As summer draws closer, students concluding their junior year of high school are beginning to prepare for college applications,

a process which is vastly different for arts students.

High school students who intend to pursue a college degree in an arts field such as music, theater, dance or visual arts must undergo an audition process outside of the traditional university application system.

The audition process often includes a series of pieces that are either performed in front of the application committee or sent to the committee virtually. While aspects of the audition process may be performance based, such as in the performing arts, others may be based on a portfolio, which include pieces of art created during a student’s high school curriculum.

When beginning the application process, students need to be aware of audition requirements, as well as university requirements. Some auditions may have language, genre or historical time period specifications. In addition, the majority of music programs require students to be accepted to both the college and the music school.

Due to the differing timelinesd between the traditional college application process and that of arts auditions, timing is essential to the process.

“Students tend to be most successful when they start preparing during the summer between their junior and senior year,” said East Meck choir director Kathryn Heinen.

The outside effort placed into both preparation and performance are vital to the quality and success of auditions.

Heinen has both undergone auditions herself and guided students through the process. As such, she has gained valuable insight.

“While we learn a lot of the foundational skills to be successful in class, the music that you must prepare for the audition needs extra work,” Heinen said.

Senior orchestra member Kyler May underwent the audition process with UNC Charlotte. “It was a very long process,” May said. “I auditioned around the end of January… and I had until the end of August to prepare a piece.”

“It’s a long process of not only preparing a piece, but also preparing scale and sight reading, because they take all of that into account.”

Though it may be an exhausting process, it can also be very rewarding. Students pursuing a higher arts education not only gain valuable experiences but an opportunity to futher thier passions in a professional setting.