Student Blog: 10 Challenges I Didn't Anticipate During the Musical Theatre College Audition Process

I was a freshman in high school when I decided I wanted to major in musical theatre in college. By the time my senior year was about to start, I thought I had it all figured out. I had prepped my audition materials, started working on prescreens, and had gotten my anticipated absences cleared with my school. I was ready to take on my dream senior year, even if it was full of applications and auditions.

I’m pretty involved with my school. I am in choir, dance company, and the musicals. I am a student ambassador, I take AP classes, and I even served as class president my Junior year. I planned prom, choreographed numbers for our dance concerts, and sang at as many school events as I could fit into my schedule. I entered senior year with the expectation that I would be able to do all of this and more. Take it from someone who likes to plan ahead…there is truly no way to fully plan for the musical theatre college audition process. For those about to enter a year similar to mine or for those considering this major, read the top 10 challenges that I didn’t anticipate during my senior year. (I promise, in the end it was all worth it.) 

1. In the fall, I missed school for pre screen filming with my coaches in New York and also for Pittsburgh Unifieds in October. In total, this was about 6 days of school. I quickly learned upon my return that 6 days of missed school is equal to about 6 missed chapters of AP music theory. Suddenly, I began to have to fight for my grades. 

2. Another unexpected obstacle during this year was the amount of application fees I was faced with. Applying academically to 27 schools is expensive on its own, but I soon learned that each prescreen costs anywhere from $20 to $100 for each school to submit alongside your academic application. Expensive. 

3. Receiving prescreen results and college acceptances/denials while at school is a lot harder than it seems. I’m a person who is at school from 7AM to 7PM due to rehearsals, so more often than not I had to learn how to deal with receiving college emails while at school and handling the news in a public setting. One time, I was backstage during a dance concert when I got the “no thank you” type of news from one of my favorite schools. I’ll say it again and again: this process is not for the faint of heart. 

4. Dealing. With. Sickness. I surprisingly stayed healthy almost all of the audition season during my senior year, but I gave up a lot for that to happen. I wore masks on planes and in crowded areas, and I used buckets upon buckets of hand sanitizer. I turned down countless babysitting jobs during my audition season, just to be as careful as possible to avoid sickness. One of my biggest audition weekends was right after my school’s Winter Formal, and I agonized for weeks about whether or not I should go. I was worried about catching a cold or losing my voice while in such a crowded group setting. School events were just some of the social events that I turned down to stay healthy. It was so hard for a “yes…and” sort of person to say “no” so often. 

5. I missed a whole week of school for Chicago Unifieds, and coming back to school was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. It was the start of a new semester of school, and I was very behind on my work. I began to feel like I was letting my teachers down. I felt guilty asking for extensions and I hated being the one kid who was always behind. 

6. It sounds silly, but I missed out on a lot of birthday parties and time hanging out with my friends during my senior year. I love my friends and family more than anything and I hated not spending time with them. I am so grateful that they supported me throughout the entire process. 

7. Burnout!!! Working on the same monologues and same songs for so long is a lot more challenging than it seems. I had to be really careful to not let them lose meaning to me. Looking back at my auditions for the schools that accepted me versus the schools that didn’t is eye opening. The auditions where I fell robotically into my muscle memory never got me anywhere; however, the most successful auditions that ended in an acceptance felt unique and special to me. I was in the moment and every second felt like I was discovering something new. In summary, burnout is real, but it’s not forever. 

8. Hearing absolutely NOTHING. Going weeks or months without hearing back from a prescreen or an audition is agonizing. It’s almost impossible to pay attention in school when you’re refreshing your inbox 100 times a minute. I constantly had to remind myself what my MTCA coaches taught me: “No news is good news”. Putting a positive spin on the waiting process was so helpful for me. 

9. WAITLISTS. I was put on a waitlist for one of my top schools, and it was the hardest thing ever. I visited the program, and fell in love with it while I was on the waitlist. I made friends already attending the program, and emailed frequently expressing interest. After being on the priority waitlist for about 2 months, I received an email that the spot in the program I was waiting on had been filled. It's hard to fall in love with the possibility of a program when it's not guaranteed. 

10. Last, but not least…I truly did not anticipate how tiring this process would be both mentally and physically. Going from intense dance calls on the weekends to weekday dance rehearsals was exhausting. The adrenaline from clicking on college emails, never knowing the outcome, was exhausting. Living out my “normal” senior year while being busy with a beast of a college process was...exhausting.

Were these challenges worth it? Yes! Yes! And yes!!! I truly would not have had it any other way. These challenges made me a much stronger person. This past year has made me tough, yet compassionate and a hard worker who knows the value of rest. I recommend that anyone with a dream similar to mine puts in the work to make it happen. The exhaustion and tears are truly worth it when you’re working towards a dream. I am so thankful for what my senior year had in store. 

Best of luck to anyone taking on this process! You are amazing! :) 

<3, Ruby