't even know yet?
Sorry all for rambling... coffee hasn't quite kicked in yet!

NotMamaRose

Evasmom (and/or whomever knows the answer to this),

In your recent post, you mentioned that the kids do auditions at the end of the CMU precollege program in MT.

What is the purpose of these auditions? Are they basically mock auditions, following which adjudicators from the summer program give the kids feedback on what their strengths and weaknesses were? Or is it just practice, which no feedback?

And, am I correct in my assumption that there are three auditions: dance, acting and singing?

kaysmom

NMR,
I can answer what I know and maybe Evasmom or someone else can chime in too! It is my understanding that the auditions are evaluated and the students are sent feedback in the mail with regard to how their particular auditions went. There has been extremely rare situations in which students were actually offered admission to CMU for the MT or Acting programs based on these auditions! But again...let me stress it is a rarity for sure! One of our tour guides on our first day at campus happened to be one of those fortunate few! I have personally not heard of a female MT being offered admission from this audition at all...just males.

I didn't realize it was three separate auditions until my d told me when her auditions were. I don't know if the pre-college teachers evaluate all the students in each area, or just their specialty area. I can let you know more about that when I find out next week or Broadwaywannabe maybe you can chime in on how it went last year.

Evasmom,
My D said your D did great in Boal last night! I have been looking at the audition dates as well and I'm not really sure how we are going to be able to do it all either!!! I guess everyone manages though, so I am sure all will be fine. I hope we get to meet up along the audition trail!

evasmom

Yes, they do get written feedback from the auditions and from their instructors. My D already received verbal feedback from the tap teacher when her worksop ended last week but he will also follow up with a written evaluation.
I don't know either who sits in on each section of the audition...BroadwayWannabe are you out there?

ElliottsMom

My S indcates he only has one audition appt. (he's doing the acting, not MT). He gave me an update on all of his classes and talked about the audition file they were given. He was surprised that some of the schools on his list weren't on their list (like Otterbein).

He seems most impressed with the Movement class and also his teacher for the Styles (classical). Of the Styles, he reports the teacher is a walking knowledge source for classical plays and has a wonderful ability to size up the student, identify their type, and suggest characters for exploration of monologue material.

To those of you organized parents that have already set up your audition spreadsheet, would you be willing to share the file???