I’m sure your Mother has already told you this, but: you should really be working on your college applications right now. If you didn’t get a jumpstart on your applications already (the Common App opened up this summer) then September is the prime time to really buckle down. On top of applications, as you know, your Fall and Winter are also going to be filled with scheduling auditions, traveling to said auditions and actually auditioning! Get the academic side done early so you can focus on presenting your very best self in the audition room.
For schools that require prescreens or digital portfolio reviews, I also highly recommend not putting this off until the last minute. If you’re anything like me, the technology aspect of actually uploading a video, audio file or visual portfolio can be a bit daunting if you are new to it. Give yourself plenty of time to troubleshoot and get some questions answered from the Acceptd team (if you are a Premiere Member, a 1-on-1 consultation is already built into your package!) If you wait until the last minute to upload your material, you may miss a deadline to your dream school. If your dream schools include Carnegie Mellon for Music, Ithaca College for Musical Theatre, or The Juilliard School for Music, Theatre or Dance – you’re in luck, as they are one of many already accepting applications for the 2015-2016 year.
Not to freak you out, but audition dates for most schools will completely fill. If you know that you have a very specific audition schedule you need to follow due to your fall rehearsals or music lessons, you shouldn’t wait to secure your desired date. If you need to do all of your schools at Unifieds or you’d like to apply to a school Early Decision, that’s even more of a necessity to get the specific date you need.
I strongly recommend you audition at a handful of your schools early. You don’t have to do Early Decision unless you are 100% sure that’s the school you’d like to attend – but simply doing early action or using their first audition date is imperative for success and for your wallet. Let’s say you audition at three schools early (my recommendation is always at least one Reach School, one Match School and one Safety) and those auditions are all done by the end of November. Guess what? You’ll know if you got accepted by Christmas break! Best-case scenario: you get into your Reach or Match school! You can then chop your list in half and get rid of schools you know you wouldn’t attend over your accepted schools – thus saving you lots of time and money. Worst-case scenario: you don’t get in anywhere early. That’s okay! That means you still have plenty of time to reflect and make adjustments to your audition material for all of your auditions in January/February.
So, if you haven’t already started to make a profile on Acceptd or started a few applications by the end of reading this – what are you waiting for? Get to it!