Drama school auditions 2024- Acting/MT

[Mcmumager]

Is anyone starting the journey of drama school auditions and starting to feel the stress? Maybe sending them to drama group was a big mistake lol.

Wow what a poor response from MV. An A Level exam! I have noticed on this barmy journey that some of the drama schools have a very entitled attitude. But I guess if thousands of desperate kids are battering your door down you can behave how you like.

They really should have got all the recalls done before exam time - the others all managed it I think? Or a weekend at the very least

I found Mountview to be the most sensible and most organised! We knew the recall dates from the outset and the recalls were done over two days in the Easter Holidays?

What course was it for? Totally not our experience.

The worst in my opinion had been LIPA. The fact that some auditionees didn’t even get a response is awful.

Italia conti recall on Wednesday, it was a late application though. A levels today and Tuesday. Stress levels are quite high!

My daughter is on the waiting list for Oxford School of Drama and has 4 offers through UCAS which need to be replied to by 6 June! OSD may not be able to tell us until July if she has a place. We're also waiting to hear from ArtsEd. Anyone else been in this position? We don't know WHAT to do. She's keenest on OSD. Any advice???

Accept a UCAS offer by the date (and an insurance?) and then wait and see for the other two - you can always pull out of UCAS as they are not firm until A level results day. And still, nobody can MAKE you start a course. Only worry is if you have paid a deposit which you would lose.

My DD was due to go to this recall also but has her first A level the day after. She asked if it could be changed but it’s the last recall date for the course (Acting MT). They only seem to be holding them once a month (maybe because it’s a new course). She had the recall notification at end of March but didn’t get offered the April date unfortunately.

You can accept a ucas place and then pull out as it’s dependent on results anyway.

@Operagirl1 I would explain the situation to OSD. It's a very small school which helps with stuff like this. Dd auditioned very late and the head rang her soon afterwards and asked her to get in touch if she received any offers before OSD was in a position to offer her. But she was never on the waiting list, and subsequently went straight to an offer, so that may make things a bit different. But as others have said, you can accept other offers for now and pull out later, which means that offers will then go to their waiting lists.

Thanks for the advice. One of her UCAS offers is unconditional, so she doesn't get an insurance choice if she accepts that one. In the end, she may just take a gap year if OSD doesn't offer. It's a minefield!!

my daughter is in the same position albeit with different schools. The two she is on waitlist for are private and not through UCAS so she is going to accept her top UCAS choice by 6th June and then pull out if she gets off the waitlist for either of the others
The only thing as another poster said - if there are deposits or accommodation deposits then money could be lost there

It is but just keep asking many options open as she can for now and don't settle if you don't have to!

LIPA never got back to DD last year for her Foundation application. Shockingly poor. It didn’t matter as she had other offers, one of which she deferred for a year out, but it doesn’t say a lot for their care of students.

Has anyone got any thoughts/opinions/knowledge on the new Actor (musical theatre) course at Conti? My DS is completely conflicted with an offer from there and one from Emil Dale. He enjoys dance but hasn’t had much training

Well done him! Both good offers.

my daughter had a recall for IC on 22nd but didn’t go, instead accepting a Foundation at GSA!

IC is known for MT and they have had a huge increase in students, I believe their acting coaches are extremely good, but it’s a new course.

ED has of course their new premises which looks fantastic, what a decision to have as both are well thought of in the Industry. I would say I think ED has a slight edge on IC, both in the past are known to be ‘dancey’.

Which did he like best? Which is easier to find accommodation? I know IC has halls they use and a there is a lot of student accommodation in Guildford. Not sure that is so easy for ED.

Thank you! It feels foolish to even consider giving up a Conti offer but if it’s not the right place for him…. Accommodation would be easier at Conti but is £250 per week!

£250 unbelievably is around the norm! My daughter was offered a degree place at Rose Bruford and it was about that, GSA is similar if they want their own room en-suite.

I think they do have to go where they feel is right, the last thing you want is them wishing they had taken the ‘other’ place because you had influenced them. At least they are two very good, credible places, my daughter gave up the RB BA offer and declined recalls at IC (Acting/MT) and Mountview to do a Foundation at GSA (her dream school), which means we go through it all again next year with no guarantees! I have to question that decision, but it’s her choice and she won’t be saying ‘it’s your fault!’

DD knows someone who’s at IC and the accommodation is amazing!

By and large I agree that they have to go where feels right, but if there's a big difference in cost, it's got to be taken into account unless you're really wealthy.
GSA accommodation is not that expensive! This year DS paid £115 a week for single room, shared toilets and showers on campus. We guided him towards that because it saved him almost £2k a year over an ensuite room which is more like £185 per week. But not the £250 you've been quoted unless they are massively hiking their rents for next year. Guilden Village in town, which is mainly for IC students, is very swish and expensive. We could never have afforded that but obviously every family has different circumstances.

Also consider accommodation costs for 2nd & 3rd year. Guildford student house shares are quite easy to get and reasonably priced for nice houses. DS this year’s house paying around £5,600 each for the year - 4 Sharing with 2 bathrooms (bills on top but not massive as they’ve all been careful) next year house similar, 5 sharing and 2 bathrooms.

Dont know what house share prices will be like around EDA. My DS did BTECH at EDA and enjoyed his time there. Turned him from a non Dancer to a very competent dancer in 2 years.

Got to go with gut feeling when faced with a choice of similar standard schools. Personally I’d never go for a brand new course. Too many unknowns.

Thank you.

Just looked it’s £215 the one we’re going for, which is Band E, but sharing without en-suite is a lot cheaper. RB was £250, which was I’m presuming because it’s classed as London, but yes you can find cheaper.

She’s got a job at a holiday resort as an entertainment host for the summer, hopefully she’ll manage to save some money from that. It’s also a good trial for living away!

That’s kind of what I was thinking but the Conti name was swaying me!

Another thing you could do is try to compare typical graduate outcomes. Some of the colleges put their grads on the website with a headshot and a link to their Spotlight page, so you can see who out of this year's grads already has an agent, and how many of last year's grads ended up with representation and have worked since. GSA, Arts Ed, MV and IC all do this. I can't find the equivalent for EDA but maybe I'm just being dim.

Oh! Just found it - it does exist.

Lol, I think you have to analyse Emil Dale’s graduate lists just a little bit more because they include Gap year and BTech in it. We are no closer to a decision so I’m leaving him for a little bit to mull it over