I will be attending the Atlanta PVA on October 5th for Florida State University. If you have any questions, please stop by and ask them or grab a business card and send me an email.
Michele Diamonti
Thank you everyone for your advice and input! We will see you there @All4FSU 
We just attended the NACAC PVA fair in our city, and almost all of the schools my kid spoke with had sent a rep who was specifically knowledgeable about MT and Acting. We got a lot of info not available on schools’s websites.
@elsacc thank you for the update. We are driving 3.5 hours to Atlanta and 3.5 home after the event this afternoon and this makes me feel so much better about making the decision to go. ;
How’d it go @brightstaral?
Weeellll everyone, I was very pleasantly surprised with the Atlanta fair. Held in a large ballroom at the Cobb center every school had a table and each rep(s) had a scanner. Make sure you log in to the website and print out your scan form ahead of time. Print out two if possible. When we got down to the bitter end and were running out of time, I did go up to three reps and ask them to scan my daughters sheet as she was making her way down the last row. They were gracious and did so and thankfully she had a moment to stop by introduce herself (as they were flashing the lights to get us out of there at 9:05). I don’t recommend running around and getting a scan without your child, reps genuinely seemed to want to meet the prospective student. These were programs that she is interested in gaining more info, but we literally ran out of time. It was a bit overwhelming at first. We came prepared. I had printed out the schools attending (which you need to download through Internet Explorer only to get the xls format, it doesn’t work through any other browser) and we highlighted the ones we knew had MT programs from the big list. So going in we had a game plan, however the one giant criticism I have is there was not a MAP. The tables were low so often the schools were crowded with people and it was hard to see the banner draped across each table to actually see which school was where. We spent a good 15-20 min. finding schools.
However, logistics aside I was pleased with the representation there. There were professors, program directors, heads of admission for theater programs, admissions counselors, theater directors and a few in between. We did not have a question that was left unanswered. Many kids had notebooks with their questions written down and took notes as questions were answered. We didn’t, I helped listen to answers to help her remember when we actually sit down and go through the plethora of brochures tonight (we got home at midnight). Take notes if you like, but I will warn you, it does slow the process down and there were ALOT of schools there with MT programs. Many BFA’s we didn’t know existed (I will be sure to report in to the big list because ALOT were southern schools). Many of the “big” schools were mobbed most of the time, I suggest listening in as the reps speak and making your way up to get a scan. We did this several times at the CCM booth and my D explained that we had been by the booth several times and listened to the rep speak to others and she was very interested in the program and would like to be scanned. Please be mindful, we were exhausted leaving, I can only imagine how the reps feel. Invite others to come listen in and ask questions with you, they may have a question your child does, but forgot to ask. This makes the process easier and shares the knowledge. My D had questions answered about the length of dance calls, what an “art” song is considered at several schools, if freshman were allowed to audition for mainstage, if there was a showcase, if you could double major (she has no desire to, but someone else asked and it raised a few more questions from her on the ride home), was the school at Unifieds, etc., etc. I was pleased! Pleased with the info given and honestly a bit surprised that my D had all of those questions. It reinforced to me that this is it, this is what she wants to do with her life and I was pleased when someone asked what she wanted to do with her degree and she replied, “I want to work”. Yes, yes dear, you do after thousands of dollars in tuition that I will soon pay, you do. Everyone please remember, each program is different. We definitely walked away with that impression last night. I loved what @All4FSU said last night, “Don’t try to study past classes and determine what we are looking for, we are a unique program and we make a paneled decision. It is different from year to year”. That made a HUGE impression on my D. It reinforced to her that every school is different, every person auditioning is different, each new class is different and the best thing you can do is bring your best self to the audition and go for it! She really appreciated your candor, thank you for taking the time to speak with her :).
I am so thankful we went and I really think my junior D has a firm grasp on the journey she is taking and the competition she will be facing to gain admittance to a program. Much to a few music professors chagrin, the overwhelming number of student there were MT kids (ALOT of junior girls). This may have been way more info than anyone desired, however I am so incredibly thankful for this board. There is absolutely no way that we would be as far along as we are on this journey without the kindness of everyone here. We rode down the elevator with a group of moms and girls. My D asked what year and what they were interested in, they replied that they were MT seniors and the moms both replied that they felt overwhelmed and incredibly behind. I immediately suggested they come here to start. So if y’all did, welcome and I hope CC helps! We are heading to Nashville in a few weeks to attend that fair and speak to the schools we didn’t have a chance to visit with last night. I will report from there as well if this wasn’t too verbose for everyone :).
College Fairs take two! Nashville was an entirely different experience. Atlanta was a mad house, Nashville was a calm conversation. It was lightly attended, which may have made the reps upset, but was great for us :). There were about 20 schools at the Nashville fair that weren’t at the Atlanta fair. We met several admissions people, however they were still knowledgeable about their MT programs. There were more Ohio Schools (Baldwin Wallace) and Illinois schools at this fair. We even met a darling director from a New York school that doesn’t have a MT major, but had Jonathan Larson as a student. My child is not a Rent fan, but it was still wonderful to speak with this gentleman. It was still a good experience and raised a few more questions about what my D may want in a program in the future. I was a bit surprised that Nashville wasn’t better attended, but may it’s growing.