We’ll be attending an “experience the arts” day at OU in October. D is interested in theater, env. studies and lacrosse. Any advice on what to see in town, where to concentrate our university tour? We’ll head into town midafternoon the day before, so there’ll be time to explore beyond the actual planned event. I would so appreciate advice!
If the weather cooperates mid to late October is one of the prettiest times of the year in the Hocking Hills. If you wanted to stop there before you go to OU stop at Old Mans Cave and hike around. On campus check out the three residential “Greens”. They all have a very different feel. They may take you to a dorm but it really won’t give you a good sense of the greens. Stop by The Ping recreation center. I would ask who to talk to about lacrosse and if it’s intramural, a club team or division 1. Stop at a restaurant uptown. While there are some of the chain restaurants there are also a lot of locally owned restaurants all pretty reasonably priced. The uptown area is very easily walkable from campus. Athens is in a very rural, artsy but poor part of Ohio. It’s in the Appalachian foothills so the area is quite pretty. Enjoy!
Huge help - thank you so much!
I was looking at the info for the Art Day for OU. It looks like it is October 9th. It also looks like they have a busy day for you. My D is a BA in Dance so like Theater it is part of the School of Fine Arts. You will be touring Lincoln Hall in the East Green during your dorm tour. It is a renovated freshman dorm and a bit difficult to get into unless your a member of the Marching 110 or the Fine Arts Living Learning Community. It is close to the dance and music buildings. I don’t know where the Theater majors study but my D knows a couple of them. It would be easier to be a Dual Degree student as Theater BA student than a BFA student. They have an Environmental Biology BA degree in their Arts and Sciences Dept. You can be part of theater productions if you are not a Theater major. My D wants to be a Physical Therapist and for her freshmen year was a dual degree student studying Dance and Exercise Physiology. She chose to drop her ExPhys. major and concentrate just on the prerequisites for DPT school. Part of her motivation is to graduate in 3 years if possible.
If my D’s dance degree is anything to go by Theater majors won’t spend so much time studying as they will rehearsing and practicing. Her friends would give her a hard time (jokingly) about how she only had 2 or 3 “real” classes and the rest were “just” dance. She would smile and nod as she would spend hours each week rehearsing for a show or working on costumes or sets or lighting. She definitely wasn’t bored. It did save money on books. Enjoy your tour. The campus should be gorgeous that time of year.
Thanks so much - she’s still very undecided about a career path, which is fine, as she’s only 15…She loves theater (tech, stage management - not acting) but I think she’s a bit dubious about making a career out of it, even though I’m thinking there’s a solid industry there that isn’t going anywhere 
We visited. I loved it. D was enthusiastic also. She was a bit overwhelmed after the whole weekend, though.
Here’s the review I posted in another thread, if anyone’s interested:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20893441/#Comment_20893441