Photo Provided by Makayla Palos Rodriguez

Gigi and Makayla meet in the lobby to wish each other luck on their pre-screens.

College application season is officially in full swing! For high school seniors everywhere, this hectic time is marked by a flurry of stress over writing supplemental essays, visiting colleges, and, of course, choosing a major. 

For most, choosing a major is a highly daunting task, leading many applicants to go in undecided or switch majors while already attending school. However, for die-hard musical-theatre-loving students like us, the decision was crystal clear. 

But first…hi! If you don’t know us, we’re Makayla and Gigi, and we’re both hoping to pursue degrees in theatre (musical theatre and acting, respectively). In case you’re confused, this means that we are going through the traditional college application process AND individual school auditions, too. 

While the college audition process is a lengthy one, one of the first steps is filming pre-screen videos. For those who aren’t familiar with the theatre language, a pre-screen is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a screening of the applicant for the school to look at during their initial deliberations. 

And while a lot of seniors going through this audition process are left to fend for themselves, we are beyond lucky to have our wonderful audition coach, Drew Boudreau, help guide us along the way. At the end of last year, we began working on our pieces we wanted to submit as our pre-screen to the schools on each of our lists. 

And finally, after months of coaching, the day of pre-screens had arrived. And while we could give you a typical pre-screen run-down, we thought we would share the way each of our days went:

7 a.m.

Makayla: Up and at ‘em! I woke up bright and early to start getting ready. I curled my hair and did my makeup…I needed to look good for the camera.

Gigi: I hit snooze.

8 a.m.

Makayla: I began warming up my voice and practicing my monologues!

Gigi: I finally woke up and started hair and makeup, while practicing my monologues in the mirror. 

9 a.m. 

Makayla: My voice was nice and warm by this point, so I drove over to my local Starbucks for a Venti Honey Citrus Mint Tea to seal the deal.

Gigi: After arriving at the hotel, I went up to the third floor and knocked on the door to start pre-screens! I started feeling both nervous and excited, but also prepared for the journey! I took a deep breath and was ready to perform my monologues.

10 a.m.

Makayla: I jumped in the car with my dad to start heading over to the hotel. I was so nervous at this point; I felt like jumping out of the window onto the freeway, but I resisted the urge and eventually arrived at my destination.

Gigi: Post-filming, I was super confident about my work. Pre-screens ran so smoothly and I was so proud of the work I accomplished.

11 a.m. 

Makayla: After a run in with Gigi in the hotel lobby, I rode the elevator with Drew and my dad back up to the suite to begin filming my pre-screen.

Gigi: I was on my way back to school!

Noon

Makayla: After finishing up with my monologues, the accompanist for the day, Cris Law, arrived and I started to film the singing portion of my pre-screens.

Gigi: I got back to school and started to think about how the videos were going to turn out.

1 p.m.

Makayla: All done! I felt so proud of myself after I walked out of the room. A giant weight had just been lifted off of my shoulders, and I was super excited to start the rest of the process.

Gigi: I was daydreaming at school of Makayla’s singing voice in her pre-screens.

2 p.m.

Makayla: I went to get a celebratory lunch at Panera Bread with my dad. 

Gigi: I was still at school.

3 p.m.

Makayla & Gigi: We meet again! After our very hectic, but exciting days, we both arrived at Servite for our acting class. We both felt extremely accomplished and began de-briefing the events to each other as we were waiting for class to start!

With our pre-screens officially checked off the list of to-do’s, now we play the waiting game and continue to work on our academic applications in the meantime. Make sure to check in here at the Royal Reporter if you’re interested in following the rest of our college audition journeys!