<p>My D was recently accepted to Rider for MT and we are thinking about visiting the school. We will be n Philadelphia and thinking about visiting on a Friday. We may take a bus or train but where should we take to since I cannot find any listings right into Lawrenceville. Obviously not familiar with Jersey. Looks as though Princeton is fairly close.</p>
<p>Also, hoping to have D meet faculty, students,etc. maybe sit in on a class. Not just the regular this makes up look good tour of the school, If you know what I mean. </p>
<p>Are freshman able to audition for shows? How many shows are produced? </p>
<p>Lastly, does the program usually take so many students? Daughter is looking for small program/class.</p>
<p>Even if you cannot answer all of the questions or have visited the school, I would love to learn more about your experience. :)</p>
<p>We have visited Rider twice in the past few months. First time my D and I flew into Newark and took the train to the station at Princeton Junction-very easy. The second time we drove in from Muhlenberg (in Allentown, PA north of Philadephia) in a rented car-an easy 1 1/2 hour drive.
Only problem with taking the train or bus is that the hotel shuttles don’t run on the weekends and the taxi cabs all charge around $25-$30 per ride (no meters) so even if you travel a short distance it is the same cost. Just keep that in mind when you make your plans.
It was much easier and cheaper (for us) to rent a car. We flew in and out of Newark and visited Muhlenberg, Rider and Wagner all in the same trip.</p>
<p>We went to a play while we were there “The Misanthrope” and it was excellent. We also had a nice visit with one of the drama professors Miriam Mills and had a tour with a MT student. Freshman are allowed to audition. There were freshmen in the play we saw.</p>
<p>Dear djexpress,
We have always driven (12 hours) so we’d have a car to get around in. I know that my daughter, an MT freshman is able to take the NJ transit from school to the Princeton junction station.
I am not sure how many were accepted for class of 2017, but last year they were hoping for a class of about 25 when all was said and done. Freshmen are able to and required to audition for shows. I am not able to private message you, but could give you my D’s email if you would like to see about a more personal tour.
Good luck with the visiting and deciding process!</p>
<p>Hey lovethatgirl…yes! That would be wonderful. Just went on the web site and the only days available to be a student for a day is on Tues. Wed. and Thurs. Days we cannot be there! 
We can only be there on Friday. Email would be great!</p>
<p>Feel free to private message me – I’m a parent of a current MT freshman boy who has been cast in three shows this year – 2 plays and 1 musical. I concur about all the travel / car / transit recommendations.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that starting in April Frontier airlines will begin service from several cities to the Trenton/Princeton airport. That airport is 5 miles from Rider. We can hardly wait to take advantage of that. (I know that does not help you now-but something to consider)
I did not see your email on profile and I cannot private message yet, so if you can PM me your email address I will send you my D’s.</p>
<p>Just got back from my D’s “shadow” day at Rider. It was a short day since we had to make the trip in one day by car, but I think it was worth it. My impressions from our day were: </p>
<p>The faculty is excellent and very supportive.
The faculty are well-connected
They seem focused on making their program very competitive
Students are getting work
Students are very happy there and the environment is positive
The facilities are decent</p>
<p>The young lady giving the tour was extremely helpful and clearly loved MT at Rider. We asked many questions and she was enthusiastic but honest. </p>
<p>Because of Rider’s excellent new program and faculty, positive environment, proximity to NY, and great connections, it is definitely in the running for my D.</p>
<p>MTTwinsinCA, I wish I could PM you, but I don’t think I can yet, and I have questions. Can you PM me?</p>
<p>Sent you a PM littleviking :)</p>
<p>lovethatgirl (we must know each other, right?) I hadn’t heard about Frontier! That’s great news. We were excited about direct LAX-EWR on Virgin.</p>
<p>MTTwinsinCA, not yet but my D always tells me how amazingly talented your S is! :)</p>
<p>My D is a freshman MT student at Rider. She has been cast in two musicals this year - as a female swing in Cole and as a bride in Seven Brides which is the spring musical. Freshman are expected to audition for all musicals and plays - except for the first musical of the year which will be cast this spring. The new program is very strong in dance and vocal training. My D has only had one acting class this past Fall, but she will be taking acting in her sophomore year too. She really loves the program and is able to take 18 credit hrs per semester plus have time for rehearsals 4 weekdays and both weekend days.</p>
<p>I would be happy to PM anyone who wants more descriptive information too.</p>
<p>I would love more information. Does Rider work all types of,voice? My daughter can sing opera and belt and would love to be in a school that will offer training in all voice types, especially for those who can cross over.</p>
<p>Absolutely – the students are exposed to many types of music and they can work on pieces of interest with their private teacher and/or their private accompanist.</p>
<p>Also, FYI regarding transit/trains/visiting campus – the HAMILTON station on the NJT is marginally closer to campus than the PRINCETON JUNCTION station. It is a flat rate $20 trip (plus tip) from the Hamilton station to campus (the taxis in the area don’t have meters – set the price before you start the trip). My son has a car on campus, but the kids who don’t seem to figure out rides or sharing cabs from the train station pretty easily.</p>
<p>^^ And you might even be able to negotiate a better cab rate :)</p>
<p>I am trying to avoid using my debit card to rent a car since we do not use credit cards. Rental car companies hold a large amount on the debit card and would like that for incidentals. In any case, we will be coming from Philadelphia. Isn’t there any sort of transportation, i.e., taxi, shuttle, bus, etc. to close proximity to Rider? I prefer not to rent a car. However, we do have to travel back to Philly after the visit.</p>
<p>There are local busses (see the New Jersey Transit webpage) and there are taxis (although I think cabs might get expensive if you use them a lot – it’s not like NYC where you hail a cab on the street). I encourage you to contact your admission counselor because you may be able arrange a ride to and from campus through them. Our admission counselor was very helpful to us during orientation and even picked up our S from our hotel for an early morning placement exam when I needed to stay with my other S. Explain your situation to him/her and see if they can assist in any way.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! I will look into that! :)</p>