In my last post, I wrote about my experience auditioning for a musical theatre program (BFA).
https://goo.gl/wVoLjg
In this post, I want to share my experience auditioning for an acting-only program for a different university. Shall we begin….
Travel
To begin, I had to figure out a travel plan with my family because this school was located in California, but I reside in the Midwest. Fortunately, many schools conduct college tours called Unifieds. If you’re familiar with the college process you know that Unifieds is a college audition tour where schools will conduct their auditions in major cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. In fact, when I went to my audition in Chicago I met several people from different places from the South to the Midwest. Since
My audition was in early February in downtown Chicago and because both of my parents had work and none of my siblings were available, I traveled to the city by myself. I left super early so by the time I arrived downtown I had time to kill. But first, my mission was to locate the hotel the auditions were being held so that I could easily find it later. It was a beautiful hotel by the way, and it was in a central place downtown. I went in and spoke with the person at the desk to make sure it was the right place. And it was! I was off to a good start
.
Next, I got lost trying to find a McDonalds to eat breakfast at but thanks to some nice city goers I was able to find it. After breakfast, I still had a large amount of time so I visited Topshop, Forever 21, and H&M of course! Anyways, let’s get back to the main part: Auditioning.
The Presentation
Up the elevator, I went into an intimate room where the presentation was held. Like the other school, it was an in-depth presentation about their school and more specifically their program. What was unique about this presentation was the time she spent clarifying the difference between the BFA Acting program and the BA Acting program. To put it shortly, BFAs are students who only want to act and can’t see themselves doing anything else, while a BA would be someone who would want to double major or minor or would like to have time to pursue other interests. Because I’ve grown a strong affinity for politics and journalism, I knew a BA would fit me better since I also want to study Political Science.
After the presentation, everyone would separate. Let me break it down. There were 3 times we were all designated: Interview, Audition, and a prep time. Some would go right into the audition. Others would start with their interview and vice versa. For me, I was given prep time first, then I auditioned, and I finished with an interview. It worked out pretty well for me. During my prep time, I went over my monologues and I spoke with the other students auditioning. Also, we all were given a chance to speak with alumni. I already felt so connected to the students I spoke to, and I wish I could call them my classmates for real. We all shared our dream schools and what auditions we had left and talked about our different interests in the performing arts.
Auditioning
My name was called and I was escorted by one of the drama teachers. Compared to the room I auditioned for the MT program a week or two before, this room was very small, intimate, and personal. They let me begin with whatever monologue I chose. After I auditioned I felt good about my performance. I prefer the monologues I chose for this audition because they seemed to have more developed characters.
Interview
The interviews were quick and simple. Like the MT school, they asked me about my SAT/ACT scores and a series of questions about my theatre experience, and how I spent my high school career. I was also asked whether I would be more suited for a BA or a BFA. Afterward, my whole audition was complete! I was scheduled to meet my sister at her workplace downtown and so I got an Uber and I was on my way. P.S I was talking to this guy outside of the hotel who looked just like Joe Keery (Steve) from Stranger Things but I digress!
In the end, I was not offered a place in their BFA or BA acting program. This school is very selective when it comes to academics and my SAT score is far below their standards. And of course, maybe I wasn’t the actor they were looking for. It’s my dream school but maybe there’s a place for me there in the future
Sincerely,
Shaheen