<p>KaMaMa my D just finished her first year at BSU in the MT program. Great program!!! Happy to answer any questions</p>
<p>@jeffandann ā¦ I just may take you up on that!! </p>
<p>I would just like to introduce myself here. I have been through the college process before with my older daughter. She applied to one school, Berklee College of Music, and she is going to be a senior their now. Her principal was voice, but she decided to major in music business to get some different skills in. She is the lead singer and bassist of a rock band as well. She has been doing this since she was 12. She knew what she wanted. </p>
<p>My son, on the other hand, didnāt want anything to do with music, always did football. I tried to give him singing lessons when he was younger, didnāt want any part of it. He is a rising senior and he told us last December that he wanted to major in musical theater after his role as Nicely Nicely in Guys and Dolls. (He had been in the Ensemble in Sweeney Todd) Yikes! I feel like that other mom on this thread who just found out as well. If he were a girl, I would have told him no way. If he wanted to be a leading guy, I probably would have told him no wayā¦ but he wants to be a character actor, think football lineman, he was a tackle.</p>
<p>My daughter told me when she was 14 that she wanted to go to Berklee, so I put her in a van with her band to travel around New England to know what it was really like. No airplanes! And after every horrible gig, I would ask the whole band, are they sure they still want to do this? (I didnāt have to ask after the good ones.) Always a yes, so that is where she is.</p>
<p>I know that high school productions are not the real world, but I couldnāt put him in a van and I couldnāt start my own theater company so he is at Oklahoma City University this summer for their five week program to make SURE that he wants to do this. Classes in the morning, master classes in the afternoons, and rehearsals at nightā¦ for FIVE weeks. You need four weeks to get over the ānewnessā of something so something more than five was critical. After forcing him to call me so he could get money on his electronic card he use for laundry (he is a typical boy ā doesnāt talk to the parents) he says, in this first week, that he definitely wants to do this for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>So, next step is to plan college visits after we pick him up from Oklahoma City in July. We will drive to Mass from there, stopping on the way. Lots of great colleges to look atā¦Oklahoma, Indiana, Ohio, PA, and NY to potentially hit. Any must sees in the summer? (By the way, he loves the OKC facilities, says dorms, cafeteria, and food are better than Berklee, but he hasnāt visited Berklee since they just opened their new building either.)</p>
<p>KP</p>
<p>@RockBandMomā I feel your pain!!! I think I am the mom you are talking about LOL!! I so wish I could have sent my S to a 5 week camp! WOW how great!! I havenāt heard much of anything from him, except an occasional āthis is awesomeā. Oh andā¦I lost my meal card. </p>
<p>We have decided not to tour campuses until he starts getting acceptances to save $ and heartbreak. Iād hate him to love a school and then not get in :/</p>
<p>Good to know I have a newbie partner in crime 
</p>
<p>@RockBandMomā - my D just finished her freshman year at OCU. She absolutely loves it! She also went to camp there (after her freshman year of HS). after that she went to mPulse at Michigan after her sophomore year, and worked with Mary Anna Dennard between junior and senior year. We looked at every school imaginable, but she kept coming back to OCU. The friends she made at that camp are still good friends today. Hope your S has a great experience there. And if you ll have any questions about OCU, Iāll be glad to try and answer them. </p>
<p>Yikes! Just reread my post and it should have been there and not their! Canāt edit it now anyhow.</p>
<p>@tmygirl, about the visits, it made such a difference with my daughter. She only saw Berklee and Belmont. I LOVED Belmont, but she went and only saw a couple of guitars and knew that Berklee was for her, despite Berklee having no real campus. </p>
<p>About the camps, you have no IDEA how we scrambled to get him into a camp. He told us in December, another mom in his play said that her son went to an acting camp at Northwestern. First time I heard that they actually had such camps. He wasnāt ready but he did a video audition for OCU and they took him. I know it helps that he was a boy! Honestly, before he left, I told him that it is fine if you donāt want to do this afterwards for college. I just needed to know that he knew what it would take to get there if he did want itā¦</p>
<p>@vnstar, I asked him, after just shy of a week, if he could see himself going to college there and he said yes. My problem with the campus is that there is no direct flight from Boston. Southwest lost his luggage and he didnāt get it until the next day. He did get itā¦ butā¦ two plane rides away instead of just one. (And Iām only talking about the location here.) We are going to be seeing the last production of the five-week camp so my husband and I will be seeing it.</p>
<p>@rockbandmom ā¦ first, I ADORE your screen name!! I also am a BIG fan of Belmont! DD15 will audition there for their Commercial Music program (performance emphasis) - as well as Berkleeās. Everything else will be MT. </p>
<p>In fact, we are heading to Boston at the end of the week to drop her off at Berkleeās MT Intensive! </p>
<p>I also feel like Iām playing catch up ā¦ but for totally different reasons. DD has always known she wanted to perform - what route that will take remains to be seen. Iāve been so focused on her older sister who leaves for her first year of school in August. And sheās a totally different animal ā¦ different GPA, different passions ā¦ different kid altogether!</p>
<p>@KaMaMom, if you have any questions about Berklee, Iāll do my best to answer them! My daughter did some summer programs at Berklee on scholarship because she was in Battles of the Bands in Boston in high school, so she did the voice one, a performance one, and a video game music one. She didnāt do a musical theater one. While she did do some musicals in high school where she could fit them in, performing with a band was her first love. </p>
<p>Actually @rockbandmom ā¦ I do have a Berklee question! Did your daughter stay in Berklee housing when she did the summer programs? Iām wondering how much supervision in the dorms the kids have.</p>
<p>When she did IUās program last year, all bases were covered in emails & handbooks. With Berklee, I feel like weāre kind of flying by the seat of our pants. We knew check in was Friday after 3pm and orientation was Saturday at 9am. But no info on WHERE to check in Friday, where they were staying, etc. I had to call and get that info. Just ā¦ strange to me. </p>
<p>@RockBandMomā I totally get it! My son decided he wanted to go into MT for college after his Spring play ended. By the time he decided to go to summer camp, most programās deadlines had passed. It was late March, early April. We submitted a video audition for Interlochen and he was accepted, but the IU program was about the same price for a longer period of time. 1 week @ Interlochen was our budget, then he was also accepted to IU and their program
and being a week longer, we thought was a no brainier. Is your son considering Emerson? That would be nice and close for you :-). We live in Michigan. Academically my son is qualified, but the odds of him getting into that programā¦whewā¦crazy, right?</p>
<p>@tmygirl We actually looked at Emerson during our February break. The tour was nice, but we took away a few things. If you need scholarship money, look for outside scholarships. Emerson doesnāt give much, if any. The first thing they showed was a castle in the Netherlands where you can study abroadā¦ I can see why Emerson is so much money, but I donāt want to subsidize a castle in the Netherlands. We just did a generalized tour though. Right now, it isnāt on the listā¦ Hey, if he is academically there for Michigan, then he should definitely apply!</p>
<p>And let me know about IU! We can actually visit that one on the way back!</p>
<p>Will let you know about IU @RockBandMomā When we dropped him off, we did just thatā¦dropped him off LOL! We drove 6 hrs and then turned around home. When we pick him up, there is a tour before the showcase. Yea, funding a castle doesnāt sound fabulous </p>
<p>@KaMaMom, you have found the hidden downside of Berklee! First off, most of the instructors are first rate, their musical theory and especially ear training are superb. Berklee is in Boston. The tuition for Berklee isnāt that high compared to a lot of private schools in the northeast. Their room and board is high because Boston is just flat out expensive. So how can they squeeze out as much money and try to keep tuition low as they can, still have top notch music facilities, and have top notch music instruction? Have a lot of the administrative stuff done by the college students! The college students make money on campus, they donāt cost as much as people who have been doing the job for 30 years, but there is always a learning curveā¦ Anyhow, this is my personal opinion of what I have observed so far.</p>
<p>She actually didnāt stay in the dorms for the summer programs. She commuted. She did stay in the dorms for her first two years on campus though. I imagine they are housed in the new dorms for the summer programs now. I havenāt actually seen them myself.</p>
<p>@rockbandmom ā¦ Aha!! That makes sense! Lots of weird glitches in the application process ā¦ now it makes complete sense! Theyāre staying at 150 Mass Ave ā¦ unless they gave me wrong info! lol! And if you can stop at IU, definitely stop. Itās a HUGE school - but itās a beautiful campus. I have a special place in my heart for Btown! ;)</p>
<p>@KaMaMo, that is where my daughter stayed. They have strict security to get into the building. You MUST scan a pass, etc. with a security guard sitting right there, except on move in days. Security guard is still there, of course, but there is pandemonium with parents moving everything in. (This was for regular admission day.) The rooms are nice in that there is usually two people in a room and they share a bathroom. There is a common area on each floor. The cafeteria used to be in that building, but it just moved to the brand new building about 50 feet away. It has air conditioning too. (Not everyplace does in Boston.) Steps from the T. Starbucks and DDs right across the street. The best Thai food is at Pho across the street. Iām going to be away next weekend until Sunday, catching a red eye back from Vegas Saturday nightā¦ how long is the camp?</p>
<p>@vvnstar you probably wouldnāt know, but OKC doesnāt do auditions for college at the summer session, do they?</p>
<p>@rockbandmom ā¦ Berkleeās? Um ā¦ 6 days. (I had to find the info! Whoops!) My husband and I are driving to Boston to drop her off and then plan on wandering around Maine & Vermont til itās time to pick her up and see their final showcase. </p>
<p>Thanks for the info on security. This is not the kid I worry about ā¦ I think I could drop her off in Times Square and sheād be fine. Itās just a little weird to not be told "A will happen, then B and then C,D,E ā¦ " IUās summer program info was MUCH different. We (parents & kids) had a sit down w/ all the counselors and the program director when they moved in.</p>
<p>Oh! I just picked up a couple of books too ā¦ I Got In! (Mary Ann Dennard - mentioned numerous times here in the MT section!) and ā¦ Admit One: Ten Steps to Choosing Your Acting or Musical Theatre College Program (Chelsea Cipolla & John West).</p>
<p>I used the Fiske Guide for my first daughter ā¦ but that wouldnāt work for DD #2! Itās similar in a way to Fiske for sure ā¦ lots of individual info & surveys done w/ 40 theatre/mt programs. Iām sure you could piece together all this info from the web, but just like w/ Fiske, itās nice to have this all in one spot. </p>
<p>Iām sure there are other books the more seasoned parents would recommend - Iād love to hear them if any of you have the time! :)</p>
<p>@rockbandmom - donāt let location deter you. We are 13-14 hours away by car, and with no direct flights either. We donāt even have Southwest in our hometown! But we have found the inconvenience of travel a small price to pay for how happy she is and the great training she is getting. Hope you enjoy the end of camp production! And again, glad to answer any questions you have after you visit!</p>
<p>@rockbandmom - just saw your audition question. I do not think they have summer auditions. But definitely ask as I believe they still only offer on campus auditions. But they may allow a video audition if circumstances warrant it. If he does want to fly back to OKC to audition, see if he could arrange to,audition at University of Oklahoma during the same trip. You could also possibly consider going down to Texas State which has a great program. SMU and UT Austin have great acting programs. And TCU has a decent MT program also. Just to hit all the schools in that area.</p>