Auditioning for 2017

[debmag]

Hello everyone,
Congrats to everyones talented DC's for all offers etc. My DD has had a roller coaster audition process! She originally applied through ucas to The Hammond, GSA, Chichester Uni, Uni of Lancashire & Wolverhampton Uni. She also applied To Emil Dale Academy for their Hamilton workshop/ audition.
So her 1st was Chi Uni on 7th Jan, we live in North Wales so was quite a trek, DD loved it there but felt she messed up her song because she went out of time, she said the staff were lovely anyway she was offered a place on the triple threat MT course.
Next was The Hammond, DD didn't like the audition process here & although she knows quite a few people who go here she didn't get the 'feel' of the place. She thought the whole day went badly. We were surprised to find out that she was offered a place!
Next was Uni of Lancs, the day went well, DD liked it there, next day was offered a place. I have to add that she read her original audition date wrong so went on the wrong day but they were lovely about it re-scheduled.
She then had the Emil Dale (EDA) workshop, she absolutely loved the whole day. She was invited back for a recall/scholarship audition & again although very nervous she loved the whole experience. She found out 2wks later that she had been offered apart scholarship! After some research on finances/funding etc it soon became apparent that she wouldn't be able to accept the place...heartbreaking that lack of funding available could hold someone back
We also had the GSA disaster! DD was supposed to go to a regional 1st round audition in Manchester but we got stuck in a massive traffic jam on the M56 due to an accident & would never have made it (this is the shortened version btw) so the admissions team said she could reschedule but would have to do the audition in Surrey which was fine but every available date DD was already committed to something like her dance school shows, other auditions etc so we had to let that one slip away sadly
So now she has a big decision to make & time is running out, gap year or go with her heart (Chichester) & have to travel 6 hours on a train every time she comes home. Or go with her head (The Hammond) which is only 45 mins away & she loves Chester so would live there.
Decisions, decisions.

[Mummyofthree]

Hello everyone,
Congrats to everyones talented DC's for all offers etc. My DD has had a roller coaster audition process! She originally applied through ucas to The Hammond, GSA, Chichester Uni, Uni of Lancashire & Wolverhampton Uni. She also applied To Emil Dale Academy for their Hamilton workshop/ audition.
So her 1st was Chi Uni on 7th Jan, we live in North Wales so was quite a trek, DD loved it there but felt she messed up her song because she went out of time, she said the staff were lovely anyway she was offered a place on the triple threat MT course.
Next was The Hammond, DD didn't like the audition process here & although she knows quite a few people who go here she didn't get the 'feel' of the place. She thought the whole day went badly. We were surprised to find out that she was offered a place!
Next was Uni of Lancs, the day went well, DD liked it there, next day was offered a place. I have to add that she read her original audition date wrong so went on the wrong day but they were lovely about it re-scheduled.
She then had the Emil Dale (EDA) workshop, she absolutely loved the whole day. She was invited back for a recall/scholarship audition & again although very nervous she loved the whole experience. She found out 2wks later that she had been offered apart scholarship! After some research on finances/funding etc it soon became apparent that she wouldn't be able to accept the place...heartbreaking that lack of funding available could hold someone back
We also had the GSA disaster! DD was supposed to go to a regional 1st round audition in Manchester but we got stuck in a massive traffic jam on the M56 due to an accident & would never have made it (this is the shortened version btw) so the admissions team said she could reschedule but would have to do the audition in Surrey which was fine but every available date DD was already committed to something like her dance school shows, other auditions etc so we had to let that one slip away sadly
So now she has a big decision to make & time is running out, gap year or go with her heart (Chichester) & have to travel 6 hours on a train every time she comes home. Or go with her head (The Hammond) which is only 45 mins away & she loves Chester so would live there.
Decisions, decisions.

That's a surprise my daughter loved The Hammond she didn't like the waiting around for a few hours but despite that she said the teachers and everyone was really nice. the good thing about the Hammond is it's a very prestigious school and has good name my daughter also has the difficult decision of picking Alra drama school or the Hammond ones a musical theatre course and ones a drama course. My daughter is thinking more chester and I am pleased as like you say it's nearer home and it has got a great name x

[islandofsodor]

Congrats on her offers.

When does she have to decide by? Would a further visit to either/both institutions be possible if she felt she didn't get a feel for Hammond. I don't know about Chichester but Hammond have an Open Evening on 9th May. I wonder if the building works were a factor as everything felt a bit squashed/ad hoc for a while (upside is the new studios are lovely, I was shown around them before Easter).

Finances aside she has to spend a lot of time there, and I think it is important to be happy wherever you study so going with her heart may be the best decision.

[Mummyofthree]

Congrats on her offers.

When does she have to decide by? Would a further visit to either/both institutions be possible if she felt she didn't get a feel for Hammond. I don't know about Chichester but Hammond have an Open Evening on 9th May. I wonder if the building works were a factor as everything felt a bit squashed/ad hoc for a while (upside is the new studios are lovely, I was shown around them before Easter).

Finances aside she has to spend a lot of time there, and I think it is important to be happy wherever you study so going with her heart may be the best decision.

I agree she must go with what her heart is telling her x Is the open evening for the school or for the degree students as well ?

[islandofsodor]

Everyone from Prep, through Lower School Dance, drama or Music (ages 11-16) then Btec drama, Diploma & degree

[debmag]

Yes you're right it does have a good name. Well done to your DD .
What I think is that my daughter is a perfectionist & because she was in her opinion making mistakes she put herself in a downer & didn't enjoy the day haha. She said she liked the dance teacher but the others were too 'professional' (her words) Anyway I think it's where she will end up going & I think she'll enjoy every minute.
Have you looked into accommodation yet?

[debmag]

Thanks islandofsodor, I think we'll pop along to the open evening & she can take another look without the pressure of an audition in her mind.

[Mummyofthree]

Yes you're right it does have a good name. Well done to your DD .
What I think is that my daughter is a perfectionist & because she was in her opinion making mistakes she put herself in a downer & didn't enjoy the day haha. She said she liked the dance teacher but the others were too 'professional' (her words) Anyway I think it's where she will end up going & I think she'll enjoy every minute.
Have you looked into accommodation yet?

Yes think we'll go to the open evening as parents couldn't look round on the audition day! Yes accomodation tramways seems to be popular with students last year but it's very expensive and will eat into all her maintenance loan. Think she will just apply through the uni and see where they end up putting her

[jasmine2]

Hello everyone,
Congrats to everyones talented DC's for all offers etc. My DD has had a roller coaster audition process! She originally applied through ucas to The Hammond, GSA, Chichester Uni, Uni of Lancashire & Wolverhampton Uni. She also applied To Emil Dale Academy for their Hamilton workshop/ audition.
So her 1st was Chi Uni on 7th Jan, we live in North Wales so was quite a trek, DD loved it there but felt she messed up her song because she went out of time, she said the staff were lovely anyway she was offered a place on the triple threat MT course.
Next was The Hammond, DD didn't like the audition process here & although she knows quite a few people who go here she didn't get the 'feel' of the place. She thought the whole day went badly. We were surprised to find out that she was offered a place!
Next was Uni of Lancs, the day went well, DD liked it there, next day was offered a place. I have to add that she read her original audition date wrong so went on the wrong day but they were lovely about it re-scheduled.
She then had the Emil Dale (EDA) workshop, she absolutely loved the whole day. She was invited back for a recall/scholarship audition & again although very nervous she loved the whole experience. She found out 2wks later that she had been offered apart scholarship! After some research on finances/funding etc it soon became apparent that she wouldn't be able to accept the place...heartbreaking that lack of funding available could hold someone back
We also had the GSA disaster! DD was supposed to go to a regional 1st round audition in Manchester but we got stuck in a massive traffic jam on the M56 due to an accident & would never have made it (this is the shortened version btw) so the admissions team said she could reschedule but would have to do the audition in Surrey which was fine but every available date DD was already committed to something like her dance school shows, other auditions etc so we had to let that one slip away sadly
So now she has a big decision to make & time is running out, gap year or go with her heart (Chichester) & have to travel 6 hours on a train every time she comes home. Or go with her head (The Hammond) which is only 45 mins away & she loves Chester so would live there.
Decisions, decisions.

Why don't you contact EDA and tell them that you loved it there but funding is an issue even with the scholarship...my dd was a weekend student..awesome place and very friendly xx good luck

[Dancelover]

Hello.. It's my first time on here!! I have been reading all your comments with interest, me and my DD have also been through the audition process this year and just wanted to say congratulations to everybody and to send positive vibes to everyone! Just wondering if anybody has been to a Laine recall audition, or knows what goes on there? Thanks in advance xx

[Mumof3girls]

Hello.. It's my first time on here!! I have been reading all your comments with interest, me and my DD have also been through the audition process this year and just wanted to say congratulations to everybody and to send positive vibes to everyone! Just wondering if anybody has been to a Laine recall audition, or knows what goes on there? Thanks in advance xx

Hello , Same for me too ....... my dd has funding audition tomorrow for Laine , so will keep you posted . She did get an email with the order of the day starting with ballet etc ...... it seems to be pretty much same as first audion !
It's been a long journey for us so far and it still continues !
Best of luck to everyone you've all done well so far .

[Dancelover]

Yes thankyou we had the same email.. Good luck to your DD today .. how exciting for them.

[Mumof3girls]

Yes thankyou we had the same email.. Good luck to your DD today .. how exciting for them.

Thank you

[debmag]

Jasmine2
I did email EDA, the 1st time they replied with some ideas but the 2nd & 3rd time I received no reply. I also tried ringing several times but no answer, we had until 14th April to pay the deposit but £300 is a lot of money to lose if we couldn't secure funding by Sept so in the end we had no choice but to decline!! Really upsetting & I felt their lack of response went against their ethos. Saying that if in the meantime we somehow manage to find some funding I think DD would audition again next year, she seems to want to take a gap year so....

[beanie-bean]

Hi Debmag
Sounds like your DD really has been on a rollacoster and it must he very hard and stressful for you too. We are in a similar position where DD has had to audition while injured and she's had offers but not for the college she really wanted. I'm not sure if she should go for one of her offers or take a year out and re-audition next year. My DD has 3 more auditions to go so she may get a couple more offers (fingers crossed). It's such a hard decision to make, especially as there's no way of knowing if she will have any more success next year. Your DD has some good offers, perhaps she could go along to some open days as others have suggested? Are they doing any taster says she could attend? Wishing her all the best with her decision making and wishing you all the best too. Xxx