<p>It's hard to set a blanket standard when style and wardobe is such a person thing. These are meant as guidelines. But we do know from experience what to avoid and what is acceptable.</p>
<p>I have been known to "bend" a little on shoes and accept a slight heel (but not a "kitten heel", they are too narrow) and I would accept a stud earring. I am not completely inflexable. Just use your best judgement and be conservative.</p>
<p>And also, NO OVERBEARING PERFUME/COLOGNE. In fact, I would say, no fragrance at all, please. This is not the time to display your favorite scent. But DO wear plenty of deodorant.</p>
<p>Those old all black days are OVER, YIPPEE. </p>
<p>And now that color head shots are the trend, students should experiment with color and which is most flattering and what colors they respond to, etc. It's much more fun, anyway.</p>
<p>Ok, here's a big old newbie question again for all of you with more experience than I have (and that's about everyone here! :)):</p>
<p>** Is it too early to visit colleges during the summer between my D's sophomore and junior years of high school, and ...</p>
<p>** Is summer an OK time to visit most colleges? </p>
<p>My husband and I both work more than fulltime (and we work opposite shifts, which means we are both like "single parents!") and we have another, younger child who is involved in her own stuff (dance). That makes it nearly impossible (or, at least, highly improbable) that we would be able to spend much time during school year 2006-2007 visiting colleges. This summer would be a very good time to go see a few, and we could do others the following summer (or school year, if we had to).</p>
<p>Would college visits this summer be pushing the envelope? :) And if not, does it make sense to visit in the summer, when regular activity is practically suspended?</p>
<p>NotMama-
In my never be it humble opinion, you go when it works for you. yes, while there are some big advantages of visiting during the school year [i.e. sitting in on class], campuses do function year round in one form or another. Also, my D is the same age as yours and we are planning a huge family vacation/campus tour trip this summer. We also did some last summer and one weekend this past fall[always in conjunction with something else, not specificly for the college visit purpose]. My D crossed several schools off her list just based on the campus settings [which was great considering she has about 150 schools she likes on paper-:)].</p>
<p>Several of the schools were thrilled that D is getting an early start and even gave her scholarship[academic] info so that she can be "working toward" that goal should she settle on their school. She also has attended several college fairs intended for Juniors & Seniors and was able to get on a bunch of mailing lists. Another thing I found out was if you go to a school's website, almost all have a sign-up for info spot that asks expected year of HS grad. Only a few don't go out as far as 2008, so we figured they didn't want to see or hear from her yet.</p>
<p>Have not formally checked into the "top tier" so they may be different, but overall, my uneducated, unexperienced opinion is Go for It! It beats waiting and wondering.</p>
<p>My D is a junior this year, and we decided to visit campuses this school year. We are pairing our visits with the college's productions whenever possible. We saw "Batboy" at Penn State on a beautiful fall weekend! We also visited UMich and D had a wonderfully informative meeting with Laura Stozeski there...once again on a gorgeous fall weekend. During that meeting, there were two high school seniors whose auditions there were approaching. The young man said he wished he would have visited last year as a junior so that he would have felt more prepared and informed. So it is a good idea to get these visits in when you can. But I suggest you do it when the weather is nicer. Seeing the campuses in rain, sleet and snow definitely affects the kid's opinions!</p>
<p>As usual, I am very grateful for the generous offerings of experience and opinions in response to my question about the timing of college visits</p>
<p>I now realize that visiting in the summer is possible, if not ideal. (I love the idea of pairing visits to campuses with the opportunity to see musical theater and drama productions. Seems an ideal thing to do!) </p>
<p>My guess is that we will end up doing a combination of schoolyear and summer visits, as time and finances allow. The schools my D currently is interested in (NYU, BoCo, CMU, NCSA, CCM, Ithaca, Syracuse, PSU, etc. etc.) are all over the map, though New York is (thank goodness) only a three hour drive away, and Pittsburgh is a do-able five hour journey by car. </p>
<p>NotMamaRose
My D is a junior this year. We have only visited one campus so far-Central Florida- when we were on vacation last spring. We were there when classes were not in session, and learned next to nothing. My D liked the campus (who wouldn't--you're in Orlando--and we're from Syracuse), but we have since learned more about the program (a friend attended and is leaving) and have definitely crossed it off our list. We wouldn't have done that based on the visit we had which only showed us the campus, a couple of dance rooms, the theater, and we met a couple of nice people.
So, our personal plan--which is VERY time consuming and inconvenient--is that I have plotted out all of the spring shows at the various schools which my D is interested in at this point. The top 12 or so. Now we are taking long weekends, plus February and April break (when her high school is out, but the colleges are in session) to visit each of these schools so that she can take classes, or sit in on classes (she is a dancer so really wants to take at least one class while she is there), meet with people in the department, as well as seeing a production while we are there. It is going to be very hectic, especially since we have to work around her school musical, all-county chorus, etc. but we really feel like it will put us in a much better situation next year with auditions, because she will hopefully have a really good idea of what each program is like, the caliber of student who attends, the quality of the productions, campus life, etc. And we are trying to see a "range" of schools--if there is such a thing as a safety, match, reach in MT--which I know there isn't. As for the weather, we are hoping it doesn't interfere, but we are from Syracuse, so I don't think you could get much worse!! LOL!!
So IMHO, since your D is younger, I think you might try to focus on using this spring and all of next year to visit schools when you will probably get a lot more out of the visits. Not that there is NOTHING to be gained by a summer visit, but it might not be the best use of your time and money.</p>
<p>I spent my formative years (ages 3 to 15) in Camillus, New York, which is outside Syracuse, so I can <em>completely</em> relate to the feeling of wanting to spend time in a place where there is not quite so much snow, sleet and, well, clouds! Orlando must have sounded like/seemed like paradise. <g></g></p>
<p>I think your advice (to visit some colleges this spring and some next fall) is very sound. It only makes good sense to visit when school is in session and the prospective student can sit in on classes, see a production, etc.</p>
<p>How's Syracuse weather right now? Here in the Mid Atlantic area, it's about 55 degrees and cloudy with some fog. No snow at all. Yesterday, I did not put my coat on when I left my office. <g> </g></p>
<p>BTW...when we visited Penn State, we spent the day roaming the campus ourselves. I had researched online and someone in the MT department sent us a campus map with sights to see highlighted. At Umich we took the "canned" college tour with a student. I must say that we enjoyed our own version more, as we didn't get much from the prepared group tour. I know it is hard to be all things to all people, and not everyone in the group wanted to see the things we did. I agree that it is so helpful to sit in on a class, visit with students in the program etc. if you can arrange it!</p>
<p>While it makes for a less comfortable trip for the whole family, I'm not sure I agree with visiting during good weather. If the schools are in areas where the students are likely to have to trek to class through rain, cold, snow, etc., I think that should affect their opinions!</p>
<p>My native Texan daughter thinks "cold" means she'll wish she had on a heavier sweatshirt. And cloudy or rainy days make her gloomy. Yet she is interested in a couple of schools in the Chicago area, so I'm glad that we visited them during the winter. Taking a campus tour when the temperature was in the 20's and the wind was blowing off the lake was really good for her! :) It didn't change her opinion of the schools, mind you, but did give her a good idea of what her life may be like. And, of course, we've been reading her the current weather reports from Chicago, while North Texas temperatures are running 20 degrees above normal!</p>
<p>Good luck with your campus visits, and enjoy! We always had great talks after - it's interesting how each of us picked up on different things that helped form our opinions.</p>
<p>NYDanceMom - you are so awesome ! I am trying to come up with a plan of attack too, but I want you to know how much I admire your planning ability - lets get that cup of coffee! - Harriet</p>
<p>At CSU Fullerton, the performance faculty are all working professionally, researching or continuing training during the summers - so besides seeing the campus and meeting with an academic advisor for general education courses, you might find no one to greet you and show you around.</p>
<p>There ARE New Student Orientations held on certain days of the summer; so all theatre majors will have a theatre advisor there to tell them what to register for.</p>
<p>We've been doing college visits with our kids in the summertime or whenever on holiday. Some schools do have things going on during the summer. Perhaps places like Muhlenburgh and I believe Wagner that have summer productions would be okay to visit in the summer.</p>
<p>Since all of the schools my son is considering are in the East or Midwest (we're in CA), the visit plan for us is going to be much different than for our older son. Foutunately our school district does have a few extended breaks for Presidents "week" and Spring Break. In the end, I think his visits are going to be late and based on school acceptances. We just don't have enough time or money to visit all of the schools on his current list (and these theater/MT kids seem to apply to more schools than the average college applicant).</p>
<p>Campus vists are tough since many of the programs are spread out. If you intend to audition on campus then many of the MT schools hold tours and info sessions on audition days. If you end up doing the LA or Chicago Unifieds without visiting you can wait until you have acceptances in hand. Just keep in mind that your school's spring break might not coordinate with some of the colleges. I would also give your school principal a heads up and let he/she know that you might need to take some additional days to visit.</p>
<p>We visited colleges for the better part of 2 years - sophomore and junior years. When possible, we did them when on school breaks during the school year, to try to see plays and sit in on classes. It is very important to make sure the college is not on break at the same time. We were also able to coordinate 2 summer trips - to Chicago and to upstate NY. Ithaca and Syracuse lined up good summer visits for us. It is important to talk to the theatre / music dept. (whichever is applicable) and to admissions, so try to set up both.</p>
<p>Hi! I'm new to this forum, but you guys all seem to know a lot! I'm interested in Northwestern, and am fortunate enough to have a great GPA and pretty good test scores, so I think I have a chance to get in. From what I read on their website, there's no audition for the theatre department, and you can combine theatre with their music department to do musical theatre. Is anyone in this program now? How does it compare to other school that are more like conservatories? I'm really looking for a broader course of study, but love musical theatre, so that's why I like Northwestern so far. Plus, the proximity to Chicago is a big plus. Suggestions?</p>
<p>bookwurm - there are several threads discussing your question. My understanding is that you are in the theatre dept. to begin with, in a large class, then you may audition at the end of first and second years for the musical theatre certification program, which takes about 15 from each of theatre and music programs each year. I understand that many theatre students try for this, so the odds of getting into the MT program are not that good. You have already spent a year there in theatre before you know. Otherwise, I think it has a reputation for excellent acting and probably allows many liberal arts courses. The campus is very nice.</p>