Well, not quite Harvard, but close enough.

I applied to 21 BFA Musical Theatre programs,which are conservatory-style programs offered by various  universities and colleges. These programs accept as few as 10 students from the thousands of applicants they recieve, making their acceptance rates—especially extreme cases—less than one percent. This year, the auditions were more selective than ever before. All thanks to the 2007 baby boom.

Everyone has heard about this baby boom. It’s affected every single aspect of college applications. So naturally, musical theatre auditions would be affected as well.

The audition process started back in September. Most BFA programs require a pre-screen or a video portfolio before you can audition in-person. This usually involves 2 songs, 1 monologue, a dance video, and a wildcard (1-minute of whatever showcases your personality), creating 5 videos total. However, it’s not universal for every school so there was always something extra to be added to each application. 

I recorded these videos throughout September and early October which usually had to happen during the school day. In total, I had about 13 different videos that I had recorded for different application requirements.

At the same time as recording these videos, I was applying to these 21 schools academically. Even though most of these had applications on the common application, there were usually multiple supplemental essays that had to be written for each application. On top of that, paying the application fee for 21 schools was not the most frugal thing I’ve ever done in my life. 

Once applications and pre-screens were submitted all I had to do was wait. 

There were some passes, but also a lot of no’s,  which was disheartening. Especially since it was only the beginning of the audition process. The most important part of the pre-screen process was to keep a positive mindset. Schools can pass or reject a prescreen for almost any reason, so it’s not the end of the world when a couple schools say no.

Soon enough, the in-person auditions came. This was my favorite part of the process for me. My in-person auditions took many different forms, some took place in hotels, some on campus, and some, regardless of the name, took place over zoom. 

I found it so much more rewarding to walk into the room and audition verses sending 7 videos into the black void of college portals. However, it was way more taxing on my energy and health. This was critical during unifieds auditions.

The National Unified Auditions, or Unifieds, was a group of schools that all hosted their auditions in the same city during the same span of time. While this increases accessibility for school auditions, limiting the amount of travel a family would have to do during the audition process, it still has many drawbacks. For me, the Chicago Unifieds occurred February 3rd-5th with an additional virtual audition at the end of the week. 

During the week, I missed each of the days of school and any after school activities. I had auditions scheduled as early as 8:30 each day so I usually woke up at 6:15am. I would get ready and try to have a good breakfast to start my day and then I would get in the car to drive down to the city. 

While the days were really exhausting, I loved each time I entered the audition room. I did my best to showcase my personality and my work ethic on top of just my 2 songs and a monologue. 

I completed my final audition on February 10th. After 21 applications, 15 pre-screens, and 13 auditions, all I had left to do was wait. 

While one school had accepted me into their program during my audition at the Chicago unifieds, I didn’t begin hearing back from the rest of the schools until the very end of February.

It was a stressful time. I would hear from friends or parents that a school was calling their accepted students and all I could do was wait and hope for a phone call. Funnily enough, my acceptances always came when I least expected it.

My first musical theatre acceptance, and evidently the school I chose to attend in the fall, called me in the middle of my dress rehearsal for a dance performance. I saw the notification on my phone for a voicemail from the head of the program at Ball State and I immediately ran into the hallway to try and call back. My heart was beating out of my chest, unsure what to expect.

My first call went to voicemail. I stared at my phone deciding whether to call back or text or email. At this point I was definitely breathing heavily, shaking, ect., but before I could make a decision, I was getting a call back. I did my best to calm myself because I COULDN’T be breathing heavily on a phone call.

I picked up the call mustering any words I could think of. I think I said something along the lines of “Hi I’m Sarah Noble you just called me so sorry I missed your call.” Probably a lot less fluid than that.

However, the head of the program was nothing but cheery and enthusiastic. He told me about my audition and the impression I made to the faculty, while I paced around the basement of the dance theater. Then, he informed me that I was accepted into Ball State’s Musical Theatre program. I definitely had some tears in my eyes and all I could say was “thank you.” At least a dozen times.

While I received other acceptances, waitlists, and lots of rejections, nothing made me feel how that phone call had. I felt welcomed and special. I could never quite shake that feeling. When I visited campus, it only amplified. So when my final decision had come in, I knew that I was going to go to Ball State.

This entire process has been so difficult, humbling, and stressful, but I would do it all over again to get the same result. I’ve learned a lot, especially patience and trust. But overall, I learned that there was a perfect program for me that wanted me as much as I wanted them.