Timing of Audition Invite Emails

[lieph82]

Who the hell doesn't take the home test solo? I couldn't imagine trying to confer with people to read and answer in 15 seconds. I'd do much better on my own and have passed it every time, without studying.

This is not relevant to statistics about the adult test, but I would bet that many, many parents "help their kids out a bit" with the kids/teen online tests.

[Woof]

It wouldn't be hard at all to have 2-3 people looking over your shoulder at the screen and blurting out an answer. In fact, in such a setup you'd probably be better off if the person at the keyboard was just a typist and listened for someone to come up with the answer. It'd be almost like quiz bowl, in fact.

[Magna]

What I meant was; "of those who get invited to audition, 15% - 20% may expect to pass the second test (without help from their family, friends etc since they take it solo) and then proceed to the live audition and get in the pool."

I think that's wrong, too. People on this board have posted about their auditions have said that everyone there was told they passed the written test. Certainly it must be a very high percentage, anyway, because roughly 20% of auditioners appear on the show. If your figures were right, passing the written test at the audition would just about guarantee you an appearance on the show.

[CoachP]

What I meant was; "of those who get invited to audition, 15% - 20% may expect to pass the second test (without help from their family, friends etc since they take it solo) and then proceed to the live audition and get in the pool."

I think that's wrong, too. People on this board have posted about their auditions have said that everyone there was told they passed the written test. Certainly it must be a very high percentage, anyway, because roughly 20% of auditioners appear on the show. If your figures were right, passing the written test at the audition would just about guarantee you an appearance on the show.

At my audition, we were all told we passed the online test.
At my taping, we were told that about 100K took the online test, they auditioned about 3000, and chose about 400 to get The Call. So, if you get an audition, you have slightly better than a 10% chance of getting on the show. Clearly it is harder to score an audition than to clear the last hurdle of getting The Call.

[davey]

What I meant was; "of those who get invited to audition, 15% - 20% may expect to pass the second test (without help from their family, friends etc since they take it solo) and then proceed to the live audition and get in the pool."

I think that's wrong, too. People on this board have posted about their auditions have said that everyone there was told they passed the written test. Certainly it must be a very high percentage, anyway, because roughly 20% of auditioners appear on the show. If your figures were right, passing the written test at the audition would just about guarantee you an appearance on the show.

If only 20% of those in the room passed the test, I doubt they'd go through the trouble of auditioning everybody else. They'd do what they used to do and cull the low scorers immediately. The online test makes that unnecessary. The idea that over-the-shoulder help would raise the number of passers so significantly doesn't seem likely.

[seaborgium]

Who the hell doesn't take the home test solo? I couldn't imagine trying to confer with people to read and answer in 15 seconds. I'd do much better on my own and have passed it every time, without studying.

My dad took the test through me in 2007: I sat at the computer, read clues aloud, and typed his responses. (But I guess that wasn't the type of non-solo venture you were thinking of, based on the rest of your post.)

[Volante]

What I meant was; "of those who get invited to audition, 15% - 20% may expect to pass the second test (without help from their family, friends etc since they take it solo) and then proceed to the live audition and get in the pool."

I think that's wrong, too. People on this board have posted about their auditions have said that everyone there was told they passed the written test. Certainly it must be a very high percentage, anyway, because roughly 20% of auditioners appear on the show. If your figures were right, passing the written test at the audition would just about guarantee you an appearance on the show.

If only 20% of those in the room passed the test, I doubt they'd go through the trouble of auditioning everybody else. They'd do what they used to do and cull the low scorers immediately. The online test makes that unnecessary. The idea that over-the-shoulder help would raise the number of passers so significantly doesn't seem likely.

If you get invited to the in person after taking the online test, you're, quote, in the pool. They won't tell you if you're in the part of the pool they're fishing in, or if they decide to throw you back, but you're in the pool.

They only give ~2000 people in person auditions, and then from THAT crowd only ~200 get on.
There's no reason to be brutally honest with anyone.

[NYCScribbler]

What I meant was; "of those who get invited to audition, 15% - 20% may expect to pass the second test (without help from their family, friends etc since they take it solo) and then proceed to the live audition and get in the pool."

I think that's wrong, too. People on this board have posted about their auditions have said that everyone there was told they passed the written test. Certainly it must be a very high percentage, anyway, because roughly 20% of auditioners appear on the show. If your figures were right, passing the written test at the audition would just about guarantee you an appearance on the show.

At my audition, we were all told we passed the online test.
At my taping, we were told that about 100K took the online test, they auditioned about 3000, and chose about 400 to get The Call. So, if you get an audition, you have slightly better than a 10% chance of getting on the show. Clearly it is harder to score an audition than to clear the last hurdle of getting The Call.

Those are the same stats they gave us. So I figured it at 1 in 8, which made me feel pretty good about my chances at the time. Getting the Wii game trivia question correct helped too, I think.

[NYCScribbler]

Online test: mid-January 2012. Either the 16th or the 18th; Eastern test was the 17th, but I had a game to be at.

Audition: June 5th, 2012, NYC

Taping: November 14th, 2012, then November 27th, 2012

Airdates: March 28th, 2013-April 4th, 2013

Ka-ching: July 2013

{edited because I accidentally a WHOLE day}

Will there be a second edit when you notice the note for your first edit accidentally a WHOLE word or two?

I may be living on the Internet too much.'

[jjwaymee]

It wouldn't be hard at all to have 2-3 people looking over your shoulder at the screen and blurting out an answer. In fact, in such a setup you'd probably be better off if the person at the keyboard was just a typist and listened for someone to come up with the answer. It'd be almost like quiz bowl, in fact.

A friend of mine told me recently that he knows of two older couples who employ this tactic every January when the online test is offered. One sits at the computer and the other three help in the background. My friend says they actually got an email invitation once. Whichever one of the husbands attended the audition bombed it, obviously.

[alietr]

A friend of mine told me recently that he knows of two older couples who employ this tactic every January when the online test is offered. One sits at the computer and the other three help in the background. My friend says they actually got an email invitation once. Whichever one of the husbands attended the audition bombed it, obviously.

I will refrain from using the language I would like to use to describe these people. They took away one of the very few spots for someone actually able to pass the test on their own. And they wasted the time of the contestant coordinators. I don't find it to be the least bit humorous. (This is not directed at you; strictly at them.)

[jjwaymee]

A friend of mine told me recently that he knows of two older couples who employ this tactic every January when the online test is offered. One sits at the computer and the other three help in the background. My friend says they actually got an email invitation once. Whichever one of the husbands attended the audition bombed it, obviously.

I will refrain from using the language I would like to use to describe these people. They took away one of the very few spots for someone actually able to pass the test on their own. And they wasted the time of the contestant coordinators. I don't find it to be the least bit humorous. (This is not directed at you; strictly at them.)

Trust me, I had the same reaction you are having. Well, not precisely the same reaction. 90% of me is annoyed that they would do it that way for the reasons you stated. 10% of me takes solace in the fact that those types of people are not my competition if and when I am ever selected for a live audition again.

[John Boy]

I took the very first online quiz in 2006. don't recall the date or even the month, but it was early in the year.

Got an email invitation first week of April and attended live audition in Indianapolis May 1.

Since then I've passed the online quiz three more times without another invitation to audition. This year I passed again (at least I'm assuming my 39 is good enough) and here I sits waiting by the phone like a deranged teenager, waiting for another invitation.

Is it common for people to pass the online test and not receive an audition invitation?

WAY more common than to pass and receive an audition.

Based on what we hear here, as well as what common sense would dictate, FAR more people pass the online quiz than they have room for at the auditions. Only a small (unknown) percent of passers beat the lottery odds and get an invitation. And of course none of us knows how they make that selection. It may be absolutely random. They may have a list of people who have already auditioned and for one reason or another the CCs just know they don't want to see in another audition, so they may never get another chance regardless of how many times they pass (pure speculation). At least one boardie claims to have gotten two auditions in the online era, so I know that not everyone who auditions but is not called is excluded from further auditions. Heck, they may have a list of people who looked like good candidates when they first auditioned but just missed the cut to get called up; and they may look for such persons to pass further online quizzes, so they can invite them to see if they still look like promising candidates.

No one really knows, and that's part of the mystery and part of the agony of the process.

Sorry if that's not terribly optimistic, but sometimes reality is a bitch.

[kickerofelves]

At least one boardie claims to have gotten two auditions in the online era, so I know that not everyone who auditions but is not called is excluded from further auditions.

I had three.

[ihavejeoprosy]

At least one boardie claims to have gotten two auditions in the online era, so I know that not everyone who auditions but is not called is excluded from further auditions.

I had three.

Thanks for this. As someone who is rapidly losing hope for receiving the call for this season, its always nice to know that taking more than one audition to make the cut isn't the worst thing in the world.

[immaf]

I have also had three in-person auditions in the online era (and I made the cut and got to play the mock game twice in the postcard era). In fact, every time I have been pretty sure I passed the online test (35 or better), I have been called to an in-person audition. I consider myself extremely lucky in that regard.

But I've yet to receive the call, so not that lucky after all. Maybe it's my (lack of) personality.

[legendneverdies]

A friend of mine told me recently that he knows of two older couples who employ this tactic every January when the online test is offered. One sits at the computer and the other three help in the background. My friend says they actually got an email invitation once. Whichever one of the husbands attended the audition bombed it, obviously.

I will refrain from using the language I would like to use to describe these people. They took away one of the very few spots for someone actually able to pass the test on their own. And they wasted the time of the contestant coordinators. I don't find it to be the least bit humorous. (This is not directed at you; strictly at them.)

I admit to helping a couple of people answer the round one WWTBAM phone game questions back in 2000 or so. They didn't get the random callback for a round two playoff, however.

[ten96lt]

Speaking of assistance on the test. This year I experimented with how well I could take the test by using google to look up answers I didn't know. I'm ineligible to appear for at least a year since I'll be taping for WoF soon. I did register for fun to prevent an email. Normally I'm around 35 depending on how many are in my wheelhouse (my record is around 41 and low being 29). Going through the transcripts, I got 33 cold. Of the 17 I went to google, I was able to get 8 answered with 7 being correct with one I looked at the wrong line on the search results. Even though this is one sample with one person who wasn't eligible, my conclusion is that Google does not appear to be an advantage for those who can't even get half or aren't fast at typing. However, if you're borderline, it can push you over the edge to get you in the lottery if you're fast enough. But the question is, how do they look at the in person tests, especially if you're also borderline for that test?

[davey]

Speaking of assistance on the test. This year I experimented with how well I could take the test by using google to look up answers I didn't know. I'm ineligible to appear for at least a year since I'll be taping for WoF soon. I did register for fun to prevent an email. Normally I'm around 35 depending on how many are in my wheelhouse (my record is around 41 and low being 29). Going through the transcripts, I got 33 cold. Of the 17 I went to google, I was able to get 8 answered with 7 being correct with one I looked at the wrong line on the search results. Even though this is one sample with one person who wasn't eligible, my conclusion is that Google does not appear to be an advantage for those who can't even get half or aren't fast at typing. However, if you're borderline, it can push you over the edge to get you in the lottery if you're fast enough. But the question is, how do they look at the in person tests, especially if you're also borderline for that test?

Did you use two screens and two keyboards? I'm having trouble envisioning the logistics of this in a 15-second window.

[ten96lt]

Speaking of assistance on the test. This year I experimented with how well I could take the test by using google to look up answers I didn't know. I'm ineligible to appear for at least a year since I'll be taping for WoF soon. I did register for fun to prevent an email. Normally I'm around 35 depending on how many are in my wheelhouse (my record is around 41 and low being 29). Going through the transcripts, I got 33 cold. Of the 17 I went to google, I was able to get 8 answered with 7 being correct with one I looked at the wrong line on the search results. Even though this is one sample with one person who wasn't eligible, my conclusion is that Google does not appear to be an advantage for those who can't even get half or aren't fast at typing. However, if you're borderline, it can push you over the edge to get you in the lottery if you're fast enough. But the question is, how do they look at the in person tests, especially if you're also borderline for that test?

Did you use two screens and two keyboards? I'm having trouble envisioning the logistics of this in a 15-second window.

I used two browser windows and dragged the windows to the side where each took half the screen to prevent minimizing and one keyboard since it was the same computer. I scaled the google page to 75% so I didn't have to scroll left-right. I'll edit this with a screenshot when I'm home of a rough idea.

Something along these lines is what I'd be looking at. Assume the half showing the jboard site being the test screen.