@brieduck - Thank you! and I know what you mean, we’ve had a couple that we had to read twice to be clear on the answer. I do love how clear some of the messages are but others are really a lesson in reading between the lines! /
I’m not sure how many times I’ve repeated “take a deep” breath to myself during this process!
I am putting together a packet of information for parents of rising seniors. We are having a meeting tonight at our conservatory. Of course, I have the four links to CC down, but one of the difficulties that I had was getting audition times scheduled fast enough. For ex, BW, PP (although we were able to do a walk-in in NY ) and others.
What are the schools where you all had trouble scheduling auditions?
And if you had it to do all over again, what would you do different?
You don’t need to provide me basic info, like get your pre-screens done sooner than later, apply early, but info like “Darn, I wish I had known that sooner” stuff!
Thanks so much for your input.
I immediately thought of this process when I read the indictment on the news this morning. Makes me so ANGRY! We all know this stuff happens, but right now? While we are all going through this hellacious process?? Grrrrrr
@BWmama as the father of a current Junior ( rising senior next year) THANK YOU! would love to read anything you guys come up with
@BWmama Off the top of my head things I wish I’d known:
Some schools offer free applications and for many, if you have a situation that warrants it and with support of the high school guidance counselor, you can ask for a waiver of the application fee and/or audition fee. Some will, some won’t.
Lay the ground work with the counselor and teachers (and show directors) that senior year for kids won’t be like a normal college search and there will be missed classes, up to a week at a time, and missed rehearsals.
Figure out which schools will do off campus auditions so you can consolidate travel (saving money for visits to schools where admitted) and which require you to come to campus. Include a regional audition like MARCAS or Ohio Unifieds, etc. and find out which will accept that as the audition and which use it as a prescreen. We would have skipped applying to a few that wanted on campus and are hard to get to.
Know that the list of non-audition “safeties” changes every year as more schools add audition requirements.
@BWmama My D was able to get a bunch of her academic application fees waived by having her info on Cappex. I want to say Emerson and a few others ended up seeing her profile there and sent emails with codes.
@brieduck and @MTBackstagemom, how do you get your Viterbo letter? Email? We are still waiting and we really liked them.
@BWmama Fantastic! Baldwin Wallace was very confusing for audition scheduling. On the academic application they asked for a requested audition date. So D thought she was done. Come to find out there is a separate place she was supposed to pay for and schedule her audition. She ended up like #20 on the waitlist (which obviously never happened).
If we could do this audition process all again, I would have D audition for several off the grid MT programs early on in hopes of getting some acceptances early to boost her confidence. Although she has had some acting acceptances and BA deferrals, it’s mid march and still no MT BFA acceptances yet. Even though she has a few more schools to hear back from, she is really struggling!
@BWmama Double-check academic admission applications. At one school my D was told to not worry about applying until she passed the pre-screens. With all the different requirements, she read this as “pass the artistic audition” and noted it like this on her spreadsheet. The school was going to offer her admission, but since she hadn’t actually applied, saw this as lack of interest and took her out of the pool. It’s been a week of many, many tears. (She’s on their WL now, but this has been devastating). I wish I had double-checked all the applications. When I asked if they were done, and she said yes (because to her mind they were), I didn’t think to check. So, even with the most organized (and my D is EXTREMELY organized and detail oriented) kid, double check. And, just make sure all those academic applications are in after walk-ins, pre-screens, etc.
@MTmama42 We had the same experience at BW so I feel your pain.
@BWmama BoCo is another than ran out of audition appointments. The day we got notification that my D had passed prescreens we went to select audition time. There was 1 appt available in LA, which just wasn’t feasible for us since we are on the east coast. They encouraged us to try to walk in at unifieds, which we did, but had no luck. Ended up submitting online audition, but don’t feel that will be looked at too seriously from a school like BoCo. Hope I’m wrong!
Other advice, I would also read audition confirmations more thoroughly and if they weren’t specific on location, I would confirm it with the school. We had 1 school that we had requested to audition at NY unifieds, but when my D arrived they had no record of her. Luckily they called the school and learned she was scheduled for an on campus audition instead. We reread the confirmation letter and nowhere did it indicate a location. Luckily they fit her in at unifieds, but we had to pay a $100 change fee! Probably a rare and random occurrence, but nevertheless I think I would be a little more involved in general with the admin of audition scheduling. My D is very focused and organized, but it is a lot for kids to handle all this on their own!
@yellowheart Thanks for reminding me about BoCo. The same thing happened except we did get a regional audition in Atlanta. But those audition dates went just like that!!!
I agree with @MTMama42 about sequencing auditions. My D did a “safety” first, in November, which was good, but scheduled her top pick shortly after that. It was too early, IMO. By January, she was more comfortable with the process and had changed one of her audition songs. She might have done/felt better if that one had been in spring.
@BWmama : a few thoughts
Take dance, piano and music theory as much as you can throughout high school. It is not too late to start if you haven’t taken any! Just do it. Some knowledge is better than none.
Have a plan for when and how you will be shooting prescreens. Where can you film?. Who will film? Accompanist? Dance choreographed? Have all the details figured out. Plan to film this early. (Summer or early Fall if you have to wait for details on what to submit)
Have basic requested info like social security number, emails, phone numbers, addresses, company names and job titles, and any other basic info you may need to submit ready to go to start filling out applications. The common app is your friend! But also keep this info handy so you don’t have to scrounge around to find it down the road if/when needed.
Get a separate, shared email account to use for all applications. Easy for both student and parent to access if needed. Keep a log book with login info for all portals.
Don’t believe everything you hear at auditions or read on social media.
Be kind. Be the best you you can be. Block out the noise and clutter. Make this a happy, positive experience. Meet new friends. Learn new things. Travel and see new places. It’s all good!
@BWmama, CCM is a good one to schedule early because of no prescreen
@NoMTinMD ! Heard CCM is going to a prescreen next year.
@vvnstar We did the separate email account. Glad we did it.
Another good piece of info -20 school limit on common app, so use coalition if they are on both.
Hi @BWmama - way back in this thread, I posted some of my thoughts on what we did to plan ahead and prepare during your Junior year - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21889872/#Comment_21889872
@BWmama @MTmama42 We had the same experience at BW. Emails were going to my D’s acct and she didn’t check the one to schedule her audition there until after school (5 hours later?). By that time, all the audition slots were full. She was #17 on the WL just to audition, and of course, when I called they said they have never gotten down that far and as it turns out, they didn’t. I read somewhere on here that another student was #20 or something on their audition WL and actually got a slot…must have been a different day, bc we never got a call. So, in short, I would recommend that you either have emails sent to you or get the pw so you can check your student’s account when they are unable to. Of course, Idk the answer if you are unable to constantly be monitoring your emails either…this process is harrowing but at least there’s an end in sight!
@SoCalPops Excellent. Thank you.