Let’s be honest: this college audition stuff is stressful! And confusing! Why are there so many different audition requirements for each school? How am I going to fit in all of these auditions? Oh my goodness – why did I ever decide to major in the arts?! Before you start to regret your decision to pursue your dream career, big breath, because we’ve got some tips to help you get organized this summer before audition/application season begins.
First off, spreadsheets/organized lists are your best friend as you go through the college audition process. Let’s start with the first order of business: making a realistic college list. As we are sure you know, a performing arts applicant’s college list tends to be longer than a potential marketing or business major’s list as your acceptance primarily hinges on 5 minutes in the audition room. So, be sure to make a realistic list (check out our post here for tips) and organize as such:
Reaches
(These are schools that are reaches in terms of performing arts and potentially reaches academically)
Matches
(These are schools that are a good fit performing arts wise and you also definitely meet academic standards)
Safeties
(These schools should be true safeties! We recommend some non-audition programs and schools you can absolutely get into academically)
Additionally, as you begin to flush out your list, make sure to use Acceptd's “Favorite” feature! In the top right hand corner of every school’s landing page, you can click “Favorite” to bookmark the school and apply to them later if and when you want to.
In order to make sure you are meeting each school’s audition requirements, you need to have the information in front of you. Let’s say you are a Musical Theatre hopeful and have a list of 15 schools you are thinking of applying to – here’s what a simple organizational spreadsheet could like look:
College Audition Requirements
Next order of business is organizing potential audition dates for each school. Many schools travel to the National Unified Auditions (locations in NYC, LA, Chicago and Las Vegas) so you may be able to knock off a bunch of schools there if you are an Acting or Musical Theatre applicant. As a dancer, you may be able to tackle the majority of your schools at the National High School Dance Festival. However, not all programs attend a unified audition event. To make it more confusing, many Music/Theatre/Musical Theatre schools hold or attend regional auditions separate from Unifieds but in the same locations. Plus, most students like to do a mix of on-campus auditions and remote auditions. So! Moral of the story – start to map out your college audition road trip now. Here’s a sample spreadsheet to get you organized:
Audition Dates
The sooner you start to get organized, the easier your Fall will be. So, stop reading this, hop onto getacceptd.com, grab a spreadsheet and pen and get to work!
Explore programs and start planning today!
About Acceptd:
Acceptd is the world’s largest arts network, connecting organizations with top talent and providing artists tools to help them flourish. Acceptd boasts more than 600 partner organizations, universities, festivals and other arts groups as well as more than 450,000 artist user profiles. From performers at Sydney Opera House to the marching bands in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Acceptd has had the privilege of working with premiere arts organizations around the globe to optimize their application process and connect with the right talent.
