College Auditions

I am 17 and in the summer before senior year. I have a couple colleges in mind, but my question is, "How do I prepare?" My number one college is Tisch School for the Arts and I want to know how I can make it. Please help me out. I am bored and need to prepare.

mrflaytoe,

Preparation for college depends where you are now.

Can you dance? sing? act? How well in each?

Any BASICS you can learn before college would be SMART. I wouldn't say to do too much. Learn what you're already good and focus at that in college.

For example, if you've already experience in acting, don't focus on that until college. They will mold you, if you're willing to be clay. Acting will be the main focus, so learn basics of singing and dance.

Vocal training, tap, ballet, jazz, ballroom, hip-hop, etc. Learn the basics pre-college so you'll be able to get to advanced levels in college.

The more you know pre-college will potentially get you more parts in college, and thus more experience. An advantage over others, if you will.

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What your asking is a large question. "How do I prepare?"

TONS of advice to give. Simply put: learn your weaknesses, work on them. Learn basics.

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And another thing I wish I did before college:

Make yourself a monologue book, and a song book. Have monologues of any length, and then audition monologues. Have a song book of "performance" songs and "audition" songs.

MONOLOGUES: Include 1 minute, 2 minute, and 3 minute. Include comedia, dramatic, and shakespeare. And for each monologue you include, ESPECIALLY audition monologues, MAKE SURE YOU READ THE ENTIRE PLAY IT IS FROM. In your book, include an "in the moment" summary written by yourself and the title of the play (and include author) so that you remember what the monologue is about. Include who you are talking to and what lead to the moment.

SONGS: Include 16-bar selections for auditions. Include comedic and dramatic. Include classical and contemporary. Include different styles and different songwriters.

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What state are you in? Willing to go out of state? Is money an issue?

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Also, if you plan on going to Tisch, keep in mind you must be accepted into NYU, as well. So keep that GPA up and don't blow off your standardized tests.

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It seems you have a choice to make. It's true that at most of the top conservatory drama programs, you aren't allowed (because there is no TIME) to work/audition outside of school. So I guess you need to decide what is more important: training for 4 years to prepare to go audition, or skipping that intense/advanced training and jumping in right now. At NYU, there won't be time to work outside of the school (you're in studio MWF and at Tisch/NYU taking other classes TTH); I think this would also be the case at UArts, though I'm not sure. I think that working outside of school is much more realistic at Fordham and MMC since they aren't conservatory programs (although good theatre programs, from what I've heard). AADA is probably also too time-consuming, but it's only a 2 yr program. So in a sense, your list is very diverse; I guess my biggest piece of advice is to decide what is more important (conservatory or working) and I can help you with more school suggestions.

The best people to give you advice on audition material is your vocal coach, choir teacher, drama teacher, even your agent maybe! They know you, and they know what you're good at!

Yes, grades and scores are fairly important at Tisch. But don't worry about that - keep your grades up next year but really work on your audition. Don't put all your cards in one basket, either. Since you said you don't mind not auditioning, there are plenty of other programs that are equal to, if not better than, Tisch outside of NYC. And most of them don't put as much emphasis on grades: Carnegie Mellon, CCM, BoCo are all probably 90% audition, 10% transcript.

OH and you have PLENTY of time - you probably won't audition until February! Don't procrastinate - but don't give yourself a heart attack either!

I do need to bring up my SATs I know. Whatever we will hope. I need to concentrate on the audition material. ANY IDEAS. I am a baritone and here are ideas for stuff I have so far:
Contemporary up-tempo: Purpose (Avenue Q), Something's Coming (West Side Story)<---i know everyone does it
Ballad: Soliloquy (Carousel)
Monologues: No idea...Christopher Durang
I have many adults locally I can turn to that has offered me help, so I think that is what I will do.

"You MUST be accepted into the primary university as well as accepted based on your audition."

That's not entirely true. There are NOT two rounds of admissions at NYU (unlike, say, UMichigan, where you have to pass an initial academic review after which, if you're deemed qualified, you will receive an invitation to audition). Your audition and academic review are weighed together. The person who will look at and review your transcripts is a TISCH admissions officer. This person (or group of people) reads all of the Tisch transcripts. This review is put alongside your artistic review, and based on the sum of the two parts, you are either accepted, denied, or waitlisted. They are each weighed equally, so a more impressive audition could outweigh a lackluster transcript and viceversa.

Updated On: 7/11/05 at 12:27 AM

No, NYU and UM do not use the same process. At UM, the two parts of the process are seperate. At NYU, they are weighed together, like at most BFA programs, except at NYU, the academic review is weighed more heavily than at the other top programs.

I did all of my auditions in February (all but one at the Chicago unified audition, the last here where i live). Most of the top schools don't have auditions until then, but I understand that some of the smaller schools start earlier. And again, there are only a few BFA ED schools (NYU being one of them), however, I didn't apply ED/EA anywhere so I didn't have to start early. Also, because alot of the schools will have maybe one or two early auditions in the fall, and the rest in the winter, they are only seeing a few people before the winter break and most after. My take was that I'd rather be seen at the same time they were seeing everyone else, which is also closer to the time that they'll be making decisions. I thought it'd be safer than auditioning really early and risking the chance of being forgotten.

sry, this is a REALLY stupid question... but...
my friend says she knows people who went to TISCH, and did all the Musical theatre classes, but that it was all TV and movie based. my friend really isnt that reliable, but can anyone reassure me that TISCH is one of the top places for musical theatre?

I thought it would be good to clarify after reading the above posts on Tisch/CAP21 regarding not being admitted due to age (sixteen) so as not to discourage another applicant who is sixteen....

My daughter is entering CAP21 in the fall and she is just sixteen and graduated high school early. Someone I know in CAP21 told me another girl in the program currently also graduated high school early and entered young. When we looked into early graduation, I called every BFA program on my daughter's list to inquire if they were willing to accept early graduates and all said yes, including Tisch. She got into five BFA's and waitlisted at one so I think they truly do take early graduates who are just sixteen years old. So, do not NOT apply if this is your situation. Each case is different and I am not even sure how you got an answer as to why you were waitlisted but usually it is not all one factor or black and white but it is also just very difficult odds of admission. I hope you did get in somewhere because schools do take early graduates. Did you earn a diploma? My child is sixteen but she did earn a diploma and most schools do not care your age if you did earn that diploma. I don't know your situation other than your age and wanted to not dissuade other students from applying who might choose to graduate high school early.

Sporti, I definitely agree that when it comes to very selective college admissions and even in casting, that factors come into play beyond your control. There are definitely very talented people who are qualified who still do not get accepted and sometimes there is this element of luck that you fit a certain need in the grouping being made up for the incoming class.

Now that you wrote another post, you clarified that they did tell you that they are willing to accept students who are younger than a typical high school graduate. As in any school, often early graduates are looked at more closely with regards to admissions. I suppose it can be tougher. But ultimately, I was told that as long as you had a diploma, that they did not care that much your age. But I am sure they scrutinized the application to determine if an early graduate was "ready" in their view. My daughter included a one page statement with all her applications (on top of the various required essays) that explained her choice to graduate high school early and her readiness for college. She also asked her guidance counselor to touch on that issue in his recommendation. I think it is important to explain this because the question will arise in a panel's eyes about a student who has not taken the normal "path". Did you graduate early and did you earn a diploma? Are you going to college this fall? My daughter graduated a year early after three years of high school. She also entered K early and that is why she is only sixteen. Where we live, if going by her birthday, she normally would be entering 11th grade.

I hope you have some exciting plans for the coming year. I'm glad that your adjudicators were willing to provide you with feedback. Making the waitlist itself is an accomplishment. I did not know that Tisch had a waitlist. My daughter applied regular decision, did you?