Ah spring, with longer days ahead, flower buds blooming, and… circus school auditions! Yes, audition season is upon us, with several schools already having held selection days. While juggling (haha, forgive me) deadlines, papers, travel plans, and endless cover letters, it can be tough to keep in mind the end result it’s all moving towards — and nagging questions arise. Will I be happy here? Is this the right school for me? Here are some questions to ask oneself while deciding which auditions to go to and ultimately, which school to pick. 

1)  Should I go for a prep school, an artistic program, a university-level school, or something in between? What’s the difference between those things and how will it affect the experience I have? Coming from the US, where most circus schools use one curriculum for all the students’ different needs, it took a while to wrap my head around all the different types of circus school. Some schools, like in the US, offer one curriculum and the students decide what to use it for. Other schools, such as CRAC Lomme-Lille and L’école de Cirque Jules Verne (Amiens) (France), Carampa and Rogelio Rivel (Spain), and...