Are these worth the money and time? What about the unified Auditions as well?
Many people have found all of the things you mention helpful- others don’t use any of them. For us- unifieds were a great time/$$ savings as my kid could get the bulk of her auditions done within a few days
SETC done in the junior year of HS is very helpful. The student gets feedback which can be hard to come by and has the opportunity to learn about schools that may not be mentioned much. My daughter’s experience at SETC was very positive.
My D coaches and did master classes w MTCA and it was invaluable not just for her audition pieces and feedback but as her growth as an artist. Cannot say enough good things about our experience with them. And, while the costs add up for this whole process, the advice on how to schedule Unified auditions, getting the right pieces to work on etc. working with MTCA might have actually saved us money (and certainly did save time) that we would spent trying to fly to each place D was applying. Good luck!
You will find many, many ringing endorsements for MTCA (and other coaches) on this site. Use the search function at the top of the page and you will find them, here is one:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16458561#Comment_16458561
Here is a useful thread on coaching in general:
CoachC, who I believe is the founder of MTCA, is a poster of some regularity on this forum. You easily read her awesome posts by clicking on her name and then clicking on “Replies” in the upper left corner of her profile page. Here is a typical post:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16502063#Comment_16502063
The depth of her knowledge and her patience with us crazy parents shines through her posts (we did not use her, so I think I am pretty objective about this).
I can’t say enough positive things about S’s junior year experience at SETC (his HS did not go). Great warm-up for senior year college auditions (some even get offered college admission/scholarships), but the workshops offered are worth their weight in gold. S just completed his first unified professional audition there as MT college freshman. Again, a tremendously positive learning experience. And if the planets align, he might even have a summer job to show for it.
I HIGHLY recommend SETC. It offers students a fabulous opportunity to find out what schools are interested in them, to get feedback, and to see how they compare to other high school kids out there. It can be a great confidence booster or a strong kick in the pants. You are not going to find CCM, UofM, BoCo, Penn State, or CMU there, but there are plenty of other really good schools offering BA, BFA, and BM programs. There are also hundreds of workshops that cover subjects like audition technique, belting, vocal styles, acting techniques, and other pertinent information. I’ve been presenting workshops there for the last four years and I love it; I always look forward to going back.
~VT
Here is a very recent thread on SETC:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18167043#Comment_18167043