<p>Colorado College has a great reputation for theater and dance. But, I have heard that the Block Plan makes it frustrating and difficult for theater majors to complete pieces in a satisfying way. </p>
<p>Any comments or opinions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Clarity, have you talked with more than one person who has first-hand experience with Colorado College (or the block plan at another school)? </p>
<p>My S is a first year student there. I can’t speak to the theater program in particular. However, I can tell you that the schedule does allow room for other academic activities besides what goes on in the current 3.5 week course. The block plan also facilitates intense concentration on field work, design, and laboratory projects in that main course. </p>
<p>Don’t hesitate to contact admissions and ask them to help you approach some theater people. Or look up the department chair and shoot an email with specific questions. You have a good question and deserve to get thoughtful answers from people directly involved in the theater program.</p>
<p>By the way, have you seen the new Cornerstone Arts Center? Very interesting. Lots of studio and theater space designed to encourage collaboration among media.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply: we are just beginning our investigations! My daughter is in school in the UK, very interested in theatre, but keen to have a solid liberal arts education(not available in UK)-very interested in creative writing, English and Philosophy. (She attended NHSI last summer, and is at a UK school well known for its theatre and music programmes)</p>
<p>My sister went to Colorado College many years ago as a dance major, and transfered out to Wash U, St. Louis, because she felt the Block Plan was not conducive to progressing in theatre or dance. So it is just her opinion we are going on at the moment.</p>
<p>Would love to hear more about your son’s experience, and why he chose CC.</p>
<p>Clarity, my S calls us about once a week from Colorado Springs. Every call seems to become even more enthusiastic than the last.</p>
<p>He was a good student at a competitive private HS, with strength in both mathematics and in design (high end furniture-making, vaguely in the spirit of your Cotswolds Arts and Crafts movement). Although he is interested in architecture, he wanted a broad liberal arts education including some exposure to environmental science (important to future building trends). He was seeking a small, selective liberal arts college, in a interesting setting that is preferably rural or at least close to good outdoor recreation opportunities, and with some opportunity to pursue an architecture-related program. CC offers an “architectural studies” track in the art department; in every other respect it met his criteria well. He hopes to graduate from CC after 3 years then go on to graduate training in architecture (or a related field) for another 2-3. The school was flexible about accepting some of his IB credentials as college credit.</p>
<p>He liked the social atmosphere at Colorado College, the music scene, and of course the stunning mountain setting. In addition, unlike many small LACs, CC is set in a small city. So you get the best of both worlds (shops and restaurants along with the skiing, climbing and camping). The community strikes a nice balance between the intellectual, the physical, and the artistic. You might for instance start the day with a vigorous early morning run or bike ride up the lower slopes of Pikes Peak; take in a 3-hour class followed by several hours of project work; wander into town for Mexican or Vietnamese food; then, at the end of the week, trek up to Denver for a concert at the fabulous Red Rocks outdoor amphitheater. Or perhaps an event at the college’s own new Cornerstone Arts Center.</p>
<p>One attractive feature of CC, to him, is the focus on discussion and hands-on projects. It is not the kind of place where students can doze in the back of a large lecture hall. Typically you might be in a ~15-student discussion seminar, out at a field site collecting rock samples (geology) or visiting an Anasazi pueblo site (anthro/archaeology). Last Sunday when we talked, after taking in an ice hockey game (very fast and physical), he had been up until 1:30 AM in his studio working on architectural models. It strikes me that the place is quite intense, but more in the sense that students are very engaged in and in charge of their own projects, not that they are in grade-grubbing competition with each other. The block plan very much contributes to this intensity, not only by squeezing a semester’s worth of study into 3.5 weeks, but also by allowing the flexibility to go off and do field work, or focus on a design project for 9 hours a day, without worrying about the schedule conflicts of multiple classes. The college puts up $1000 “Venture Grants” to encourage special research projects that might involve travel (which are easier to arrange under the block plan.) I’ve heard recent graduates claim that the block schedule better simulates the rhythms of the working world than a conventional semester plan, and that it better teaches students to manage time under deadlines.</p>
<p>I did (and do) read a lot about colleges. As I read many reviews about and reports from the place, from a variety of perspectives, one thing that struck me was that hardly anyone had anything negative to say about it. It strikes me as a place where one could spend a very happy, productive 4 years – provided the block plan and the Rocky Mountains are right for you, which will not be the case for everyone. If theater is your thing, make no mistake, Colorado Springs is a long way from Broadway.</p>
<p>TK, I have PM’d you–but your box is full…</p>
<p>^ Sorry about that. I’ve cleaned out a few. Try again now?</p>