COLLEGE PREP TIMELINE – Juniors heading into Senior Year

March-April

  • Line up your summer plans: consider a college summer intensive (see separate handout).
  • Musical Theatre peeps: If you’re not taking dance or voice lessons, GET ON THAT ASAP!

End of June/mid-July:

  • Finalize your college list. If you are auditioning for BFA programs, it is HIGHLY competitive – be prepared to have a LOT. At least 12, perhaps more. Try to have a fair number of reaches, fits, and “safeties” (although nothing is REALLY a safety as a BFA).
  • Start inputting dates, deadlines, audition requirements into your college tracking spreadsheets. EVERY COLLEGE WILL HAVE DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS. To save you time instead of having to look up the info over and over again, enter it in one place where you can also track your progress throughout the year. (BOOKMARK THE AUDITION REQUIREMENT PAGES IN YOUR BROWSER!)
    Pay attention to audition dates and whether schools go to the Unifieds!
  • Book Fall SAT/ACT dates if you haven’t take it, or need to again. You need to do this well in advance as it takes a month or more to sign up!
  • Keep looking for audition material if you don’t have it all nailed down yet! DON’T WAIT!!!! Read plays, listen to scores STARTING NOW and ALL SUMMER – you will need to lock these down by….

By August 1:

  • Finalize your audition material. Do you have all the right cuts of monologues & songs? Enough stuff that contrasts? DON’T TRY TO DO THIS DURING THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR, YOU WILL BE STRESSED & BUIRED! Put these together in a binder – make this your Bible with all sheet music & monologues of different cuts. BE AND STAY INCREDIBLY ORGANIZED!!!
  • Get professional headshots! GET THIS DONE OVER THE SUMMER WHILE YOU HAVE TIME! Most schools want a headshot when you apply for an audition! Don’t wait till fall when you’re busy!
  • Figure out travel plans for auditions – can you get to them all? TALK WITH YOUR PARENTS as they will be footing the bill/escorting you. Unifieds are in late Jan/early Feb in NYC and Chicago. Can you do a bunch of them there in one fell swoop? Need to check to see which colleges attend and in which cities. (For MT, you may have THREE calls for each school – dance, singing, acting!)

Mid-August thru Mid-September:

  • KNOCK OUT COLLEGE APPLICATIONS! Get as many done as is humanly possible BEFORE the start of school! Aim to have as many done by Sept. 15 as possible. Write your essays, and have another adult take a look at them! DRAFT THE “Why Theatre?” essay RIGHT NOW – you’ll get that one!
  • Get coaching help on your audition portfolio! DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE WEEK BEFORE AUDITIONS! Know your portfolio backwards/forwards and KEEP IT CURRENT! Show it to your teacher! Do them before your peers in class! Hire a monologue/song coach if need be and work on them! All songs and monologues need to be road-tested and IN YOUR BONES well before you audition!

Mid-Sept thru October:

  • Line up teacher recommendations and get transcripts off to colleges!
  • Update your resume! You will need it to apply for auditions/BFA programs!
  • Start booking audition dates with colleges. Most colleges start posting dates October 1 – you can’t book one until you apply to the college. You don’t have to have all the pieces in (letters of rec, transcripts, SAT/ACT scores) – you just have to get the initial application and fee in!
  • Get your pre-screen audition videos shot/edited/uploaded! THIS TAKES TIME, especially for MT folks – you will need 2 songs, 2 monologues and perhaps a dance sequence! (That means hiring/finding an accompanist too!) Most are due to schools by Nov. 1 – plan to have this done by mid-October (because technology WILL mess you up! DON’T WAIT ON THIS!!!)
  • STAY ON TOP OF GRADES! Most schools want in the 3.5 range or higher – if you’re below that, try to get all A’s in the first semester of senior year to help bump up your GPA!

By November 1

  • All pre-screens are usually due by this date (updated to your colleges’ program website) ! Give yourself plenty of time so you don’t have technical issues or upload problems!!!
  • You should try to have all your auditions dates locked in by now. DO THIS EARLY – AND TRY TO GET EARLY AUDITION SLOTS – THEY FILL UP! If you can get 1 or 2 done in December, AWESOME! (If you can get an early acceptance, takes pressure off you for later auditions!)

December – February: THE HEART OF AUDITION SEASON!

  • Get lots of rest AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! You need to stay healthy. Resist the temptation to go out with friends and hang out (more exposure to others can get you sicker faster!) Sleep regularly. EAT WELL. Seriously. If you get sick or exhausted, you will be in no shape to audition well! DO NOT PLAN TO BE IN YOUR SCHOOL’S WINTER SHOWS! THIS IS YOUR PRIORITY FOR THESE MONTHS – you can be in the spring shows! Trust me! You need your stamina this month!

March: THE WAITING – AGH

  • Acceptances/rejections will roll in. Do not despair. DO NOT POST ACCEPTANCES SOCIAL MEDIA (schools check, and if you get in one school, they might nix accepting you at theirs!) Ssssssh!

April: Decision time

  • All schools are supposed to let you know yes or no by April 1. Once you know your options, THEN go visit schools, not before! (Can be wasted $$$ if you don’t get in.) And play the schools off each other for more financial aid!
  • Once you know which acceptance/school is The One, put down your deposit and celebrate!