<p>Next month during the first couple days of spring break my D and I are going to Pennsylvania and want to take in a couple campus visits. How much time should I alot for just the initial visits? Since the area has two schools near Pittsburg and two near Philidelphia is it realistic to think we could do 2 in one day? Thx for any input</p>
<p>For a normal college visit including admissions tour and info session two in one day is doable. However for MT programs my daughter was very interested in she met with the program director or other faculty, sat in on a class or saw a rehearsal. Of course this took much more time. Often the admissions office knows very little about the MT program and it really pays to dig a little deeper. The general tours are useful though to get a sense of the college life and feel of the campus.</p>
<p>You can do two in one day but make sure you are well organized with a notebook and pen to write all your thoughts and comments down or they will all blend together. Of some importance, I think, (although it will make two per day a little more difficult) is to visit the department she is interested in in addition to the standard tour and info session. The two may give you a very different view of the college.</p>
<p>Two in a day will be hard…and hard to keep straight. We did some whirlwind tours d’s junior year, and tried to have a full day on campus, because the usual dog and pony show of the school academically will probably take about a half day, then we would try to have her observe a class in the MT department, definitely speak to someone in the department, and if possible, see a performance on campus. We also tried to eat a meal in the dining hall (all the ones we visited would let a visitor pay cash, or some schools offered a free meal voucher) and just wander the campus “undercover” to see what we overheard when not on the tour. Another idea – take your camera and take some snaps of the buildings and campus. Trust me…it gets hard to keep things straight after you get home…and there are things you want to remember as you’re narrowing your list. Good luck, and enjoy the campus trips – these are cool, special times!</p>
<p>Philly and Pittsburgh are very far apart. Are you planning to drive or fly between them?</p>
<p>Having experienced the travel logistics between the 2 cities as well as between the 2 schools in each city, the answer is a qualified “yes” provided that a) you make the arrangements directly with the theater departments at each school and can coordinate the scheduling of meeting with a department rep, touring the theater/program facilities and hopefully sitting in on a class b) arrive in the first city the day/night before and depart the second city the morning after and c) give yourself a day to travel between the 2 cities. If you plan the arrival and departure times in each city right, you could also have the time to see a show at each school.</p>
<p>It takes 5 - 5 1/2 hours to drive from Philly to Pittsburgh or vice versa. If you fly, by the time you get to the airport, get through checkin/security, board, fly, land, pick up land transportation to your hotel or one of the school, it doesn’t much matter if you drive or fly.</p>
<p>You might also want to check out Penn State which is about 1/2 way between Phily and Pittsburgh. If you do two the first day, drive to State college and do PSU and then drive to the next two, it splits the drive and is not too bad. I know it is a lot but it’s also some extra time to spend with your daughter.</p>
<p>Thx for all the great info! It really will help as I continue to plan the trip</p>
<p>While you’re at it – you could also take a look at Temple in Philly, which has an up & coming MT BA program; and Point Park in Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>I had assumed the 4 unnamed schools were Temple and UArts in Philly and CMU and Point Park in Pittsburgh, although the OP said “near” Philly and Pittsburgh not “in”, so maybe I shouldn’t assume?</p>
<p>Seeing Penn State could also be done but the OP would definitely need to drive and take that full extra “middle” day for traveling.</p>
<p>See an MT class, see a rehearsal, see a show! The campus tours will not tell you what you really want to know.</p>
<p>I agree about the campus tour- take a bit of time to walk the campus and near-by area yourself instead of the guided tour. As you are limited on time, I would spend the time talking to teachers and students if possible, sitting in on a class, and maybe trying to see a show. PSU is mainstaging Rent in April (a little plug for my D’s program!).</p>
<p>If you are in Philly the weekend of Mar. 24th to 27th they are presenting “The Crucible” at the beautiful Merriam Theater. While this is not a musical (if MT is your main interest) there are MT students in the play. Cast are seniors and juniors with 1 sophomore in the play. I’m looking forward to this production!</p>
<p>
I couldn’t agree more…campus visits are too superficial for an MT major. </p>
<p>My son just took the campus tours at audition time, and when it came down to it, had to revisit two schools to see a show, attend classes, etc. Don’t shortcut yourself, or you may be sorry at decision time. It will be worth the extra time spent.</p>
<p>If you have the luxury of time (and it doesn’t sound like you do this trip), kiddo and I found doing the dual route – spend quality time in the MT department, do 1:1 appointments there, see class/rehearsal/show AND the canned general student campus tour to be beneficial. (We always asked if there was a theatre major available as a tour guide – and there often are – apparently, that’s a popular work study option for MT kids!) Reason: Although your kid is going to live and breathe MT (and, if in a conservatory program, may barely be out of the performing arts building) they still have to live among the “mortals” who will be majoring in engineering and other things that may have employment at the end (okay…I’m wearing my naughty hat again…sorry). But truly…they will need to take a few “gen ed” courses, eat in the main campus area, etc. Doing both helped my D actually cross a couple of schools OFF her list - the theatre department was an excellent thing, but she absolutely couldn’t see herself living there for 4 years. They are choosing a new community in which to live…and there are multiple “cultures” – theatre, non-theatre, Greek life, sports, suitcase campus versus everybody is around, party atmosphere…on and on! But if you have only time to choose one option, heavy on the performing arts…just my opinion.</p>
<p>mommafrog is dead on…look beyond the MT department for the campus “flavor” and opportunities outside the MT department. All of that is important. But my opinion is that you should do two schools well rather than four schools superficially, unless you have time and money to return later on.</p>
<p>My D and I are planning the same sort of trip in April. We will start at UMich on Friday (arriving on Th night) then end up in Philly the following Thursday. We would fly home either late Thursday night or early Friday morning.</p>
<p>For those who live in the area, would this be a reasonable number of schools to try to fit in during this week’s visit? (I know it would be really busy, but would it be do-able?) We may not have the opportunity to take tours/sit in on classes at every school but it would be nice to at least SEE them. There are SO MANY more in the “area” (compared to California!) that we would love to be able to see but we only have the one week! (Ball State, IU, Baldwin-Wallace, James Madison, Wright State, just to name a few!)</p>
<p>The plan is to spend the weekend driving to Cincinnati to see CCM on Monday, then on to Otterbein that afternoon. Later that night drive to Pittsburg to see CMU (and maybe Point Park) on Tuesday. On Wednesday we’ll head to Penn State, then Thursday UArts and Temple. We MAY end up staying Friday and coming home on Saturday, in which case we would also want to also see Muhlenberg, but I don’t know if that’s going to be do-able. (Of if any of this is doable, for that matter!)</p>
<p>Can someone who understands the distances involved comment?</p>
<p>tracyvp</p>
<p>Wow I thought I was ambitious trying to fit mine in-but I definately understand wanting to get them all in. If you are coming from U of M, Wright State is on your way to CCM then it will take you a couple hours to get to Otterbein from CCM. I think CCM and Otterbein will be hard to do because I am assuming CCM is a large campus and if your planning visits at both it may be difficult. You could go from U of M to the Indiana universities on the weekend for “drive by’s” since it sounds like you have given yourself Saturday and Sunday to get to CCM from UM. Baldwin-Wallance and James Madison are really not anywhere “on your way” to any of the others so I don’t think you have time for them.</p>
<p>I am planning on going to CMU and Point Park in a day I know they are relatively close and then head to Penn State the next. I had to change my plans of including University of the Arts just because the distance was just too much to pull off in my time frame. (driving Sunday night, pittsburg on Mon and Penn state Tues, drive home wednesday) I wanted to be able to include Rent at Penn State as well Tuesday night and there is a couple hour drive between Penn State and UArts.</p>
<p>Good luck on your adventure!</p>
<p>Campus Visit Road Trip
What we did two years ago - 8 schools in 8 days (although we went from the other direction). You should be able to priceline rooms at all schools, including if you go to the Philly area. We didn’t pay more than $50/night and most of the time we were in Residence Inns.
Sunday - NJ to Penn State; 4 hours, walked around campus on our own and got ice cream at the Creamery
Monday - Penn State
• Coordinate through Paula Wheland (MT dept), you will also meet with her
• D attended 2 classes, admission presentation (did not do tour)
• advice… skip the admissions presentation; not relevant to MT at all! (but get your packet for your lunch tickets and have lunch in the dining commons); do a scheduled tour…be prepared to be tired though, the campus is huge
• Priceline your room; choose “state college north” or “state college south” for nice hotels in the $45-$55 range</p>
<p>Monday evening - drive to Otterbein (4 hours?)</p>
<p>Tuesday - Otterbein
• Pricelined here too. Great options about 15 minutes away from campus
• great overall visit coordinated through the MT department but includes admissions presentation, meetings with department admin and faculty, sit in on dance class admissions, tour, etc</p>
<p>Tuesday evening - drive to hotel between Wright State and CCM( ~ 2 hours?); we stayed in Blue Ash , which was closer to CCM than WSU, but it’s only an hour between the two</p>
<p>Wednesday - Wright State
• Coordinate through MT department; did admissions session + tour, sit in on ballet and Joe Deer class, talk with administrator, talk with Joe Deer; did not do separate dorm tour; best part is Joe Deer’s class and talk with Joe Deer at end of day;
• D liked this day the most; very welcoming; lots of one on one attention</p>
<p>Thursday - CCM (admissions + tour; faculty was in NYC for senior showcase;
• Coordinate through admissions; was not able to see classes, students or faculty
• Did not see anyone smiling the entire time on campus! </p>
<p>Thursday Evening - drive to UMICH (~ 4 hours?)</p>
<p>Friday - UMICH
• Coordinate through S M/T/D; general admissions also; only able to see admissions people; no students, faculty or classes</p>
<p>Saturday - Drive to Baldwin Wallace (~ 3 hours)
• We didn’t schedule a visit…but I believe admissions does have Saturday morning sessions. We did our own walking tour of the campus. If you’re there on a weekend be forewarned… we saw only 3 students walking around mid-day on Saturday (it was not spring break so maybe they were ALL at the Bach Festival?)</p>
<p>Saturday - Drive to Pittsburgh (~2.5 hours)
• walked around CMU campus; did not meet with admissions (D was attending CMU summer program a few months later)</p>
<p>Sunday - Drove by Point Park buildings; drove home (6.5 hours)</p>
<p>Hi Broadway-sounds like a great trip! Be sure to get tickets for Rent as soon as possible as they may sell out. By phone at 814-863-0255 or 800-ARTS-TIX (278-7849) or on-line thru ticketmaster. Have fun!</p>