@Mom2jnes for schools without dance calls, the slots are very short. Typically just one student per slot for acting/monologues, and dance calls done in a group. Break a leg to your S!!
My D did not pass prescreens at a well-known MT program. She attended a local combine audition (basically a large group prescreen) and the auditors from that program remembered her and passed her to audition, saying they saw something “pop” that they did not see on her video. It can happen and is worth a shot.
It could be worth discussing that if your child does not do well passing prescreens and does not get accepted into a lot of programs you need to seriously sit down and consider if performing is the life for them. I am speaking as a former actress in NYC myself. You will save your child a lot of heartache. While subjective, if you are not passing through at this young age chances are most people are just not seeing that your child has talent and is castable. Post college you are not only competing with all the kids who spill into NYC annually from top programs but all the kids in the grades above them who are now auditioning.
Many parents invest a lot of time and $$ in pay to play situations but honestly if your child is not consistently getting major leads in HS (and having shows picked for them) and in summer programs, consistently winning local and national competitions, and getting praise and fantastic feedback from people you are not paying…the universe will tell you by not making it into programs and not being cast.They can still be involved in professional theatre in other realms: casting, directing, stage management, teaching etc but maybe being on stage isn’t for them. Most people in these professions at one time pursued performing.
Never underestimate the talent and experience of the people viewing prescreens and behind the table most are very very good at adjudicating.
I have also heard of admission offers being made to students via combine auditions by schools that had initially denied their prescreen. I doubt it happens often, but there are tales out there of this happening for sure! Considering how subjective this process is, not to mention how limited in scope the judgment call would be based off 32 bars and a monologue, it’s not all that surprising!
Regarding walk-ins after a failed pre-screen, there is this thread from last year for reference:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20976459/#Comment_20976459
@mamaboyz - I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment that if you are not a superstar in HS then it’s not worth your time … if only b/c there are SO many journeys. I especially disagree with the comment about having shows chosen for you… at least for girls. I have been involved in directing school and community productions for well over a decade… and I have NEVER chosen or seen a show chosen to highlight a particular girl (not even at my kids PA HS - where a dozen kids have go on top BFAs every single year including CMU, NYU, Ithaca, BOCO etc…) While people work to find shows that feature more girls (b/c you ALWAYS have more girls) at the younger levels if a show is made based on “having” a person - it was probably a boy.
And there are also a BUNCH of anecdotal stories of bway people who did not shine early who came to it later. The odds are stacked against anyone trying to make a living as a performer, but who you are at 18 is not who you will be your entire life…
Agree with @toowonderful Check out Jenna Fisher’s book “The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide”
@mamaboyz I have been going back and forth whether to post this. But, respectively, what exactly do you consider “a lot” of programs? Just curious because we constantly hear stories on here about talented kids only making 1 or 2 BFAs – especially girls? Heck, I’ve heard stories from last year’s auditioning seniors that someone made CMU after only taking a few private voice lessons and only being in 1 HS shows during senior year. Some kids do not have the opportunity to enter multiple national MT contests, audition into pricey university summer programs or do professional shows during HS years. My son only entered one national contest last year for the first time. He made it to quarterfinals, certainly didn’t win. Should he pack it in? Also, my DS has been a lead since freshman year, but his director does not pick shows for him. In fact, he casts by seniority and a less talented senior will usually get a role over a more talented underclassmen. It’s the way it is at his school and you learn to deal with it or don’t perform in the school show. I’m not taking your remarks personally because he’s already auditioned into 2 BFAs and 1 BA from the fall cycle. I’m just questioning it because they can certainly dishearten some other parents on here. Everyone’s journey is different
I think perhaps @mamaboyz 's remarks can be taken too hard and I don’t think she intended to write off the chances of any MT-ers who haven’t won national contests before they were 18! 
What I hear her saying is a friendly warning to parents that they should put aside their natural fondness for their kid and listen objectively to the “messages” given by success or lack of success in applications, feedback from auditors and the results of any competitions they enter. This is a very hard piece of advice for many parents to hear and maybe not everyone agrees with it.
@CaMom13 - I get that. And as a parent with a kid who has now graduated from her BFA, I can tell you the competition only gets MORE instense when (as @momaboyz says) you are competing with people not from not only YOUR year, but all the years before. But to say that if you aren’t already there in HS you will NEVER get there (which I take as the center of the post) is, in my opinion, not only silly, but blatantly false. As I said in a PM sent regarding my response - it’s already hard enough, why make it sound harder?
I think it’s hard to make a difficult point on CC without upsetting someone - or lots of people - and it’s best not to escalate that upset by reading more into the advice than was intended. Assume she meant her advice for the best rather than taking it for the worst; everyone here is free to disagree or ignore it.
Here’s the risk, @SoCalPops: it’s a small MT world. The auditors from the different schools know each other. They talk to each other.
@CaMom13 Well, here’s my difficult point to make as the parent of an auditioning senior…We all know that the talent pool and competition gets bigger and bigger as our kids jump from grammar school and middle school programs into HS, college and beyond. All of us secretly (or not so secretly) wonder if our kids are big fish in little ponds. We gratefully give big sighs of relief when we see that they are still swimming in the bigger ponds, lakes and ultimately oceans. I honestly feel that we have to trust in our gut and our kids guts that they can pursue this (I won’t say make it in the business because we aren’t there yet – most of us any way. There are plenty of kids out there with professional credits and that jointly amazes and scares the heck out of me!). I will assume that @momaboys just wanted us to know that this is a tough business and the competition gets worse, but it did come across as “if your kid isn’t a superstar already and doesn’t gets into most of the BFA programs they apply to, forget it.” We are all on edge with this process and nervous for our kids. Allowing them to follow their dreams is a leap of faith for us parents. Please lets all try to be as supportive as we can! I think the last thing we all need to hear this close to NY Unifides and the start of the winter audition season, is that your kids might think they are are cut out for this, but ohh honey, maybe they aren’t!
Honestly, 1 or 2 acceptances out of 15-20 auditions for girls is considered very, very good. I hope everyone can relax and head into Unfieds with confidence. They have to choose someone, why not you? I do think it is helpful to know that while talent is super important, it is not everything. Fit is equally important and that is why some kids do not get offers from less competitive schools and then hit the lottery with CMU or Michigan. Seriously, so much of it is luck and that’s a shame because it makes kids feel bad about themselves when they have very little control over the process. Early in my D’s career, her agent said to her, “All you can do is prepare and be ready when the right opportunity comes along.” Really great advice.
Hi guys. I’m a mom of a BFA Acting 2022 student. I’m here to pay it forward. Regarding @Momaboyz point about not doing well on prescreens- I think there can be lessons to learn from consistent negative results, but maybe not that your kid should not pursue performing - although if rejections are too devastating for your child then I do think another line of work would be better. Lol .
Going into prescreens last year, we thought my S’s voice would make up for his lack of dance training. While I can’t know why he was rejected by EVERY MT prescreen - (he was accepted at every Acting prescreen except one), the universal rejection for MT was clearly a sign. Something needed to change - and my S made the decision that he should pursue Acting (not MT) because he really had no interest in learning to dance. My S got several great BFA offers and is now deliriously happy in his Acting program. Oh- and he is SO happy that he isn’t in his school’s MT program where he’d have to take dance. So it was very beneficial for my S to listen to those consistent prescreen results and redirect.
I also remember reading about a gal who - after getting all prescreen rejections - reworked her MT audition material. She ended up doing really well (got several BFA MT offers). So my point is that redirection might be what’s needed, but not necessarily out of all performance.
@MomofJ5 , thank you for that. I’m so happy your son found his place and is thriving. Yes, important to remember that redirects are definitely still a win in this crazy process.
There are way to many variables to be able to compare experiences. Two of my dd’s college best friends were both valedictorians and had the lead in plays and musicals. They didn’t understand why my dd’s wasn’t the same. Both were in graduating classes of less than 50 while mine was in a class of over 500. One of the local high schools of similar size, casts anyone who auditions for their musicals because so few audition. While at dd’s high school to have 200 audition was the norm. Similar schools of similar size in the same area (less than 10 miles apart) but different experiences.
Just curious- has anyone gotten academic acceptances/ rejections from NYU?
@MTMomma13 NYU doesn’t send or do academic acceptances/rejections separate from BFA admissions. It is all one big decision…all or nothing basically and comes in late March. As you will see in this process, some schools have a bifurcated process and some are all in one. NYU is all in one.
@luvbloominroses and others - still waiting here for USC as well!