<p>NJ no longer has a Governor’s School for the Arts due to budget cuts… last held in 2008.</p>
<p>Attending summer programs on a college campus helps students gain some familiarity with that particular school, some of its faculty, its facilities and possibly some of its students. For us, participating at OCU then at Michigan gave us a way to compare and contrast different types of campuses and cities and different types of programs in a more in-depth way than just doing the typical college tour. It should not be mistaken for what real college life will be like, but it does give some sense of what that particular school might be like. Both programs also had a variety of classes which gave some insight into what some of the college classes might be like, and what if feels like to spend 12 - 16 hours/ day on your craft. The best thing gained, however, were the friendships formed at both places. Our daughter has maintained friendships with some amazingly talented and wonderful kids. Knowing people at many of the schools where she plans to audition makes going to audition at those places a little less scary too! Many of the kids who attended both OCU and mPulse that have already started college are attending all of the major, prestigious MT and Acting programs in the country so I don’t think you’d be disappointed with the level of talent at either. One of the big differences between the 2 programs you might think about is that OCU actually does a musical (I think it is Les Miz this year!) at the end of their camp, along with a Cabaret. mPulse does “share” at the end of the camp but it is not a full-fledged production. Your student may have a preference about that. Our daughter enjoyed both experiences equally and learned a lot at both places. I know OCU does give out scholarship monies and discounts for things such as if you were selected for All-State Choir and things like that. So if cost is a concern, I would talk to them as there are sometimes ways they can help reduce the cost.</p>
<p>Daughter also loved OCU and MPulse (different summers). I’d also mention Broadway Artists Alliance in NYC if looking for a short term, master-class focused program (also the opportunity to be in Manhattan, work with current Broadway performers and take a few open classes at Steps and Broadway Dance Center, etc.)</p>
<p>D has also done all the programs mommafrog just mentioned above (one per summer after 8th grade), and also did The ArtsBridge (new program name as of this year, formerly known as The ArtsEdge, but this is their 3rd year for their summer program). The ArtsBridge is held in NYC for 2 weeks in early August, and allows the kids to work with faculty from some wonderful MT programs at top colleges, including working on college audition materials, (dance classes/monologues/songs/scenes), and this year they are adding master classes by faculty from many schools. ALWAYS check into scholarship availability for these programs, as our D was able to get a very generous scholarship for every one of these programs, or she would not have been able to do any of them! Yes, OCU does offer a discount for Allstate choir participation, but they also offer additional scholarships. Don’t be afraid to ask about these. To date, every one of these programs has been hugely beneficial for D. I would recommend any of them! She is currently a rising senior, and is attending Mpulse right now, so it’s her last year for H.S. summer programs…they’ve been a great help!</p>
<p>Little has been said so far about the NHSI “Cherubs” program in this thread. Perhaps because it’s so well known, little more needs to be said. But for those unfamiliar with Northwestern’s summer program in theatre arts, it warrants attention. The “musical theatre extension” is competitive to get into (two weeks beyond the acting program, for a total of 7 weeks) but both components are great learning experiences and the faculty comes from Northwestern, Chicago working professionals and “TA’s” from top acting and MT programs throughout the country who are going into their senior year in college. S attended and, for him and 5 other kids who ended up in his entering class a year later at CMU, it was both a rigorous and fun experience in that last summer of high school. Financial aid is offered.</p>
<p>My S usually does a show in the summer at a local community theatre or takes a masterclass with a touring college MT Head like Brent Wagner from U Mich. He spends most of the summer working on new audition pieces to keep his voice in check and then hits the beach. </p>
<p>He is a student choral director at school, so he spends time aranging music and giving his sister some coaching as well. Not a whole lot, he really needs the rest and also to take care of the summer jobs I have lined up for him to take care of in the yard and garage.</p>
<p>My daughter attended the summer program at OCU, which she loved, and the summer program at UArts in Philadelphia. Both were very different from each other, and equally valuable. The UArts program was more about skill development than production of a show, but was taught by the regular Uarts MT faculty, which gave my daughter a great taste of the school. There was more supervised freedom allowed than at OCU, and kids were allowed to safely explore the wonderful city of Philadelphia, and enjoyable outings to the shore, amusement parks, etc were planned. I was also impressed by the fact that very individual evaluations were written about each student by all teachers who came in contact with them. I am sure these evaluations were why my daughter was accepted to UArts (though not attending) 2 years later, as her audition at Unifieds was a small series of silly mishaps:-) Both OCU and UArts are among the cheapest summer programs around, and both offer scholarships. One important thing that was mentioned to me by a few directors at some of the popular MT programs was that in looking at resumes, more attention is paid to summer training programs at universities than to regional theater involvement, as the auditioners are very aware of college program quality, but have no way to evaluate the the quality of regional productions.</p>
<p>Thanks - very valuable information!^</p>
<p>I’ll have to ask him what they looked at on him resume and what they thought of it. He has already been accepted to UArts, so I guees it doesn’t much matter, but it would be interesting.</p>
<p>I wonder, do these programs require an audition to get in to them, or do you just pay a fee and you are in?</p>
<p>At the time, UArts was sign up and get in, and OCU was audition by video. UArts may have changed . . . I imagine the mixture is still out there. I also know that some programs offer college credit and qualify for payment under 529 college funding plans. I believe you can get credit at Uarts now, and at one point, we looked at one at Syracuse that was competitively priced and offered college credit.</p>
<p>Just checked the UArts website and it looks like it is admission by audition video.</p>
<p>NYU Steinhardt (where my daughter is studying Vocal Performance Musical Theater - MT with a music, as opposed to drama, base) offers a well regarded 3 week summer program in MT. Kids live in an air conditioned dorm close to classes and are well supervised in activities around the city. They receive many classes and workshops, ending with a showcase. Acceptance is by application and taped audition. It is quite competitively priced. Info regarding this year’s program can be found at [NYU</a> Summer Study in Music Theatre - Programs - Music Theatre - NYU Steinhardt](<a href=“http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/theatre/programs/summer/]NYU”>http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/theatre/programs/summer/)</p>
<p>My d does so much MT in school and local production companies that she opted this year to attend the Houston Shakespeare Festival Conservatory (she also did some local MT camps). This is an apply-for-entry program at the University of Houston. The really neat thing about the program is that the kids are incorporated into the Houston Shakespeare Festival, doing the pre-show and performing as “extras” in the actual Festival plays. They get to work side-by-side with professional actors (the Festival operates under an LOA contract with AEA) for 8 nightly performances, as well as sitting in Master Classes taught by the Festival directors, design team, and fight director. The HSFC is very reasonably priced.</p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter EmsDad! And for those of you in the area, don’t miss the Houston Shakespeare Festival. Fabulous performances!</p>
<p>My daughter spent one summer as a rising sophomore at OCU’s program. She enjoyed it and thought that it was helpful, especially in that it gave her some understanding of where she stood in terms of students from all over the country. OCU, as was pointed out, is really reasonably priced and they do provide financial aid. The next two summers she spent at the Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory program at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Although the program primarily focuses on acting, they do have a musical theatre strand of about 14 students. The acting study is intense for everyone, and the program includes faculty from Mason Gross. There is also a very important dance component. The musical theatre students also have voice classes, as well. Students who elect to come back a second year are put into an advanced track for acting. D loved this program, and it moved her toward a much more intensive understanding of the craft of acting. It is audition-based, four weeks long, and this year was priced at $4,750 according to the website with financial aid available. It’s a smallish program (D’s program was about 34 with 12 MT kids the first year and similarly-sized in the second year). Students who have participated seemed to have done well in college auditions with acceptances to NYU, CMU, BOCO, Mason Gross (acting), NC Collegel for the Arts, Ithaca, Syracuse from D’s cohort.</p>
<p>My daughter is a hard- core Stagedoorian, and I pretty much move heaven and earth to get her there every summer because she love love LOVES it more than any place on earth. But last year she also did ArtsBridge which was a FANTASTIC program; she loved is so much that she wanted to go there again this year rather than look into any college programs. She loved working with faculty from different schools and since it is focused on college audition prep, it is a great way to get a lot of REALLY helpful feedback!</p>
<p>Reviving this thread, basically because my daughter is feeling so much pressure about choosing the RIGHT summer program (not from me). Does it really matter? I think she would like to do Cherubs the most, but her friends told her there is a lot of running (?) involved, and she hates to run (as do I).
I think she should stay home and do the summer high school/college program that she has done for the last two summers (because she loves it and gets to work with great Chicago theatre professionals), work intensively with her MTCA coaches, DANCE, and attend master classes as available. Does having a prestigious college-based summer program really help in admissions?
Would love some opinions!</p>
<p>Merlehay, is your daughter looking for summer programs that focus on MT? In general, I’d say that it isn’t the “prestigious” factor that matters–ultimately, it’s in terms of experience and skill development that a great summer program can make a difference in admissions. I don’t want to rehash what people have already said quite well earlier in the thread, but I can say that for my son, two pre-college programs have been incredibly valuable because they let him experience being immersed in a college-level conservatory environment, let him get to know a wider range of kids his age from around the world who are involved in theater (and who may end up being his college classmates somewhere!), and let him directly compare the approaches and atmospheres of different universities. He discovered that he loved the faculty at one university, where he was allowed to question and push back and encouraged to take risks. He learned that he needs to give himself time in a new environment before he can really feel like himself in the studio or on stage. And he got great help with choosing and developing his audition monologues. I was amazed a couple of weeks ago when I heard our school principal ask him about his summer program (he was at BUSTI this year) and he quickly said that the best thing about it was that “we weren’t just trained in acting skills, we were taught to develop ourselves as artists, and acting is just part of that” (not an exact quote, but close enough). You asked earlier in this thread whether these summer programs could be transformative, and I know for my kid, this one definitely was. </p>
<p>Bonus: he just had his first college audition last week (which seemed to go really well!) and when we walked into the theater building, he discovered a friend from BUSTI was also there to sit in on a class and audition. They were both elated to see each other, and the mutual moral support and sense of relief was incredibly obvious! To have a network of friends and allies in this process is priceless. So, in short: YES. </p>
<p>But back to my first question: not all the summer programs include MT specifically, and I’m sure other people can help more with that aspect of things. BUSTI does not, although there is a daily singing class and a lot of emphasis on movement. I know there are other great programs that do include an MT emphasis, and I would guess it depends somewhat on where your daughter’s strengths lie (from your other posts it’s clear that she’s very experienced with acting and auditioning).</p>
<p>Okay, end of commercial! ;)</p>
<p>I don’t know if it helps with admissions but attending summer programs on campus was an extremely valuable experience for my son. He went to OCU after sophomore year and MPulse after junior year. He also works with coaches and has a home studio with summer programs, etc. but going away, living in the dorms, plus the added bonus of meeting kids from around the country who love MT as much as you do make it well worth it. OCU was very good but MPulse is extraordinary.</p>
<p>What summer program your kid attends doesn’t matter – in terms of prestige, name recognition, etc. – for college admissions. It may help in terms of training, sure. But no one really cares who did what summer program: it’s how well your student auditions during the real college audition that counts.</p>