<p>I'm wondering if those of you who have experience with some of the major MT summer camps (like MPulse at Univ of Michigan or Cherubs at Northwestern, for instance) have an opinion on the value of the camp to students considering applying. My son is currently a Junior and we are looking at programs for next summer. One consideration is that he does not have the greatest academic track record, though he is making huge strides in junior so far, and will have a greatly improved gpa by year end, if he stays on track. He loves the sound of the intensive MT summer programs at these high-profile universities and his voice teacher is encouraging him to audition. But I wonder if it would be a waste to time and money, since he may not have the academic credentials needed for admissions. He is an amazing tenor singer (says the biased mom), with great musicality and strong acting chops. He has just started dance and is improving. He has a decent resume, with some nice roles in professional theatre. Do the schools use the summer camps for recruitment, or are we throwing money away?</p>
<p>Whether or not your child attends the university that offers the summer program (and admittance to these summer programs is in no way indicative of if your child will be offered a spot in the college program) - the skills taught are universal, and beneficial to the entire audition process. I don’t think any reputable summer program for a rising senior is a waste of money.</p>
<p>For us- one of the real benefits of the summer program was that D got to “try” a college BFA program to see if she liked the intensity. </p>
<p>Another benefit is that your child gets a feel for how they might fit talent-wise in a larger pool - e.g. not just in their region. Yet another is the friends they make, that they will reconnect with during the audition season, that will help make the whole thing feel less scary. </p>
<p>Our D did 2 different on-campus programs, OCU (after freshman year of HS) and mPulse (after sophomore year of HS). As others have stated, she got great training, made great friends, learned what studying MT in college would be like, and most of all had a wonderful time. These should be your reasons to attend any of the summer programs. Attendance at the summer program is definitely not a guarantee of admittance to the school. At both of the camps our D attended, the majority of students who attended the summer programs were not accepted into the MT program for college.
We felt the summer before audition season was a good time to really work on everything you need to prepare for auditions, from pre-screens to essays to audition monologues and songs. For us that meant we used that summer to work with an audition coach. We also attended a one day master class with one of the program heads of a top MT program to try out that material during the summer. The corrections and suggestions received were invaluable and could be made before her actual college auditions.
If you are really wanting a college camp experience, there are some summer programs that specialize in getting you ready for the college audition. One in particular I can think of is Baldwin-Wallace - they have a one week program to help prepare audition material. ArtsBridge is one I have read about that is not affiliated with one particular school but works with reps from many different schools. It may be worth looking into.
And @kategrizz I agree, the best thing from the camps was seeing camp friends throughout the audition season. It took a bit of the nerves away having some familiar faces around 
Best of luck to you and your son @annie43!</p>
<p>Attending a program at a specific school with the hope of gaining a leg up for admission may help in some cases, others not. Some summer programs at college campuses do not have a strong (or any) connection to the theatre faculty at the school. If you carefully research the programs, you can figure out the connection, or lack of it, to the faculty at the school. For example, the staff list posted for Theatre at Cherubs does not list any of the Northwestern Theatre Department Faculty (at least as far as I can tell from a quick scan).</p>
<p>The advice I have heard from many experts is that if you go to a college summer program, you should go for the training, and not for a possible advantage for admissions.</p>
<p>Regarding the mention of GPA in the OP, there are many very well-regarded MT programs at schools that do not require a high GPA for admission. We have been pretty amazed during the application process this year at how low the academic bar is at some of these programs.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone, for your insights. I’m not really expecting to get a leg up by attending a summer program, but want to avoid the situation where my son potentially falls in love with a program at a school that would likely not admit him due to average academic grades or ACT score. Univ of Michigan, Northwestern, and Carnegie Mellon are the ones that come to mind. Money is a big issue for us and, in a way, it seems best to take a summer class at a school where he has a reasonable chance at admission. I can definitely see the other side of this, though–if he goes to a great summer program, he’ll be better prepared for any of the schools he applies to. I’ll definitely check out the other programs you have mentioned. </p>
<p>I would pick the summer program for its own sake without any relation to if he has a chance of admission to that particular college program down the line. </p>
<p>As others have noted, the majority of kids in the summer program won’t get into that particular college program. Here is but one example. I once had a student who had attended the summer program at University of the Arts. He even got a very glowing recommendation (for his college apps) from one of the professors of that BFA program who taught in the summer pre-college program. He did not get admitted to UArts. Yet, he got admitted to NYU/Tisch, a program many might consider more competitive artistically for admissions and for sure, academically. So, there are tons of examples like this. Still, his summer program was quite worthwhile for its own sake. </p>
<p>There are also programs like The Performing Arts Project (TPAP) and the Broadway Theatre Project (BTP) which are great training programs not affiliated with any college program. (In fact both of these programs have a track for college students as well as HS students. </p>
<p>^^Right. For that matter, my own kid went to Stagedoor Manor which has no relation to any college. Choosing her summer program had nothing to do with college admissions and all to do with the experience itself for the summer. Actually for 8 summers. </p>
<p>I recommend TPAP if you can only do one summer program due to time limitations (he’s a junior). My D’s experience was “life-changing” (her words) and she attended because another friend had said the same thing the previous year. The training is top notch, taught by industry professionals. It is by audition only, so only so not everyone gets in, but everyone that does is completely committed to MT. It is a very supportive environment that encourages kids to take artistic risks and overcome their fears while sharpening their strengths. Plus, faculty from some of the top MT programs visit TPAP and give master classes so kids get to work with them and get vibes from the different faculty they meet. My D got to meet kids from many MT college programs as TPAP admits upper hs and college kids alike. This was a huge benefit as she got to ask them questions about what they liked and disliked about their programs. I really cannot say enough things about this program if you can only attend one. My D has attended several and has enjoyed them all immensely, all for different reasons but we are not expecting any preference anywhere for her having attended. However, her confidence and comfort level will probably be higher at school’s she’s attended their summer programs…</p>
<p>I would definitely focus on audition prep and training (and fun!) and forget about “the college experience.” It won’t give them a leg up and they may fall in love with the school and then not get in which leads to heartbreak. I’m a big believer in spending as much time as possible at the schools the kid has been accepted to, where, if they fall in love, it’s all good!! </p>
<p>^Totally disagree! Nothing is more disappointing than spending months (and big bucks) auditioning for BFAs and then finding out as a freshman that this is not what you want out of college (and that happens all the time). The 24/7 immersion in acting classes, surrounded by your peers from all over the country, is incredibly valuable. I would not have let my son go through the audition process or attend a conservatory-style program if he hadn’t spent several weeks (7 weeks over 2 summers) in precollege theater intensives. For that matter, I would not have kept him from visiting and experiencing different schools and risking “heartbreak” any more than I would forbid him to go on any dates for fear it wouldn’t be the girl he will marry! 
If your goal is to help your kid become resilient and have a solid understanding of what they’re getting into in a BFA, then a precollege program will provide valuable growth in skills and self-awareness. And if they do want to pursue a career on stage, they will need to experience that “heartbreak” on a regular basis and learn that life goes on. </p>
<p>It was actually just as important for me. D had been in love with the idea of NYU for years- and I had trouble picturing her 18 and living in the city. She did Tisch summer intensive between Jr/sr year and that was a HUGE help for me- to see that the atmosphere could work for her. I have said more than one time that I would not have been on board with NYU without that experience</p>
<p>Ditto what Times3 said! </p>
<p>If you are lucky enough to live in an area that does have its own non-residential summer intensive program, that can provide a compromise of the same intensive training, for a fraction of the cost. My city has several of them which are audition in, 6 week, 8 hours a day in the classroom with homework following. We also have an abundance of extraordinarily talented young people and no lack of working actors and professionals to teach the classes including some who spend just their summers here to do it. No it is not quite the summer camp experience that a residential program might provide which may come with supervised downtime activities and pillow fights but training is training. The reality was that by the end of the first week, these kids were all going out to dinner and other activities afterwards as a group, sleeping over as a group at various homes etc. The residential programs also really aren’t quite college experience either. There aren’t papers due, non studio classes, grades, full freedom to partake in the temptations that sometimes get you into trouble, etc. It’s camp. Intensive training camp, but camp.</p>
<p>I think times3 is absolutely correct that a highly intensive training program over weeks is a great way to give one a sense of whether or not that is the kind of work you want to be doing in college. There are an awful lot of talented kids who have done show after show, but have no real sense of what it’s like to actually study the craft and the type of work it involves. There are kids that go to these things (residential or not like what I’ve described above) and decide NO… not for me and it is much better to know that before you’re already in college than after.</p>
<p>I think the mistake some people make is applying to an MPulse or similar college program with the expectation that it will give you a leg up on the application for the same school down the road. At least in the case of MPulse, I’ve heard that the opposite is true. Few if any of the attendees actually end up getting in to UofM’s program. </p>
<p>I agree halflokum. That is the type of program my daughter attended for 3 summers. We live in the SF Bay Area with lots of great programs.</p>
<p>Well, it’s not that the opposite is true, exactly. It’s just they take so few people most by far are not getting accepted. </p>
<p>Although I think the summer programs are very valuable experiences, I do think during the summer before audition season, your time and money is best spent working specifically on your audition material, pre-screens and applications. </p>