Frequently Asked Questions

Application and Pre-Screen Questions

You can find information about deadlines here.

Given the amount of applications we receive, it is unfortunately not possible to see every applicant for an audition or interview. A pre-screen is the best way to determine if an applicant may be a good fit for our program. By providing that determination as soon as possible, we hope to alleviate the emotional and financial cost of auditioning and interviewing.

All technical support for your pre-screen Application is provided by Acceptd. You can visit the Acceptd Help Desk here, and there is a green help button on the lower right-hand side of every Acceptd page. 

B.F.A. Acting and B.F.A. Musical Theatre have a $30 application fee.

B.F.A. Stage Management, B.S. Theatre Administration, B.F.A. Theatre Production & Design, and B.A. Theatre Studies have a $15 application fee.

These applications fees are paid directly to Acceptd. Fee waivers are available to applicants who meet the fee waiver requirements. Please follow the instruction here to request a fee waiver before submitting your application. 

If you are interested in being considered for another Center for Theatre and Dance major you do not need to complete a second application. Please only complete one application. Your existing application will be used for review under another major.

Yes! As a member of the Musical Theatre Common Pre-Screen, applicants can access choreographed combinations for pre-screen use here.

Yes, applicants to the B.F.A. Musical Theatre program will automatically be considered for the B.F.A. Acting program.

However, B.F.A. Musical Theatre applicants may indicate interest in B.F.A. Acting when completing the Acceptd profile. Simply check "yes" or "no" when prompted. If interested, you do not need to complete a second application.

If you are a current Ithaca College student interested in transferring into the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, or a current School of Music, Theatre, and Dance student interested in changing your instrument and/or degree program please contact the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at mtd@ithaca.edu for more information.

Audition and Interview Questions

Please come prepared with the same material from your pre-screen

If you are an Acting or Musical Theatre applicant, it doesn't hurt to have a third monologue or song in your back pocket, but it is not required.

We hold auditions on campus, at Unified auditions in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and via Zoom.

We hold interviews on campus and via Zoom.

For a complete list of dates, times, and schedules, please visit our location and schedule page.

We strongly recommend you do not schedule another audition on the same morning or afternoon of your scheduled block time with Ithaca College. You will need to check-in, be present for our group orientation, and then participate in our warm-up/group exercises before we begin conducting individual auditions.

If you must double-book yourself, please do not sign up for an audition for another school at the same time if they also require a "block" audition, as they tend to be less flexible. Other auditions that require your presence for 10-60 minutes work well, as long as they begin after our orientations and/or warm-ups are completed. 

We see applicants in the order that they submitted their applications in Acceptd. If you submit as soon as you can in September, you'll probably go first or close to the top, but if you wait until 4:59 p.m. on December 1st you'll probably go last in your session.

We'll give you a complete line-up during your Orientation session so you can gauge your audition or interview time, and we will work with you if you have another audition or interview to attend.

If your program requires a headshot or resume, please bring one (1) copy of each.

If you need a resume template, visit our template library.

An accompanist is provided at all of our audition sites. We prefer that you sing to live accompaniment, so make sure your sheet music is clearly marked with cuts. There is no additional fee for our live accompanist.

If you are auditioning via Zoom you will be asked to provide your own accompaniment. Recorded is fine!

Dance is a very important part of theatre training at Ithaca College. Musical Theatre students are required to enroll in dance classes every semester they are in residence, and in most semesters, they are in two dance classes (dancing every day of the week). Acting students have dance requirements in their program and many take additional dance electives or even declare a dance minor.  

Our Musical Theatre pre-screen requires you to upload dance media and if you are invited to audition in person we consider this video portion to be your dance audition. You also have the option to upload an additional dance video according to our guidelines.

Due to the facilities available to us on the road, particularly in Chicago and Los Angeles, we are unable to offer dance calls in all of our audition venues. It would be unfair of us to offer dance calls in Ithaca or in New York, and not offer them everywhere! We'd rather not have a dance call on a carpeted concrete hotel room floor, and often the space available isn't conducive to a safe dance call.

The physical and vocal warm-up, which includes movement exercises and is led by faculty, serve as part of our audition day and provide the faculty with a sense of an applicant’s collaborative spirit and movement skills. 

Miscellaneous

No, we do not have a cut system.

We have a comprehensive review for instructional purposes to encourage growth and artistic progress based on clearly expressed criteria for the B.F.A. programs. See review process for programs here. 

Reviews allow ALL the faculty to see EVERY student EACH semester. Here we can provide instruction on areas of growth that are positive, as well as identify areas that need special attention. If, in this process, the faculty determine that a student’s performance does not meet the established criteria or competencies, taking into account the student’s potential, they may place a student on probation to help them to focus their energies. If an area of concern persists, the faculty may remove a student from the B.F.A. program. These circumstances are rare – but do occur, and normally after a student has been given ample feedback and time to address the concerns outlined during probation. 

We're so happy to hear you're visiting us! You may be able to sit it on a class depending on your program of interest.

B.F.A. Stage Management, B.S. Theatre Administration, B.F.A. Theatre Production & Design, and B.A. Theatre Studies students may arrange to sit in on classes before, during, or after the application process.

B.F.A. Acting and B.F.A. Musical Theatre applicants can only arrange for a class visit once you've been accepted into your program. Given the number of requests for these two degree programs, we are unable to accommodate class visits prior to acceptance.