college audition rejections

[wickedkiwi]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 4:01am

i had made peace with this issue...

i auditioned for tisch, mmc, and bu theater or musical theater programs. i didn't get accepted into any of them.

every now and then (for example, today) i get a little depressed about it.

someone cheer me up!

i can't be terrible, right? i swear im not one of those terrible american idol auditioners, and i think im pretty ok - i've auditioned for stuff at my high school and community theater and i've never been an extra or anything. if i auditioned at my local college for a main part i know i'd get at least a supporting role. my english accent is perfect (sounds like im from ohio or michigan), tho i try to stay away from shakespeare.

i obviously want to learn, otherwise i wouldn't "waste my time" in a training program, so why wasn't i accepted?

should i just accept i suck, or are there other reasons?
also, what other courses of action can i take now?

thnx!

[Pinguin]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 5:02am

Well, I mean, I can't be any judge of your talent since I don't know you, but...

I ended up applying to a MESSLOAD of drama programs and only got accepted to 1 that I wanted to go to (and it was my LAST letter too...oh man), and but it's always important to remember: Colleges do or do not accept people for so many reasons, some of which defy reason or logic. Some schools look for people who are completely untrained as opposed to other schools who want people who already fairly polished. Some schools only want students who are a size zero (I'll never forget looking at the CCM audition literature and seeing a "start losing weight now" line in BOLD). Some schools look more at acting, others at singing, some want really good grades, others don't care.

There are so many factors, you can't get down about yourself!

Plus, auditions are funny things -they only have 5-15 minutes to get a sense of who you are and what kind of performer you are. That's not very much time, and there are many people I know who audition well and are not very solid performers, and vice versa. Maybe you will want to look into polishing your audition skills, and try again next year?

Getting rejected from three top notch schools is hardly a reason to give up.

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 10:20am

there really is NO way to tell why you were rejected.... (don't worry, i was rejected from ithaca, u of hartford, waitlisted @ tisch/cap21 and never even got a letter from syracuse.)

for me, i called soon after i got my letters and asked if there was any way i could hear any of my audition comments. most places they said no...but NYU said yes. they said that when it came down to choosing who was in and who was waitlisted of the people that they were conflicted on, they were nervous about letting someone in who was as young as i am. so there was my reason: i'm too young.

also, i applied to all new england/NY schools, so that really decreased my chances b/c there would be so many people applying for my same geographical region.

also, who knows...maybe they just had a HUGE flood of massively talented people your year -- there's really no way to tell. all i know is that i'm not giving up; i'm re-auditioning this year to transfer to a bunch of places

[Elphie]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 11:26am

I wasnt as prepared as I would be now for college auditions. I basically did everything on my own. Some of these kids- especially applying to the ones you mentioned- have to have money where they have acting coaches and have been to places like Stage Door Manor. I couldnt afford any of these things. I did exceptionally well- I got into 1 and 1/2 schools out of the 4 I auditioned for- the 1/2 being one waitlist haha.
But just because you are not at Carnegie Mellon does not mean you do not have talent.
In acting, you will have your ups just as much as your downs. Downs just have a harder blow.
I questioned my talent after I recieved 2 rejection letters and wasnt sure if I wanted to go into the business after that. But then- things turned up for me- I was given a whole new level of confidence after I was given a scholarship to a really competitive conservatory for the summer. Things go both ways- I'm sure you've got something.
Dont let auditions stop you.

[Born2cthelightsofbway]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 11:33am

Here is something I always think of, Beverly Sills got rejected from the Metropolitin Opera 9 TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And look where she is now! Don't let anything get in the way of your dream! Maybe you were nervous, unprepared, or maybe you just had an off day, but don't stop! Keep going!

[ashley0139]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 1:14pm

Man this is making me nervous. I am doing it this year. And pretty much freaking out. It will all work out though.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 1:18pm

I'm really nervous, but I think everything happens for a reason, so I'll end up where I'll end up.

[PJ]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 1:57pm

I got rejected from NYU and Fordham, two schools that I was very interested in attending. But I believe it worked out for the best, really. I'm leaving for Marymount Manhattan College in exactly a week and I've never been more excited for anything in my life. Everything happens for a reason.

[WalveMalve]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 3:29pm

Theatre is a business of rejection.

2000 people probably auditioned this year and good musical theatre programs rarely take more than 20 students. That means they have to pick the top 1% of the group based on a very short audition. Needless, to say it's a fairly inaccurate process, though everyone they took was good, they weren't neccesarily the only good ones who auditioned or even neccessarily the best of those who auditioned.

Expect to be rejected a lot, this isn't like high school or community theatre where maybe a few hundred audition, if even that many. Thousands of people audition for every college and professional show and plenty of them were the stars of their high school shows, everybody's good. But it's always a crapshoot. You'll be rejected more often than you'll get a part. A large majority of new york actors are out of work, all you can really do is try your hardest.

Just keep at it, eventually you'll get in somewhere.

Posted: 8/23/05 at 7:49pm

i'm really nervous. i mean, i'm only in the 10th grade, but i'm still thinking of all my possibilities. and it seriously doesn't help when your mom is constantly telling you to think of back-ups, in case the whole theatre thing doesn't "work out". that sure boosts my confidence.
but i know its important to get good grades, even if i will never need algebra in my futre, it's important that i put forth effort.
and also, i wanna go to tisch, but i have to get into NYU first, hence the importance of getting good grades.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 8:13pm

I am at a college that I LOVE.
When I got here, I wasn't planning on a theatre major.
The program does not require an audition if you get into the school, so I switched majors.
I love the theatre professors and the style of the major at my school.
I feel that I'm being well trained despite not being in a conservatory environment.

Look into schools that aren't known for theatre.
Sometimes it's good to be in a smaller setting.
It gives you plenty of room to shine.

[pndmnd]

Posted: 8/23/05 at 8:50pm

I think that's a really good point, floweryfriend. There are a lot of really good schools for theatre that aren't NYU, Webster, Carnegie Mellon, CCM, etc. Check out some of the less competitive schools. You'll only get out of your education what you are willing to put in to it, regardless of what school you're at.

Also, some schools are going to be looking for certain demographics in each class. Think about it: they're not going to want an entire class of small red headed girls or tall dark haired guys who are all the same type.

[xoangel2789xo]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 11:40pm

Rejection sucks. Alot. But at least you tried. If you're this determined, then perservere.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 11:52am

Fanny says:
"You think good looking girls are going to stay in style forever? They're almost out! Finished!

Then it'll be my turn..."

I went to a liberal arts college and got a good theatre education and played leads as early as freshman year in mainstage productions.

The forest has a lot more trees than just the big ones that you can name.

[nate2]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 8:12pm

I know being rejected sucks!! I auditioned at 7 schools and got rejected from all of them. However looking back now I realize minor mistakes that really affected my performance. One of the biggest was CONFIDENCE...I got sooo intimidated and focused on what other people were doing or how talented someone else was instead of focusing on what I needed to be doing to have a good audition. I literally felt like I didn't belong and at my Ithaca audition I literally felt like I was going to throw up and that this wasn't the career for me. But in regard to what other people are saying there are SO MANY reasons why kids don't get in to schools and there is so much ridiculous talent out there. Being rejected for me didn't stop me but only challenged me to keep going because lets face it a few college rejections is nothing compared to what some actors have to go through in order to secure a job! I didn't let those rejections stop me from my dream and now i'm cast in a professional Summer Stock Theater Company which is run by two graduates of Baldwin Wallace's MT program AND i'm working with kids who are going to CCM, Ithaca, and Point Park for MT. Keep your chin up and also while being an MT major is great you don't have to be a MT or Acting Major to quote on quote "make it" in the industry!

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 10:01pm

One thing to keep in mind while auditioning for MT schools...

You need to find something that you're really good at, like, a certain quality that will make them say, oh thats different, we want that at our school. Like at BoCo, pretty much every person in my class has a quality that no one else has or has a certain niche that gets them noticed.

You can't just go in and audition singing the same songs everyone else sings and doing the same monologues that everyone else does...and you also don't want to perform them the same way as everyone else. College panels love kids taking risks.

I know that you've all heard this stuff over and over, but it's something you can't ignore and something you can't get past, if you don't have any special qualities, you can't expect to get far.

[SarahBeth]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 10:25pm

I can attest to the taking risks part. After I cut my hair really short recently my director applauded me saying "finally someone who's willing to take a risk!"

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 10:51pm

I did a monologue for unifieds where I had to like...run around and african dance...it was awesome.