@DoinResearch Oh geez. That sounds awful! I just remember our tour guide highlighting the fact she was taking GE classes at a community college, which is not something you want to hear when you’re touring as a prospective freshmen. We also had to sit in and observe a theater class that wasn’t doing anything (they were meeting in small groups or something) so that was a complete waste of time. And, my own bias here, I don’t like the layout of the school so walking all around the city blocks was wearing. That said, we did see The Flick at Steppenwolf and the female lead was a Columbia graduate who was very good.
@BrokeDad0530 I agree with all who have posted. I live very close to Columbia College, have toured and have had more information on this school than any other. I wouldn’t send my son there. It’s highly expensive and although many would not agree with me, I think Columbia would be better for a film school major. That’s it. I don’t think they are great for anything outside of Film.
@marg928 I havent received any news yet…does it mean I was not accepted? thank you
@Yuhu459 I can tell you a bit about Uarts. We found that they gave the most aid of any school. Not based on income, all grants. Acting students take some acting classes with the MT kids and all can audition for any shows. In addition to school shows they partner with the Polyphone and Equinox festivals and Philadelphia Fringe. Since they are an arts school, you can take classes in any art (they are top 3 in dance in the country). You can minor in MT. They have some cool classes like stage fighting. Philly is a vibrant arts center with many universities that produce student films. Uarts has a directing major that casts students in films. While film and theater acting have some differences, a good basis in acting is required for both. There are plenty of chances for on-camera work. And sorry, I know nothing about CCPA. I think with any program, you get out what you put in.
@calartsdreamer I don’t have inside info per se, but my D applied and was accepted last year. I believe she heard on March 3rd and others here have posted acceptances at least two weeks ago. I believe Calarts sends out acceptances over the course of the week but at this point it’s way past that. The one thing I can tell you with a high level of certainty, is if you were given a card at your audition and asked to come shadow a student, that is a sign of acceptance. Have you checked you portal? I can’t imagine there isn’t something in there by now.
Re: college tours/info: agreed 100%, and you’d think that the schools would be more cognizant of it, especially because as soon as they accept you, the “power” dynamic switches to the students, as the schools try and turn acceptances into admittances. For example, as I mentioned on another thread, there was no Information Session or established tour for The New School when we went for the audition, the way there was at Fordham, Pace, Marymount, etc, so we really got absolutely no sense of the school-at-work like we did in the other places. As a result, we just don’t know much of anything beyond what we’ve been able to find online. We do hope that when we go to Admitted Student Days they’ll have more information so my D’s final choice on where to go can be as well-informed as possible, but I was quite surprised that there was nothing beyond show up-audition-goodbye. It’s so simple to ask a few professors, or even students, to mill around, answer questions, put a shiny happy face on the institution. These are theatre schools, after all – put on a show!
@calartsdreamer Have you checked your vip page? My S had acceptance on 3/10 via email. There was a problem where his transcripts were missing, so double check that all materials have been received. He received his “snail mail” acceptance yesterday. And as a parent I will add, it is a very expensive school so there will likely be movement on wait list etc.
@calartsdreamer I would suggest calling admissions as well! Good luck!
@DoinResearch - At a college held in high regard on this board… A recent grad of the performing arts program gave an intro talk (before the tour) and said something about “When you can’t find any acting jobs, you’ll wish you’d taken a different major.” After the tour - S, husband & I confirmed we’d heard it and couldn’t stop laughing. WHAAAT? When my D was touring schools, the worst tour was with a hesitant & quiet girl showing us around a great school during the spring break. No kids on campus = deal breaker. One of the most inspiring intro talks was given by an 50-ish year old alum/Faculty member at Bowling Green State U. When she was done - we all wanted to sign up that day. More recently, my favorite intro talk ever - MCCaela Donovan of BU. Facts, delivered with passion and humor! So ends the college tours chapter. :-h
^^^oh my gosh - McCaela! I think we all walked out of that talk with a girl crush! She is SO inspirational!
@marg928 @frontrowmama I am an international student, would it be possible that for international students it takes longer?
@BrokeDad0530 - in Chicago, Columbia College has a strong reputation as a film school. Until this board, I did not even know they had an acting major. It was never on our radar for acting. And it’s not cheap! In Chicago, UIC might be a better option. Not sure if they are still running auditions. Maybe @DoinResearch knows.
@calartsdreamer It is possible. But check the VIP page!
I think CCC is like AMDA. You hear all kinds of not-so-great things, but somehow they manage to put a ton of kids into shows.
The thing I find most interesting about student tours is how little some schools must train the tour guides. Here are the highs/lows from some of our tours:
1 - One brilliant college split us into two groups for the tour - students and parents. They told the students how much fun they all had all the time, and the parent tour was about safety, affordability, and how all their students get jobs. Pretty savvy segmentation and message crafting, I thought.
2 - On one campus someone asked about a gender equality issue. The young man leading the tour totally botched the answer. He realized he botched it and then tried to backtrack and only botched it further. At first, I assumed his view was not the official university position. Later, I thought about it more and wondered why the guide had not been trained on this issue. Was it because the school didn’t care about the issue?
3 - We got in an elevator at one school and the tour guide said, “this is the most testosterone she had ever seen in an elevator at ABC school.” She then went on about the terrible gender balance and how many girls want to transfer because there is no social life. At least half the students on the tour were female. Maybe the guide was single-handedly trying to fix the gender balance issue by discouraging girls from applying?
4 - After one tour my son commented that they should pay the tour guide “a million dollars a year.” He was an excellent tour guide. My son had that school near the top of his list for quite a long time even though it did not seem to fit for many other reasons.
5 - Lastly, how about the tour guide in California trying to walk backwards in sandals and constantly tripping. He then started to talk about how his experience could be an inspiration for a great drinking game. A parent then asked about how much alcohol there is on campus. He said, “They don’t serve alcohol on campus, but we can get it any time we want at the mini-market down on the corner - they never check ID’s.” I am not sure that is what the concerned mother was after.
I love these tour stories, @VASkydog and others. At one tour, we had the backwards-walking tour guide nearly walked into traffic when he missed a light. It’s a huge campus and D mentioned that the guy must have calves of steel. Then when we had to cut out early for a one-on-one with the director of the BFA program, the tour guide tried to tell us that he was almost done and it didn’t matter that we were late, “they’ll just wait for you.” Uhh, no. We are not doing that, thank you.
(Tip: Always ask to meet staff/faculty. That’s how we did it. You never know. It was fall before auditions. We spent about 45 minutes with him in his office and touring the department, and he remembered her when the time came.)
A few years back my D auditioned for CalArts got the card told to come shadow but when she tried to make the appointment thru the auditor that gave her the card to come spend the day she never responded so my D lost interest and she didn’t get in so, if you get the card and don’t shadow you don’t get in ?
@calartsdreamer and @Londream2 my D was accepted to CalArts acting in early March. At the time of her audition both the auditors gave her a card. She did not shadow a student. I hope this helps. If you email someone in admissions they might be able to help you out. Hope you get some good news!!!
@Londream2 you are the first person posting here I’ve seen that has had that situation. My daughter did go shadow but she did not do it until spring break in April after she was accepted to the school in the beginning of March. There was no way I was spending money on a trip out to California for her to shadow a student at a school she might not get accepted to!
We had an amazing tour at a university. My S was totally sold on the school. We didn’t get a chance to tour the performing arts department but he was still super excited and it jumped high on his list. Then came audition day and it went downhill fast. There was no one to greet the students. Just a table set up in the middle of the lobby. Finally, someone came out and said we were in the right place. They didn’t let us in the auditorium so parents and students were sitting on the floor. The director came out and introduced herself and the other auditors and then they left. The audition coordinator told us that the student helpers would take the students for a warm-up, which was done in the lobby with 75+ people. The audition coordinator told the parents we would have an info session and to follow her. We thought it would be in a room somewhere. No… it was at the other end of the lobby standing up. During the middle of listening to her, the director came over and loudly yelled at her in front of everyone because she didn’t like where the tables were in the audition room so our info session ended abruptly. My S came back from the warm-up and said he had no clue where to go next. Finally, he was called as part of a group and they were told not to ask any questions of the auditors and they would not be asking the students anything. He came out and said they were rude and disorganized, and didn’t want to go there even if they accepted him. There were other students that said the exact same thing when they walked out. This was a great school academically and artistically. My S was ready to sign up during the school tour but the PA department was a totally opposite experience.