Apply to be a TFCA Scholar
Do I qualify for TFCA scholarship money?
Before starting your TFCA application, please review the eligibility criteria below. If you’re not sure about your eligibility, please e-mail apply@thefundforcollegeauditions.org. We want to help you make an informed decision!
Household income that is identified as Low, Very Low, or Extremely Low according to these guidelines. For help calculating income according to these guidelines, download this Calculation Guide.
Limited or no prior training in one or more of the artistic disciplines required for your college audition.
Students must also meet ALL of the following:
Cumulative high school GPA of 2.5 or more.
Current high school student or high school diploma holder who is no older than 23.
U.S. citizen or green card holder.
(See FAQs below for more information.)
FOR PARENTS, GUARDIANS, AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS
The Fund For College Auditions wants to help talented, motivated acting and musical theatre students excel in the extremely competitive college audition process.
What you can expect from us:
We will fund lessons, classes, and workshops for your young adult that directly impact college audition readiness and that are offered by any of our approved education partners.
We will provide you and your young adult with money for travel, lodging, and audition necessities such as dance shoes. We will recommend what to get and how to get it for the best prices, but the actual purchasing decisions are up to you as a family.
We will not ask that you discontinue training with any current teachers who are working with your child on a scholarship basis.
We will offer you a Personal Parent Resource. This parent who has recently gone through the college audition process with their young adult will be readily available via text, email, or phone for you to ask any questions that you have about preparing for and going through auditions with your young adult. It is up to you how much you communicate with this volunteer, but they will be eager to help any time you need them!
We believe that our students should have ownership of their own journey/story. It is up to your young adult and you to decide whether or not they wish to be known as students with TCFA.
We will not use photographs, video, or other media with your young adult’s image or name without prior written permission from the student and from you if the student is under 18.
We will provide translators for any information and conversations as needed.
What we expect from our families:
For all students: a family member or family friend who is over the age of 21 and is identified as the scholarship student’s emergency contact, point person for all logistical questions, and accountability check for the student’s personal organization of their application and audition process.
For students under age 18: A signed release from the student’s parent or legal guardian.
Timely response to any communication from us; response deadlines will be specified.
Receipts provided for all audition-related purchases.
FOR STUDENTS:
What you can expect from us:
We will fund lessons, classes, and workshops that directly impact college audition readiness and that are offered by any of our approved education partners.
We will give you and your parent or guardian (if you are under 18) money for travel, lodging, and audition necessities such as dance shoes. We will recommend what to get and how to get it for the best prices, but the actual purchasing decisions are up to you.
We will not ask that you leave any current teachers who are working with you on a scholarship basis.
We will provide you with an industry mentor for the duration of your training and preparation. Those mentors will share the same background as you and are available to them as theatre big brothers and sisters, to help you navigate the hardest and scariest parts of the audition process and the inequities in the theatre world which you may students see and face. You guide how frequently or infrequently you are in touch with your mentors – it’s totally your call. But they will definitely be eager to talk to you whenever you want to connect!
We believe that our students should have ownership of their own journey/story. It is up to your young adult and you to decide whether or not they wish to be known as students with TCFA.
We will not use photographs, video, or other media with your image or name without prior written permission from you, and from your parent/guardian if you are under 18.
What we expect from our students:
Maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5, and sharing your grade report with us every marking period*.
*The lowest cumulative GPA most non-academically selective colleges will consider for admission is 2.5. If you have a 2.0-2.4 cumulatively and extraordinary circumstances that have affected your academics, we will still consider maintaining your scholarship based on a discussion with you and feedback from your high school teachers.
Coming fully prepared to each coaching and college counseling session in order to maximize the effect of your scholarship on your process.
Timely response to any communication from us; response deadlines will be specified.
Receipts provided for all audition-related purchases.
WHEN TO APPLY:
The Fund For College Auditions provides funding for artistic skills training and college guidance for high school Junior and Seniors who are preparing to audition for post-secondary Acting and Musical Theatre programs.
OUR GOAL is to choose all of our Scholars for each audition year by April 1st of their JUNIOR YEAR, so they can take full advantage of artistic skills training and college guidance beginning in the Spring of Junior year.
You may apply beginning January 15th of your Junior year of high school (or the year before you audition, for transfers). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Because our number of Scholars each year depends upon our donors, the number will vary from year to year. Once all Scholarships for the year are distributed, applications for that year will be officially closed. This could happen at any time beginning Jan. 30th of your JUNIOR YEAR, so the sooner Juniors apply, the better!
HOW TO APPLY
AUDITION VIDEO:
We want to get to know you and your talents, so make us a video on a phone, tablet, computer, or with a video camera. If you are someone who communicates with ASL, do that and have a speaking interpreter off camera (can be a parent, teacher, friend, anyone!) If you use an assistive speech device, that’s great too.
You’ll make SEPARATE VIDEOS:
VIDEO #1: Introduce yourself.
We want to get to know you as informally as possible, so don’t feel like this is a job interview. Be the real you, like you are with your closest friends – serious, silly, or anything else! Make sure to include ALL of the following. You can have these questions in front of you and answer in order if that’s easiest.
- Tell us where you’re from.
- How did you get into theatre?
- What do you love about theatre? You can say one thing or many!
- Who’s your favorite actor/actress and why?
- Why do you want to go on to study theatre after high school?
- How would you use TFCA scholarship money? (It’s ok if you don’t know yet!)
- What else should we know about you? Anything is fair game!
VIDEO #2: Tell us a story or do a monologue. Length should be 90 seconds to 3 minutes.
If you choose to tell a story, it can be about anything at all: something that happened to you or a friend or relative; why your favorite food is the best; what kind of pet you’d love to have; what you’d do with a million dollars; ANYTHING!
VIDEO #3 - ONLY if you want to study musical theatre:
Sing ANY song that shows off your voice and is between 90 seconds and 3 minutes long.
You can sing a cappella (without any accompaniment), with a YouTube karaoke track, or with a friend/teacher who plays piano or guitar accompanying you.
The song can any type of music – whatever you love MOST. It doesn’t have to be from a musical, but it can be if you love that most. It can also be a pop song, a church song, etc.
Show off! This is your solo time and we want to hear what is special about your voice.
Please do not sing along with anyone else’s voice on a recording. We want to hear YOU!
VIDEO #4 - DANCE: Required for all musical theatre applicants
DANCE: 1-2 min of anything you want (to any music you LOVE!) that shows your skills as well as rhythm.
- Pick something where you feel like you’re telling story, even if the music doesn’t have lyrics – make up a story for yourself, or use your movement to tell the story told in the song!
- Everyone should include at least one battement (kick) to show us how flexible you are – STRETCH FIRST SO YOU DON’T PULL MUSCLES
IF you can do any of the following, show us in your dance. If not, DON’T stress – just show us how you move!
- Any turns you can do well (anything from spins you’d use dancing with your friends to your best pirouettes, turns a la seconde/fouette turns, axel turns, barrel rolls, pique or chaine turns, etc.
- Any jumps or leaps you can do well (toe touch, jete, etc.)
- Some soft shoe (or put tap shoes on and do a separate short tap video, 30-60 seconds)
- You even use TikTok dances (and we won’t judge!) – again, anything that shows us how you move!
VIDEO #5 - BONUS VIDEO for any applicant!
If you are an intermediate-to-advanced:
- instrumentalist (any instrument)
- martial artist
- tumbler
- circus artist
- fencer
- stage combat fighter (unarmed and/or armed)
- yoga practitioner
or anything else that involves specialized use of your physicality, please submit that on video too! You can submit a video that you already have from a lesson, talent show, competition, etc. If you have more than one skill, show them each – just make a compilation video!
Upload your videos to YouTube and mark them UNLISTED. Copy their URLs for reference.
TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS:
Have TWO teachers fill out our teacher recommendation form for you. They should be teachers who have taught you in high school in any subject. They will email it back to us directly so you do not need to get a copy of it from them.
HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT:
Submit a copy of your high school transcript so far. It does NOT have to be an official copy; you can print it out from a computer or take a photo. It should show your cumulative GPA so far as well as all courses you have taken and your grade in each. If you are having trouble getting a copy of that or don’t know how to, email us and we’ll help you!
APPLICATION FORM
TFCA Application Checklist:
Email the following to apply@
OR
MAIL your application and all the other things listed in #1 above to:
1. Your name, address, and current year in high school (or when you graduated)
FAQs
How many students do you fund each year?
That number changes based on our available donor funds and the amount of funding each funded student needs. Our goal is to fund as many students as possible!
Can you tell me more about the income requirement? I'm not sure if I qualify.
Absolutely! Our income qualification can be one of the trickier pieces to understand. In general, students are eligible if they fall into the Low, Very Low, or Extremely Low Income categories based on the federal government’s most recent calculation of the median income in your county as noted here. This number also takes into account the size of your household.
We DO consider extenuating circumstances which cause the student’s funds to be severely limited in a way that will not be reflected in the family’s most recent tax return. We want to help as many students who truly need us as we can! To ask about any possible exceptions to our economic criteria, email us at apply@thefundforcollegeauditions.org
My GPA is lower than 2.5. Why is 2.5 the cutoff and do you make exceptions to this cutoff?
The lowest cumulative GPA most non-academically selective colleges will consider for admission is 2.5. If you have a 2.0-2.4 cumulatively and extraordinary circumstances that have affected your academics in high school, we will still consider your application. However, it’s important for all students wanting to audition for college theatre programs to know that it isn’t academically admissible to the school there is no amount of talent/training/recommendation from the theatre department faculty that will allow admission into the university at large. The audition is MOST important, but you also have to be able to get into the school.
Do you work with transfer students?
Yes, we do work with transfer students who are in good academic standing at their current institutions. We will also consider students under age 25 who already have an Associate’s degree.
I don’t want to go to a four-year college. Can I use TFCA scholarship money to prepare auditions for a two-year conservatory program?
As long as the program is recognized as accredited by the U.S. Department of Education, yes!
I’m not close to NYC. Can I still get TFCA funding?
Absolutely! Our students are from all over the U.S. and U.S. Territories.
I’m not a U.S. citizen. Can I still apply for TFCA funding?
You must be a U.S. citizen or a green card holder to apply for TFCA funding.
I already have great home teachers or coaches who work with me on a scholarship basis. What if I only need audition travel money or other audition cost funding?
Apply!!! You can use TFCA funds for anything you need related to auditions.
I see when the scholarship applications open each year, but is there a deadline to apply for each year?
Currently, we don’t have cut-off deadlines. We award scholarships on a rolling basis based on our available donor funds. If you apply and determine that you qualify for TFCA funding but we are unable to fund you at that particular time, we will keep your application on file and fund you as soon as we receive sufficient donations to do so!
Do you provide scholarships to college, also?
Currently, we do not, but our dream is to be able to do this in the future! We do help our students negotiate financial aid and also identify schools that will be affordable.
Do you provide free college audition workshops in NYC or anywhere else?
We provide free informational meetings with Q&A about the college theatre and musical theatre audition process to high schools and high school theatre groups either live in the greater NYC area (accessible by subway) or via video (Skype or Zoom).
What do you mean by education partners?
We seek teaching artists, theatre training groups, college guidance organizations, and others that focus on high school students and align with our mission and values. If an initial meeting determines that a partnership feels like a mutually good fit, members of our Educational Advisory Board will observe them in action and make a final determination about partnering. This vetting process ensures that our donors are funding the highest quality, student-centered education and that our students are receiving this education!