<p>I am the parent of a D who will be attending Hartt in the fall as a vocal performance major. She is seeking out her own info on Facebook, but I'd like the CC input.</p>
<p>Looking for any advice current students may have regarding roommate selection. Are you currently rooming with another Hartt student or someone following a different path? If someone from within Hartt, do you feel you spend too much time together? If someone from another part of the university, are there conflicts or opportunities? Every situation is depends on the individuals involved so I am just hoping to hear about some personal experiences and how you view the results. </p>
<p>Also, there seem to be many AT and MT students on CC but I'm having some difficulty connecting with voice performance majors, so if you know any who would be willing to answer some more specific questions, I'd appreciate any referrals.</p>
<p>I agree that a lot depends on the individuals. I have a son who is a Hartt student and my daughter is a music major at a different university who have had different roommate experiences.</p>
<p>My Hartt student is a freshman and his roommate is not a Hartt student. However is lives in Hawk Hall (which I recommend looking into). He and his roommate get a long great. They go to meals together and hang out during their free time. My son does have a hand full of U of Hartford friends, but most of the other kids he hangs out with are Hartt students. Since Hawk Hall is themed living the roommates have at least some similar interests.</p>
<p>My daughter, at a different school, lived with another music major (and to make it worse, the same instrument) her freshman year. That pairing did not work. It was as much their personalities as the fact that they were around each other too much. My daughter’s roommate this year is a science major and they get along wonderfully. </p>
<p>Sorry, neither of my kids are VP majors, but I will see if I can connect you with someone.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Hartt. His roommate is a U of Harford student. He and his roommate get along really well. I think is it kind of a relief to my son to have contact with a non-Hartt person. All his other friends are Hartt students. He did not find his roommate though facebook. He just let the school match them up.</p>
<p>I’ll PM you with her name so you can contact her directly via FB. Her roommate situation has been quite tumultuous for various reasons…</p>
<p>Initially, she had a single in the complexes (because her roommate-to-be got transferred into Hawk Hall before the start of school.) Res Life moved her partway through 1st semester into a suite arrangement. (Because she required a kitchen, she was a transfer, and she was older than most first-years.) Her roommate was a VP major and they got along fine. I don’t believe they had any classes together even though they were taking most of the same courses. She is now rooming with an entirely different set of suite-mates (long story) – but not because she didn’t get along with her VP roommate. That must be going well because I’m not hearing anything about it :-)</p>
<p>She primarily hangs with other VP majors.</p>
<p>dswinnh, I was unable to reply to your PM because I don’t have enough posts yet, but thanks so much for your input. Unfortunately I had a somewhat similar situation with my older daughter, a theatre major at another school. It was a rough beginning, but it all worked out eventually. She’s now a sophmore with a great roommate, is renting a house next year with 4 friends and is very happy (pretty much all I need as a parent). </p>
<p>FYI, my D has connected with a lot of current MT students and every one of them raves about the MT program! Good luck to your D as well!</p>
<p>D3 roomed with an art major freshman year and they got along just fine, although they never became close friends. Her recommendations re housing are:</p>
<p>(1) Definitely try for Hawk Hall. Not only is it a nicer facility, but the 250 word essay requirement seems to weed out a fair number of potentially undesirable roommates. Hawk is likely to have a mix of honors students and those with interests in things like community service, campus leadership etc. Each themed hallway has weekly meetings and participates in some activities as a group, which is a nice way to build community.</p>
<p>(2) If you room with another Hartt student, try to make it someone with a different instrument and positively someone in another studio.</p>
<p>Oh, and welcome to Hartt!</p>
<p>Thank you stradmom! Really looking forward to a great Hartt experience. Thanks to mom2winds and electricbassmom too! For some reason this is a more stressful process for me even though it’s the second time around, and every word of encouragement helps!</p>
<p>I’ll put in my 2 cents though D is an acting major at Hartt. She roomed with a dancer this year and it has been great-- next year they are sharing an apt. with another dancer and a VP major. D did not want to live on with boys so she lives in the complexes. Stradmom is right about the little essay “weeding people out”… but D has been very content on her floor of 14 girls. There’ll be a facebook site (I think there already is) where they all get to know each other and they will likely find roommates who match them-- the school has a good questionnaire to help match kids too. (I second the suggestion of finding a roommate from a different discipline at Hartt.)</p>
<p>Just blathering-- when I saw “every word of encouragement helps” I couldn’t help myself! It’s a great school, and your D will likely love it.</p>
<p>Thank you Gwen! My D is in 2 Facebook groups, one for Hartt and one for U of Hartford. They are slowly but surely growing as people make their final decisions. I just wanted to do a little exploring on my own : ) It amazes me how many people look, but don’t reply. I really do appreciate the input!</p>
<p>Universe, I’ll ask my D to ask her VP major friends to check the Hartt 2017 board so she can answer your D’s questions. (Once you get 15 posts on here you can pm me and some others for more specific advice, too.)</p>
<p>Thank you again Gwen! I’m trying to grow my posts and am almost there : ) I have a separate thread asking about voice teachers at Hartt so if your D has friends with any advice in that area, I’d really appreciate that too!</p>
<p>My D will be in the Dance Division this coming year. I think the roommate question is foremost in our mind…well, right after the finances. I think whether or not you have a good match makes or breaks your experience in a dorm situation. We visited UofH/The Hartt School twice to see performances and we were able to speak to many parents. Unanimously they suggested D find another Hartt School student to room with. Mostly it was due to long hours spent at HPAC and commitment to studies…the Arts kiddos are very devoted and have a stronger than average work ethic. It makes sense to me. For me, it’s knowing D and knowing that she has always been a “good” kid and hoping she finds many like her so she doesn’t feel awkward and alone in not wanting to be part of a college partying scene.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m starting to think that a Hartt student, but probably a different discipline seems like a good match to look for. Of course, ultimately it’s not up to me. If she’s not there yet, your D should join the Hartt Class of 2017 Facebook group (think that’s the name) to meet the other newbies and connect with possible roommates. Can see why you’re 1bighappyfamily : )</p>
<p>Total agreement with you both on the rooming. 1bighappyfamily-- there are LOTS of non-partying kids at Hartt. D is one, her roomie, a dancer, is another. The first year dancers are very close and D is sharing an apt with 4 of them, and a VP, next year. The dancers are too tired to party!! They dance for hours every day!!! At the beginning of the year there were a few theater kids who drank to excess, crazed with their new freedom. But that was the end of that. </p>
<p>Universe-- the voice teachers have bios, often with their websites, on the Hartt website. D is blown away by all of them, their bios and their personalities. Though of course you’ll get more from a VP. </p>
<p>Obama is speaking at U of Hartford on Monday!! (Just can’t help mentioning that!)</p>
<p>I was very anxious re Hartt vs UHa last year-- called the theater dept and they didn’t seem to understand. This year I realize that’s because-- it’s all good, it works beautifully.</p>
<p>momtowinds and Gwen Fairfax, your positive messages have been helpful and encouraging. Glad to hear of all the happy students and experiences. We’ll be up at the school again soon and take a closer look at the dorms. I’m already pulling for Hawk Hall. Heard about Obama on the news and it’s on every page of the website. We will be sure to avoid going there on Monday! Can’t imagine the traffic and security issues and I don’t think I could hold back the tears facing Newtown parents.</p>
<p>Good to know there a lot of non partying kids at UHartford, as that was a concern of my D.</p>
<p>The arts kids do have a much heavier schedule than the regular U of Hartford kids. My son took 18.5 credits both semesters this year. He says he is out of his room most days from early until late (he had an 8:00 am piano class 3 x per week). I’m sure that there is a party scene, but my son seems to have avoided it for the most part…at least that’s what he says. ;-)</p>
<p>P.S. If your daughter is really concerned about partying, there is a substance free floor in Hawk Hall. I think it’s the wellness floor.</p>
<p>We definitely need to get back up there, but we are juggling visiting several schools as my daughter really has no idea where she wants to go yet. She did not get as much of a scholarship at Hartt as she did at other schools (perhaps because she auditioned early and wasn’t quite as polished as her Jan/Feb auditions? perhaps because they don’t give academic/leadership type scholarships to musicians). She does like the professor quite a bit though.<br>
We will definitely check out Hawk Hall as an option. She already picked it out on the tour and her grades are pretty high for Hartford, so hopefully she’d get in there.</p>