Good morning All! During summer 2016, my high school junior son would like to get a feel for a theatre major/conservatory college experience. His theatre advisor has short-listed U Mich MPulse, Northwestern Cherubs, Carnegie Mellon, and b/c his aunt lives in London, LAMDA. He is interested on Drama, and although he sings, does not plan to be a Musical Theater major. Thoughts? Thank you much!!
Others you might want to think of adding to your list are Boston University, Rutgers and NYU, all of which offer great summer programs focused on acting. Btw- the only version of mpulse I know about is MT related.
Thank you toowonderful. I will look at those three other programs. MPulse apparently now has something called Theatre and Drama Academy that had 20-25 students for a
2-week session. On that note, I wonder whether 2 weeks is long enough to get great value?
My son is currently a student at LAMDA and is loving it. He went to a summer program at RCS that was excellent as well. He took two different classes at two weeks each. Glasgow was a bit easier & cheaper for him in that you stay in the dorm-like apartments with other students and walk to classes. But would your son stay with his aunt? If so that would make the London schools really a top choice. He could apply for LAMDA and RADA. Both have top notch short courses in the summer that are excellent. You probably have done this already, but in looking at course selections, make sure to check about age requirements when/if you apply. Many of the LAMDA courses (e.g. Shakespeare) are for 18 minimum. Both LAMDA and RADA do have a one/two week short course that is age 16 and above, an introduction to drama school, which sounds perfect.
Another option is BADA at Oxford that takes 16+. But it sounds like you’d want him to be in London with his aunt.
Another advantage of the UK schools for your son, since he is not interested in MT, is that they train rigorously for pure acting.
Good luck in your decision!
BUSTI at BU was the best experience of my life hands down. Learned so much and met my best friends in the world.
I did the three week at Guildhall which included housing and that was a great experience. One of my friends, who is an actor in LA now, did summer programs at LAMDA, Guildhall, and RADA and said that he enjoyed RADA’s program the most.
I also did BUSTI which is a great program, however I think the London Drama Schools will give your son a better idea of what a conservatory acting training program would really be like!
Hi!
I attended Carnegie Mellon’s Drama Pre-College over this past summer and I couldn’t possibly think of a more valuable experience to help prepare me for college auditions and my future career. The biggest drawback is that the program is expensive, but I think it was worth every penny! From the start, they emphasize that the program is intended to immerse students into a conservatory-style curricula for 6 weeks to really help determine if they want to pursue theatre as a career, in addition to helping them pick if a conservatory-style training program is right for them. They have a program that specifically focuses on acting, in addition to a musical theatre and design/production concentration.
Living on my own for six weeks was a big step and the program is effectively a college semester packed into those six weeks of your summer- and nothing could possibly be better. The professors from the university along with several guest artists came in and gave us the opportunity to work with them and collaborate. The learning experience was invaluable!
If you want to learn more about the program, they made a new “trailer” for the Pre-College you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvexwPVxuoA. My biggest caution about this program is that it is expensive. The cost of the program itself rounds to about $8000, not including travel, meals, and other expenditures like dorm supplies and books. When they say it is a semester compacted into 6 weeks, they mean it! Carnegie Mellon is known for meticulous work habits and they expect that in their Pre-College students as well. I had class from 9 to 5 on the weekdays and plenty of homework and rehearsals or after-class workshops to fill up the time I wasn’t in class. But if you eat, sleep and breathe theatre like I do, it’s perfect!
If you have any other questions about the program I’ll do my best to answer them! The staff that are in charge of the program are all very friendly and I’m sure would be happy to talk to you about the program if you call or email as well.
My high schooler is interested in a summer drama program. She settled on RADA for this summer. Our friends studying theater in the UK felt that this was the program to do. Although, the other programs mentioned here they said would be great alternatives. D’s drama teacher said that world renowned RADA is very professional, intense, fun and in an unbeatable location in London. Today she was offered a place and is really looking forward to it! 
Thank you everyone for all of this wonderful information!!
I think that he will apply to several, with, at this point, a strong interest in LAMDA’s Intro to Drama School for 2 weeks, perhaps combined with MPulse in Michigan, which is earlier fin the summer, and only 2 weeks itself. The former would be to get the feel for London and the Brits’ amazing training style, and the latter to see what it would be like at a big school in the Midwest.
On Carnegie Mellon, I’m a bit perplexed by its lack of entry competitiveness (and worried about its price, as you mention ProfaneTruth!). The FAQ page cites that of 249 applied, it accepts 210. The other programs seem to have hundreds of applicants for many less spots…
RADA sounds wonderful too, but the course choice may not be optimal for my son. From what I can see, The Young Actors’ Summer School for his age group does not have a general Intro to Drama School course in 2016, but rather Shakespeare or Musical Theatre for the first week, and Contemporary Text or Devising Theatre the second week.
My D attended Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory and can’t imagine a better summer acting program. Top notch training from Rutgers professors, with lots of exposure to NYC theatre and theatre professionals. Very intense, starting at 8-ish and dropping in bed at 11 nearly every night. Made lasting friendships and would be very thrilled to be accepted into their BFA acting program after spending the summer there.
I would not let the lack of applicant selectivity at CMU deter you. The cost of the program and the length of it tends to limit applicants to those that are pretty serious. There will be a handful that don’t really understand what they are getting into but for the most party my daughter’s experience from several years ago was that the kids were all pretty serious. She had a great experience and felt like it was good preparation for auditions.
The La Jolla Playhouse has a very good Conservatory program. It’s 5 weeks long and costs ca. $1,500, but there is no residency component to it. I’ve also heard very good thing about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2 week actor’s “boot camp,” which does include housing, I believe.
This one’s only for NYS residents, but it’s fantastic. The New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) is a four-week long residential intensive that is by audition and subsidized by NYS (keeping the family’s cost to only $2200 for tuition and room/board for the four weeks). Thirty students are chosen from the statewide pool of applicants and they spend a month on a college campus, working all day, every day and learning what it means to be part of an ensemble. At my son’s end-of-program-showcase, my daughter (a BFA Acting major) said that most of what they showed us in the showcase was a mirror of her first semester acting classes.
In addition to the NYSSSA School of Theatre, NYSSSA also offers summer intensives in ballet, dance, orchestra, media arts, visual arts, and choral studies.
@lovetoact, do you have a link to that?
EDIT: Never mind, Googled it! 
http://www.oce.nysed.gov/nysssa/
My daughter attended both the Rutgers summer program, and the Carnegie Mellon program. I think she got better training at the Rutgers program, and she came home with noticeably stronger acting skills. I have wondered whether the Carnegie Mellon program was worth the money, but that may also be due to the face that it was my daughter’s second summer experience. I do think that any kid who is interested in a BFA program should try to go to a summer program at least once. It really gives kids a sense for the intensity of a BFA program, and whether they really would be happy doing one.
There is an equivalent program to NYSSSA in California called CSSSA – California State Summer School of the Arts. Very highly regarded and competitive audition only entry. My daughter attended a couple of years ago and it was great. It is only $1500 for 4 weeks for CA residents. They do accept about 20 out of state kids, tuition is 5K for them, although they have very generous financial aid. https://www.csssa.org/
My daughter has applied at the first of January. How important are grades? When did they inform you of acceptance or not?
My daughter will be a junior next year. This summer she was accepted to Emerson Pre-college and BUSTI. Right now she is all about MT but I think that may change. She has a strong dance background but her heart is very much that of an actor. I love this thread as I am learning so much. She only applied to these two programs as she just turned 16 and is a type A driven girl and I didn’t want her overwhelmed. I thought next year Cherubs or CMU ? Money is an issue but I can do it right now. My question is Emersons program (looks great) respected like these other great ones.
It is a big deal…5 weeks and $$$ so I want it to be worth while. I hear lovely things about BUSTI but it seems at emerson there is more dance and private voice as well. Which would be good for her. I am single mom/widow and I really stress over these things so any wisdom shared would be awesome. Is Emersons well respected?? thanks!!!
It looks like she is going to CMU summer program! Any advice or comments welcome.
Have only read excellent things. My daughter is hoping to do CMU next year. I’m sure it will be an amazing experience. Best of luck!!!