Hi all, I’m new here (been lurking for a while and learning much).
We’re going to send our S to a pre-college theatre intensive program next summer, and would love some input from those who have already experienced them. He is a Junior this year, interested in pursing straight acting.
Right now my top two choices are the Cherubs program at Northwestern and UNCSA’s summer drama intensive. We’re leaning towards Northwestern, because the school itself seems like a great fit for him, so being there for 5 weeks might give him a good feel for it, but I have also heard great things about UNCSA, and it is a bit more affordable.
Does anyone have experience with both programs, or know enough about both to help me compare? Our main goal for doing a summer program is for him to experience what a college acting program will really be like day-to-day, to make sure he loves it as much as he thinks he will, and to give good, practical training in acting, auditioning, etc.
Since he will only get one chance to do a summer intensive, I would love to pick the one that will be the best fit for him.
He’s academically very strong, a pretty serious and deep person, fell in love with acting his freshman year, and has had many roles since then, including several leads. It’s the only thing he’s ever really been passionate about, and his theatre teacher (who went to UNCSA) thinks he’s got what it takes. So now we’re learning all about the world of theatre, which is an incredibly fun ride!
I appreciate your input and advice!
I have never heard anything but good things about either program, though I have no first hand knowledge. @bfahopeful might be able to tell you about UNCSA. @connections knows a lot about Northwestern and theater, though I’m not sure if her kids did summer programs. He’s in for a pretty great summer either way.
Thank you Jkellynh17. That’s good to hear, and I guess you’re right - either one will probably be fantastic. If anyone has any details to share, that would be great. One question I just thought of is about UNCSA’s schedule. I know the Cherubs program is 7 days a week, 8:00 - 10:00 or so at night. I’m wondering if UNCSA’s is also that intense, or if there is any downtime at all to catch your breath. These kids may not need any downtime (I may just be projecting :), but just wondering.
My D didn’t do the summer program. I believe the actual UNCSA faculty teaches the summer program and that it is pretty intense as they all are. Cherubs is not run by faculty at NU but I have heard great things about it.
Agree that you can’t go wrong either way.
UNCSA is awesome in general. Super supportive environment. Never heard anyone say otherwise from any of the programs (high school, summer, BFA). Think it might be less $ than cherubs but not sure of that.
Thank you bfahopeful! That’s good info about UNCSA being taught by actual faculty and how awesome the school is (that’s been my impression). It is less expensive than cherubs, by about $2,000, too, which is significant. One reason we’ve been leaning towards NU for college is the strong academic component. I’m not sure how UNCSA is in that regard.
Also, looking down the road, if he were lucky enough to get accepted to both programs for college, I heard that NU gives good merit financial aid, but I’m not thinking UNCSA would, since we are out-of-state. So even though it’s a much less expensive program, it could end up costing us the same or more, depending on how much aid we got from NU. Both schools are on the short list, so I guess we’ll just have to see how it all plays out and where he gets accepted. He’ll definitely apply to Florida State (we live in Florida) and Univ of Central Florida, and probably DePaul, and other Chicago schools (he likes Chicago, more than NY).
Thanks for the input and help!
My son is also a junior, straight acting, and we went to NU last winter break, just to get a feel for “what is college” (we live in the area). I do remember the speaker saying that NU does offer financial aid for Cherubs, and that perked up my ears! I have not dug in yet to understand the criteria for the aid, but I think its on their website. Gosh, it is time to start to think about the summer programs.
Thank you, DoinResearch! I know I’m probably a bit early, but last year I started looking at summer programs in the early spring and realized that I had already missed the deadlines for most of them, so I want to make sure I don’t make that mistake again. 
Thanks for the tip about Cherubs financial aid…I’ll look into it!
What was your impression of the school (campus, faculty, general feel, etc.)?
@grantsmom UNCSA is a true conservatory program. The students take two academics per semester in general and the rest (which is a lot) is acting, text analysis, mask, movement, stage combat, dance, voice, etc. It is very very intensive and a large number of studio hours. They get a BFA degree.
NU is not a Conservatory and students get a BA and have lots of academic choices. Both excellent but very different from one another.
UNCSA gives some merit aid - yes less than private schools but as you said since it costs less it works out to about the same. UNCSA also meets need. You can run the net price calculator at both to compare costs.
@connections D goes to or went to NU and her son who is at LAMDA was admitted to UNCSA so she may be the best person to actually give a comparison between the two schools.
Thank you for all of this great information! I think we’re going to have to visit both schools to get a feel. My S started out thinking he wanted a BFA conservatory program, but in many ways he’s found his groove academically this year and is really enjoying learning about different things (AP Psychology and AP US History have really caught his interest), so then he started thinking he might like some room to study a few other things and be challenged academically.
@GrantsMom When my son and I went to the Theater Dept information session December last year in horrible weather, we were just in the beginning stages and soaked in the basics. Much of it went over our heads because just weren’t immersed in the process yet. I personally would have liked to have gotten a tour of the facilities, but it was in a small auditorium, Q & A. The gentlemen doing the Q&A used to run the Cherub program, and did speak highly of the program. Its a beautiful campus, access to Chicago without being in big city. When I went to the campus to watch 4th of July fireworks over the lake, there were a ton of NU summer students wearing matching T-shirts having a ball - looking back, I wished I had asked them if anyone was in the Cherub group to hear a first hand report. The thing about NU (not summer program, but the college) is that its all about the stats, no audition. And, as smart as all the students are, I can tell you there’re not smart enough to look up from their phones before they cross the street I do remember that no matter how awesome an actor may be at Cherubs, the admissions process isn’t swayed by what they see at Cherubs, although the Cherub population has a higher admissions rate than the general population. I’d love S to go simply because I like the short commute to drop him off. S also spent a day there on a tour with his high school, and while he likes it, I think he likes CCPA and DuPaul more because they’re in the city (my high school sophomore daughter is doing that tour tomorrow). We find the admissions staff at CCPA to be super friendly and helpful, and DePaul Theater building is so impressive, so if you head to Chicago area, there’s plenty of schools to visit.
Thanks, @DoinResearch . I just looked up CCPA and it looks great too! it looks like it’s in a beautiful part of Chicago. I think we need to plan a Chicago trip!
My S is a senior acting major at CCPA. If you have any questions about the program, feel free to PM me.
Hi GrantsMom.
My daughter is a senior and is applying to NU early decision (they strongly recommend that if it is a 1st choice school.) She spent 5 glorious weeks in the Cherubs Theater program and fell in love with the campus and Evanston. It is a long shot for her, but there is no other school on her list of 18 (including 11 BFA programs, since they are also crazy competitive) that she can currently call her second choice school.
She has done a number of summer acting programs including BADA Midsummer Conservatory in Oxford, England and a summer at Interlochen in Michigan. She said she never worked so intensively in her young life as she did with the Cherubs program and she loved every single minute of it.
I suggest you have your son apply to Cherubs and if he is accepted see what sort of financial aid they might offer. Although I can’t comment on the UNCSA summer program, I can tell you that my daughter enjoyed all of her summer acting experiences since she breathes, eats and sleeps everything theater. You will likley have a happy son regardless of where he goes this summer.
Others have suggested that Cherubs seem to have a higher rate of acceptance to Northwestern for Acting, but the School of Communication strongly denies any influence by it at all, so possibly mentioning specifics of the experience of living in dorms and working in the university’s theater spaces in their personal essay helps former Cherubs.
My daughter planned to attend Interlochen again if she was not accepted to the Cherubs program. I was relieved that she was accepted since I thought it would be very good for her to live on campus for 5 weeks before applying early decision. It is a reach for her since NU is so competitive, but a first choice is a first choice, so she has to give it her very best shot.
Good luck, and I’m happy to try to answer any questions anyone might have.
Look at CMU, too!!! My daughter was accepted into both Cherubs and CMU last year. She chose CMU because she wanted to try the BFA schedule so that she could make an educated decision about whether she wanted to apply for BFA or BA programs. She loved every minute that she was on campus. She took 7 classes and there were many optional workshops in the evenings. Some of the workshops were short term things like tap or juggling classes while some were long term commitments like film or the social activism group, Boal. She worked many, many nights until 11 pm. She met with members of Boal working on pieces on the weekends. It was very intense, but she loved it. The faculty was amazing and the kids bonded like crazy. It is a 6 week program.
Coincidentally, we flew to Northwestern the week before we were going to CMU so that she could see the campus. It was a beautiful day and she was thrilled by everything that she heard on that tour.
She is definitely applying to both CMU and Northwestern. Good luck!!!
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Thanks @bwaygirl1! I love the CMU program, but it’s a bit too pricey for us. I’m glad your daughter loved it – it does look amazing. It seems like the general consensus is that all of these programs are wonderful and life changing and incredibly bonding for the kids in them.
@GrantsMom Good luck to your child. Look for scholarships. Our PTA has a scholarship program for summer programs.
Thank you so much, @LuvsLabs ! I sent you a PM.
Okay, I have been reading about Boston Univesity’s BUSTI summer program as well, and it looks like a fantastic fit for my S. It’s more expensive than Northwestern’s program, and further away from us (we’re in the Florida panhandle), so I’m trying to figure out if it would be a better choice than Cherubs.
Anyone have experience with BUSTI, especially if they’ve also had experience with Northwestern’s Cherubs? I love that Northwestern is in Chicago (such a great theater city!), but the BU program also looks amazing, and the students even get the opportunity to audition for the college program. Also, the classes seem to be taught by BU faculty, where as with Northwestern they are not.
I guess I’m leaning toward BU now, but I’d love to get some input from people who have experienced it.
Thanks!