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AUDITION
DATES FOR 2010 - 2011 SCHOOL YEAR
#1:
JANUARY 9, 2010 (Portfolios due by 3 p.m. December
11, 2009)
#2:
MARCH 6, 2010 (Portfolios due by 3 p.m. February 5,
2010)
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LINK HERE FOR
EXAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDF OF AUDITION
REQUIREMENTS
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Enrollment in School
of the Arts and the Creative Writing discipline is
through audition only. To receive an audition
appointment, students complete a
preapplication packet for SOTA (see
SOTA
Main Site), the general application form for
the
San Francisco Unified School District, and a
portfolio of work for review (see below.)In
making school choice decisions, applicants should be
aware that CW is one of the smallest SOTA
departments and has only 6 - 8 openings each year,
with many applicants vying for each slot.
 It
is also important to understand that the Creative
Writing Program has been designed to serve and
develop student writers who write on their own for
the pleasure and enjoyment of working with language.
These writers tend to be voracious readers who read
across a spectrum of literature. The Reader is never
without a book and reads whenever s/he finds the
opportunity to do so. Before applying you should
consider if this description fits your writing and
reading habits.
SOTA schedules two audition days, though attending
on the earliest date is suggested so that students
may re-audition if so encouraged. Audition days typically fall in early January and
again in late February or early March. Announced
audition
dates for the 2010-2011 year are January
9, 2010, with portfolios due by December 11, 2009; and March 6, 2010,
with portfolios due by February 5, 2010. Applicants who are not accepted
are strongly encouraged to take the free writing
workshops at
826 Valencia. Persistence,
in either the same or subsequent years, has
occasionally rewarded applicants who returned with new, expanded,
or improved portfolios.
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"Take a moment to reflect on yourself as a writer
right before the audition -- just think about the
how and the why of your writing. This way,
you'll be ready to answer any questions that pop
up.... During the interview, you will probably be
asked about your reading habits....[so] you might
want to bring along a list of your favorite novels.
Not only will you feel prepared, but you'll look
really smart." -- Natasha Weidner '09
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At the time of application, each prospective C-dub
must submit a comprehensive portfolio for
instructors to review. Portfolios MUST be
presented in a secure folder and labeled with the
applicant's name, address, phone number, grade, and
school; we have on occasion had difficulty
locating the owners.Requirements - updated for
the January and March auditions as of November 10,
2009: Student portfolios must
contain a minimum of 16 pieces, but must not exceed
a maximum of 23 pieces. The portfolio must include
3-5 short stories, 10-15 poems, a 5-10 page script
for a one-act play, 1 expository/academic essay, and
the personal essay. In the personal essay, students
should include their reading background and brief
reflections on the writing process and analysis of
their own work.
Click here to see and download a PDF
document of CW audition requirements.
Again, the portfolio must be submitted
by the announced dates (see above) to give
instructors ample time to review student work.
Applicants whose portfolios do not meet the
specified requirements will not be auditioned, and
the Creative Writing Program Director, Heather
Woodward, will not be able to give feedback on
individual portfolios after the audition. Finally,
audition portfolios will be available for pick-up in
the SOTA front office for two weeks after the
audition; they will not be kept after that time.
It is strongly advised/requested
that serious
applicants explore this website in preparation for
audition day. Parents and students alike will
find many questions answered in the site pages and
in its curriculum downloads. Be sure to read the
Program Basics
page. It is strongly
recommended that you attend performances (see Calendar
page) to see and hear C-dubs read and to pick up a
copy of umläut to
see the kind of work done and get a sense of the
level of writing. Check out the
umläut page and learn how
to order copies, or buy copies at any performance. Follow links in current and archived
News items to see where past
C-dubs have been published, and see this site's
Student Work pages
for excerpts.
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"Definitely audition a second time if you're
prepared to redo your portfolio, because persistence
really pays off." -- Forrest Ambruster '10 |
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On audition day, students are on the SOTA campus for
about three hours. During this time, they will
write two prompts for approximately 45 minutes, and
then interview with Ms. Woodward. Be sure to bring a
blue or black pen. Before the
audition, at least one parent or guardian is also required
to meet briefly with Ms. Woodward. After this, parents
gather in a separate room with current CW parents
and students. This is a great opportunity to hear from insiders
and learn how to be involved if the student is
admitted to the program.
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After audition comes the inevitable wait. While C-dub instructors strive for prompt
notification, the process involves a number of
administrative and district channels that
occasionally take time. In the interim,
applicants might consider expanding or reworking
portions of their portfolio, in case they aren't
accepted on the first go-round but are encouraged to try
again in March.
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"Re-writing is next to godliness. Re-writing
needs to become ingrained in all good writers, so it
would be wise for prospective creative writers to
polish their portfolio no matter how beautiful it
already appears." -- Eli Wolfe '09 |
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"Keep in mind, when auditioning for Creative
Writing, that you are subjecting yourself to a
hard-working community that believes in support,
determination, imagination and constructive critique
from everyone, peers and teachers alike.... When I
did my portfolio, I wrote the pieces, and then did a
series of drafts for each one. I had someone
else read my pieces and help me make edits.... For
the interview, remember to talk about how you got
interested in writing..... Be enthusiastic about the
program and be yourself, no worries." -- Sasha
Schmitz '09
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