<p>My D just got her letter of acceptance today and I thought that maybe a thread for the incoming 2007 class might be nice. We are new to CC. There are so many nice and helpful people on CC. </p>
<p>My D will be in the BFA Musical Theatre with a dance concentration</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter 2BRN2B!! My S is a freshman MTD (Musical Theatre with Dance Concentration). He loves the program and is very happy at Otterbein. We had the opportunity to see the dance show at Otterbein a couple of weeks ago and it was wonderful. Has your daughter made a decision yet about accepting the offer?</p>
<p>Thank you!! And yes it looks like Otterbein was her front-runner from the beginning. She fell in love with the school. Debbie B, Stacy, and Dr. John were wonderful. I know I left someone out so I will apologize now but she isn’t home and I am doing the names from memory. She might have met your son if he talked with the people there to audition. Another thing that she really liked was the fact that she felt that Otterbein had a strong dance audition and that was important to her. I know you have a son but would he have any suggestions on which dorms are better for the MT kids? Thanks again :D</p>
<p>S is in Mayne which is between the library and the student center. It's a co-ed dorm with some floors reserved for kids in the honors program. He tried the honors work for 2 days and realized that he wasn't going to be able to do the amount of work required so Dr. John got him into a regular course. (Thank-you Dr. John!) A lot of the other kids seem to be in Dunlap-King. It's older but very close to Batelle where many classes are held. S isn't home at the moment but I'll talk to him and see if he has any other suggestions. He didn't help with auditions - too busy with rehearsals for the dance show. The dance program at Otterbein is very strong. S comes from the world of competitive dance and he says the classes keep him in good form. Glad your D. had such a positive experience auditioning at Otterbein. S was also looking for an MT program with a strong dance emphasis and Otterbein fit the bill perfectly.</p>
<p>It is exciting. My D is also a competitive dancer also, and she will love hearing how your S feels about the dance program. She felt the same way when she was there but it is always nice to know your impressions are correct. Thank you for the info on the dorms. Anything your son would like to share would be greatly appreciated. D planned on going into the honors program also but it sounds like that may not be the right choice.</p>
<p>2BRN2B, my daughter is also a freshman at Otterbein, although she is a music (BA vocal) major...and is actually working with her advisor to change to an individualized BA. She's also in the honors program, although we're doubtful she'll actually complete the junior/senior year requirements. When she listed her dorm preferences, she put down Mayne (honors) and Dunlap-King (arts appreciation emphasis). She also requested a first floor room, since she has rheumatoid arthritis and stairs can be an issue if she's having a flare. She ended up on the third floor of Clements (freshman women)! When she first found out, she was a bit disappointed, but now she wouldn't trade her dorm for anything. Third floor Clements appears to have been the "overflow" floor for artsy kids this year, and virtually everyone on her floor is involved in the arts. Plus, the rooms are HUGE, so she's very happy and doesn't even mind the stairs [too much]. She practically lives at Battelle anyway and tends to view her dorm room as her third home, after classrooms and practice rooms!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter...</p>
<p>mezzomom thanks for the info on the HUGE rooms. We are already trying to figure out how my D is going to fit in a 10x10 with a roommate haha she is at rehearsals right now but was on the site last night looking at dorms. It is so nice to have people share information. When she gets home, I am sure she will be on the site looking again. Does anyone know the dates for dorm requests to be in? we haven't received anything on that part at least I don't think so.</p>
<p>Curious question – Are they allowed to loft their beds? D saw a dorm with the bed lofted and her dad has offered to do it for her and her roommate if they like.</p>
<p>The beds in Mayne can be bunked (they are designed that way) and my S says that as far as he is aware there are no lofts at Mayne - at least he hasn't seen any. I'm not sure about the other dorms however. S confirmed that there are MT freshman girls at Clements, an all-female dorm.</p>
<p>There was another MT - a girl - who also dropped the honors program in the first week. There was one MT boy who stayed in but he isn't an MTD so he didin't have the same number of dance classes, nor did he have the second quarter dance rehearsal schedule. I'm not trying to talk your D out of honors but what freaked my S out was the sheer volume of reading and the huge number of written assignments in honors courses. We had been warned about the work-load by an MT sophomore during a campus visit but S wanted to try it. He was coming from a very tough college-prep private school program but he literally had a "meltdown" when he got the list of readings and assignments during his first honors class. </p>
<p>Just curious - since the MT kids seem to come from all over the country - as to where you are. We live in Michigan, in the northern suburbs of metropolitan Detroit and are one of the closer MT families.</p>
<p>2BRN2B, I probably should add a caveat about the rooms in Clements..."huge" is by dorm room standards, not by home bedroom standards! The beds in Clements are also designed to be bunked, although my daughter and her roommate chose not to bunk...and still feel they have plenty of room. The dressers in Clements are built-in (I'm not sure about other dorms), so this contributes to the feeling of spaciousness.</p>
<p>I can't remember when my daughter filled out the dorm preference paperwork; it seems like it was late (after May), but that was probably because she sent in her deposit later in the process. Since Otterbein is rolling admissions, I'm suspect there are many kids (non-audition) who have already sent in their deposits and may get their paperwork earlier. Roommate notification came VERY late in the summer; my daughter actually heard from her roommate through Facebook before she heard from Otterbein.</p>
<p>Hope this helps...</p>
<p>My d will be a freshman next year too (well, I'm pretty sure)! She did not get in the MT program but she was offered Music performance. I was wondering how easy is it to catch a COTA bus to go downtown, shopping etc? I don't think we are going to let d take her car to school and I know its a hefty walk to the closest grocery/drug store etc.</p>
<p>Should we start a new thread just for these kinds of questions?</p>
<p>I "might" be able to help you with the loft question! My oldest d is in college in Ohio too and her bed is lofted. She received a flyer in the mail shortly after returning her first deposits etc. There are companies that specialize in this and they set them up for the kids before they arrive on campus. My d and her roomate really like this option because it does give them more floorspace than just bunking the beds. The one my d has it made out of metal.You could make your own but if it is made out of wood, you must have a fire extinguisher attached to it. One more thing, If you do go the loft route, you need to get a foldable steplader (3 steps) for the person on top and trust me, that is not an easy thing to find "move in" day!</p>
<p>Hi NanE,
I haven't heard of any of the kids using the bus system. My S has a car and when I ask how the other kids get around he always says they "bum a ride" from the kids who have cars. I suppose by downtown you mean Columbus. S hasn't had any time to go shopping at all but if he did he would head to the Polaris area which has a HUGE mall, dozens of retaurants, as well has tons of stand alone stores.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply! Yes d has been to Polaris and it is a great mall, that whole area is and it is so close to campus!</p>
<p>MTausie, I haven't been on for a couple of day. We are from Missouri. Thanks to everyone for all of the information on the lofting of beds. We are hoping to be able to go to the Presidential Dinner if I can get off and maybe we can talk with someone then for details and rules. My D is hoping to meet some of the other members of the class of 2011 if I can get off work.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me if a cab will go from Columbus airport to Otterbein?</p>
<p>2B</p>
<p>Yes, a cab can get you from the airport to the school, about a 15 min ride usually. However, the airport does also have several car rental companies set up right at the airport - Thrifty, Budget, etc are reasonable and the area is pretty easy to navigate. If you or your daughter would like to chat w/ our son, I'm sure he'd be happy to help out with whatever you might like to know or steer you in the direction of the proper answer. Enjoy your visit!</p>
<p>Thanks abparent. Actually, we did rent a car at the airport when we came to auditions. It was more of a parental question. If I fly her there, I want to be sure she can get from the airport to school. I am sure the kids probably help each other out also.<br>
Your son linus2004 emailed us. That was very nice of him and helpful. Maybe we can meet him next Thursday and thank him in person.</p>
<p>We made it official today and mailed off D's tuition deposit card and talent award agreement. I guess the next step will be orientation and housing?</p>
<p>Yes, my son made it official also, I will be mailing in the acceptance letter and the housing deposit. We are from Ohio. Luckily we won't have to worry about the airport - but several of his friends will be attending OSU - is there a bus line between the two schools??</p>
<p>On the note of bunking beds, my d attends OU and she lofted her bed freshman year (the other roommate didnot). She didn't like it as there was no place to 'sit' and she didn't like having to climb up and down ..... Maybe it's a girl thing ...... She switched after one quarter and life was much better!!</p>
<p>Did you already receive something on housing?
My Oldest D attends Ohio State too and there is NOT a campus bus that goes to and from the airport. She normally takes a cab and it costs about $25 one way with tip. The COTA bus does go to and from the airport to OSU's campus. BTW, I found out the COTA bus does go to Westerville and the kids at Otterbein can hop on it and go shopping or to OSU etc. There is a map you can click on, on their site but it's a little hard to read. I think I will contact them to find out routes, fares etc for the Otterbein kids. The fare is included in the OSU kids tuition and all they have to do is show their Buck ID card to ride. Here's the link to their site:
<a href="http://www.cota.com/transit_maps.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.cota.com/transit_maps.asp</a></p>