For most colleges, you’ll find yourself filling out an application alongside an admission letter detailing, in essay form, either your desire to attend your selected college or why you think you should be admitted. However, if you’re applying for an arts college, you’ll find that the admission process is a bit different. Instead of just an application and letter, you’ll most likely need to complete an audition of some sort, whether it be in person or one that’s recorded and sent in. But how do you go about with the correct college preparation? Here are some great last minute tips to help you create your best audition possible.
Tip #1- Choose material that is suitable to your age
If you’re 17 or 18 years old, you don’t want to choose to sing Marylin Monroe’s happy birthday song. Though you may find it cute and endearing, most likely the admission staff with instead find it tacky and fake.
Tip #2- Become familiar with all parts of your audition
If you’re reading a play, it’s important to not only memorize that particular part of the play you’ve chosen, but to also familiarize yourself with the entire play. This way you’ll understand the complete context of the story which will thus make your audition more believable. This is also true if you choose to play an instrument, to sing or to dance.
Tip #3- Wear the correct attire
Depending on what you’re doing, you’ll want to make sure that you have the correct attire on during your audition. This means you’ll want to make sure you have a sensible outfit on if you’ll be dancing (this means no wardrobe malfunctions) or the correct character outfit on if you’re reading a scene from a play. If you’re planning on singing, make sure to wear an outfit that doesn’t take away from your voice.
Tip #4- Make sure your video has a clear beginning and ending
If your chosen school allows you the option to send in a video instead of coming in for a live audition, then you’ll want to take care to make sure that you make the best video possible. This means that when filming and editing, it is very important that you have a clear beginning and ending. The last thing you want is for the admission officers to wonder if the tape cut out or not.
Tip #5- Choose your passion
If you’re the type that dabs in a few different art sectors like singing and dancing, you’ll want to choose only one of them to use in your audition. This is because, believe it or not, almost everyone else applying is going to be good at multiple things as well, meaning that having many different talents won’t impress as much as you’d like. This is why you’ll want to polish your passion and choose the one that drives you the most. Your excitement and passion will better shine in your audition this way, which in the end will help you stand out as a more interesting candidate.
With the above 5 tips, you’ll find that creating a successful audition doesn’t have to be a big production filled with emotions and stress. In fact, you should find the process fun and exciting, which will come through in your audition.