Most seniors are circling November 1 and January 1 right now. A student applying to a BFA in musical theatre might have a prescreen video due October 1, a live audition in February, and a Common App deadline somewhere in between. We talk with a lot of families who find this out in October, after the schedule is already moving.
Why Do Arts and Music Programs Have a Different Application Timeline?
Most BFA programs and conservatories run two reviews at once. The university looks at your grades and essays. Meanwhile the department wants to hear you sing or see your work, and it runs its own process to do that, with its own deadlines. The department's dates usually come first.
What Is a Prescreen for Musical Theatre and Music Programs?
A prescreen is a recorded audition you upload so a school can decide whether to invite you to audition live. For musical theatre, most prescreens are due between October 1 and December 1, and plenty of schools offer earlier rounds with more open slots. Syracuse, for example, lists November 1 as its priority prescreen date and December 1 as its final one. Music programs tend to want recordings around December 1 too.
Plan your recording day weeks ahead. Book an accompanist and a room with decent sound, then record more takes than you think you'll need. Many programs collect submissions through Acceptd, so set up your account early and read each school's repertoire requirements closely, because they change from one program to the next.
When Are College Auditions and Unified Auditions?
Live auditions and callbacks mostly run from January into February. Some schools hold them on campus, and many travel to Unified Auditions, where students can audition for a long list of programs in one city over a few days. Travel costs add up fast. Before you book a flight, map out which schools will be in the same city on the same weekend.
What Is National Portfolio Day?
For visual art students, National Portfolio Day is where admissions reps from art schools look through your work in person, for free. The schedule runs from September into January, with stops like Philadelphia on October 25 and Boston on November 1, and there are online sessions on November 7 and December 5. Bring unfinished pieces along with your finished ones. Reviewers will tell you which pieces to keep, and that kind of feedback is hard to find anywhere else before you submit. The lines at big-city events get long, so show up early.
How to Put Together an Art Portfolio for College Applications
Most art schools ask for somewhere around 12 to 20 pieces, uploaded through SlideRoom or their own portal. Put your strongest work first. Many schools want to see observational drawing from life, so include some, and give the rest of the space to work built on your own ideas. Photograph everything in daylight against a plain wall.
We go deeper on fit and portfolio choices in our post on applying to art school.
How to Write an Artist Statement for College
An artist statement is a short piece of writing about what you make and why you make it. Write it the way you'd explain your work to a friend who asked. A line like "I started drawing my grandmother's hands after she couldn't knit anymore" tells a reader more than a paragraph about exploring the human form. Our post on writing supplemental essays has more on keeping short writing specific.
What Goes on an Arts Resume?
Music and theatre programs often ask for a performance resume and a headshot. List your roles, productions, ensembles, and teachers, with dates. Visual artists can add exhibitions and summer studio programs. Keep it to one page.
If you've already worked on your Common App list, you're ahead. Our post on the Common App activities section covers how to describe your involvement in a few words, and the same skill carries over here.
How to Keep Arts Application Deadlines Organized
Each school can have as many as four dates to track: the prescreen, the audition, the portfolio upload, and the regular application. Put them all in one spreadsheet with a row per school, and color the arts deadlines so they jump out. At many schools the Early Decision and Early Action dates still apply to the academic side of the application, and our Early Decision vs. Early Action post walks through how those work.
Uploads fail and accompanists get sick, usually the week of a deadline. Aim to submit everything a few days early.
Let's Talk
If you have questions, want to learn more, or want Josh and Lisa to help with prepping for college applications that don't follow the normal admissions calendar? Schedule a call today and we have you covered!