<p>Similar situation here, we were able to get the dates that we requested but had the applications in on the early side. Luckily, no prescreening for S’s instrument last year. </p>
<p>At one school there was only one date for his instrument but the admissions office was very nice and told us to request in a letter with his application an early time so that we could fly out late that afternoon. This worked out well for us. We planned that travel weekend around that school’s date.</p>
<p>We did 2 travel long weekends in February with 2 auditions in each, with an extra weekend in between. One was a Friday - Monday in 2 cities where we had drive 8 hours in between. We planned a stopover with family on Saturday night. Extra time allowed for bad weather. The other weekend was 2 schools in the same city, a Friday - Saturday audition. One of the schools had one Saturday available in his instrument. We made sure to sign up for that Saturday as early as possible to guarantee it. That weekend was pretty crazy since it was 2 consecutive days with lessons and meetings also. Would recommend an extra day in between if at all possible, the first audition was very stressful knowing that there were still lessons and another audition the next day. </p>
<p>I think if you let the schools know that you are traveling a long distance that they may be more willing to accommodate you on the requested days. We did not request any time of day except at that one school. Some schools state that you may be asked to return later in the afternoon for additional auditions and some schools have full audition day schedules where you are required to spend the entire day with activities and testing planned. </p>
<p>I found, as others have suggested, that putting all the possible dates on a calendar or chart (in pencil) to get a good visual was very helpful. The audition dates are probably posted on many of the websites by now. We were lucky and were able to do 2 early auditions in the fall and another local audition in January. Leaving only 4 for February worked out very well for us. </p>
<p>Planning one long week of auditions should work provided that you allow enough travel and rest time in between. Three schools could be doable in one week on a string instrument. I found that there was a lot of angst on my part during the beginning planning phase, worrying about how it will all work out, especially making all the travel arrangements. I am the type who wants to know NOW and am not very good at the wait and see part.</p>