Coppell High School senior Georgia Cole has had a love for theater ever since she was 6 years old. She’s starred in two movies, The Lamp and Angel’s Sing, as well as a television series,“The Gates”, and it all helped her acceptance to the University of Oklahoma theatre department.

“Being exposed to acting and doing commercial gigs growing up has definitely prepared me  for what to expect in every audition,” Cole said. “[Also] knowing that every director has different things they are looking for in a actress/actor they are casting.”

Audition requirements vary depending on the school and department.

“My auditions were all video auditions,” Cole said. “I then visited the schools I got call backs from for a face-to-face audition in order to get a feel of the people I would be working with if I attended the school.”

The wait time to hear back from Oklahoma’s admission decision after auditions usually takes two to three weeks.

“I auditioned for both musical theater and acting,” Cole said. “In the end I decided to go with my strength which is acting since I have been acting since I was in kindergarten.”

Cole will be attending OU in the fall and majoring in the drama department.

CHS theater teacher Lisa Tabor has been Cole’s teacher throughout the fame and premier musical classes at the school.

“She’s been with me through her whole high school experience with theater and I can tell you that she is such a hard worker,” Tabor said. “I have loved every second of working with her and know she’ll go far in her acting career even after OU.”

Not only are there CHS students going to college through theater, but through dance as well. CHS senior Lariette Sara Wales will attend the University of Texas at Austin this fall and majoring in dance.

“I have grown up dancing and it has always had a special place in my heart,” Wales said. “Over the past four years I have become a lot more serious and have devoted most of my time to dance and taking it super seriously since it is a subject that has endless growth to be accomplished in.”

Besides dance auditions, UT requires dance students to apply to the school itself as well.

The audition process for UT consists of taking a ballet and modern class, performing a solo as well as going through a short interview with judges. Wales auditions were not until December and she did not get a call back until mid-January letting her know of her acceptance.

Although most students auditions have already been done, some are still waiting for their auditions to even begin.

CHS senior Lariette Kortnee Miller is planning on going to college through dance with her auditions not even starting until the summer.

“The latest audition I have isn’t until July 12 at Kilgore College for the Rangerettes,” Miller said. “It is very stressful not having auditions until the summer because you don’t know if you are going to make the team or not until last minute and you don’t have much time to make your final decision on where you want to go.”

When asked if waiting that long is really worth it, Miller does not hesitate.

“I have known I have wanted to dance since I was in eighth grade and got exposed to it,” Miller said. “I always wanted to improve my dance skills which is exactly how you know you are passionate about something.”

Miller’s dedication has led her to attend this year’s Rangerette summer camp to learn all the audition dances before tryouts.

“I am doing what I love so it makes it all worthwhile,” Miller said. “I can’t imagine myself doing anything else and I am excited to see what my dance future holds.”