<p>Can anyone who went to Tanglewood in past please answer a question? We just got the handbook downloaded and it states that there is no internet available for students. Are you aware of any internet cafes in downtown Lenox? We were hoping DS would blog a bit for us over the summer. Did anyone take a laptop? Could it be useful?</p>
<p>"Downtown Lenox" is a bit of an oxymoron! :)</p>
<p>It is a lovely, sleepy little New England town, with a couple of stores and restaurants, but no internet cafes. Sometimes Starbucks or other upscale coffee shops will have an internet connection, but I don't remember if this is true in Lenox (I don't think there even is a Starbucks in Lenox).</p>
<p>I haven't been to Lenox in a couple of years, but I believe the public library had a couple of computers with Internet access. Expect to wait in line to use them and have people behind you get annoyed if you stay on them more than a few minutes.</p>
<p>There is an Internet Cafe at the Arcadian Shop, perhaps a mile north of the main part of town - see <a href="http://www.arcadian.com/about.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.arcadian.com/about.php</a></p>
<p>DS was at Tanglewood for two summers. He did not take a computer with him either year. There is no computer access for the students in the dorms. No phones either (I think they were in the hallways, not the rooms).</p>
<p>Daughter had a cell phone her summer there. Reception was spotty - you could go from no signal to roaming to a weak signal in network inside of a two minute walk. The rooms were (to put it charitably) quite simple. No phones. I don't even think there was one pay phone per hall - it might have been one per dorm.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the info. </p>
<p>In the guidebook that we downloaded, we noticed that BU will be holding auditions for Fall 08 at Tanglewood. Wondering if Thumper1 son did this or was it an option at that time? I am thinking that DS might be in a good place for an audition after the whole immersion experience. Any thoughts on this appreciated.</p>
<p>The year my daughter went, I think the auditions were only for singers. If the student did well, the audition could be counted as their BU college audition. If the audition did not go well, it did not count and they could try again at the normal time with no penalty. I don't think BU did the same for instrumentalists a few years ago, but perhaps they have expanded that program.</p>
<p>Be very careful about the terms of the audition. If this would be in place of the normal audition, good or bad with no second chance, then having a few more months to work on the audition material may be the better way to go. If it is under the same conditions that they offered the singers a few years back, then there would seem to be little reason not to take advantage of the opportunity.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>The rooms were (to put it charitably) quite simple.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Oh Bassdad....that IS charitable. The rooms are....well, not posh. DS did do an audition for BU at Tanglewood the summer before his senior year BUT he also did an audition AT BU in February of his senior year (he was also auditioning for a second summer at BUTI). DS felt that he was better prepared for his audition during his senior year than the summer prior to it...and he did a better audition at that time. I would suggest you check with them...but DS had no problem doing a second audition at BU during the audition season, but that was four years ago.</p>
<p>Hi, momnipotent:
I've been going to Tanglewood for 4 years (this year is my 4th), so here's the low-down: </p>
<p>-Rooms: for girls at least are fine. They're pretty small, but they're comfortable and if you get along decently well with your room-mate you'll tolerate the small space. The bathrooms in Stockbridge are alright, but certainly a hundred times better than those in Copley. </p>
<p>-Internet: There's internet in the Lenox library. It's open from 10-4 or something along those lines. You just go up to the library, and sign out some time on a computer on the first or second floor, and you can be there for I think around 20 minutes... you can stay on longer unless someone else is waiting for your computer. There's also an internet connection on the grassy part between the Tavern restaurant and the bookstore. You can also go into the Tavern restaurant and go online there I think, although I haven't tried it. Probably will this summer - they have good grilled cheese sandwiches. The really good grilled cheese in Lenox is in Soco's though - they also have great chocolate milk & secret ice cream flavors.</p>
<p>-BU Auditions: Are for everyone. I think the voice auditions were different though - for intstrumentalists, you can sign up on a sheet towards the end of the summer and you just go and take the audition and that's that. For vocalists, I think that one of the recitals can count as an audition if you want it to. </p>
<p>-Cell phone reception: is good around the main building on campus and is especially good on the path right before you go down the hill to Stockbridge/Copley/Hawthorne. In Lenox it's good, going up the hill to Lenox it's good... it really only gets problematic if you're walking too far from buildings. It's also good on the Tanglewood main grounds.</p>
<p>Cosmos, thanks for clearing that up. I seem to remember that you are a bass player. If you have been going for four years, you may remember my daughter. She was the only female bass player in the YAO program your first year there.</p>
<p>My daughter did her BU audition at BUTI (vocalist). The library was being renovated the year she was there, so no easy internet access at all.</p>
<p>I was also at BUTI the year the library was being renovated, so I was without internet access for the summer. There is limited access at the library, and I think Lenox Coffee (about a block further on Main St.) has wireless. I'm not positive, but I seem to remember that from last summer. </p>
<p>As far as phone service - remember Lenox is in the middle of the Berkshires. There is better cell phone reception now than when I was at BUTI, but it's still pretty bad. Right in front of Grotton is pretty good. There's also a good spot in front of the Inconvenience store on Main St. (the grocery store open from 10-6pm Monday through Friday, called such for obvious reasons). The technology situation gets better every summer, so we'll see how it is this year.</p>
<p>We were surprised how good it was at the end of last summer (so much better than the year before, or the year before that). I think we had reception almost everywhere, and were surprised, actually!!</p>
<p>I called Lenox Coffee and a very friendly young voice said they do have wireless, just make sure the laptop has an airport card.</p>
<p>Or, for those in the PC world, a laptop that has 802.11b/g capability either built-in or as an adaptor.</p>