I was planning on taking my junior D to the Atlanta and Nashville PVA college fairs in October. Any thoughts on these? Are these standard university representatives or people that are in the PVA programs? Just wondering what to expect. Thanks in advance :)!
We went to one at UCLA and the majority of them were not represented by anyone in the theatre departments. The representative from NYU was particularly bad as she talked my daughter OUT of applying when she told her she would not like the studio system. We were quite taken aback at the lack of knowledge about each of the programs from the people they sent. Hartt sent someone from the music department (he knew nothing of the theatre/MT department) SUNY Purchase sent someone from the BA department who didn’t have much to say about their BFA. Hope you have better luck.
Are you referring to the Performing Arts fairs that are listed on the NACAC website? We are thinking of going to the one in DC they have in Oct…maybe its not worth going…
Yes I am…we were disappointed…
We went to one in San Francisco and we were also disappointed because the people representing each school had no additional information other than the brochures. There were a few exceptions, but not many.
Well that’s a bummer! I was talking about the performing Arts fairs on the NACAC website. Did it help to start receiving more targeted info from the schools? Atlanta seems to be the bigger fair closest to us, but there are some schools not going to Atlanta that are going to Nashville. Nashville is only an hour and a half from my front door so I think we may still do both. Anyone have a positive experience?
I think we might skip it then . We are going to SETC in March and will get some more college info there too. DC is close to me like an hour traffic is a big pain though to just get brochures & no additional info or anyone that can answer questions
This is distressing to hear! Was hoping for knowledgable school reps. @brightstaral, if you go, please report back - my 10th grader thinks she wants to pursue acting, and had the Atlanta one on my calendar. I don’t want her to miss another day of school to travel to Atlanta, but will take her next year if it’s at all helpful. I know MT, but not Acting! Not sure I can live through another audition season… and may have to change my CC name!
I did find that the smaller kind of unknown programs (at least ones I had never heard of) actually sent their big guns…heads of departments or actual teachers. One of the biggest disappointments was the rep from Emerson. She was the academic admissions counselor and could tell us nothing more that what was on their website.
The Classical Singer Convention and Competition has a college fair. It isn’t as large as the Performing arts fairs sponsored by NACAC, but you the schools send faculty and admissions people from the music/theatre departments. You can also compete for prize money and scholarships, and attend numerous master classes. It has a classical competition and an MT competition, and is judged by faculty from schools like OCU, NYU, etc. the master classes are taught by faculty from NYU, OCU, Michigan, Julliard, and many other schools. It is well worth the $85 entrance fee to be able to attend three entire days of master classes, compete, and attend the college fair. Parents and teachers can also attend the master classes. This is a great way to see how you compete with national talent.
https://www.classicalsinger.com/convention/
@bisouu that is interesting about the lesser known programs sending dept people. We might go then because D is looking at lesser known schools too. I have found that most of them have been very good at responding to emails and have been genuinely interested in meeting my D at some point and sending lots of info, tickets to shows, etc. all I ever get from the bigger programs is mass generic emails over and over. No personal attention yet from any of them except maybe one. I know they obviously have more people applying and to contend with so that’s why but it’s refreshing to get the email from a dept person and first hand info
The Classical Singer convention is pretty great, but I would add that at the college fair the representatives know a lot about the vocal performance programs and very little about the musical theatre programs. Believe me, we asked. What is amazingly valuable are the classes, especially if you get signed up early enough to sing in the master classes. My d got some very valuable feedback on her pieces and we added schools to her list based on how excellent the faculty representatives were. We got to go to the classes for free since my d qualified for the national competition they also have.
I will be at the Atlanta one with some students.
This college fair is trying. It is INCREDIBLY crowded and many reps know very little about the Performing Arts departments at their colleges, oddly enough…
Artsbridge is an INCREDIBLE organization, though, and I am hoping that under their umbrella it will continue to work out the kinks in Atlanta.
We went to SEVERAL PVA college fairs for all three of our sons who were interested in various forms of visual and performing arts. We found them to be very helpful for younger students, 8th - 11th grade (MT S went to his first one in 8th grade to check out summer dance programs). This is a terrific way for the younger ones who may not yet know their focus to find out what a college fair is, and isn’t. For first visit H or I would do the asking of questions, by 2nd/3rd visit, S was encouraged to do the question asking. We found it to be terrific practice for those audition interviews. By then, Ss had heard LOTS of “college speak” and knew how to ask specific questions about what interested them. At these fairs, Ss rounded out/narrowed down the “lists” and got a better idea of what they were looking for and what they needed to do in first three years of high school to get there. It can also be a good place to find out about summer intensives for HS students.
As for knowledgeability of the reps, many could at least tell if their school HAD and MT program (NOT true at traditional college fairs where we heard “yes” from schools that did not have MT). Our local PVA fair happens to be held at CCM, so perhaps the pool of reps is different, but we found that most were at least acquainted with some aspect of their Arts programs - remember they do Visual Art, Film, technical aspects of Theatre, Dance, Instrumental/Vocal Music, etc. - a lot of ground to cover. These fairs are not necessarily the place to get nitty gritty questions answered, but to get “general” information from “specialized” programs - at least we’re ruling out engineering and pre-med, for the most part. It’s a centralized place to get on mailing lists, pick up brochures, get your name on the “this-student-made-contact-with-us” list. This fair is NOT worthwhile for HS seniors - unless they have just recently discovered they want to be an artist, singer, dancer, MT, film director, etc.
Yes, SETC has MUCH more information and access to people intimately acquainted with their programs, but PVA fairs are a good way to explore and start asking questions for those that are “newer to the PA college process” - or if this is your first kid going to college.
Agree with @TheaterHiringCo about Artsbridge. They are amazing! They also have an incredible summer program that is well worth attending.
@songgirlsmom, Michigan sent someone from their admissions department in the School of Music, Theatre and dance to Classical Singer for the College Fair. It was great to have a personal connection when we had questions during the application process. NYU Steinhardt tables were manned by the Department Chair and two longtime faculty members, also great people to make connections with and definitely very knowledgable on the program. OCU generally sends two faculty members in the department of MT and VP. BYU sent MT faculty. Several of the schools there were just VP, but if they were MT programs they definitely had representatives there to speak about the programs.
We went to the one in Boston and as others have said, the vast majority of reps knew very little. They were all nice, though, except for one school where the rep was so incredibly rude (when we asked about the MT program, she said, basically, “You’ll never get in, don’t even bother applying, you’re not their type” while rolling her eyes and asking us to move along), but the whole thing was incredibly unhelpful. I think it really varies depending on the city and who the school happens to send…so it’s going to be hit or miss.
We went to the one in Atlanta last year. It was at Pebblebrook High School and there were so many people in really tight quarters that it was a bit overwhelming. Basically everyone had to weave down the hallways and they were packed so tightly that in some places you couldn’t move unless the people in front of you did and forget trying to get near the “big name” school tables. The crowds were so deep that people were elbowing each other out of the way to get up there. Not my idea of a good time or very conducive to conversation. This year they are changing the location so hopefully (fingers crossed) it will be an improvement. Some of the tables were staffed by people who knew nothing (one was a mom who only knew that her son was a freshman at the school and he seemed to like it okay) but others were very helpful. Ricky Oliver from CAP 21 was there and he was awesome! Made me wish I could go to school there:) and we did pick up a lot of brochures and info. The schools can scan the bar code on your admission ticket to track that you were there and we got on a lot of email lists that way. I’ve been looking at a lot of the individual school web pages lately and some of them tell who’s going. If you are concerned about a particular school and/or rep, I would email them directly and ask so you’re not disappointed, especially if it’s a long drive.
Of the schools we talked to at Classical Singer that had MT programs my D was interested in, none of them could speak about the MT program. Of course, we didn’t bother visiting Michigan, NYU or the other “big” names because she is really only interested in smaller schools. For example, we talked with the guy at the Illinois Wesleyan table. He was really fantastic. She had to miss his master class to compete, but he set up a time to meet with her to hear her sing and he gave her some excellent pointers on her classical piece. Unfortunately he couldn’t answer too many specifics about the MT program, but I know if she was interested in VP, that school would have been on the list for sure! We learned about Viterbo at this event too. She was able to sing in their master class and we were very very impressed with the faculty member there. They had several students manning their table and they were all very friendly and enthusiastic about their school. After the event, my D got a very nice email from one of the students telling her how much he enjoyed her singing and he hoped she’d consider Viterbo. (which she definitely is…but in MT, not VP)
We went to the one at Interlochen and most sent reps from the department. In fact my daughter added a couple schools to her list because of that. However she was really disappointed with Hartt because they clearly were not able to answer theatre questions. I’m guessing the fact they were at interlochen was a reason most places sent reps from the theatre, dance and music departments.
We went to one a few years ago when my S was a 10th grader. It was VERY crowded and most reps were NOT familiar with MT programs. It appeared to me that music programs were the targeted “sell” at the fair. Very few reps were knowledgeable about MT, but the good reps provided student and/or staff contacts in MT. That prompted my son to ask all reps for a personal contact in the department and most happily obliged. Roosevelt’s admission rep just so happened to be a MT graduate and was excited to discuss MT with my S. He was not aware of CCPA prior to this and kept it on his list from that day forward. He eventually applied and was accepted into CCPA MT-Voice with an extremely generous scholarship during last years cycle. My suggestion for anyone attending these fairs would be to:
- Role play with your child about how to talk to the reps and acquire the information they desire. The first rep that provided him with personal contacts did so because he was so well spoken and direct with his questions. He told me that most kids have not idea how to talk to the college reps.
- Be open to approaching schools they know nothing about (my S almost skipped Roosevelt’s table because the line was too long and he didn’t “know” the school).
- Follow up with contacts made that day. My S had a few schools that were know longer on his list contact him and acquire about his interest because he made contact with them 2 years prior.
Best Wishes everyone!