I do not understand the angst over walk ins. If a school is there and has a cancellation or gets ahead of schedule, what is the issue? We have a couple of friends that decided yesterday that the threat of the ice storm wasn’t worth the travel headache and left. That creates openings. When my S was at Unifieds several years ago, he did two walk ins, both told him he would have to apply and pay the same fees as others to be considered. I have heard several stories of a student walking in, loving the audition and auditors, and ended up going to that school. That’s a win for both sides. IMO, if the school has paid to fly their auditors to Chicago, feed and house them, and pay for the audition room, they may as well allow walk ins if there is time. Both the school and the student might find a diamond in the rough they hadn’t considered before.
@MTDadandProud Instead of preparing for auditions, Student A spends hours completing applications, writing essays, creating and submitting prescreens… all by deadlines set by the college… and just like the colllege “requires.”
Student B doesn’t do any of that, and spends those hours preparing for auditions. And then the college changes the rules, mid-game, to audition Student B.
Sure, they can do whatever they want. But how much will you trust a institution like that with your many-thousands-of-dollars investment?
The potential to see walk-ins - at ANY school - should be disclosed as prominently as applications, deadlines, and prescreen info. If not, it’s a giant red flag.
@NYAndOne , But Student B is taking a chance. They do not know if that school will be taking a walk-in or not. They could miss out on the chance to audition for that school. Also, each institution has its own policy regarding walk-ins. If they are a pre-screen school, they could use the walk-in as a live pre-screen and simply want to see more of Student B.
Wouldn’t it be great if kids could audition first and then only apply academically to MT schools where they have artistic acceptances? Make it happen, College Programs!! Yes, you’d lose some application fees in the process, but think about all the resources the theatre department and the academic admissions department are spending (separately, in many cases!) to evaluate all these applicants. Perhaps that could help even the playing field for those who are financially challenged (which is most of us - this is expensive, even for upper middle class families.)
@NYKaren you’re exactly right in your facts, but I just don’t buy into the “poor Student B” argument. According to the (theoretical) school’s published rules, they’ve ALREADY missed their chance to audition because they didn’t put in the time and effort to provide the school’s “requirements” by the school’s “deadline”.
Student A does everything she’s supposed to by the deadlines, gets sick and misses (or bombs) an audition. No second chance.
Student B missed an opportunity to audition, but does get a second chance.
Giant red flag.
@NYAndOne I’m not in any way saying “Poor Student B.” Also, Student B can bomb the walk-in for the same school Student A is doing their scheduled audition for. I guess I view walk-ins for programs that you might not have considered before and want to get a vibe and see what it’s all about. I wouldn’t necessarily expect to be able to skip the CMU (or Michigan, etc) prescreen and just be able to do a walk in for them. I think a walk-in as an added bonus, not for a school that is your dream school or your top 3 choices. Those should be secured with application, prescreen, etc. I guess, to me, a walk in is a bonus
Actually @NYAndOne I know of a student who felt she did poorly on her pre-screen because she had been sick and in fact was rejected by a well respected school in the NE. By Unifieds, she was better and had her “audition” legs. That particular school had some slots open and she asked and was allowed to audition again.
Neither student A or Student B has an advantage. They both can audition live or by video. At least in my experience, a walk in school will not give you any indication of admittance until you have gone through the application process and paid the fees. Maybe there is an exception to that that I’m not aware of. If that is the case, I would agree with you.
My point is if they are there, and have a slot, I have no problem with them allowing a walk-in. The alternative is to lock the door and do nothing for that time slot. I am sure some may do that, but I have no problem with a school opening that door if they choose.
This anti-walk in thing makes me laugh… if you don’t like walk ins - don’t do them. If you don’t want to go to a school that would allow them, don’t apply to one that does (If you are here on CC it is pretty easy to find out which ones traditionally do/don’t). Focus on your own journey- b/c you never get anywhere by worrying about what other people are doing.
@toowonderful The last sentence of your post hits the nail on the head. Parents worrying about walk-ins, how many students audtiion for each school, what others are singing . . . you can’t change any of that. In the words of Elsa, let it go, and focus inward. Remember, luck is when opportunity meets preparation.
@NYAndOne - don’t forget that Student A is free to do walk-ins at schools she might have overlooked, and Student B I’m sure didn’t sit idly by and not apply in the “proper” way to ANY school. Walk-ins are not “gaming” the system; they are a win-win for applicants and schools. But if you don’t like them, don’t do them, as @toowonderful points out!
Just a suggestion. Can we agree that not everyone agrees on walk-ins and that no one is going to (or needs to) be convinced otherwise? And then just move on…
@toowonderful @EastchesterMom lol… don’t confuse my disdain for previously unannounced walk-ins with how I’m helping D get through this process. She’s done two walk-ins. I just view them, as I’ve said, as a giant red flag.
Anything that sounds too good to be true… like auditioning without going through all the paperwork and deadlines… creates a sense of caution in me. From one of D’s favorite shows (well, the movie version) Guys And Dolls…
When I was a young man about to go out into the world, my father says to me a very valuable thing. He says to me like this… “Son,” the old guy says, “I am sorry that I am not able to bank roll you to a very large start, but not having any potatoes which to give you, I am now going to stake you to some very valuable advice. One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to come to you and show you a nice, brand new deck of cards on which the seal has not yet been broken. This man is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of that deck and squirt cider in your ear. Now son, you do not take this bet, for as sure as you stand there, you are going to wind up with an earful of cider.”
@ZukAndSowash agreed!
Walkins a Red Flag… yep, I agree. The schools taking some or a lot of walkins are the lesser known schools, which means lesser demand for their programs. If they don’t have the demand, it’s because they come up short in one or more significant ways >> red flag. The Top Tier schools my D auditioned for did not take walkins. They were full up, because they are in high demand.
That said, my Ds friend here did 14 walkins and 2 prescheduled auditions. He’s newer and less experienced. He got a lot out of doing these walkins. And may have found a small school that is a perfect fit for him.
It is what it is.
Just left Palmer and it was feeling empty today. Monday and Tuesday there was a lot of people and energy everywhere. Today like half as much. And Unifieds are supposed to go through Thursday. Not sure what is up…the weather today is cold, but it’s in the high 30s and not raining or snowing.
@socalpops a lot of suitcases today. I think many are flying home today. My son’s Carnegie Mellon audition is tomorrow, so we’ll be staying.
@SoCalPops BAL tomorrow!
The Palmer emptying out probably has to do with kids just needing to get back to school, now that I think about it. Missing 3-4 days of school makes it challenging to keep up with schoolwork.
BAL to your son w Carnegie tomorrow @TexasMTDad! I hear that’s a longer one where you audition succesively for individual auditors, graduating up if you keep “making the cut”.
Did anyone else get an email from Point Park asking someone who walked in to now pay their application and audition fee to find out the results of their audition?
Speaking of walk ins, we tried to get an appointment at NYC but they were full online which is why we tried for a walk in, which luckily we got.