My son had 4 schools with pre-screens out of 6 total. Audition invites came via email, arriving mid-December on. Auditions from late-January to early-March. (Exception to all that was Berklee – early action, no pre-screen, auditioned in early December, had acceptance a week later.)
Of the pre-screen schools, Thornton (USC) and Juilliard were the ones we knew would be the most selective and they were the latest to announce. Son got the Thornton invite on 12/18 for 1/23 audition date, and the Juilliard invite on 1/28 for 2/29 audition date. No alternative dates offered at either school. Got invite from Oberlin on 12/12 for a 2/12 audition. Don’t have records for New School but they were flexible – I know he was able to select or re-schedule in order to make one NYC trip.
I interview candidates at work and I happen to believe that there are common elements that are somewhat inevitable. The audition, like the face-to-face interview, is everything, but the steps before set up expectations: the resume gives me a picture of the background, shows me what to ask/look for. Then a phone interview, i.e.“pre-screen”, then perhaps bring them in for a in-person interview. So, while that initial resume may not be a deciding factor at the end, I think it’s important in creating an expectation and interest.