Auditioning for SEPT 2018

[Barton285]

That's a really good idea. I've also come across Day rooms at hotels (you literally hire a room for the day) which I did which my DD was Urdang audition, made it a lot more relaxing.

[chivers61]

DD has another offer. Not the course she applied for - she's been offered Dance rather than Musical Theatre which has thrown her into confusion as she thought her strengths lay more in MT than pure dance. They thought otherwise. Feedback was given which was frank & honest. They could have offered Foundation but they said it wouldn't progress her enough given her current dance level.

She's decided to withdraw from the other two places she was going to audition as 1 was a local btec back in& the other although a prestigious name on delving deeper will not offer the contact hours she wants & is used to.

So, funding recalls pending looks like its Chester or Leeds.

Your comment about a prestigious name not offering the contact hours is interesting. It's really hard to find out what contact hours each course actually offers at pretty much every establishment. You could count on one hand the ones which tell you exactly. It's a bit worrying if a prestigious name is selling people who pay a lot of money short. Were the hours way below expectations or just not quite up there with the 30/35 which is considered to be the minimum?

Hopefully things will soon change, at least for the degree courses, as I understand that the government, as part of its review of student loan funding, is thinking about making universities and students sign a contract which will be very clear on the level of contact hours, and defining what contact hours are ie not self-guided study and reading weeks! That would flush out some interesting information and I think some Unis offering MT would be seen in a very bad light.

The other threat on the horizon for MT degrees is the policy being mooted, where degrees which do not have good employment outcomes (actually getting jobs and/or attract low salaries) would no longer attract the full loan. I suspect that the proliferation of MT degrees, which are a cash cow for many establishments, but don't deliver good/measurable employment outcomes in some (many?) cases, may mean that MT would be put in the category not attracting the full loan. Indeed MT was quoted in one article I read in this context as attracting £5m of student loan funding each year, with dubious value for the taxpayer.

The cost to the taxpayer of student loans is going to be huge in the next 10/20 years and a "value for money" approach is, I fear, not far away. And by that I mean value for money for the taxpayer, not students. It all boils down to the fact that the current funding situation is not fit for purpose.

[islandofsodor]

The issue with the big name school & contact hours is that it's a place that is mostly known for its degree which admits 18 year olds & is one of the best. Dd is 16 & so would have been applying for their level 3 course. The school shares the prestigious name & Im sure many do very well there & go onto good colleges but it wasn't for her.

At the moment she dances for 15 hours per week plus 2 hours singing & 1 hour drama alongside a full gcse curriculum. According to the website she'd be doing between 5.5 to 10 hours of dance (& the higher figure is not guaranteed the extra have to be auditioned for) although more singing/drama (7-10 hours).

She wants to up her drama & singing hours but not at the expense of dance.

[chivers61]

The issue with the big name school & contact hours is that it's a place that is mostly known for its degree which admits 18 year olds & is one of the best. Dd is 16 & so would have been applying for their level 3 course. The school shares the prestigious name & Im sure many do very well there & go onto good colleges but it wasn't for her.

At the moment she dances for 15 hours per week plus 2 hours singing & 1 hour drama alongside a full gcse curriculum. According to the website she'd be doing between 5.5 to 10 hours of dance (& the higher figure is not guaranteed the extra have to be auditioned for) although more singing/drama (7-10 hours).

She wants to up her drama & singing hours but not at the expense of dance.

Fully understand. It is difficult finding somewhere where the balance is what you want. Hope you manage(d) to sort it out .

[islandofsodor]

At her 1st choice she'd start off doing approx 23 hours of dance & 6.5 hours singing/acting alongside 2 A levels then in the third year it would be about 33-35 hours.

[chivers61]

At her 1st choice she'd start off doing approx 23 hours of dance & 6.5 hours singing/acting alongside 2 A levels then in the third year it would be about 33-35 hours.

So 30 hours a week plus 2 A-levels? That's a massive workload with homework/assignments on top. Impressive. Hope she gets her first choice.

[islandofsodor]

A levels will be completed by the end of the 2nd year.

It's basically 9am - 6pm every day with the occasional 8am start or 7pm finish.

She's been offered the place - just funding to try & get now)

[chivers61]

A levels will be completed by the end of the 2nd year.

It's basically 9am - 6pm every day with the occasional 8am start or 7pm finish.

She's been offered the place - just funding to try & get now)

Fingers crossed. It's all such a shame that funding can get between our DCs and their passion. Something really does need to change.

[islandofsodor]

Well hopefully this college (Hammond) is well known for its very generous bursaries so I'm fairly hopeful that even if she doesn't get a Dada we will be able to manage it with a bursary..

I've also been scouring the statistics that are available via OFsted Dada inspections etc and also going by what we were told on audition day and a very high percentage of those accepted get a Dada so fingers crossed.

In fact its really interesting noticing the difference betwene the different percentages of Dada's across the colleges.

[kzgirl]

Well hopefully this college (Hammond) is well known for its very generous bursaries so I'm fairly hopeful that even if she doesn't get a Dada we will be able to manage it with a bursary..

I've also been scouring the statistics that are available via OFsted Dada inspections etc and also going by what we were told on audition day and a very high percentage of those accepted get a Dada so fingers crossed.

In fact its really interesting noticing the difference betwene the different percentages of Dada's across the colleges.

Fantastic news for your DD, we were very impressed with the Hammond when DD went for her audition for the Degree course last year. Our DD is now in her 2nd simester at Chichester and loving it. Looking back now I am glad DD was not offered the Hammond as she was extremely ill in her 1st simester ( in/out of hospital) the Hammond is over 300 miles from where we live and would have been extremely difficult with DD being ill. DD did love the Hammond though.

[Marissa]

Great news x congratulations x My DD has an audition there in March due to not being able to make the other dates x

[Live_thedream]

Just a little money saving tip! If you are booking audition days in London try and get a Monday because hotel rooms like Travelodge and Premier are cheaper on Sundays. We have done that for Central. Handy places to stay at audition time might be a good thread? and where to go when waiting around. No make up for Central so should be a quick get ready time at least!

booked a travelodge for £39 Thursday night in Feb for a mountview audition. I tend to find them as best options. Cheap and cheerful, but clean too. Does the job.

[kzgirl]

Great news x congratulations x My DD has an audition there in March due to not being able to make the other dates x

Good luck to your DD in her audition at the Hammond we were very impressed and they have a good reputation. The only thing that we were concerned about is the location as Chester is so far away from London, I am led to believe that the showcases are performed in London in the final year though.

[Marissa]

Great news x congratulations x My DD has an audition there in March due to not being able to make the other dates x

Good luck to your DD in her audition at the Hammond we were very impressed and they have a good reputation. The only thing that we were concerned about is the location as Chester is so far away from London, I am led to believe that the showcases are performed in London in the final year though.

Thankyou x We have Trinity first x everything's crossed for that one lol xxx

[didancer55]

Hi. This is Dd first year of applying for MT courses. She has just received a recall audition for Urdang. The email says she is being "considered for one of their full time courses, according to her age & academic qualifications." After reading the info about auditions on the Urdang website, I am a little confused. Silly question - does this means she is definitely guaranteed a place at Urdang, although this could range from foundation to degree or could she still get a rejection after the recall audition? Also she has been offered two dates for the recall - one before Easter & one in May - will it make any difference to her chances of being offered a place if we take the later date? We are new to the whole auditioning scene!