@EastchesterMom - I am curious did a lot of kids get picked for Summer stock theatres? I know how competitive it can be. And I didn’t ask the question well about the on campus theatre. How often are kids cast or able to audition for the shows at the Madison? Is it hard to do that with their Cap schedules?
@frisbee3 - yes, the summer stock opportunities are very, very competitive, even for getting an audition slot. Students are often competing with the pros. I used to say that I think the organizers of these auditions take all the applications, throw them up in the air, and the ones that land face-up get slots. Some kids got slots, others did not; there did not appear to be any rhyme or reason. My D did not get a slot freshman or sophomore year (she made way more money though, lol!) She didn’t apply during junior year; she got an offer from a local theater before the application deadlines and spent the summer travelling all over Long Island and NJ in “Hairspray.” She did get a slot senior year, and was selected as a Weathervane intern, which I have droned on and on about much earlier on this thread.
Back to what @EastchesterMom said about living all 4 years on campus vs. off campus. As we have been looking into apartments for next year, I’m finding that if you can find 2 roommates (or more), it looks like it will be cheaper to live off campus on a 12 month lease than it is to live on campus for 8 months. Of course, we haven’t gotten into the lease details yet so things like utilities could increase the prices I’m looking at, but at face value, I think we’re going to save money. We’ll also save money on the train as he’ll only have to use the LIRR 2 days per week and because he’ll be headed to RVC in the morning and headed back toward the city in the evening, they won’t be peak fares - meaning cheaper LIRR tickets too.
How many sophomores get apartments? From everything I read most kids stay in the dorms but my D has been saying most of them move into the City their sophomore year and only spend the first year on campus.
For what it’s worth, staying on campus for sophomore year has one very big advantage…your kiddo is steps from the Madison and its shows … makes auditioning and rehearsing for those shows much easier. But I have heard that quite a few sophomores move off campus. I guess that having to be at the Manhattan Center three days a week is the prime consideration.
@frisbee3 - As @EastchesterMom noted, get audition slots for the big summer stock auditions is almost a roll of the dice. For Strawhats my D was able to get a slot her Sophomore year but not her Junior year, which made no sense because they only look at resumes and headshots to determine who gets a slot and her resume was stronger her junior year than her sophomore year. But the good news in all of that is that if they are successful getting a slot, it is much easier for them because they are already on NY. Many other kids have to way whether it is even worth it to come for the auditions because of the cost of traveling to NY, getting a hotel etc. As for the Madison shows, I don’t know if you saw my earlier post #1290 but I gave a lot of info regarding doing shows at the Madison.
@2020MTMom - For my D’s class of 2021, she and her 2 roommates I think were the only ones that moved off campus their sophomore year. I am pretty sure in the earlier classes it was more. Now that there are 3 dorms on campus I don’t know if more are staying on campus through the sophomore year or not. @speezagmom might have some idea for that class. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to whether it is better for them to stay on campus or move off.
@2020MTMom It seemed like most of the sophomores were on campus this year. My son desperately wanted to move off campus to have a kitchen, but all his people were planning to stay on campus. (And a studio or one bedroom is CRAZY priced) I know that there is one group of 3 girls that moved off and I think another twosome that moved off as well.
@2020MTMom My daughter, a freshman, told me “everyone” was moving off-campus next year back in February. Then a parent posted asking about who was moving out in our parent Facebook group. Turns out not that many were actually moving out. In some cases kids may have wanted to but parents weren’t ready. Two groups of girls (not sure one group is all freshman) and maybe one of guys are all I know for sure are moving out. Could be others as not everyone is in the Facebook group. But it sounded to me like the majority are planning to remain on campus for sophomore year.
@MTSongbirdMom I know one of the freshmen guys is moving off for next year as he’s rooming with my kid and another sophomore guy. ?
@speezagmom I think one of the girls I know may be rooming with rising juniors too. I had only learned of one guy moving off campus. But who knows if he’s moving in with your son or not ?. The point I was trying to make is I think the majority of rising sophomores are planning one more year on campus before venturing out. But certainly not all ?.
@speezagmom @EastchesterMom @waitingforlife Thank you so so much for your helpful information!
So ALL Theatre Arts classes (acting, voice, dance) are taught in Manhattan and ALL academic (i.e., non-Theatre Arts classes) subjects are taught at RVC?
Freshmen and some sophomores live near or on the RVC campus and to get to CAP21 studios twice (1st year) and three times (2nd year) a week, they grab a campus shuttle bus (say 7 minutes) to Hempstead LIRR, catch it to Jamaica Station (say half hour) and from there grab one of the subways to lower Manhattan (say 55 minutes on the J)? Do they ever take the Hempstead LIRR all the way into Penn Station and take the subway from there? Do they ever take the Babylon line LIRR toward NYC or back to campus?
After that, some sophomores and the upperclassmen, do the “live in Brooklyn and Queens,” have a closer commute to NYC three times per week, and only go to RVC as necessary (e.g., in theory, they could do all online classes two times per week and would hardly need to go to RVC)?
@Twelfthman All Studio classes are in Manhattan. There are some ‘academic’ classes that are part of the major that are at Molloy in freshman year. I think this is likely because the kids are on campus 3 days. After that, I think everything in major is at the studios. The classes you’ll find on campus freshman year include Acting 1, Theory, Class Piano. (Note that they have Acting 1 and Acting Technique 1 - Technique is at the studio while Acting 1 is on campus.)
I’m pretty sure that all the kids take the train directly to Penn and then transfer for a quick subway hop to either Rector or Wall. Can’t remember the line - maybe 2? (it’s a red one. :)) They take the train from Penn all the way to RVC as well. Going through Jamaica works too - but I think the Penn run is what they prefer.
Yep - upperclassmen tend to live in those areas and go to RVC as required. In theory, you could do your classes online, but I suppose sometimes that works out and sometimes it doesn’t. For example sophomore son had 2 online classes and one in person class on his non-CAP days this semester. (Before all the craziness started) He could have gone all online, but decided that the one course would be better in person - and had heard that the professor for the in-person class was really good. I suppose there may be classes that you can’t get online too. I know based on what he registered for that first semester Junior year, he’s has to go to RVC on his non CAP days. He’s hoping to not do that in the second half of the year.
@Twelfthman - happy to help 
Just adding on to @speezagmom info. While the majority of the Theater Arts classes are at the CAP21 studios in Manhattan, there are still a few on the Molloy campus even in Sophomore and Junior years. Last semester my D had Acting Shakespeare and this semester she has Voice & Speech 2, both on the Molloy campus.
@speezagmom @Twelfthman I will jump in on the commute. My D is a senior. From a small town in East Texas of 5,000 people. She has had no problems… besides learning how to understand the subway and train schedules. She has lived in Ridgewood the past two years and does not have a vehicle there. She has been just perfectly fine, taken a lot of classes online, and when needs to go to Molloy, she bums a ride with 2-3 other students and makes it work. She plans on living in the city next year and wouldn’t want it any other way. Mass Transportation is just a way of life for her. Walking is just another way of life for her. I will say this - her time management is a lot better than it was 4 years ago that’s for sure.
Hey all, just caught up on a lot of conversation! So fun. Welcome new Cap families!
Regarding living off campus my rising sophomore S has been planning on moving off campus with two rising Juniors and seems like he is one of the very few of his class that want to move out of the dorms. Almost everyone else is staying, and it 's a big class, so that’s a lot of students choosing to stay on campus.
Side note: Now of course everything is so confusing. Not even knowing for sure if school will start up again in the fall (nothing from Molloy on this, I just know that some colleges are making contingency plans for possibly remaining closed this fall), and not being able to travel to NY right now, they can’t apartment hunt. But of course they didn’t sign up for dorms next year - so now they are in a weird unknown place just like so much of the world.
@speezagmom , I’m going to pm you as it sounds like our kids are the ones hoping to room together.
Thank you for all the posts on this rock star thread about Molloy CAP21 with a shoutout to all the brave students and parents who were part of the pioneering first couple of cohorts! After much angst, on May 31 our D drafted (but did not send) an email telling Rebecca that she was going to take a gap year and re-audition for Fall 2021. The next morning on the last possible day to enroll, she did a 180 and decided to go to Molloy CAP21 this fall! OMG! By 9am California time, she had submitted her enrollment form, paid her deposit, filled out her housing and meal plan options form, accepted her financial aid package, and reviewed the academic calendar. She is beyond excited!
We (the parents) are too! We are also feeling like we’re playing info catch up in an already uncertain environment. We haven’t attended any Zoom calls for incoming families, etc. (Our D has been part of an admitted students Instagram/FB? group.)
So, here goes with our questions:
- Is there a FB group for all CAP21 parents? And specifically for parents of the Class of 2024?
- Is there a summer orientation, on campus or online?
- Rebecca is the only person we know re: admin stuff. Is there a different contact for admin. questions now that our D is enrolled?
- Someone posted that the school puts CAP21 students together in the dorms. Is this (still) true? Our D mentioned that most of the CAP21 students on the Instagram/FB group have already made roommate requests. Since she’s enrolling late, she’s wondering if she will be put into a room/suite with other CAP21 students. She’s fine either way. Just curious.
- There are a lot of comments about it being really, really busy with academic classes, theatre classes, commuting 2-3 days/week, rehearsing for performances, etc. Most theatre kids, if not all, are used to this throughout their HS lives, but now they are taking all college-level classes. Do your kids find the academic workload on the edge of insanity or just regular hard or decently manageable? Any tips on about how best to navigate the academic courses/load?
- Is there any update on when they will make a decision on how to proceed with the fall?
Thanks all! Excited to be part of the Molloy CAP21 fam!
@MTMamoo congratulations and welcome!! I’m sure some questions others can answer better but I know a few:
Yes there is a parent FB group for class of 2024, just search Molloy Cap 21 parents class of 2024 and you’ll find it.
2. Orientation is set for 7/7 virtually
3. Rebecca is still a good contact
4. On the parent zoom call she said she usually puts you with different majors unless you request because cap kids spend so much time together
5. Don’t know this one, we are class of 2024 too
6. The new students call a couple weeks who said move in date is September 7 with a full 15 week schedule. They are awaiting more instruction from New York to see if and how the fall schedule will be modified.
@MTMamoo - Congratulations and welcome to the Molloy/CAP21 family! Your D will have the time of her life! My D graduated in 2018, so I’m not up on what goes on now. But I do suggest that the roommate be a Cappie, if possible… the BFA major is just so different from the others, and, according to my D, a lot more work than other majors.
@MTMamoo Congratulations and welcome to the Molloy/CAP21 family! My son is a rising Junior. (Can’t believe it - the 2 years have gone so fast!) I’ll take questions 4,5, and 6 as I think you got the answers on the others.
- I concur with @EastchesterMom. If possible - room with another Cappie. If your D rooms with another major, they won't see much of each other - which could be good or bad. I was a bit leery about having DS room with cap kids since they're together so much, but it has worked out well for him. Although they are technically together a lot, they are in different cohorts so they aren't in every class together all day long.
- It definitely is a challenge, but it builds. So sophomore year gets busier and harder than freshman year. They have a bit more free time in freshman year so they have some time to acclimate. I would say that DS has found it manageable. I would recommend getting the gen eds that are hardest for your D out of the way as soon as possible. (DS has not fully followed my guidance here much to my chagrin.)
- What we know at this point is that they know nothing. LOL It sounds like they're supposed to get some information from the State on the 8th. We're supposed to have a CAP21 student & parent meeting either late this week or sometime next week. At this point, it sounds like lots of options on the table. They want to open in the fall as normal (with precautions). They've talked about several other options - but again - they can't make any decisions until the state gives them the guidelines.
I agree 100% with @speezagmom about getting those gen eds out of the way … junior and senior years are quite challenging, and it’s fairly likely that your kiddo will be cast in a Madison Theatre show or two as well. It’s all good; my D was exhausted but loved every second.