High School Class of 2012/College Class of 2016: Student updates

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>Hi MT parents! It is January. What have you learned?</p>

<p>My D had a wonderful first semester that opened many doors for her. She was delighted to be cast in the Spring Musical after her first audition. She is preparing a duet with a friend for Freshman Showcase, doing regional Summer Stock auditions, and planning to help at the Senior Showcases. </p>

<p>The majority of her friends are performers of one kind or another because these are the kids she meets in classes and does projects with. I wish she had more free time to expand her social circle, but I’m sure that will come later. There is definitely little to no time for a serious dating relationship anyway.</p>

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<p>Report from NYU Tisch NSB:</p>

<p>I’ll make good on my promise to write after I finally had a chance to see my daughter over this break. Please somebody else chime in after me since I hate it when I’m ever the last word in a CC thread. (Too much pressure :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>My daughter just finished her first semester as an MT at NYU Tisch. I’ve got her schedule in front of me and she has 13 classes/week that she juggles some of which only meet 1x week but all of which have homework including papers to write every week. (So anyone who thinks studio classes have no homework… wrong.) These classes include studio classes: Private Voice lessons, Ballet, Voice, Song Performance, Sight Singing, Acting, Vocal Performance, Music Theory, Contemporary Dance, Keyboard and Speech. Academic classes include: Writing the Essay (NYU’s version of Freshman English and it is widely hated btw) and Intro to Theatre Studies (ITS which is a history class.) Some of these classes will change next semester and she will also add an elective course into the mix. </p>

<p>She is busier than she ever has been in her life. As I mentioned in another thread, she has a lot of non-major friends from her floor and her a cappella group. This adds great variety to her day to day but it does mean that her crazy schedule is a 1-off in comparison to the majority of her friends. When she first got to school, she did talk with some envy about the number of MTs that she’d see arriving for class in established groups because they knew each other either from the dorm or from their PA high school or summer program etc. When I expressed (mom’ish) concern her answer was: “I just need to find my people and I will”. It didn’t happen on day one but certainly now I can tell you, she found her people and has many very good friends in her program. </p>

<p>NYU is a big program especially when you also add in the students in the other acting studios who could be in acting and academic classes. The MT program itself has 60 some odd students in the freshman class. (Rumor has it that they may be making the program smaller going forward because of space issues). My daughter thinks she knows all 60+ now though not all of them are in her classes (classes are in small groups) and they are not all her friends at the moment. So for other CCers that report, “S/D loves everyone in their program", at NYU, that is awfully hard to say and have it be true which is a big part of the program’s appeal if you are a student that wants a bigger world. It’s hard for the MT program at NYU to ever feel small and “my people” can be found for everyone because there are a lot to pick from. </p>

<p>Like other schools in New York and NJ, NYU freshman experienced Hurricane Sandy first hand this fall. Electricity and classes were out for about a week. It certainly made for a freshman year to be remembered. NYU along with lower Manhattan was in darkness (some emergency power) and my daughter was one of the kids that could not go home (West coast) so she spent that week with other refugees. Luckily the NYU kids could walk out of the darkness because there was power beyond 34th street which also meant Broadway Shows were up and running. My daughter and some of her MT friends took advantage of the situation to go stand in line for student rush tickets which is something that they live in the right place to do but rarely have the time to go get because of their class schedules. </p>

<p>NYU students cannot audition for shows freshman year. She got into a great a cappella group so she gets her performing fix with them this year. She did say that she is SO glad she decided to do a cappella (almost didn’t for fear of the time commitment) because of the friends, friends of a cappella friends, friends in other a cappella groups, friends in visiting a cappella groups etc. that came from that experience. Do it if you can would be my advice based on her really positive experience.</p>

<p>Finally I’ll end with her answer to the question that I’m sure all of us parents ask our kids, “so do you love it?” Her answer: “Mom, all of my (high school) friends are getting that question and all of us agree: College is like (insert her high school name) except it is even more work. Most of my teachers/classes are amazing. I’m learning a ton. I have great friends that I love, I’m in the city of my dreams…but it is more school. Nobody loves school.” </p>

<p>And I know that “nobody loves school” will possibly trigger some debate in this forum as others have clearly indicated their student “loves XYZ college”. I’ll leave it there for now except I want to be clear that she is not saying that she doesn’t love studying MT @ NYU. NYU is a fabulous school and a unique educational experience that she is beyond grateful for and we are certain was the right choice for our daughter. </p>

<p>Now somebody else please post so this won’t be the last word!!!</p>

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<p>Thanks, halflokum. These “Freshman Experience” type threads are SO valuable. I’d love it if more parents would follow your lead here, and give us reports.</p>

<p>My son, a HS senior, has been hearing lots of “college is so much better than high school” from returning alums. Since he detests his high school and refers to it openly (i.e. at school) as “kid jail” I hope he finds a college he LOVES. And joins an a cappella group there.</p>

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<p>^^prodesse I’m sure your son will find a college he loves and will use the word LOVE to describe it. My daughter’s HS looks and functions very much like a small college right down to the brick buildings with the ivy growing all over it and it was academically intense and most of the kids went on to big name schools. So when she and her friends say, “college is like XYZ high school except there is more work” it is coming from that perspective. Believe me, I understand the get out of “kid jail” sentiment. I felt the same way myself and LOVED college in comparision but I certainly didn’t go to a high school anything near like the one my daughter attended. My son is a junior and at at a different HS, I think he’ll be wanting out of kid jail too when the time comes.</p>

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<p>I’ll chime in for my NYU D who didn’t make it into the MT program. She was disappointed, still wonders about it but has come to love her acting studio (Atlantic). She takes dance at a studio close to campus ($15 for 90 minute class- at her level) and as her advisor said in April, you won’t have to take tests or worry if you’re sick and can’t go dance. She found a voice teacher that she schedules around her life and the teachers. She LOVES her Writing the Essay class and teacher, but she is also an academic kid. She loves the city and has taken advantage of being in the city.
She has studio all day for three days a week (9-6) and academic classes the other two. She always was the kid who told me everything and I’m hearing very little details. I know she loves it and she can’t picture herself anywhere else.
Her word of advice to those who have asked, be open to any studio at NYU- the opportunities at the school are amazing.</p>

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<p>@foukidsmom, if it is any consolation, my daughter really envies the acting classes that the actors get in studios like Atlantic and wishes her schedule included them. (She is an actor first). I agree with your advice about being open to any studio. I would not be surprised if my daughter branches out in the advanced studio years but time will tell. My daughter is also very academic and an excellent writer but got the short straw on her WTE teacher so it has been more of a chore than a learning experience but that happens. Her ITS teacher was hard, one of the few that actually had a final exam along with a final paper but was an excellent teacher and she really learned a lot in that class.</p>

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<p>Is it okay to post experiences about acting programs that are non-MT here?</p>

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<p>I’d say an enthusiastic “yes”. Many students that are applying for MT programs are also considering acting programs at the same time (my daughter was last year).</p>

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<p>D4 s a freshman majoring in acting and playwriting at Fordham. She went through an evolution last year during the application process, discovering that the program she most wanted to attend was Fordham’s auditioned BA program, not a BFA, as she had thought for years. She went through seven auditions, including Fordham’s, and was glad to be accepted into both majors (playwrights send their writing sample in advance and are interviewed extensively during auditions.) Fordham seems to be one of the few schools where she can double focus on these disciplines, both of which are extremely important to her. There is one other Freshman playwright. D4 is one of the few who have been accepted to both majors. </p>

<p>Fordham has a core academic requirement (for the whole school; theater majors fall under this umbrella.) She had 19 credits this semester. (I’ve never heard of a first semester freshman being assigned 19 credits.) Her courses included Acting and Collaboration, with a “lab” for each, a required freshman Comp II course, a freshman seminar sociology course called Black Popular Culture (which was fantastic-- she even decided to keep the rental textbook at the end of the semester.) And Italian 1, which met five hours a week and progressed at breakneck pace. For contrast, D3, her sister, took the same Italian course at Juilliard this semester. She didn’t find it easy, but the Juilliard class moved at half the place of the Fordham class, covering half as many chapters. Fordham students are required to take the “exit” level of a language, which means D4 will be in Italian through level 4. </p>

<p>First semester freshmen can’t audition for mainstage shows, and D4’s run crew assignment conflicted with most of the student shows she would have been able to audition for. She ended up doing the hefty run crew assignment and ADing a thesis show by a senior directing major. Being the AD was a lot of responsibility, and she was not sure how she would fare, running rehearsals because she’s never done anything like that before. But she loved it, and discovered something new about herself. Her director apparently liked her work, and spread the word. So, D4 recently got a call from another senior asking her to assistant costume design a production. She has no experience at all with costume design, but will look into the proposal, as learning these aspects of theater will make her a stronger actor/playwright. Most of the professionals she looks up to in the theater world wear more than one hat-- acting, directing, writing, producing. </p>

<p>None of her academic courses were easy, and she was pretty exhausted by the end of the semester. There were a few auditions for mainstage and student productions at the end of the semester which coincided with her exam days. She felt wrung out from all-nighters and got only one callback. That’s tough, and she was mulling over the possibility of not being cast all year (there are more auditions when she gets back.) I pointed out that many programs don’t allow Freshmen to be cast at all. And of course she has her theater classes (three next semester.) I would love her to do a summer theater program, but she may end up taking Italian at Fordham just to get some of that out of the way. She wants to make sure that in her later semesters she will be able to focus on theater and not be playing catch-up with academic core classes. </p>

<p>Other stuff: it’s great to live in NYC, but she has not had much time to explore. She’s been to a few plays, but most of her time has been spent working. Her sister lives in NY and goes to school a few blocks away; they were looking forward to spending time together this semester, but as you can guess, that didn’t happen much. </p>

<p>Next semester she has 3 theater courses, including playwriting (which is being held at the ungodly-- for a writing seminar-- hour of 8:30 AM.) She’s excited to get back.</p>

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<p>I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s posts. Thanks for the updates.</p>

<p>My D is a theatre major at Northwestern. She is really loving it, which is so wonderful, both for her and for me. She is my third child going to college, but my first for whom the college is an obvious 100% ‘match’–and I have to say it’s a noticeable difference. My other two went to excellent colleges, but they were not 100% matches in the way Northwestern is for her, each for their own reasons. I don’t know how much of that can be planned and how much is serendipity though. But she is just happy and vibrant nearly all the time (at least so far!). She DOES love school, I have to add–she says one of her favorite things about Northwestern are the classes & the learning. She had this amazing Shakespeare class this past quarter she loved, for instance. She did see a lot of plays as class assignments, and loved that too–she saw professional plays in Chicago, professional Shakespeare nearby, and mainstage and student plays on campus. She uses her work study money to help pay for these expenses. </p>

<p>I do have to add that she is 20 and really feels that her age gives her an advantage in balancing her work load (I’m not saying this in response to anyone’s post here, only to repeat what she has noticed herself). Of course, this is personal for her, but to those considering a gap year, you may find that information helpful. Many of her classmates are still working on time management and it impacts their stress levels, grades, and sleep–she would have really struggled herself two years ago. Again that’s personal for her, but she’s very glad she took the gap year. It helps her navigate her very busy schedule, which included mandatory stage crew for the mainstage play (Freshmen get one quarter the first year, and she was assigned Fall), as well as a Work Study job, in addition to her classes. She also really loves her classmates and clicked with many from the get-go. I don’t mean this to sound all rah-rah–I’m just happy it’s a match for her so far, as my other kids had more difficult transitions. </p>

<p>Freshman can audition for mainstage and student plays whenever they want–there are three cycles of auditions, fall, winter and spring. Northwestern has many opportunities in both mainstage and student run, MT and straight. She auditioned in the fall and got four callbacks but no roles; still, she was pleased she got the callbacks. She’ll audition again this winter and is excited by all the opportunity. She misses acting a lot and is going through a bit of ‘acting withdrawal’ so hopes she will be able to land a part in the winter. Northwestern doesn’t start intensive hands-on acting classes until next year. There are many opportunities though–for instance, she could have taken a Commedia dell’arte class but unfortunately it conflicted with her schedule. There are also spring break and summer acting opportunities she’ll apply/audition for. SHe’s also busily applying for internships for the summer!</p>

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<p>I have not posted in CC for a while and incidentally, it was exactly a year ago that I joined the CC family. And I was in panic mode then seeing all the posts about auditions and we had less than a month for my D’s audition. Luckily and happily, she made it to her dream school – NYU Tisch NSB (after first 4 rejects which was scary of the 7 schools she applied to).</p>

<p>Echoing Halflokum’s comment (her D and my D had met and FB friends but not in any same class), NYU had kept my D busy both academically and artistically, with all required readings, studio days (all activities mentioned by Halflokum) and, more recently, being the latest recruit of a co-ed a cappella group (there are 8 groups in NYU!). She has also developed her set of friends in her dorm and has been watching shows time permitting (queuing up as early as 4am for one really good show!). There is always something to do and people to go with. It also helped that she met her roommate years back in one of theater conference they both attend in NYC and have a lot in common. D likewise experienced Hurricane Sandy first hand and had to walk 29 blocks up to midtown for a hot meal and charge her phone. For a time, our only communication was through FB – thanks to wifi despite the power failure.</p>

<p>While she has not done any work-study program yet, she look forward to some internship this summer and has started applying for one. First semester was for her to adjust and she had managed well so far. Weekends are normally dinning out and homeworks.</p>

<p>One thing she missed though, of course, are the beaches and warm weather, having lived in a tropical island. During this winter break, despite the airfare cost (especially for 3 college kids all coming from East Coast), she travelled more than 3,000 miles to be back home and tell her stories. D remains “stars-struck” with the personalities she met in NYU – as her professor, friend of her professor, students staying in the same dorm, etc. For spring semester, her elective is jazz piano with a prominent pianist. She wouldn’t ask for any other school to go to - so far, she is enjoying her NYU and NYC. And already looking forward to study abroad on her junior year – UK is beckoning her, somehow!</p>

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<p>I’m having such a blast reading all of your updates! So far, in general, it looks like the HS Class of 2012 is adjusting well to college life all over the US!</p>

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<p>Hey everyone. I haven’t posted on here for a long time, but wanted to give you an update about life as a BFA MT at SUNY Fredonia. The first semester went very well and I’m so happy I ended up where I did. This semester things definitely got more intense for me. I’m taking three dance classes (Ballet, Modern, and Tap 1), German and Italian Diction for Singers, Voice Lessons, Recital Seminar, Piano class, Musical Appreciation, Introduction to technical theatre, Acting Studio II, Scene Shop, Acting Lab (where we get to be Guinea pigs for the directing class) as well as English Composition my one Gen Ed for this semester. For those of you keeping count. That’s a grand total of 24 credits, but I couldn’t be happier to have the opportunity to focus on my work like this. I’ve also gotten very involved with the student run Performing Arts Company and am a member of the E-Board. We put on two full productions a semester, as well as bringing in masterclasses to help us get the most of our education. What I’ve really come to learn is that your education here is what you make of it. A third of our class are on probation from not passing their juries, and that’s not the professor’s fault; when you go into this career field you have to be ready to throw yourself into it and make sacrifices, because they pay off. SUNY Fredonia has offered me so much; we may not be the best known school, but we have an amazing faculty that knows how to train talented, hard working students. There’s something here that you just can’t get anywhere else, something that can’t be described, but this school gives us something to bring to the table in the professional world that you can’t get anywhere else. Even in a recent masterclass with an alum, she couldn’t be more proud of where she came from and the training she’s received here, and she’s been constantly working, so what more can you ask for?</p>

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<p>Any other High School Class of 2012/College Class of 2016: Student updates now that the kids are months from finishing their FIRST YEAR in college! Can you all believe it?!</p>