Contrasting UArts

<p>My daughter auditioned for MT on Dec 2 and was accepted. She has also applied to other schools. My daughter attended UArts summer MT program 2 summers ago and we have a very good feeling about the level of training, “vibe” and “educational culture” of the school. I was wondering, however, from both a parent’s and student’s perspective how UArts compares and contrasts to schools such as Syracuse, Ithaca, Carnegie Mellon, Muhlenberg. Any thoughts on whether the restructured liberal arts component will give her the foundation and exposure she will need to be a well rounded, well educated thinking artist as compared to liberal arts universities with BFA programs (and in reality, how much weight should this be given where most BFA programs only permit 6 - 8 courses outside of the department)? Does UArts have the “name” recognition of some of the other schools (does this even really matter for future employment)? Also, UArts doesn’t seem to offer programs such as study abroad or studio programs in NY or LA that many of the other schools offer. Do you think this matters? Thanks for sharing any thoughts you have.</p>

<p>hi. congrats to your daughter on her acceptance. if she ever wants to talk to me, i'd be happy to help her make decisions when the time comes! uarts is awesome!</p>

<p>you might say that i am biased towards uarts because i go there, but i feel that our program is just as great. as i have said previously, our liberal arts do teach us to become well-rounded even though we are not taking that many....i must note that while carnegie mellon is an official "university," they are taking fewer liberal arts courses than we are at uarts. i really appreciate the practicality of the liberal arts courses. i came from an intense private school, yet i really feel i am getting more out of my liberal arts classes here than i did at uarts. they don't pretend liberal arts don't matter. of course they matter. and my acting teacher has encouraged political activism a lot at school.</p>

<p>uarts sort of has some study abroad opportunities. they have a relationship with the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in England (paul mccartney's school) and it is exciting because they are offering a week-long collaboration class the week before 2nd semester resumes where the liverpool students are collaborating with theater and music students and we are coming up with some sort of creative work. i don't know exactly what we are doing, but it should be exciting!!...i'm looking forward to it! a similar thing might happen next year there as opposed to in philly...they also have annual christmas break trips to london....and there are some students i know of who are studying abroad in england....i wouldn't let something like that be the deciding factor because i'm honestly not sure if i want to study abroad....right now i am leaning against it, but we'll see....</p>

<p>uarts is definitely getting name recognition....and as we learn with all this, a BFA program isn't the only way to success in this field. some people make it with no college degree or a degree in something completley unrelated. but uarts has a fine reputation and honestly, the program is so much more than i could ever dream it would be. this was the fastest semester of my life! </p>

<p>hope this helps. feel free to contact me!</p>

<p>Thanks for your response. My daughter has 2 friends attending UArts as freshmen, one in acting and one in MT, and they too absolutely love it. I will pass your offer on to my daughter and I am sure she will take you up on it when the time comes. Enjoy your winter break and best wishes for a rewarding spring semester.</p>

<p>Tell your daughter Congrats. I was wondering what songs and monologues she auditioned with??? What is her strong point? Singing?Acting?Dancing?
Thanks</p>

<p>I also auditioned at UArts on that day, I wonder if I met your daughter! I haven't heard yet (my transcripts weren't all in yet when I auditioned), but had a question about the whole rolling admissions thing. If you are accepted, do you still have until May 1 to tell them if you are going there or does your deadline correlate with when they accepted you?</p>

<p>kasl, I can't answer questions specific to UArts but I can tell you that May 1 is the National Reply Date. A college is not supposed to make you commit to enroll until that date (unless ED). I am sure UArts must follow that rule. If a college doesn't, you need to question them. This is a national agreement amongst all colleges. A college with Rolling Admissions might accept students on a rolling basis but those students have until May 1 to decide whether to enroll. Same with EA acceptances.</p>

<p>you do not have to tell Uarts yes or no until May 1.</p>

<p>Point Park does request a refundable deposit prior to May 1st as part of their rolling admissions acceptance process- they said that if the deposit was not received in time (I think it was about two weeks after notification of acceptance) then the student might be put on a "waiting list". I don't know if that is an empty threat or not- but since the deposit is refundable up until May 1st, I thought it made sense to pay up- So while you do not have to commit to attend prior to May 1st, you do have to put down some refundable $$ before that date to hold your spot.</p>

<p>I assume that you have until May 1 per soozievt and nytheatermom. The acceptance letter "encouraged" my daughter to submit a $300 tuition deposit to "reserve" her place in the entering class but did not make clear what that really meant. The letter did make clear that the deposit is fully refundable until May 1. The housing deposit must be made by May 15 to be guaranteed dorm housing and this is not refundable.</p>

<p>My daughter is Shoshana - very curly long brown hair. Had a big orange and brown dance bag with her. I wouldn't be surprised if the 2 of you did meet.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Thank you everyone! I've been wondering that for a while. </p>

<p>MichaelNKat, I think maybe I did meet her, and I think we were maybe even in the same dance audition group! Congratulations to her for the acceptance, that is really exciting!</p>

<p>Katie</p>

<p>The songs and monologues which my daughter performed for her audition would not necessarily be right for you. Probably the most important thing my daughter has learned about the college audition process is the need to find material that really matches you as a performer and that you can relate to. Each performer has different strengths and life experiences and the material you choose needs to mesh well with that. My best advice to you is to go to your local bookstore and plant yourself in the drama section skimming plays you think might be of interest. Even go through monologue books to get some ideas of interest but make sure to focus on materials from actual plays, avoid overly popular material and read the entire play, not just the excerpt. Talk to your english or drama teachers at school and others who know you as a person and have familiarity with plays. Talk to music and voice teachers about songs but avoid songs that were popularized by "name" performers or which are from currently running shows. Go to your local library and take out music you can try on your own. Pick material that will showcase your talents and enable you to communicate to the auditors a bit of who you are as a person through the way you relate to the material. Good luck!</p>

<p>hi, i also auditioned at uarts on Dec 2, but i have not heard yet. All of my materials were in at the time of my audition. I did, however, recieve a letter friday that said that my application was complete, they were in the process of reviewing it, and i would hear back within a month. I trying not to read into this, but i don't really understand it, especially when other posters have gotten a response. Thanks for any help!</p>

<p>skymas, plenty of people hear from schools at different times. i knew someone who heard from ithaca 2 months before i did, auditioned the same day, and she had not applied ED or EA.....some schools like to wait till they see everyone, some don't care, and some like UArts accept some now, some later, etc. I wouldn't worry about it or read into anything. I know I heard from UArts sooner than my friend who auditioned the same day as I did, so go figure</p>

<p>Truly, there's nothing to read into. I remember getting a lot of material from UArts after my audition but before my acceptance. Because they were so adamant about sending out stuff, it really felt as if they were paying attention to me. I think they would rather have you know they haven't forgotten about you, skymas, than have you think they aren't paying any attention to you. Because UArts is on rolling admissions, there are plenty of people who get accepted at later times than others, even if they've auditioned on the same day. They're very good about getting acceptance letters out on time, so if they say within the month, you can expect that. :)</p>

<p>Anyone out there reading this who is applying to UArts for Fine Arts (or already attending)? My daughter applied and was accepted, but I'd like to get some more inside info about the program before we make a decision. She went this past summer for MT, but decided to switch to Fine Arts. They also offered her a substantial scholarship.</p>

<p>Fine Arts, as in through the art department, I assume? I'm sorry to say that I don't know much about the College of Art and Design, but if you have any questions about campus life or viable elective options within the School of Theater Arts for her to satiate her MT side, feel free to ask. :)</p>

<p>There is at least one person on the Uarts freshman journal page who is a fine arts (as in drawing, I think) major. Perhaps that will help. This link will take you directly to the journal page:
<a href="http://www.uarts.edu/admission/view.cfm?link=journals%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.uarts.edu/admission/view.cfm?link=journals&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'd also like to hear from anyone in the fine arts/college of art and design at UArts. It seems all of the comments on CC are on the MT program. Anyone out there who can give us some detailed information?</p>

<p>Is the dance dept. strong for MT majors at UARTS? Is there any crossover with MT students taking dance classes with dance majors?</p>

<p>shellipearl,</p>

<p>MT students don't usually take their basic dance classes with dance majors (ballet, jazz, tap, partnering), but are allowed to take any of the the "non-major" electives, as are dance majors, such as African Dance and Spanish Dance. Dance majors, for the most part, are not allowed to come in and audit MT Dance classes, and we vice versa.</p>

<p>I'm not sure exactly how to answer your question about MT dance at UArts. We're not weak, but there are a few of us (myself certainly included) who had little dance training before coming and get the privilege of seeing the nurturing side of the teachers in the school. </p>

<p>Am I answering the questions you're asking, shellipearl?</p>