Anyone going to Michigan audition on campus Friday February 14?
If you didn’t make it to the movement session but only applied to ba acting are you still being considered for ba acting?
@erayann We will be there on Friday – my D is interviewing for Lighting Design.
Are you asking about the Pace callback for BFA Acting? We were told that no callback meant you were no longer considered for the program. The FTVC program was the one that you would still be considered for if you did not receive a callback.
Emerson - ditto for my DD at Chicago Unifieds. The Dance section was ridicuous. They started by asking for 50 push ups followed by an incredibly hard dance. I thought they were looking for M/T not football players. She was totally turned off.
If she did one complete pushup I’d be surprised. Not realistic
I only applied to the BA Acting (international performance ensemble), so since I didn’t get a callback to the movement session does that mean I’m no longer being considered for the ba acting?
D did on campus MT audition at Indiana University in Bloomington last weekend after Chicago Unifieds. Auditions were no different than others with the exception that they asked no questions to get to know you. While the campus and facilities are spectacular, the students and department head were underwhelming. They were disorganized and couldn’t answer basic questions about their program. Auditioners travel 100s if not 1000s of miles, show up on time, but the university is disorganized and doesn’t make you feel valued and important? Sadly, it was a very different experience from on campus at Texas State or TCU (visit) where you felt much more appreciated, and experienced how they work with students first hand from a masters class. Next, Texas Tech 2/15, UCF 2/29, and Elon 3/7.
One thing we did learn at IU and from meeting many parents and administrators at Unifieds and on campus auditions(Texas State, Rider, TCU, Ball State)—dance is becoming much more important. Can’t be a mover and expect to get in to a good MT program these days. One department head said they want to do Chorus Line and can’t because the kids don’t have the dance skills. Keep that in mind if you don’t get a callback which I hope doesn’t happen! 
@user_752736 Sorry your D had a bad experience. Have you ever seen the movie Miracle about the 1980 men’s Olympic hockey team? Coach gave the men a ridiculously long, hand written test that had nothing to do with hockey. Sometimes you are “tested” just to see how far you are willing to go to achieve something. My daughter has danced for 15 years and never been asked to do 1 push up let alone 50. But, if you are asked to do something uncomfortable and your first response is to complain or run away, might be a big red flag to a coach or department head. I have no idea what they were thinking, but that may have been their objective. Fight or flight test. I hope she has a better experience at the next audition.
I asked this question in another thread, but I thought I’d copy it here to try to get more responses.
For those of you who are wrapping up auditions, what songs were you hearing over and over? Just wanted to get a sense of over done songs to avoid as my junior D is beginning to choose her songs for auditions next year.
@csuram1994 we had the exact opposite experience at IU! My daughter LOVED her audition experience there and IU jumped way higher on her list of favorite programs after her day with the faculty and students. I guess this is what everyone means by “fit” and when you know, you know. She could totally see herself thriving there.
Adding on to the Emerson discussion: that audition was different from all of the others my daughter has done so far in that it was the least “folksy” or “friendly.” She found the dance call to be very rigorous but also one of the most attentive – there’s nowhere to hide in a group of 5 and she was pleased that the program arranged things so that they could really get an assessment of where candidates were, dance-wise. If you read the program’s handbook (it’s available online), the audition experience seems to closely mirror how the program functions over the course of the 4 years. There appears to be an emphasis on formality and on being a trainee or apprentice during the time at school. I suppose this approach will really appeal to some students and not others, and the students it appeals to will be the ones who enroll and thrive in the setting that suits them best.
Not to nit-pick but to clarify @csuram1994 - you can’t be a mover and expect to get into SOME good MT programs. CMU doesn’t even screen for dance… and there are other excellent programs that only do movement calls and don’t require years of dance. Even Broadway shows aren’t always looking for trained dancers - My D was in a class this year taught by a member of the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and they said the casting director only looked for “movers” - no real dancers were cast, deliberately. So, as with everything, there’s no one right answer just best fit for each artist and their career path. Sorry about the IU audition experience! My D has two friends who have majored in Theatre there and loved it but they were BA not BFA students.
@Dance3Looks3 - there was an earlier discussion about “professional” vs “nurturing” BFA program environments. I think it’s so personal which type attracts a particular performer. Sounds like Emerson is firmly on the “professional” side, good to know.
@CaMom13 Great and valid points. I know IU has a great program, but they didn’t represent themselves as such last weekend. As much as WE sell ourselves to them, THEY should be doing the same and MORE. They will, if accepted, ask me to write a check for tuition someday. If they don’t/haven’t excited me or my D after spending time and money to be there for a day long interview and preview, I might not be so inclined to accept their offer and write an even bigger check and invest in my kid’s future.
I think some of what the IU folks were overcoming on Saturday was the number of families that expected the day to end early and made travel plans out of Indianapolis thinking they’d be out by a certain time. We were told Saturday’s group was the largest number of applicants they have ever accommodated in one day and they were doing their best to make sure the families with early flights out on Saturday were able to audition with enough time to make their flights.
Definitely trust your gut feelings about these things. If you felt put off by the audition day, it’s probably not a school you’ll want a lifetime association with.
Where your student felt disorganization and an impersonal approach, mine felt warmth, individual attention, and a feeling of home and family. Someone posted either on this thread or another one last week about how the program faculty seem to pick up on a student’s “vibe” right away in an audition room – and how if they can feel immediately that the applicant before them would not thrive in their training setting, that applicant could sing like Kristin Chenoweth and dance like Hayley Fish and not be accepted … and the faculty would be doing them a favor with that rejection.
Not all programs are for all students. The best we can all hope for as parents is that our students come out of this process with at least 2-3 acceptances to choose from that feel like places they can thrive. The before-application homework helps ensure students are applying to schools with curricula, locations, and training settings that meet their preferences and training needs. That’s all very left-brained and objective. There are right and wrong answers there. The auditions experiences are where students engage the right brain and get a read on the “vibe” of a program. What feels great to one student might feel terrible to another. That’s “fit” and there’s no right or wrong answer because it’s so subjective.
similar to @Dance3Looks3 my D found the faculty and students to be some of the strengths & most appealing aspects of the program…like they say I guess its all about " fit"…but walking away from IU My D felt as if the kids she met and the faculty she met would be why she would consider IU vs her earlier acceptances ( if fortunate enough to get a yes from IU) . like so many say here it sometimes seems like the faculty know who they want and then that becomes a self realization as to how they treat the auditioners… we are in the 4th quarters folks
After surviving Unifieds we learned that regardless of the reputation of a school, or others’ prior experiences, you have to assess fit for yourself. My D had a very negative audition experience with a school people have said was their favorite and one of her favorite auditions was one ppl had warned was consistently bad (both great programs overall). So take what you hear with a grain of salt and know what is right for your kid, who they are and where they might thrive!
Does anyone have any info about Montclair on campus auditions? TIA
In response to: One thing we did learn at IU and from meeting many parents and administrators at Unifieds and on campus auditions(Texas State, Rider, TCU, Ball State)—dance is becoming much more important. Can’t be a mover and expect to get in to a good MT program these days. One department head said they want to do Chorus Line and can’t because the kids don’t have the dance skills. Keep that in mind if you don’t get a callback which I hope doesn’t happen!
My feelings on this are mixed D had an audition at BW and they didn’t take notes during the dance call - it didn’t move the needle. She had an audition at FSU and Texas State where I think the dance call weighed heavily. Both of those schools wanted a triple threat - or at least that you were trainable. I hear Rider is the same way - also Montclair will take some vocal standouts that don’t dance but prefers competency in all three aspects. Its something to consider if you are a dancer because you will have the edge at those schools and if you aren’t you will do well at plenty - depends on the school.
At several auditions we have gone to, the programs have shared numbers about auditioners vs. offers. Does anyone have that info for Baldwin Wallace?
TIA!
@CBSQandA I don’t have specific numbers for this year, but I analyzed the heck out of this stuff when my kid was going through it. Generally, BW auditions about 750- 800 and plans to have a class of 18-20. Their yield is quite high so I think they generally offer to about 24ish to get that 18-20 and if needed go to their wait list though I think that’s pretty infrequent.