babar

We stayed at the Doubletree in NYC. It was great. The small suite allowed some privacy for everyone and it was not only across the street from the TKTS booth and the AMA building, but USC actually had their auditions in the hotel. It wasn't low-budget, but it was worth it.

UAmom

Does anyone know how long the Emerson MT audition lasts? We are still trying to figure out the schedule. Yes NYC is a lot more expensive! I'm trying to use Hilton points for free rooms to make it a bit easier on the pocketbook.

MTMama

We have stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in NYC many times. It is a nice, fairly recently renovated hotel. It is on 8th Ave between 48th and 49th- so would be just down the street from the Unifieds (and around the corner from Spring Awakening!). We have gotten some good deals there, but I think all of the hotels in NYC raise their prices as the week goes on (and charge more on the weekends) so it can get pricey.

We've also stayed at the Radio City Apartments. They are on 49th near Broadway, so would also be close to the Unifieds. We had a nice studio suite there with a full kitchen. It isn't anything fancy - but is reasonably priced - and clean and quiet.

Thanks for the tip about yahoo farechase. Another similar travel website is kayak.com. It also searches other sites such as expedia, travelocity, etc for you.

And yes - definitely worth it in Chicago to just stay in the Palmer House. I was so glad that we did last year - as it was minus ten degrees outside!

kaysmom

UA Mom,

My daughter did the Emerson audition last year in November. She was the afternoon group which I believe started at 2pm. She was the absolute last one to audition and we left at almost 6:30!!! It was a long day. But the kids did get to pick their audition order themselves...my d was just late speaking up.

UAmom

Thanks for the Emerson info! This website has been so great during this process!
One more question though, does anyone know about the Penn State audition? How long does that one last?
Thanks so much!

Javon

How many schools can you audition for in a single week?

NotMamaRose

That depends on how long each school requires/recommends that you set aside for your audition and how your auditions are scheduled. Unifieds is not an entire week: more like three days.

Skwidjymom

There's a mom here whose D did 8 that weekend, but some were local or regional auditions (like Julliard and Emerson, I think).

MTDad777

You really don't want to put all your eggs in one basket in the event you become sick that week. Since it is the dead of winter it happens more times than you'd think. Also, what I think is important is after you have compiled your list of schools, find out which ones have rolling admissions. The ones that do I recommend you get to the school relatively early in the process and get your audition in. I believe there is a lot of "type" casting that happens and if they already have found 2 or 3 of your "type" (i.e. 5' 5" Brunette) you'll have to really nail your audition to have a chance. The schools that don't have rolling admissions (i.e. Webster) Unifieds are a great opportunity.

dramama

I remember my D telling me that Emerson did a group exercise where you had to tell something interesting about yourself, and some kids seemed a bit unprepared for this, as it was quite different from the way other schools ran their audition. She loved her Emerson audition experience.

MTDad777

Let me add this to Javon's question. The only possible way to do 8 auditions in one week would be through the Unifieds and from our experience two or three a day is more than enough. There are opportunities for walk-ups but that can be pretty tuff as you may know little about the school and the audition requirements can vary greatly. Furthermore, these are also held during the school year so you'll need to miss three days of school all in the same week.

Regarding on campus auditions, unless you live in an area that is surrounded by MT schools you'd be lucky to get in one audition every week or two as school audition dates and times vary, many times they fall on the same days. The travel, waiting and pressure of this process is exhausting. Carefully planning ahead is critical.

NotMamaRose

I know this has been said before, but definitely consider doing a walk-in or two during Unifieds if you find yourself with time. (You can avoid the problem of not knowing the audition requirements by becoming familiar with what schools are at Unifieds and which you would likely want to "walk into" and having that material in your book. It's really not that tricky to do! ) My D decided to do a walk-in one afternoon at Unifieds and ended up being accepted with a scholarship and almost went to that particular school, she liked the auditors and the students she met so much. A suggestion for those who think they might do a walk in or two: bring along an official copy of your high school transcript and your resume and head shot to hand to the auditors before the audition.

MTDad777

NMR - Our experience at the Chicago Unifieds was apparently a little different than yours. This may be because the class of 2008 was the biggest graduating class ever. Out of the 40 plus schools or so I think I saw maybe 4 that had walk ups and we had to wait until the end of the day. I think that there was maybe one of the four that we were interested in but I wasn't about to wait another 3 1/2 hours. We took the train in from the suburbs and since CCM decided at the last minute to move their audition to a different hotel due to the construction at the Palmer house we had two auditions a mile apart. I suppose that if you travel in from a distance and stay at a hotel close by you could walk the halls the first day and line up some additional auditions. It was probably just this year but the setup at the Palmer house really sucked. Frankly, I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Your advise about the resumes and headshots is good but just as important is having your music on a CD in 16 & 32 bars if there is no accompaniment. If there is you need sheet music marked both ways. Also have 2 monologues prepared.