<p>Oh mcpcwhite… I gotta hear that one!!</p>
<p>^^Didn’t see that, but definitely saw parents listening at the door at one school!</p>
<p>Times3- You are not hallucinating! I had a large post and somehow it got deleted. I edited it and I probably somehow messed it up in the process? Anyway, I will rewrite! It’s probably going to be even more in depth now that I’ve thought more- yikes. Anyway, this post is slightly off topic, but relevant to the thread and the concept of “only being able to go to one school”.</p>
<p>I love this thread. I love the how positive it is and I think it could be a great guiding light to future students! I wanted to chime in and add that, although that is true, knowing about other programs and their auditions can be extremely beneficial to you as an actor after the process of “auditioning for colleges” is long over. When I auditioned 3 years ago (a horrifying thought), I had no idea where I would end up. But along the way I learned quite a bit about the many programs I auditioned for, and all of the information has come in handy in ways I never imagined.</p>
<p>Although you can only attend one school, I’ve found it helpful to know about all of these various programs when applying/auditioning for summer stock work and meeting both students and professors from these universities. Not only that, but as many people might know, I do work in the office of my program. Although I am by no means a college audition coach, it has ended up that over the last two years I have been answering questions about programs beyond CCU, ones that I auditioned for and ultimately chose not to attend (or didn’t get into!) for whatever reason. Not every program is right for everyone- even the one I go to. Many times prospective students or their parents ask me questions, and if I knew nothing about other programs- my opinion about Coastal would be completely irrelevant. Often times, my distinct perspective and the fact that my in depth knowledge of various programs can help me lead students to what their perfect “fit” will really be, even if it is not Coastal.</p>
<p>As a bonus, I never knew I would end up scheduling and running the BFA auditions at my program of choice- but I did! And auditioning for 20 schools many years ago has made my ideas for audition days quite numerous. Because I spent so much time auditioning and experiencing the process at various schools, I was able to pick out my favorite likes and dislikes. I hated waiting around for hours at some schools to get to an audition, so I try schedule events as to not have a lot of downtime for students or parents on our long days. When there are things I love- I’ll be honest, I steal them and tweak them to fit for our process (no one tell Baldwin Wallace- I implemented their “audition buddy” system this year, and it was a life saver!).</p>
<p>Just my two cents. As I said, a little off topic, but I think these are all great things to know and for future students to reference. An audition day is a great reflection of how a program is run and whether or not it is the kind of place you truly want to spend 4 years of your life. The only better reflection of what a program is truly like would be to spend a “day in the life of” sitting in on/even participating in classes, which I HIGHLY encourage if you can make it work. Most schools are happy to accommodate that. </p>
<p>So- thanks for reading the ramble, and thank you Times3 for your kind words in response to my earlier phantom post. There is no way to generalize this crazy world of auditioning and acting we’ve all bravely embarked upon, and college programs are no different. I also try not to post too much on CC anymore because I don’t want to come off as “ALL COASTAL ALL THE TIME” but I thought this was a good one to contribute to. :)</p>
<p>^^Yay, thank you! :D</p>
<p>Ok, I am OVERJOYED to get so many amazing responses!!! It’s obviously VERY late and I’m very tired but when I get a chance I’m going to pour over these and ask some great questions! I can’t wait also to research these schools. I had been really hearing a lot about Coastal Carolina and I have a student at Shenandoah (who LOVES it) and the other programs sound wonderful!</p>
<p>Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!</p>
<p>This is really helpful for junior parents - thank you :)</p>
<p>I echo the sentiments of many in really liking this thread. We had several surprises both good and not so good which I will share. I concur strongly with theatermom 2013 regarding the Pace auditions. As the panel was quickly glossing over how great their program was, they took really no questions from the waiting parents and kids. I struggled with their policy of telling the kids “they were out of the running” if they were not on the callback list which consisted of 4 students in my son’s group. The dejection on the faces of the students all marching back together was heartbreaking. I am sure that some will say “get used to it, it is the business” but I think this process could have been handled in a more sensitive and humanistic way. It was a public way to be rejected as opposed to a private email or letter. It was a huge turn off.</p>
<p>Conversely, we attended the Wagner auditions two weeks ago. They had a panel of faculty and students and they just let the questions flow, it went on and on and although people could come and go, no one did as the questions and answers were so honest and interesting from all perspectives. There was then further opportunity to ask questions in smaller groups. They gave free tickets to their current performance of RENT for those auditioning which although we were not able to attend, heard wonderful accolades about it.</p>
<p>I loved the program director who said “as much as we are auditioning your child, you are auditioning us to see if this is the type of program you are interested in and if this is a good fit from your perspective”. I loved their philosophy and I liked how forthcoming and genuine everyone seemed. It was a great experience. We felt so positive on that long drive home following that audition as opposed to the drive home following the Pace audition. I will say that Wagner was not even on my son’s list but added it just before applications closed based on recommendations from his audition coach and now will seriously be considering their generous offer for a wonderful program.</p>
<p>As another parent has already said, the time spent with your child traveling to these auditions and on these trips is priceless!! I don’t want to think about my D being gone next year but we have had some really special time together since October. My husband and I both took turns going on audition trips/campus visits with my D and we both got to enjoy the time with her. </p>
<p>We did have one not so wonderful experience. We traveled half way across the country to audition for a school (don’t want to name) thinking she would love the location, program and school (well respected program). The overview of the MT program & Q/A was done by the admin. of the dept.—which would have been ok , but the not one faculty member came in to meet or even say hello to the students and parents. Her audition was strictly her songs and monologues with no interaction with the 2-3 faculty members. I find it almost rude that after flying half way across the country --cost and time-- that I never even saw or meet one faculty member and that she did not get to speak with any of them --not even one question asked of her or her of them. Maybe I would have been ok with that as the audition if they would have at least came in to meet the students and parents.</p>
<p>mtgirl2013, I think we flew halfway around the country to go to that same audition! LOL. No, it was not funny at the time, and it is not funny when I paid the bill for the hotel/plane tickets. But we NEVER saw a professor, let alone the head of the program. We met the program director at every other school. And the audition…in and out, no conversation, no nothing. I had the EXACT same reaction as you. </p>
<p>Here are some other thoughts we had…all positive (for now…maybe we can revisit this thread when all the results are in!)</p>
<p>Auditions where my D had the most FUN: BoCo and Penn State
Most complementary audition panel: CMU
Nicest facilities: Ithaca
Prettiest campus: FSU (I think the palm trees had something to do with it)
Best restaurants in the area: tie between OCU and FSU
Best presentation by department heads/profs: Indiana and OCU
Nicest MT students: Indiana, with OCU and Ithaca being extremely close seconds
Nicest weather: NONE. Why do they do this is in the dead of winter???
Best location: NYU-Steinhardt, BoCo, and Emerson
Best nearby airport: Detroit</p>
<p>I guess, if I had to pick the school that surprised us the most, it would be Indiana. The campus was beautiful, the people wonderful, and we were blown away by the program. The kids gave us their cell phone numbers in case we had questions! They were amazing. I didn’t love how far Bloomington was from the nearest airport, but Bloomington itself was nice. Didn’t expect to like it as much as we did!</p>
<p>We feel so fortunate .Our daughter got in to the program she liked the best, and the school she liked the best. She wanted a fun school with sororities, football games etc, AND musical theater.No conservatory for her. And, she felt she “wasn’t ready” for NY. So, that limits your list for sure.
We decided to take our daughter on a college visit/spring break to Texas last spring. TCU was great about letting us have an interview and tour of the theater department as well as the general tour.
Harry Parker, the head of the program, could not have been nicer, he carefully looked over our daughters resume. He talked about how they liked kids who wanted to be a part of campus. He described TCU as a small school that felt like a big school. He took us for a tour, we liked the facilities. What was great was visiting a musical theater class. All the kids yelled “Hi Harry”! he obviously knew them. They said hello to my daughter,so that made her feel welcome. Two musicals a year, collaboration with local equity theaters all were very appealing.Fast forward to this fall, Her performance schedule meant she had to audition for TCU at LA Unifieds. Once again, the representative from TCU was great, telling the kids that they choose not to have a cut system, they feel that leads to a better environment.Another great thing about TCU is students can be a BA in theater( non audition)and still audition for musicals. So, with that in mind, and with an early decision in hand my kiddo felt pretty sure she would have attended no matter what the outcome of her audition. When at Unified’s she was told only 5 “girls”, and 5 “boys” are let in each year, she was a bit discouraged. Her screams when she got an email a week or so later that she got in nearly sent me off the road! We are so happy for her. And, we are so pleased that she was able to get what she wanted without auditioning for dozens of schools and taking many trips. We feel like fairy tales can come true, you can make your own path, and still study musical theater!</p>
<p>I am really struck by the comment “if we had to do it over again…” as we all now join the club of most educated parents in the world in auditioning for MT schools. I am going to bet, that even if you had help, you found the process somewhat arcane, and frankly, exhausting. I hope I am not alone in this - or I guess I did something wrong! But I do feel that if I had to do it over again it would be so much easier!!! </p>
<p>Having said that, we found that several schools at Unifieds did a superior job of describing their programs - AND - helped to calm the nerves of kids. Those are the auditions (and schools) that stand out to me. Of the ones we went to Ithaca and NYU stand out. BoCo was the most fun for my D because she LOVED the dance routines.</p>
<p>I can’t help but underscore the Pace negative experience - only because I hope they get this feedback to make seriously needed improvements to their process (I have posted comments to them on their page). They had 2,200 applicants and yet spent too much time in the info session telling everyone why they were the best program out there today. I never heard this kind of “sell job” in any other college info session. And yet, look at the numbers! 14 girls and 14 boys are going to get in! For parents who take kids next year - have your kid text you if they do not get the callback. This is what my D did and I ran out to meet her as the group did their “walk of shame”. I pulled her out of there before she had to come into the room of waiting parents - because I saw many kids come back in tears! It was so unnecessary and so mean. This process is grueling enough on these kids.</p>
<p>Not to defend Pace, but my daughter auditioned at 3 schools that had a callback then and there at the audition, so the not-called-back kids had to go back to waiting parents as the called back kids moved on. There is no way to get around the awkwardness and sadness when those kids come back who didn’t get a callback. I imagine there are other schools that have callbacks at auditions besides these 3.</p>
<p>Yes, I don’t think Pace is alone in this regard. My D never auditioned for Pace. But in her year, and I believe this is still true, Penn State also had a callback during the audition day (my D auditioned on campus). I realize we did not have to deal with the pain of D not being called back because she was called back, and she actually was admitted. I can see how difficult it can be if not called back, of course. But there are two ways to look at that. The hard part is getting the news on the spot and not in private. The positive part is to find out right away if rejected rather than waiting months to find out. Kudos to all these kids who go through this challenging process. The odds are such that rejections are way more likely than an acceptance and so a realistic outlook must be had, even though rejection can still bite.</p>
<p>prntosome, I echo some of your comments. First of all, I want to say that I think I misunderstood the OP when I originally posted, so I want to say a few things a little more on-topic.</p>
<p>My D had never had Penn State on her map for four years. After a masterclass, and a wonderful audition at Unifieds I can’t say enough about how they treated her. Before, during, and yes even after her rejection she was treated with dignity and respect. What a class-act they are. That ship has sailed for my D, but the others who are lucky enough to get into that program–well, I am so happy for them!</p>
<p>Yes, some of our pleasant surprises are from some of the “usual suspects” and it doesn’t have to be an acceptance in the end to have been a memorable and rewarding experience!</p>
<p>As for the Pace audition, my D was one of the lucky (I think four) to get a callback that afternoon and she felt terrible for what the other ones went through. Her dad said he heard sobbing in the halls and my D said it was so hard how they had to come in and get their stuff and leave…ugh. I am sure they will make different decisions next year, and I know this was not intended by them. I don’t think it was necessarily the process but the whole awkward “walk of shame” as prntosome describes.</p>
<p>Calliene, it would have maybe helped if they had known this would happen when they go there to audition. It’s a bit of a mind game this way. DePaul does the same thing. But all of them know that most of them will be cut that day, it’s part of the audition description they give you before you even arrive. (in there case though, out of 40 they kept 5 that day…and they do not do pre-screens, so that makes sense)</p>
<p>I agree with prntosome in that I wrote what I wrote in the hopes that perhaps Pace will get some constructive feedback for their future auditions. As theatermom2013 says it would have been nice to have some advanced knowledge of this. I want to say as well that we had three auditions out of eight with mid day cuts and none felt the way it did at Pace. One program’s MT Director spent a solid 90 minutes chatting with the families and answering questions at one audition and when they made the cut, they thanked the kids profusely for coming(some who had traveled quite a distance), wished them luck in their other auditions and sent them on their way. The end result was the same but the journey was quite different. We only have positive things to say about that school and its’ program much like Littleviking’s experience with Penn state.</p>
<p>Western had callbacks as well but in all honesty until we went back for the callback I could not have told you which kids got called back or not. Like others said it helps when you know ahead of time, which we did. You went in, auditioned and were either given a slip for callbacks or not. Then you had a couple hour break for lunch and to walk around or tour the campus. So unless the kid visibly made a reference no one knew because the majority of people left after the initial audition was over.</p>
<p>Pace also had a pre-screen this year so those kids likely went in with very high hopes. This sounds just awful.</p>
<p>In my daughter’s year there were no cuts but there was blatant fawning over the students they were interested in and a very dismissive attitude towards everyone else…which was almost everyone. Maybe, the constructive feedback will help but a school really shouldn’t have to learn to appreciate potential students coming out to audition for them. Why make a big presentation about how great you are to people who are going to told they’re out of luck a few minutes later? It says something about the culture of the program.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s about the end result at all. My kids favorite audition experience was UMich and she was not accepted.</p>
<p>At the 3 schools my D auditioned at this year that had callbacks, all were done the same way: initial auditions, then a list went up. I didn’t know this was going to happen at any of them, but maybe I just hadn’t done the research. I saw upset kids at each. I don’t think there is an easy way to do it.</p>
<p>I know it’s off topic, but since the “if we had to do it over again” conversation was mentioned, I thought I would link this. Perhaps this year’s parents/students will want to add their comments to the existing thread, or start a new thread at some point based on your experiences this year. A little more paying it forward if you will.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1338256-audition-season-if-you-had-do-over-again.html?highlight=do+it+over+again[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1338256-audition-season-if-you-had-do-over-again.html?highlight=do+it+over+again</a></p>