<p>Yes, my daughter thought pre-college did help a lot with audition preparation but did also get some additional help! She did end up using a classical monologue that she was given at pre-college for her auditions but all her other material came from other sources.</p>
<p>This summer I think she will be working to make some spending money for college and possibly doing a community production if she were to be cast. She decided to just spend the summer close to home with her friends.</p>
<p>What is your daughter doing? Thank you for your well wishes and I certainly wish you and your daughter a wonderful time getting ready for this exciting process. :)</p>
<p>My Junior D. selected her courses for next year. She is taking AP English 12, AP Calculus BC, AP Government, AP Spanish (5), Corporate Economics, Health, Communications Systems and Choraliers. Music Composition 1 and 2.
With this schedule she will have 5 years of Math and Spanish on her transcript. Even for the colleges with the most rigorous academic requirements isn't 4 years of Math and Foreign Language enough?</p>
<p>I feel the course load is too heavy with all the theater and dance she does outside of school. She will also be missing a lot of classes for college auditions. Currently her average is 97. D would rather stay up till 3:00 am than do poorly on a test. Her final average will probably go down and the stress level will definately rise. Is it worth it?</p>
<p>Her guidance councelor says to take the most rigorous load she can. Can anyone with experience in college admissions comment? I'm just not sure the stress is worth it when you are applying for MT. She does plan to audition at all the top MT schools. (NYU, CMU, CCM, UofM, Northwestern, OCU)</p>
<p>My thoughts - not knowing your D or her school and I am not in admissions, but I just did a lot of research myself- is that seems VERY rigorous for someone intending on pursuing a degree in MT. If she is still debating on whether to do LA or theater, then it might be useful to have such a heavy load in case she choses a LAC. From my reading she would be well above the required course work for most schools on the list you provided. I didnt even have 5 years of math as a requirement to get into Engineering school! </p>
<p>When my D was looking at her schedule, she decided to do the 2 AP courses she could (few are offered where she goes) and then to take 2 college courses in the fall. It was a bit much as we had 5 auditions in the fall. She now wishes she had listened to mom and taken 1 course a semester. It was brutal while juggling auditions. She was trying to make her spring schedule as light as possible as she will be in 5 shows from Feb-June (3 school and 2 outside school). But it took its toll on her! </p>
<p>Also, depending on distance, if you audition on campus, they will take 1 or 2 school days (many are on Fridays) each. We actually had to petition her school to allow so many auditions and days off school. Mind you this is a National Merit finalist with a 99 average! Once she missed 10 school days (and she missed several for performances and 2 with sinus issues) we have to provide documentation of where she is going. I don't know how heavy your D's AP workload might be, but time away from class can be difficult to manage.</p>
<p>chelle - my son also took 4 AP courses senior year, including the same English and math ones that your daughter is signed up for. He has been so glad he did the AP's because, once he got a certain score on the end of the year tests, it helped him in 2 ways - he got out of quite a number of hours of required gen ed courses, allowing him to take more electives in dance or whatever, and it also allowed him to register earlier than the other freshman when it came time to register for spring courses.</p>
<p>I'm so glad you started this post...I, too have been posting occasionally, lurking often, and am glad for the companionship! My D is also passionate about MT, taking all of the AP classes, top of her class, working in theater, soccer, job, etc. That leads to one of my concerns. As an MT major, how much academic "stimulation" will there be for her? I guess that's the BFA vs BA question, but all of the schools she is interested in are BFA/audition programs. Any of you have those same concerns? Or answers?</p>
<p>We worried about that too, our D was also a high achiever academically but she has found her acting class, text analysis, and voice and speech to be very stimulating academically as well as artistically. </p>
<p>On the other hand we have a friend who was at a different school who did miss being able to study other things and she ended up transfering. So I think it depends on the school and each individual. I know that probably doesn't really help you. Just make sure your D visits the acting classes and talks to the students and professors about the academic challenges within those classes.</p>
<p>Properly taught and presented, the study of acting can be quite intellectual, indeed. I have observed a number of acting classes at my D's art hs and they reminded me quite a bit of the college classes I took as an English major. On the other hand, not every student will be satisfied taking ONLY classes in acting, voice and movement and want to be at a college or university where liberal arts are an integral part of the mix. That's why the answer to the original question varies from school to school and from kid to kid.</p>
<p>Hi sarahlsmom--glad you are joining this thread--We have been questioning this same topic: BA vs BFA but our answer was solved when our D went to a pre-college summer program--Although, she seem to thrive in this environment many students had different views. A few of the students she knew dropped out within a few weeks, knowing Musical theater was not for them and others she knew decided after the program they rather go into a BA program. As for my D we are planning to go the BFA route ( with a B.A. safety net). So if it is possible for you, maybe enrolling in a pre college summer program may help you and your D decide.</p>
<p>My S who goes to OCU where they offer a BM in Mt and VP also takes gen eds, last semester he took Governence and English com, this semester he's taking Comp II, and it will be like that the whole time. His Music theory classes, aural skills and diction classes are very intense and require alot of study and papers to write, ect. His acting has less "book work", but there's lots of preparation. Voice of course is very intense with lots of practice and preparation. And I guess the study of music becomes more and more intense as the years go on. He seems very challanged although in a different way than in high school. Even though these kids aren't taking 5 or 6 gen eds a week they are very busy, Mt or Vp is not for the faint of heart. All of this does not include building your repertoire, audition prep, auditions, rehearsals and performances.</p>
<p>I believe there are many schools with BFA or BM that offer a good mix of liberal arts courses - among the ones I've either seen personally or read about: Elon, OCU, UM, NYU, PSU, Miami, PPU, Syracuse. </p>
<p>The schools vary widely in what students take during the 4 years - take a look at this!</p>
<p>There are BFA schools that have a more rigorous general education curriculum than others... Penn State and NYU are schools that jump to mind... Syracuse has about 30 required credits outside of your major, and no one telling you that you cannot take more if you so choose... I suggest looking at the general education requirements of the different programs, and when you visit talk to students to get a senes whether the students in the program are taking gen eds because they have to or because they want to... look for programs where the majority of students have intellectual curiosity, and you may also want to look at a few auditioned BA programs at colleges that have a reputation for more rigorous academics.</p>
<p>Hi Junior Parents--I am trying to keep this thread alive. Now that we are almost in March and the summer is approaching--Is anyone applying to Syracuse Summer Pre-College Program and for the non Junior parents: does anyone have experience with this program other than what I have read in the Syracuse thread by MichaelNKat? Also is everyone prepping for SAT's? It seems to me from listening to others that SAT's are not that much a priority ( as long as they are decent) in acceptances but it is mostly based on auditions the auditions? Can any of the Senior parents out there comment--has anyone not been accepted on the base of SAT's scoring/academics??</p>
<p>I can only answer for UMich. You have to be accepted academically first before you can schedule an audition, and their requirements are quite rigorous. There may be more schools like this, but I only have experience with UMich.</p>
<p>My son is a senior and just recently completed his auditions. He continued his intensity in all areas: academics, MT training, SAT prep, performing, volunteering, student government. He told us that when this process was over, he didn't want any cards left on the table and felt that he needed to push hard in every facet of his resume. When applying to a broad base of schools, you may find a mix of BA programs looking more at the academic transcript and BFA programs, weighing heavily on the audition. Best to be as prepared as possible for all scenarios.</p>
<p>In my experience, BFA MT programs and some BA MT programs that are part of a University or LA college have a bifurcated admissions process. A student must be accepted academically by the admissions office and artistically by the MT/drama department. What varies is the weight given to the academic piece and whether the standards for the academic piece are the same for MT students as they are for other departments. For example, Emerson weighs academics equally with the audition and is a true bifurcated process (my daughter received an academic acceptance letter noting that her accepatnce into the MT program was pending her audition). Carnegie Mellon, on the other hand, candidly admits that 90% of the admissions decission is based on the audition and that the academic standards for their BFA programs are relaxed as compared to other of their programs. And then there are BA programs such as Muhlenberg's where admissions is is no different than for any other major and the audition is optional (and used for scholarship purposes at Muhlenberg).</p>
<p>All of which leads me back to the comments made by earlier posters about starting the process early. In my opinion, this can't be emphasized enough. In my daughter's case, this is the schedule we used:
1. Late summer and fall of Jr year - SAT prep. Identify long list of potential schools and set up testing schedules (SAT's, SAT II's) based on schools' requirements. In my D's case, just SAT's were required and SAT's were taken November and December of Jr year to get them out of the way.
2. Winter of Jr year, identify probable short list of schools for purposes of setting up visitations for the spring.
3. If you can afford the time and expense, visit the probable "short list" in the late winter and spring of the Jr year. This enabled my D to evaluate whether the school was a place she could envision herself living for 4 years, meet with the drama department to get a sense of "fit" and obtain insight into what they look for in a student and at auditions. As a result of the visits, she was able to come up with her definitive short list.
4. May - June of Jr year, talk to teachers about recommendations. Get their committment early to avoid teachers feeling over committed and potentially less inclined to agree if asked after the start of the Sr year. Find out how you can get the recommendations to them before the start of the school year so that they can do them in a more relaxed (and hopefully thorough) manner before the Sr year crush.
5. Ok, here's the tough part for parents. Applications for the upcoming cycle start to come out in July. Do everything you can to encourage your kid to have the applications completed and sent out by the middle of September. Your kids may complain vociferously that it is the summer and they want to "chill" but they will thank you profusely come the fall and winter of Sr year when they are totally immersed in preparing for and attending auditions and don't have to worry about their applications. During the summer, your kid should also be searching for suitable audition materials.
6. Get recommendation forms into the hands of teachers and High School forms into the hands of the guidance counselor as early as possible. In my D's case, this was taken care of 2 weeks before the start of school with the result that all HS materials and recommendations were out by September 15th. This beats the fall crush and can avoid delays or procrastination by teachers and GC's. Also, things get lost by colleges and this gives your kid plenty of time to get second copies sent if necessary. The number of schools that "never received" parts of my D's application materials, thereby requiring second mailings, was startling.
7. As early as possible, schedule audition dates. You don't want to get closed out of a date you prefer. Some schools require that applications be in before auditions can be scheduled. In my daughter's case, we scheduled her auditions by the first week in October which enabled her to get the sequencing she wanted and specific dates and times that worked best for her.
8. December through February of Sr year - auditions. My D did not apply ED anywhere so this worked for her. Schools with rolling admissions were scheduled earlier than the others. This also enabled her to focus on audition prep without interruption from Sept to December.</p>
<p>As may be obvious, I was a bit nutty about micromanaging the logistics of my D's application process. Our kids, however, have an application process that requires exponentially more time and effort than a traditional academic application. At the same time, they still must attend to their high school class work and responsibilities. Attenuating stress by planning ahead is so important to enabling our kids to focus on the critical audition process. By creating a timeline and sticking to it, the process can be spread out so as to alleviate time pressures and distractions that can make the audition process even more stressful than it inherently is. Good luck to all of you. You are about to embark on an exciting journey with your kid. It will be a real roller coaster of a ride but worth ever moment of it that you share with your son or daughter.</p>
<p>In the past we have hired a college consultant to help my other children with the college selection process-none of which were theatre majors. Although the consultant was excellent and made the college process a bit easier, I am not sure, if utilizing a general college consultant is the way to go with the MT endeavor. Are there consultants out there that specialize in MT process? Are there any in the mid-atlantic region? Or Do you feel the better way to go is just to get a MT coach (if there is such a thing??) or an Acting Coach?</p>
<p>We used a well regarded local college consultant to assist us in identifying schools for my daughter's "long list". While the consultant had a lot to offer about many of the factors that go into selecting colleges and could recommend schools that are known to have good programs, she had very little to offer about the substance of specific MT programs or how to evaluate and differentiate the programs. Simply put, performing arts is such a different world from mainstream academics that you need a college consultant well versed in performing arts to give you anything of depth.</p>
<p>We found that pouring over school websites and visiting each school prior to my D's senior year to be of infinately more value than what a generalist college consultant could tell us about MT programs. In addition, my D attended summer college programs for high school students at 2 of the schools she was interested in. While she did that primarily for the experience and training it gave her, it also gave her an "insider's" view of the school and its MT faculty. Also, our D's voice teacher and acting coach are working professionals who either on their own or through their contacts were able to provide us with a lot of valuable info. Then, of course, there's this Board which provides opportunities to talk with current students. </p>
<p>There is also a guide called "The Performing Arts Major's College Guide" written by Carole J. Everett, the former director of admissions at Julliard. I think the most recent edition is the 3rd edition published in 1998. Some of the info is dated but it is the only guidebook I am aware of that provides actual in depth info about specific programs with recommendations about their strengths. It also has a ton of other relevent info on how to prepare to be a performing arts major and what to expect in the application and admissions process.</p>