Looking at Summer programs for a pre-college High schooler. There are many - NY Film Academy, SOCAPA, AMDA, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, UCLA etc However I cannot find reviews or comparisons. Has anyone attended any of these programs?
Thanks
@hilaryf - my D didn’t attend any college summer programs but other parents on this board have spoken highly of UCLA, NYU, CMU and Northwestern summer programs. Since all of those are associated with high profile universities those programs help the students get a sense of what college life / study is all about and I guess there’s training but mostly it seems like they are a really enjoyable summer experience for the actors. If your S or D is applying for BFA programs next year the #1 thing I would look for in any program is audition prep as that is a huge help.
My kiddo did NYU’s summer program - LOVED it. Happy to answer questions
My D attended the UCLA acting program 2 years ago. While she found the training helpful (though not amazing–it’s not officially affiliated with the university academic program), she chafed under what seemed to be unreasonable pre-college program rules. Students were not allowed to travel ANYWHERE on their own–not even the bathroom during class-time–her friend had to recruit a male classmate to stand outside the restroom down the hall. They had to walk together in a single, chaperoned group to and from class at all times. Forget about popping into the very safe neighborhood of Westwood for shopping on a Saturday afternoon. I had to sign up 48 hours in advance to take her to lunch during the final performance day. There was no visiting another dorm-room or hanging out with other kids in the program. This seems to be a marked departure from other pre-college programs that her friends did in Boston and Providence.
We had intended this experience to “sell” her on the fun and independence of attending college. Instead, she had more freedom when she was in middle-school. For parents who want their kids on “lock-down” it will come as a relief, but for us it was a setback.
Every kid I’ve known who attended NYU’s summer program loved it and improved–that said, most of them didn’t get into NYU-Tisch afterwards, though one did–very talented, but also very hard-working MT major. The other ones did, however, get into good audition programs.
CMU–very intense and audition-focused.
UCLA–shorter program than a lot of the others–didn’t see the same transformation that I saw with some of the NYU kids.
My kid was a Northwestern Cherub. Another quite intense program–kids go from 8 in the morning 'til 11 at night. It’s not run by NW faculty, but mostly by instructors from other nearby colleges. Very physical program–my kid was told that it was closer to DePaul’s approach than Northwestern’s. The kids got one morning off a week to do things like laundry. They did see a lot of theatre in Chicago (my kid loved this). The contract for the program makes it clear that if you screw up, Northwestern will know about it and that this will affect your chances of getting admitted to Northwestern, but otherwise, it seems somewhat hands-off. That said, several Cherubs, including my kid were admitted to NW. Other Cherubs got into NYU, Boston, Brown, one even got into Juilliard. One of the first things the 60 kids do is perform monologues they’d prepared. They’re then selected for different shows for the final week (the parts are supposed to be fairly equal in size). Just watching the monologues helped my kid get a sense of what kids from other schools were like and what the competition for college auditions would be like. (Indeed, my kid ran into a Cherub at every single audition.)
My kid had moments of frustration and several moments of homesickness, but, ultimately, I think doing a summer program helped her realize that, yes, doing theatre 24/7 was just fine (if exhausting) and that, yes, you can do your own laundry. I feel she’s a lot more ready to go to college now. Ironically, given the homesickness, she turned down some good closer colleges to return to Northwestern. She didn’t feel that she loved Cherubs the way she felt some of the kids did, but once she got into Northwestern proper, she really, really wanted to go there.