And so it begins . . .

<p>5boys - congrats! Just visited this weekend - D loved everything about it. Saw “Tribes” at the Guthrie - is was amazing.</p>

<p>Thanks guys! MH… So cool that you got to visit. We live in CA so too far to go right now, but will if he doesn’t get into his ED school. Happy to hear positives about it though. Did it seems as big as it sounds?</p>

<p>Yeah, how exciting!!! Well we saw the Minn game today and I told my kid hey if you could get over the cold weather, that school sounds like a great match for you. Of course, he wants big schools/ That’s probably as close as he’ll get, But 5boys and I think montainhiker, yeah, so excited for both of u and the kids :)</p>

<p>And re size, I;ve never seen UMinn but yeah, it is supposed to be big. But, it’s probably like Temple, which is on my kid;s list, and admittedly the school itself is in a smaller area geographically. However, LOTS of kids on campus BUT the theatre dept is a small subset of campus and that plus honors will make his little niche at Temple much more manageable. I am guessing the same can be said about UMINN. only a guess. We had some contact with Uminn and found them to be friendly, helpful, etc. Certainly made a good impression on me. And Minneapolis by all accounts is great!!! That I have seen and the Twin Cities did not seem like a huge area even though it is/ 5boys, I truly am happy. Your excitement bubbled through online and from what i’ve picked up on ur kid, this sounds like a great choice for him!!!</p>

<p>Love, love, love Minneapolis! Would be a great place for a girls’ trip with friends! (a side benefit of your kid being in a wonderful program, of course… ;-))</p>

<p>Quick post. Looks like mine will start at Temple. Still needs the admit letter but it seems like a great place for him to start college!!!</p>

<p>Ctl987, has your son visited Temple yet? It has a good program, but I think it’s a school where a visit really should be made. The campus and area of Philadelphia might not appeal to some students.</p>

<p>He’s been there. He likes the campus, a lot, me less so. We’ve talked to a lot of people about the safety in the area and it’s something we as a family can live with. Not ideal, to put it mildly, but Temple seems to be working to make it better. On campus from everything we can tell seems ok. however, my husband and I are very concerned about where he will live if he decides to move off campus and how will he safely get back and forth from school. I’ve considered getting him a regional rail pass even if he lives in Philly as regional rail seems safer than subway, esp the later it gets in the evening. We’ve talked to current students, parents, etc. as well as current and past residents of Philly. Since he is going in to honors program, if he stays with it, he gets guaranteed on campus housing for all 4 years, which made me feel better. Also, I am hoping and will likely insist he spend a couple of days on campus in the spring to either shadow a theatre student or sit it on classes of his own choosing. He may be able to do this at 2 of his other current top choices too and I want that to be part of his decision making process. We have given this a lot of thought and thanks for your concern. I was totally alarmed at our first visit to Temple and when he walked away going wow, this is great, I was in disbelief but the school has grown on me. and if you want to share anything else, please do. I assume you’re in NJ so you’d have a lot more insights than me on many of these issues.</p>

<p>Ctl987, it sounds like you have investigated everything thoroughly and thought things out very well. Best of luck to your son! </p>

<p>I am right across the river from Philadelphia, in New Jersey. Actually, it disturbs me a bit when people are turned off by Temple’s location. I think it is a terrific choice for the right student. No place is 100% safe. My son went to school in Boston and there were robberies and such even there. The schools work hard to protect the students, and students at Temple should be fine, with reasonable caution.</p>

<p>Glassharmonica is a poster here who lives in Philadelphia and thinks highly of Temple. She knows more about the school than I do.</p>

<p>Thanks Nj mom. Well, admittedly, I was one of those disturbed by the location and I trotted slightly north of campus to evaluate the area for myself, which only alarmed me more. But USC is also on his list and I had to question myself why am I ok with USC but not Temple? That was actually part of my process of becoming more comfortable with Temple as it’s my understanding USC is also adjacent, or at least, uncomfortably near some rough areas itself. Do you have any thoughts on my regional rail plan? Reasonable concern or paranoid parent? I think subways should be fine during day but don’t think they’d be a good idea at midnight. And for my kid, Temple seems to a be great choice in lots of areas, some academic and some non, such as he’d be happy living in Philly and several other issues. Agreed on reasonable caution issue. I can hope he is wise enough to have it up front or if not, some wiser elders, whether they be upperclassmen or profs, can teach him to be wiser while he is there. I’ve been in touch with glassharmonica already. Thanks!</p>

<p>WOOT! WOOT! ctl!! I am SO happy for you and your S. It’s fantastic that you are decided and done so early in the process. Such a huge relief I am sure. I have never been to Temple, but my BFF lives near Philly, so travel there often. I LOVE Philly, what a great city! Unfortunately we still probably have a LONG way to go before we sleep, but having a great option that my S really likes and is affordable for us is a HUGE sigh if relief right now. Ready to soldier on and be ready for anything.</p>

<p>Thanks 5boys!! Not totally there yet but a lot closer. I learned today his dream plan would be start off at either Temple or a NYC school(probably Pace), and spend a year in LA, and a year in Rome. Unlikely it will work out quite that way… but now with a dream in hand, I can help him carve out the next few years to get as close to that as reality will allow. as I mentioned elsewhere, he still has some other irons going too which is why I think spending time on campuses next semester is important. And he has not eliminated starting school in Cali. He is leaning towards the EC heavily but gets it’s best to keep doors open for now. And if does get those last 2 apps in, so be it… His reasoning to start on the EC makes lots of sense for him and will be worth the extra costs if he ends up transferring down the road. And we do still need him to get accepted too!!! it’s likely but it’s not a done deal either. We too are glad he has an admit letter from another school in hand and are guessing he will get admitted to Temple. Philly is a great city. Never would have guessed 5 to 10 years ago that’s where he end up and even a year ago, I figured it would be Penn or Swarthmore(if admitted), not Temple. But hey, when he fell in love with Times Square, I should have realized he’d be a big city or bust kinda kid. And Temple is more bustling than even Penn. And on a funny note, when he and his buddy got back to our hometown from the Big Apple, mine said, “blablabla(ie our hometown), the town that always sleeps!” Given it was 9PM and everything was very quiet already, it was actually hilarious!!</p>

<p>Hey everyone. This is also ctl987. Don’t have access to that account right now but kid has been accepted to Temple! That makes the above plans more doable :)</p>

<p>Congrats ctl987!!!</p>

<p>Congratulations! Happy news, indeed!</p>

<p>That’s great about Temple! Congratulations and best wishes.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone! And temple has the added benefit that the king of Prussia mall is nearby! I may go to visit the kid a lot and never even make it to the school ;)</p>

<p>I’ve been academically accepted to all of the 5 schools I’m auditioning for. U of MN- Twin Cities, Viterbo University, Webster University, University of Wisconsin- Steven’s Point, and Ball State University. My safety is UMN Twin Cities BA. I’ll try to get in some walk ins at unifieds, also.
First audition is in exactly 2 weeks at Viterbo! It’s so crazy how a year of preparing is about to be put into practice!</p>

<p>Way to go nomester and ur already in at ur safety too. Congrats!!!</p>

<p>My D just got her first college acceptance (academic) and received a $56,000 merit scholarship! I am floored and so very proud!</p>

<p>Congrats big time! Enjoy this time.</p>