The Two Problems with Preparing for College Auditions

Nicole Asamoah

Don't get me wrong, I think college auditions are pretty cool! I started to get fascinated with the whole idea toward the end of freshman year and started learning more about it. Now going to be a soon-to-be rising senior come next month, I know my time will be drawing near to do what thousands of hopeful theater majors in prospective colleges are doing; auditioning and preparing for college auditions.

We're all aware that this can take pretty much a year or more of time, not to mention juggling regular college applications, getting your grades up to get a stellar GPA, and impress those college admission officers with those SAT/ACT scores. 

But as much college audition are great, here's the problem or problems.

1. Families spend way too much money on a coach!

A coach doesn't necessarily guarantee acceptance into a BFA theatre program, while it does help with monolouges, songs and all that. Why throw thousands of money away? I'm not saying that don't use a coach at all, that depends on the families themselves. All I'm saying is, people over prepare and rely on coaching so much that they're not even being themselves when they walk into the audition. 

2. Students try too hard to impress the theatre department of their prospective college

Again, I'm not saying don't put effort into preparing. Always put effort in, 100% because that is what will get good results. You only put what you get into it! It's can pretty nerve-wracking and vulnerable to reveal your real self for a good 5-10 minutes, so some students think that by masquerading themselves, they will be "exactly what the admissions officers are looking for" Right? Wrong! Theatre is all about being authentic and connecting with other people. If you pretend to be like somebody else, what do they need you for?

I think college auditions are great, but I think we have a lot more work to do in improving it. 

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Nicole Asamoah is a junior from Farmington High School, actively studying theatre and music. She also enjoys writing, playing piano and improv and advocating for the arts through diversity and social change.