I’ve never quite understood the point of auditioning for a school. This is in direct relation with performing arts/theatre, but why must we audition? Is it to prove or worth at this school? Aren’t all students that pick a major with performing arts, picking that major to learn more about it? I didn’t know that we needed special skill to be able to learn a subject. What about the students who don’t do so great on their auditions. They should atleast be able to LEARN about performing arts, rather than being deferred because they weren’t good enough for a class.
Auditions are a lengthy process in general… I find it odd that students are picking a major to learn more about it, but then are having to do a test to measure their skill they could easily LEARN in class?
so what are auditions for?
they cost money and require only locations in their area. So that’s a rut for OOS students at their dream school.
And if you pick to major in theatre, audition, and don’t get accepted. Will you just not get accepted to the school at all based on that major?
So why ask an applicant who is a future math major to take an SAT II test in math or even take some math classes in high school, when the skills could be “easily” taught in college? As with any other discipline, performing arts departments are looking for students with talent and dedication to their chosen field of study, both of which are demonstrated by an audition as well as prior experience. If you have no pre-existing talent for acting or singing, the skill can’t be “easily” learned four years or forty years. If you haven’t demonstrated significant dedication to a performing art by studying it/practicing it in depth in the years leading up to college, you don’t belong in the major. BFA and BA programs in theater aren’t remedial in nature. They exist to expand, hone and refine a student’s existing skills. Many more students apply to these programs than can be accommodated. Auditions assure that the best get in.They don’t want dilettantes.
As for how acceptances work, that will vary with the school. In some cases you may be accepted to the college, but not to the performing arts major. You have to investigate each school’s policy.
Of course you need special skills to learn more about something. Engineering majors need exposure to calculus; English literature majors need to know basic English and have some writing skill; visual art majors should probably have some prior exposure to and talent in art.
Imagine an engineering program in which students who had barely passed algebra were allowed to major in engineering. The university would have to offer an amount of remedial courses that would divert professors’ attention away from high-level math and science. Students might struggle forever in the early engineering classes before dropping or changing majors, stretching time to degree. The department would expend resources on students who had little chance of succeeding in the field. It’d be a nightmare, and a waste of time and resources for everyone involved.
So it is with performing arts. Professors in departments of art need to be certain that their students are all starting from at least a base level of knowledge, so they don’t have to waste time backtracking and teaching the absolute basics. It is absolutely to prove your worth. Plus, it’s part of the professional code. If you worked as an actor you’d have to audition for every job you’d ever get.
Of course you can still learn about the performing arts - there are usually introductory classes offered to non-majors. I took an acting class to fulfill my fine arts requirement in college. (And in the process, I learned that acting is a lot harder than it looks - it’s not something you can “easily” learn in a class. Learning to audition well could probably be a class or two of its own.) Also, most campuses have at least one if not a few organizations that allow both majors and non-majors to audition for parts and participate in shows.
Not all arts schools require you to audition on campus; some send admissions officers out to you. With that said, no school is obligated to admit a student just because the school is that student’s “dream.”
Unlike many other academic subjects, there is not much in the way of semi-standardized evaluations (like high school grades) or standardized tests for performing arts. For future math majors, a college can check the applicant’s high school math grades and standardized test scores in math. Not so with future performing arts majors.
“I’ve never quite understood the point of auditioning for a school” As others have said, there probably exist schools and programs that fully welcome newcomers or people exploring the subject matter – offering introductory courses. But many college fine arts programs are NOT in existence to deliver that – they’re there to equip those with previously demonstrated ability and potential for more and a possible career. You don’t knock on the door of Carnegie Mellon’s undergrad theater program and say “teach me how to act” like you wouldn’t knock on the Stanford School of Medicine to say “What do I need to become a doctor?”. CMU will direct you to the community college down the road and to apply in a couple of years. Stanford will say attend a great undergrad pgm and submit MCATs.
In all honesty, schools require auditions because they want people who are talented. Especially in top tiered performing arts programs, they want the best of the best. Sure, you’re there to learn more about it but you have to already be up to a very high standard and start from there. It helps everyone: schools with more competitive/better programs have more successful alumni because they choose more talented students. In addition, students that lack the talent/star power necessary to succeed in the industry as a theatre performer don’t get in, and therefore don’t waste their money on an intense MT program only to graduate and never be hired. It’s not easy, and it may sound unfair but it really does make it better for everyone.
If you just want to learn about the performing arts without any desire to actually become a performing artist (and thus it doesn’t really matter how talented you are), then you should probably go to a traditional liberal arts school and take a couple classes from the relevant department. Those usually don’t require auditions.
Most liberal arts colleges offer majors or concentrations in performing arts without an audition. Auditioned programs are usually for performance-intensive conservatory programs (often, although not always, BFA rather than BA). They require proficiency, talent, and the dedication to construct a polished audition. Most students pursuing arts degrees will include some non-auditioned programs as safeties when applying.
Some colleges (e.g. American University, et al) do not require auditions for admission to the college, but do for prospective majors. You apply for standard admission to the college, and then audition by the end of sophomore year if you want to major in Theater.