<p>I agree with MichaelNKat. My son did 10 auditions, six at unifieds and another one on the same trip the Saturday before. The rest were on weekends. He missed only three school days. We decided to visit only the schools he was accepted at for two reasons. Primarily cost of visiting a school that wasn’t even a choice and also because he would have more time in April than earlier in the year. We made a big checklist of schools to start. The most important thing for him was I made him really think about what was important about the programs and the schools, then research the schools, and than talk again about the important parts of the schools and programs. We used some of the spreadsheets that MichaelNKat was nice enough to send to use as a guide. What we didn’t do but I would recommend is communicating with students already in the programs to get some first hand information about the programs, the day to day life, and the auditions. Just to give some perspective, I was totally oblivious to what was needed for this project. My son was very active in high school theater but never had any private lessons of any kind. We both learned a lot through this experience. We had a great time together throughout the process!</p>
<p>impalanut makes a great point about speaking to current students. We found current students to be very open and candid about both their likes and dislikes of the MT programs they attend. The ability to contact current students privately through PM’s on this Board was a real dividend. With one school, we received “inside info” that played a meaningful role in my D’s decision making process.</p>
<p>Hi… I posted the same message in the thread “Things I wish I would have known…”, I thought it would be appropriate for parents reading this thread as well.</p>
<p>We were very na</p>
<p>I agree totally with SingersMom. This period of time is all about exploring options. I have always told my children when stressed about other kids seeming to know exactly what they want to major in that in fact KNOWING at this age what you want to do is the exception not the norm. One day you can want to be a Doctor…the next you take chemistry or physics and decide against that. Or you take a psychology class and decide you love it. Hence the norm of college students changing majors many times. </p>
<p>When my D applied in August I approached it knowing there might be a total possibility of a change of heart by May and allowed for a couple applications that were non-MT just in case in other areas she liked. </p>
<p>Writing the typical application essay about Tell Us Why You Want to Major in X totally changed everything. At first she was going to apply to what seemed like a safer more sensible major. It required soul searching. It was then that she realized she couldn’t sit down and write that her whole life it was all she dreamed of and wanted - that was theatre. The entire list of schools changed. </p>
<p>But almost all the schools she applied to for MT she would have only attended for MT. If she switched majors she would not be at the school she wanted to attend and would have had to transfer. So when considering which is the BEST school…consider which is the best school for YOU. If, for example, microbiology is a 2nd love and you find a school good for MT and microbiology that school may be at the top of your list. This is in fact where my D is ending up - at a school that will give her excellent training in her theatre areas while also having excellent programs in other areas of interest so if she decides to go in another direction someday she doesn’t have to transfer.</p>
<p>I think the decision of whether to pursue a BFA or a BA school is a VERY important decision. I do not think a BFA path suits all people (let alone it is not the only way to pursue theater). I think this decision needs to be thought through very carefully. I have had several students over the years who started out wanting a BFA in MT who at some later point, often in the fall of senior year (some sooner than that and some even later!) realized that a BA path was much more suited to their desires even though they still want to do theater. MomOfAPrincess’ D is a good example of someone who loves MT but where a BA school is much more appropriate to what she is looking for. I’ve had students who want to study MT and Communications and that is but one example, but that says to me that a BA path is far more suitable. A BFA path is a HUGE committment and only makes sense if you want theater to be your primary focus and you are truly ready to commit and really know this. I think most 17 year olds are still exploring and in fact, college is the perfect time to try many things, including subjects that were not even offered in high school. Many enter college with their major as “undecided” and many change majors in college. This is normal. But this isn’t what someone choosing a BFA path could really do. A BFA path is a narrow focus and involves a committment while still in high school and also involves the bulk of the degree program being in one area. If you even anticipate a possible change of heart or some degree of indecision or think you may also want to study something else or have any flexibility, then a BA path makes much more sense. A BFA is not a good fit for all people. One needs to explore the criteria to consider when deciding between a BFA or a BA. Sometimes, when I have had someone not sure of which path, they have applied to some of each and have put that decision off until later in senior year. Usually, someone who a BFA program is most fitting is someone who is 110% sure.</p>
<p>"One needs to explore the criteria to consider when deciding between a BFA or a BA. "</p>
<p>Although DD is in a BM program, it is similar to BFA in focus. One of things she liked though is that her school allows those who change focus to stay in the music program and do a BA instead of the BM. It allows for the expanded studies and double majors that way. You can’t enroll in the BA but you can change your mind and not have to transfer. That was a plus factor in her decision and something to consider. Not sure how often that choice is available in the MT programs but you can check - How flexible is the school itself?</p>
<p>I agree with Susan: the kids I have known who have ended up thriving and happy at BFA programs are the ones who were focused like laser beams on the goal of being an MT/actor/performer. They are often the ones who are used to not having a lot of free time to just hang with friends: their friends tend to mostly be the same as them (focused on performing) and they share time during rehearsals, in shows, in dance classes, in choir and so on.</p>
<p>I originally posted this on the Class of 2009 thread, but I thought I’d cut & paste it since we have a 2009/2010 one now :D.</p>
<p>Some thoughts…</p>
<p>1) Visiting/Selecting Schools - to visit all schools turned out to be cost prohibitive for us (living in CA). My D did a lot of research on-line & talked to current students in different programs (she had met in summer programs and/or Facebook), and auditioned at the schools she selected for her short list “on campus”, thus allowing for an actual feel for & tour of the campus. Some things to think about when your S/D puts together his/her final list (aside from the BFA or BA question): conservatory vs. liberal arts vs. “a mix of both”, urban vs. rural, large vs. small etc. My D had what I refer to as an “eclectic” mix of schools on her list. The one common denominator was that she could see herself happily attending any of those schools.</p>
<p>2) Audition Materials: cannot stress enough how many people we actually ran into who thought singing from Wicked was perfectly acceptable and others who carried entire scores in printed publications with them instead of personalized binders with a select number of songs. Marking the songs with “ballad, uptempo, lyric soprano, belt” etc. is not a bad idea either as nerves may play a role, and you want to find your songs quickly if/when asked for a specific style. Be prepared, but do not overrehearse monologues with over the top blocking and/or props. Spend a good amount of time selecting material, and don’t hesitate to use a musical theatre audition coach for this purpose. They know what colleges are looking for.</p>
<p>3) Application process: my D pulled copies of most schools’ applications for the year prior, so that she had time over the summer to think about her answers/essays. Most schools she applied to (except for NYU) asked the same questions as in years past. Doing all but two of her applications before Labor Day (some are just not available that early) made for a relatively stressfree Fall (yeah right). I personally do feel that early applications do get more attention from the admissions people, as they simply have more time to review them. In any event if worked well for my D. Applying to some schools with rolling admissions (like Webster, Point Park and Marymount Manhattan) took the pressure even further off by getting academic acceptances prior to heading into audition season.</p>
<p>4) Organization: D made manila file folders for each school, and had them color coded (red for ‘I really want to go there’, yellow for ‘I like it but do need to get more info’ and green for her ‘safeties’). Wherever we went, the appropriate folder came with us. All her notes, printed info from the internet or mailings were in that folder, and so were mine (travel arrangements and “my mom point of view” ). At auditions I saw other parents with binders (one parent said she had made one for each college), and that looked like it could work really well too. My D opted for manila folders (that we kept in a file cabinet at home) and stapled a checklist to the front with things such as: application sent date, SAT’s sent date, rec letters sent date, audition confirmed date etc. Her songs, monologues, headshots, resumes, accompaniment/ipod & notepad she carried around in a binder that easily fit in her dance bag, along with a “non wrinkle” dress (after her first audition that is, where she wore a 100% cotton number she just loved and “had to wear” in spite of my protest :)), dance clothes, a snack and a refilleable waterbottle. I carried her “song bible” (just in case), extra snacks, first aid (make-up, band aids, zicam, hair stuff, meds, tape) and her manila file folder in a big tote. </p>
<p>5) Timeline: keep a calendar handy (those ‘month to month’ in a glance ones worked really well for us) and an overview of each school’s audition dates (some will be at a Unifieds in your area, and this may reduce travel expenses). Try to combine some auditions wherever possible, but be realistic as some auditions can take all day (Point Park, CMU for example cannot be scheduled on the same day, but could be planned the same weekend, at least last November). Start planning travel once your audition times have been confirmed. Yes, some do need to be confirmed (example - UMich for academic review purposes, but also others). Some schools have limited hotel accommodations nearby (Elon) and so booking your hotel early will increase the chances of being closer to campus.</p>
<p>6) Audition scheduling; much will depend upon whether your D or S wants to audition early or late in the audition season, but you should definitely stay on top of it and not wait until the last minute getting the appointments. In most cases, my D was able to schedule her own at her leisure at night, however, in one case, paranoia kicked in (NYU ED audition), and we found both of us online getting an appointment early in the morning at the same time as soon as audition dates/times went up. Much depends on each individual preference and if your child is ready material wise. Also, some people want to hold off and wait to be seen last “to be remembered”, others just want to get those auditions in early and see what happens. The latter was the case for my D. She scheduled the bulk of her auditions before Christmas and left some for the ‘spring’. It worked for her. It will also depend upon what type of school your child attends as some performing arts schools will have certain performance demands that may conflict. Important: be aware that most high schools are not ok with taking time off to audition.</p>
<p>7) Fun: definitely remember this special time with your S/D. Time flies. This is a time to remember fondly. If you are traveling with your child, just “be there” as comic relief, rather than ‘the critic’. I managed to get lost almost everywhere we went. It broke the tension tremendously (having planned for extra time knowing I would likely get us lost from past experiences). If you do drive, make sure to bring printed copies of Mapquest with you, or invest in a Neverlost :D.</p>
<p>Oh, and remember, breathe!</p>
<p>This might be of use to someone planning this process so thought I’d post it. This is from someone in the mid-west, application fees to 16 collleges with extra costs for ACT and Profiles sent, 1 Unifed and 4 campus visits, audition clothes, air, transportation, and hotel excluding food and any extra training and coaching expense - $8000. It can probably be done cheaper but it’s just a headsup to start budgeting for the season. </p>
<p>Or in the words of Mastercard for the experience of having done this with my daughter - PRICELESS</p>
<p>Or with us - 5 campus visits, 1 regional, 1 unified with add’l. acceptances, (therefore, D cut to her top interests) then having to add 2 campus visits totaling 8! From the SE - 1 rental car, many cabs, trains & planes, airport parking fees, shows (NY & some schools), hotels, meals, etc. etc. etc. well over, over did I say over (?) $10,000!<br>
How might we have saved $? Perhaps an add’l. unified city location?
(Btw…LOVED unifieds…the most relaxing out of ALL the trips.) :-)</p>
<p>MOP - I agree you can not put a price on the experience or the bonding. ;-)</p>
<p>P.S. Continue budgeting thereafter as you will be (G-dwilling) traveling to see their summer(stock) & school shows. :-)</p>
<p>I don’t recall what we spent but it wasn’t what you guys spent…it was less. My D applied to 8 schools total and did all auditions on campus. Most were in driving distance and involved hotels. Three required plane tickets but two of the three were combined into one audition weekend (one roundtrip flight) with a rental car between the two schools. </p>
<p>However, I do agree on the “priceless” part of the time one on one with my daughter. </p>
<p>Obviously, if you live on the West Coast or in certain other regions of the country, more expenses with flights will be needed. I just wanted to mention that not everyone has to spend as much as you guys did for the audition trips. Also, while some of you had 16 or 12 schools on the list, some applied to less schools. </p>
<p>Needless to say, the entire process ain’t cheap between lessons and coaching, head shots, application fees, and audition trips and campus visits. Then again, it is a drop in the bucket when compared to the cost of four years of college.</p>
<p>We live in Florida and did Chicago unifieds plus trips to three other schools totalling nine auditions. I chose to stay at the Palmer House and spent the extra for the upper floors, they had unlimited drinks and snacks which offset the cost. I also tended to choose the better hotels at the other locations as well. This put us in a much more relaxed state of mind for the auditions since the rooms were quiet, comfortable and roomy. The schools not at unifieds we were able to drive to. One campus visit after acceptances. Cost about $4000 for the applications,trips, a few hundred for clothes, plus food and incidentals. I guess traveling with boys is a little cheaper. Since there were a few early acceptances we were able to eliminate some of the later auditions we originally planned based on how we had rated the schools for us. You could certainly do it cheaper depending on where you live.</p>
<p>We live in Philadelphia and after doing a lot of preliminary research during her junior year, my daughter concluded that there were many benefits and few, if any, drawbacks to focusing on schools within a 6 hour driving radius. Tremendous diversity of schools within this distance, ranging from the Pittsburgh area up through Boston with Phila and NY in between. Easy traveling by car (or mini-van) for purposes of moving in/out, visiting at school and returning for family events and semester breaks. It also enabled us to visit each school to which our D applied and for her to audition on campus.</p>
<p>Between January of her Junior year and February of her senior year, my D visited 7 schools and thereafter applied and auditioned on campus at 6 of them for a total of 13 trips. Some of the trips were 1 day events, some involved staying over for 2 nights, some 1 night. I would estimate the costs (travel, food, lodging) at about $6000, not cheap, but as soozievt commented, a reasonable investment given the cost of 4 years of college.</p>
<p>Then there’s those lucky few who fall in love with a school, decide on early decision and get in saving all these audition fees & stresses. Why couldn’t this happen to more of us? 
:)</p>
<p>Soozie and Michael point out one way I view the expense - outside of just having had ‘vacation’ trips although to some places I would admittedly have never put on a US Top 10 destination list. The real ultimate investment for us is Forty thousand a year times four years or over One hundred sixty thousand dollars. So what we spent contributed to making sure that money would be going to the right place and was worth it in the long run. The extra money spent applying to non-MT BA backup schools was akin to trip insurance.</p>
<p>Applying ED might save some money but not a lot. For one thing, while the ED application is in, it is very wise to also file all your other applications just in case and so you still have all the app fees. Also, in my view, in order to be able to arrive at the decision to apply ED which is a binding commitment, one should have VISITED other schools to compare. Remember there are many of us who did college visits BEFORE auditions. My D has wanted to go to NYU/Tisch since she was about 12. She considered applying ED. But there was no way to let her apply ED before she explored and visited some other options and so we did. She still had NYU/Tisch as a favorite but opted to do RD and not ED, and thus did 8 campus auditions and ultimately came full circle back to NYU/Tisch (and was fortunate to be admitted) but then could say without a doubt it was her first choice. But even if she HAD applied ED, she would have had to visit at least a couple of other schools to arrive at a well informed decision to commit to a school, in my view. However, it is true that she would not have had to have attended 8 auditions. The kids we know who DID apply ED, often still did a couple of other auditions in Nov. and Dec. and just didn’t have to do as many as we did for RD throughout the winter.</p>
<p>True, however, if admitted ED the “just in case” backups are cancelled creating less costs etc.<br>
We know of several who loved NYU and were admitted ED, therefore, that was their only audition. Same thing happened with two we know who applied ED @ Northwestern with no pre-audition (immediately canceling other choices).
It’s a gr8 option - if it works out. :-)</p>
<p>Yes, this cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the expenses of the four (college) years.</p>
<p>MOP - LOL on your vacation destination remark - I too would not have viewed flying through snow storms to auditions as a vacation.</p>
<p>Mainstage, I definitely agree that ED will mean less audition trips (if you get in). I was just saying that some expenses still are there and that it would still be important to have made other college visit trips in order to be secure in the binding decision to attend the ED school. </p>
<p>Anyway, I also agree that some of the locations of these trips/auditions are not exactly where I would go for vacation but oh well, I have seen some interesting places between the college visits for my two kids. Too bad there are no MT programs in places like the Caribean, LOL.</p>
<p>I understand although some kids decide on a school and have it in their minds that this is the only school for them so (unlike your D) do not visit any other schools.</p>
<p>Anyway, as I sit here reviewing my D’s soon to be apt. lease (yes, the dorm is almost history), I’m dreaming of that Caribbean trip, and that tropical drink on the beach - WAIT - it’s only morning…oh well it was nice while it lasted…thank’s for taking me there Soozievt. ;-)</p>
<p>Well NYC was a wonderful destination although with 2 full days of auditioning I think we got a total - maybe - of 3 hours of rushed sightseeing on foot and 2 Broadway plays. I’d love to see Yellowstone, Chicago, Vail, Austin, Dallas, Boston and Washington DC - there are a lot of places in the US I’d like to see. I just never thought putting visits to Ann Arbor, Syracuse, Bloomington or Elon at the top of the list. (no offense to anyone that lives there) Course now Bloomington is my #1 destination for the next 4 yrs. Charming town 
lol</p>