@toowonderful, I don’t remember if they looked through my D’s book before they asked her for the Chicago song, but she didn’t have anything in there remotely like that, so I tend to think no. My D had far fewer than 10 songs in her book…I think she had 4 or 5 songs total, each with a 16, 32, and full. If you have it in your book, you better be prepared to sing it beautifully, and she wanted to concentrate on a handful of songs rather than try to manage a large number of them. Never put a song in your book that you can’t do wonderfully. Ask your coach if you have one.
@theaterwork, the fit thing is intangible. It’s a combination of talent, type, and personality. Do they like you? Do they need you? Can they work with you for four years? Will you be happy there for four years? I had a sneaking suspicion that some of the schools never read my D’s essay (but I could be wrong).