Student Blog: College Audition Advice

This summer I am working as an assistant at my University’s Drama Pre College program (https://www.cmu.edu/pre-college/academic-programs/drama.html). As a result, I’ve found myself spending a lot of time around theatrical, college-bound high school students. Watching them prepare for their upcoming college application processes over the past few weeks has made it nearly impossible for me not to reminisce about what my own process was like: a nightmare. 

As I was living through my application nightmare, I can remember finding comfort in listening to and reading about other students’ experiences (I may or may not have developed a slightly unhealthy addiction to those decision letter videos on YouTube). So, I thought I might share a bit about my own experience along with some tokens of advice that helped me stay motivated - and mostly sane - as I crept my way to the finish line...

In my personal opinion: I believe the college application process for the fine and/or dramatic arts is unlike any other. Despite attending a vocational high school for the performing arts, the vast majority of my close friends chose to pursue more academic-based majors and therefore underwent a completely different application process than my own. By the time they’d completed all of their transcript sending, essay writing, and common app-ing, I was still filming 2 dance combinations, 3 monologues, 2 songs, and re-formatting my entire resume.

*A little disclaimer before I begin doling out my advice: These suggestions are simply that - suggestions. Just because my experience proved to be a little bit stressful and overwhelming doesn’t mean everyone’s experience has been or will be exactly like that as well. Everyone’s experience is completely different…*

With that said, here are my top tips for surviving the dramatic arts college application process:

1. Get Started EARLY

This piece of advice comes from a personal mistake that I encountered early on in my application process. I wanted to audition for both Musical Theatre and Acting programs, I knew that much, but what I didn’t know was how time-consuming the academic submission process paired with the self-taping/audition process would be. As a result, while I thought I was getting a jump on things by starting to look at schools in early August, I found myself butting right up against my deadlines…which is not a fun position to be in, as I’m sure you’ve all experienced.

If I had the opportunity to redo my application process, I think this is the schedule that I would set for myself in order to stay on top of deadlines (for both academic and dramatic submissions) and maintain peace of mind:

(Theoretically, these are the months leading up to your Senior year of High School)

• JUNE: Begin researching and developing a list of programs that you feel may be a good fit for you - BONUS: make a spreadsheet and rank your choices for later reference.
• EARLY JULY: Create a document listing all of the prescreen, transcript, and general application requirements for each of the colleges you intend to apply to (referencing your list of “good fit programs”) - BONUS: order them based on which deadline is coming up first - this will prove to be a GREAT help in the future. 
• MID/LATE JULY: Begin to look for/decide on your audition materials - In my experience, I think I needed approx.: 2 classical monologues, 2 contemporary monologues, and 2 Shakespearean monologues. Additionally, (for the MT programs) I needed 2 classical songs and 2 contemporary songs. 
• AUGUST: Begin text work on your songs and monologues. *If I could go back and change 1 thing about my process, I would spend more time getting to know my text. I was so behind on time that I couldn’t afford to spend a good amount of time with my text and my auditions suffered as a result…
• SEPTEMBER: You are now properly prepared to begin the recording of your prescreens without the stress of having to find materials, familiarize yourself with them, and research deadlines. I would suggest getting your pre-screens squared away as soon as possible because let’s face it: theatre artists are incredibly hard on themselves and it takes a long time to settle on a recording that you feel confident in. The essay and CommonApp requirements are actually much easier to navigate and will eat up less of your time (in my personal experience.) 

2. Resist the Urge to Get Overwhelmed by Unsolicited Advice

Everyone’s got opinions. If there is one period of time in your life where you don’t listen to the opinions of others, let it be this one. The application process is already stressful enough - don’t waste any time being concerned with the unsolicited advice and opinions of others. 

If you attend a performing arts studio and/or have friends who are pursuing the same degree as you, you will inevitably hear some things about your friends’ processes/experiences that differ from your own. Try not to allow their experiences to make you feel insecure about your own journey - remember that everyone is on their own individual and unique path. 

Additionally, be wary of false, unhelpful rumors that may be spinning around during audition season. You will hear numerous “tips and tricks” that will supposedly increase/decrease your chances at getting into a certain program as well as many opinions about “good signs you’ve been accepted into a school based on what was said in your audition, etc.” and I can tell you 99% of the time, these rumors have no evidence to support them.

During your process, no one else matters; it’s your process. I believe the best thing you can do for yourself during this time is to trust your feelings and experiences above all else. That’s not to say “Don’t listen to the advice and guidance of your esteemed coaches and mentors” (I definitely encourage you to do that), but you can certainly afford to be picky about the advice you take from others during this time. 

3. Continue to Live Your Life

This one might feel self-explanatory but, I think it is so important to continue living your life as you are going through the application process. It is so easy to feel all consumed by the pressures and deadlines of application/audition season, but I promise you - you don’t want to miss out on making memories with your friends and family while you are all still in the same place - so live in the moment as much as you can.

4. Dedicate Time to Your Work…and Read the Play!

And last, but certainly not least, dedicate yourself to your work. The more time you spend connecting with and preparing your pieces, the more confident you will feel, the better you will perform, and the more recognition you will earn from those who are auditioning you. 

Finally, if there’s one thing you take from reading this post, let it be this: (for each an every one of your audition pieces) READ THE PLAY! 

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