NotMamaRose

nydancemom, thanks so much for all that info. I appreciate it!

BruceWayne5148

there are also some older posts about audition day...i think i wrote about my day with some specific times and i think i remember some other guy writing about it too...buy nydancemom was really thorough and pretty much covered everything! they are all so nice!! it's contagious!! i can't wait to go back! it was a very pleasant experience

nydancemom

HopetobELONmom
I forgot to give Elon audition day tips, so here are some I can think of for Elon (and in general). I think there’s a thread somewhere that gives tips in general, but I’m sure I’d never be able to find it, so I sort of combined Elon and others in this post.
1. Wear nice clothes in the morning, but casual, because you will be able to change before your dance audition and songs/monologues. My D wore new black jeans and a nice top for the morning, and then we carried a garment bag with her audition outfit. She chose to wear pants rather than a dress or skirt to all her auditions. She felt more comfortable. She wore dressy black pants, with a burgundy tank under a matching sheer burgundy blouse. For the dance classes, she wore a purple cami-style leotard with black tights. She is a dancer, so wanted to stand out, thus the purple. There’s been much discussion on audition outfits, but I think looking professional is the key, not whether it’s a dress or pants.
2. Warm up vocally whenever you have a chance before the actual audition. As I said, our D didn’t have time, and wished she had warmed up at least somewhat before the dance audition, so she would have been ready. We learned our lesson at Elon, which was only her second audition, and at all her others she warmed up in the car on the way to the audition, or in a stairwell before the dance audition or whatever it took. She might then have a chance to warm up more right before she actually went into the audition room, but if she didn’t, she felt more ready than she did at Elon. She had recorded a warm-up and the accompaniment for her songs into her IPod and used that.
3. We found a rolling carry-on bag very helpful for auditions. We brought her dance clothes, water, small bottle of o.j., an apple, granola bar, fruit breezers, the file for the particular school, extra headshots and resumes, etc. in the rolling bag, and carried a garment bag with her audition clothes (some schools she wore her dance clothes under her audition clothes instead. Depended on the school. But at Elon, there was time to change more than once.
4. I made an Audition Packing List on the computer. This saved us having to think too much and made sure we never forgot anything. It was very detailed, and saved a lot of aggravation.
5. Don’t forget to prepare the music for the accompanist exactly the way you want it played. And make sure you bring the sheet music! We also had burned a CD of her music, and carried that with us just in case it was ever needed (and of course NYU and maybe some others schools require this).
6. Be prepared. Have your monologues down cold. Songs too. Be prepared to do an extra monologue or an extra song, or a whole song instead of a cut. You never know what might happen at any one audition, so prepare for as many possibilities and then whatever they throw at you, you’ll be prepared.
7. Try not to be nervous. I know that must sound impossible, but we found the audition committees to be generally very nice. At Elon they are very nice! Everyone at Elon has always been very nice—and we’ve visited four times before our D actually moved in, and spent three days there for move-in weekend (parent orientation, convocation, etc.) and feel so at home there. And we’re from NY! I had never even been to NC before our first visit to Elon!
8. If at all possible, see a production while you are there. You will learn so much about the quality of the program! And Elon’s is first rate all the way!
9. We found being supportive, and staying out of our daughter’s way worked best for us. If she needed anything, we were there. We carried things, I helped her with her clothes if needed, we offered her a snack, etc. but mostly just let her focus on the work she had to do to prepare and to stay calm.
10. Try to enjoy the time together. We have wonderful memories of all our audition trips. And that is great, because now she’s loving life at Elon, and I miss her! But couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.

Ericsmom

Wow - Hope2bElonmom - I'm impressed with your chosen screen name, and I hope so, too, for you. I'd recommend auditioning for a wide variety of schools, though, as they all seem so competitive these days. Much luck with Elon, and you've gotten some very good advice above from my CC and Elon mom friend. They weren't doing dance auditions when my son auditioned for Elon. It was new last year.

Hope2bELONmom

NYDM thank you so much for your thorough reply! That really helps give us an idea of what to expect. Is it true that Elon only accepts 16 people into their MT program out of 350 applicants? Sounds pretty competitive. Does everyone have to wait until March 15 to find out if they have made it into the MT program or do some of the students find out earlier?

BruceWayne5148

I may be able to help a little...while they say 16 only are accepted they really accept around 35 hoping for around 16 to accept...This year it is over 30 I think...nydancemom probably knows a more accurate number...It sounds like they let some people in after the fall auditoins but if you audition in in the Feb/March days it is usually around the 15th although I don't know because I didn't get "the call." I remember getting my wait list letter a little later than the 15th. It sounds like the wait list is usually pretty small. I heard through the grapevine there were only 3 of us last year.

I don't know how much of a dancer your daughter is but if she doesn't already tap it would be really great to take a few tap classes. While they say it isn't required they asked anyone who could to demonstrate and they asked for some relatively easy things that aren't too hard to pick up in a few classes and it certainly wouldn't hurt to be able to do that!

nydancemom

Yes Elon is very competitive to get into, and I think is getting more so as its national reputation has grown. When we visited in junior year, we were told they had made 28 offers to hope to yield 16 MT students that year, and ended up with around 20 maybe? Not sure exactly, but that should be pretty close. They had about 225 kids audition that year. Since then they have increased the number of students in the class (21 or 22 in the current sophomore class). I don't actually know how many people auditioned last year, or how many offers were made, but I think BruceWayne is pretty accurate on his numbers. I do know there were 28 MT students in the freshman class when it started in August. I've heard one girl has already changed her major since the semester started, so there are now 27. There were 14 boys and 14 girls. We were not told an exact number of offers made when we visited in May (after decisions had been made, we were there to see the spring dance performance) but were told that the class was bigger than expected since they had a bigger yield than expected. One of the boys is a transfer student who is starting as a freshman (he had one year of college). Not sure if any others are, but I don't think so.
Some people were offered admission in early December, right after the last fall audition date. I know of 6 who were offered admission then (3 boys, 3 girls). At that point I heard that about 100 kids had auditioned in the fall, they offered 6, deferred 8 and rejected about 85. The spring acceptance phone calls were made on March 7th--A day that will remain etched in my daughter's memory forever I'm sure! Those phone calls included some of those who had been deferred (although I don't know if all the deferred kids got acceptance phone calls or just some) and the bulk of the class, who had auditioned in January and February.
I also heard the waitlist was very small, only one girl and a couple of boys. I heard they did not go to the waitlist because the yield was so high.
BruceWayne, I hope you end up at Elon if that is what you want! They do take transfer students sometimes--I know of the one this year and a few in other classes (including Showmom's D) so good luck!

Ericsmom

I believe that the current junior class is the one with 22 students and that the current sophomore class has 20 in it (10 boys, 10 girls). Last year when the freshmen started, it appeared to be 21, but one of those was actually a junior transferring in, who is now part of the senior class. This year's senior class is smaller than the others.

BruceWayne5148

Does anyone know what liberal arts classes are required for MT majors? The website has what courses are required for MT but doesn't mention any liberal arts. I know everyone has to take that intro to Elon course or whatever that is called.

Ericsmom

It is probably available online, but if not, pick up an Elon course catalogue at the admissions office - a very nice and helpful book. It shows all the Elon core requirements for everyone getting a degree from Elon. These courses apply to fine arts majors, business majors, pre-med, really just everyone. There are many requirements, but there is some flexibility in how to fulfill these requirements.

KatMT

Most schools have course catalogs available online. Here is the link to the Elon catalog:

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/academics/...ault0708.xhtml

Kaitrin

Hi everyone! I was looking at Elon and I've heard many impressive things about it. It seems like a very nurturing environment. I also like how the voice teachers stressed the importance of a good classical singing technique.

I'm a classically trained singer with a passion for MT. I'm a strong actress/dancer/singer, but I'm not a belter. Would Elon be the type of school to accept a legit soprano who had a great deal of prior classical training, who is not yet a belter (but willing to learn).

I just though I'd ask because of things I've read in previous posts on this thread.

Thanks!

Ericsmom

Kaitrin - having a boy and not being a singer myself, I can only tell you what I've heard people say. I believe that some of the girls at Elon are sopranos and not belters. Others are more belters. I assume that a mix of voices are accepted, along with many other factors, from auditions.

You should definitely try for Elon and for many other schools, as all are so competitive. I would also recommend that you look at OCU, where they really seem to value the classical voice training at auditions. Look at other BM programs, also.

Definitely do also audition for Elon! It really is a nurturing environment.

theatregirl08

hey everyone! im visiting Elon this monday. Im so excited! But anyways, i have a question.. if you apply EA to Elon, and your audition is in Februrary.. what does this mean? EA applicants are supposed to find out if they are in the school in December.. so would i be notified if i am in the school academically, and then audition? Or do you have to audition to get in, and in this case they delay your responce. My question is, does one effect the other?? Or if i dont get into the theatre program, will i still be admitted into the college?

thanks!

nydancemom

If Elon is following the same procedure as last year, they will notify people about MT audition results on two dates: one in very early December after they finish the fall auditions, and again in early March after they finish the January and February auditions. The MT acceptances are clearly stated in the letter (although phone calls of acceptance were made before the actual letters arrived) as being contingent on academic acceptance to Elon. The two processes are entirely separate at Elon (not all schools operate this way). If you apply EA, you will find out online on December 20th if you are in to Elon academically. Then you will wait until March for your BFA MT result if you audition in February. If you do not get in for the BFA, you will be offered the Theater Studies major which is a BA degree and is not performance based.