<p>I just got my acceptance to Boston U's Summer Theatre Institute, and I was wondering what it really affected. If you're a drama major, did you do summer programs? How many of the people in your class have done summer programs? Do you think it really affects college admissions?
And has anyone done BUSTI that could tell me what it was like?</p>
<p>I’m sure people will chime in, but meantime, do a search for “summer programs” and BUSTI on this forum–you’ll find a lot! Several of us had kids attend last year. I’ll try to post later, but short answer: it was wonderful! :)</p>
<p>I said this before - and you can take away what you want from this fact. The BU School of Theater offered admission to only three Early Decision students this year (out of about 100 kids? that figure keeps fluctuating up & down, so don’t quote me on it), and all three went to BUSTI this past summer. When Regular Decision is announced, I bet there will be even more BUSTI alum given spots, since we have heard that a few were told they past their auditions and are waiting on the university to pass them academically.</p>
<p>So do all kids who do summer programs get into that universities BFA program. Not at all . . . but it surely helps! The summer kids are known to the faculty, and I think the kids might present their passion for the school better in their college essay, since living somewhere for 5 weeks lends to more knowledge of the city, facilities, program philosophy, etc.</p>
<p>But I don’t think you should go to a summer program hoping to get a leg up, but go to one to get valuable auditioning experience, and to find out if you really want a BFA program.</p>
<p>OH - and the BUSTI program is AWESOME!!! If you look at the photos on the BUSTI website my son is in a few. In one, he is just a blur in the background, where he is laughing with this HUGE smile. I hadn’t seen that huge smile since about second grade - he loved the program and has made lifelong friends.</p>
<p>I posted this when I got home from BUSTI last year on another thread!</p>
<p>"I just got back as a student from BUSTI and I can honestly say it was an amazing eye opening experience! For those looking at it for next year I highly recommend it! It is five weeks of very intensive work in various types of acting and performing, there is a focus on Grotowski’s impulse work and movement based acting, (which has changed my whole technique as a whole) also incorporating various other acting styles such as Meisner, Stanislavsky, and a handfull of others giving the actors a “toolbox approach” so they can draw from what technique works for them.</p>
<p>You work with both the staff at BU and the students as well as some outside guests so you get a bunch of people from different backgrounds. The weekdays are planned out as you have technique classes in the morning from 9-12 (singing, stage combat, voice and movement on a rotating schedule)
Lunch break then</p>
<p>On Monday from 1:45-5 you have Audition technique with a new teacher each week so you get to work with just about all of the faculty
and on tuesday-thursday you get your main acting class for the day.</p>
<p>Break for Dinner and from 7-10 you have your ensemble theater class!</p>
<p>It’s a busy schedule and the weekends are just as crazy schedualwise but it was an amazing summer and I feel so much more comfortable in myself as an actor and as a person after doing this program! So for those looking for a program I highly suggest you check it out!"</p>
<p>That program changed my life, both as an actor and person. My horizons were broadened to a great degree and I feel much more confident in my abilities and knowledge. I highly suggest it. You will meet amazing people and work with amazing teachers! Enjoy the summer!</p>
<p>josh703 - do you feel it boosted your confidence? That is what I saw immediately in my son.</p>
<p>My S has done a theater summer program the last 3 years, and is waiting on the program he applied to for this summer. He has always loved his theater summers, as he truly loves the art, and doesn’t get to spend us much time as he would like to on it during the school year because he is at a very rigorous private prep school, and academics take up a huge portion of his time. He did none of them to get a leg up in college admissions, in fact, the program he is waiting to hear from for this summer is Northwestern’s and he has no chance of being admitted to the college. He truly just wants to perfect his love of acting and he loves all the girls too…wink,wink:)</p>
<p>Marbleheader, you know that my son felt the same way. The audition skills and monologue choices were just a tiny fraction of what he got from BUSTI–and the lifelong friends are probably the biggest benefit. The confidence and experience will carry over into the first months of his BFA program in the fall. I feel so lucky that we were able to do this for our kid, and I think it made a huge difference in every aspect of his preparation for applying to college.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to attend a summer program at a school you are strongly considering. That is how my son found out he did not want to go to SCAD. (He’s an artist.) It is also how my daughter built a relationship with the professors who eventually nominated here for scholarship. Only being on the campus can help you build valuable relationships, or help you to rule out schools you were once in love with.</p>
<p>^^I think that depends on what summer you’re using, actually. Early on (after his sophomore year) we had a good experience using a summer program at a school that my son was NOT especially interested in, and he noticed that there was a lot of competitive vying for attention from the faculty (small program that lasted less than two weeks). He learned a lot, met some great kids (with whom he’s stayed in touch), and got a better sense of where he needed to improve. Then the summer after junior year, he did go to BUSTI after having identified BU as a school that interested him. He remained strongly interested, but the connection with BU per se was not the most valuable part of the experience. I would hesitate to suggest attending a summer program as way of getting an inside track to a school–although there have been some success stories coming out of BUSTI, there have also been kids who were rejected, and it can cause a lot of heartbreak if kids are convinced that the summer program will forge relationships that guarantee acceptance to the BFA. Just a word of caution!</p>
<p>^^^ I can’t argue with this. My kids daughter checked out her program very early, building a 3 year relationship. My son went for his rising Sr. summer, not worried about whether or not he would get in, but wanting to get a feel for the school. He did not like what he felt.</p>
<p>That’s actually what happened to my son in the first precollege program–he didn’t care for the school and got a bad feeling from some (not all!) of the faculty. Not only did it help him realize that he didn’t want to apply to that school, it also helped him identify what to watch for in his college search. Sounds like both of your kids made wise decisions. And how much better to find out that you don’t like a school in the summer than if you land there as a freshman!</p>
<p>My son did not do a traditional go away summer program but has spent his summer immersed in theatre. He was a counselor at a drama camp for 4 years (which helped him develop his love of teaching) and last summer did a (local for us but not for everyone) program that was more intensive. My daughter spent her high school career doing the same (now she has to earn money so that does limit her options!).</p>
<p>Marbleheader-I feel like BUSTI did a bunch of different things for different people in the program. For me it really laid a groundwork for exploring my acting. I hadn’t really had much in formal training at my high school and while I’ve been performing since I was really young, I hadn’t really developed technique. BUSTI broke down my bad habits and set me on the right path for figuring out what I needed to work on afterward. And everyone I’ve worked with this year after the summer has said how much of a difference they see in my acting. And I owe all of that to BUSTI. </p>
<p>Alyrose- What has been mentioned before a program like BUSTI really helps you see what different kinds of BFA programs are like. Before attending BUSTI, I was planning on going into Musical Theatre, the program gave me a new appreciation for the art of acting and made me realize what kind of environment I wanted to learn in and it helped me figure what I wanted to do with my career. Now I’m set on a degree in Acting! I’m a junior now, and while Boston is a stretch for me academically, I still plan on applying next year. </p>
<p>I’ll be doing a summer program at Guildhall in London this summer, to cut my teeth on some more classical work and see how I like living abroad!</p>
<p>London?!?!? Josh, that sounds incredible. I think everyone should do the classics, and what better place than London!</p>
<p>You sound like a pretty mature guy, Josh. Best wishes to you!</p>
<p>Do it. I attended CMU’s Pre-College program-not only did the classes immensely help me grow artistically, but spending an extended amount of time surrounded by my (for the most part) ridiculously talented peers encouraged me to push myself when it came to my work and comfort zones. Also, it was so awesome to show up to just about every single audition and see someone I knew from Pre-C. My friends who attended similar programs (Northwestern, BU, NYU) all raved about the same fundamental perks. Of course, weighing which programs are best fitted for you is another discussion, but overall I can’t encourage doing a summer program like the one you’re considering enough.</p>
<p>The CMU program is wonderful. My only warning – don’t go to that one because you think it will get you a leg up on getting into CMU. What is liable to happen is your kid will talk about their acting teachers Don and Tony as if they were their favorite uncles, every time you’ll be watching something on TV or in the movies your kid will point out to you the CMU actor in the show, your kid will come home from summer with CMU pajamas, sweatshirts, etc. (so that is why the debit card needed more money every couple of weeks?) and when the calls go out for CMU, your kid will agonize more than any of the other kids trying to get into CMU because your kid will already feel like CMU is their school and not getting the call will feel like something they already have is being taken away as opposed to just not being offered an acceptance. </p>
<p>Who knows about the status of calls but, at this point, no kid who was at pre-college this summer for acting has gotten an acceptance. </p>
<p>I’m sure I’ll feel differently two weeks from now but right now I’m wishing I’d sent her to some other school than CMU’s pre-college last summer!</p>
<p>Just want to throw in my two cents here. My ds auditioned for two of the well known summer programs for the last two summers and got into both, one for MT and one for acting. In the end, we and he felt they were a bit too expensive for our budget. Better save for college. That said, I would have loved to send him. We did have him do some acting coaching this year and had some help with monologue and song selection which was invaluable. Maybe about ten hours of coaching, maybe a little more. He has had good results, so while summer programs can be wonderful for all the reasons discussed above, it is possible to find success without them. Just as an aside, my son was a late bloomer in terms of singing and having his voice settle. I am not sure that I would have wanted his potential college profs hear him sing between sophomore and junior year. It was just not happening for him vocally at that age.</p>
<p>Acting Dad, yes, that is also a downside. It can work both ways.</p>
<p>alyrose, I don’t argue with the many posts about the intrinsic value of summer pre-college programs, but I want to answer what might be your unstated question: can you get into a good BFA program WITHOUT doing a summer program? Sometimes CC can give the impression that the only way to get into a “top” conservatory program is to devote huge sums of money and time to classes, coaching, and camps. Do those things if you can afford them, enjoy them, and learn from them, but don’t feel it’s necessary OR any kind of guarantee. My son was accepted at CMU for acting a couple of years ago without going to any pre-college programs, without private lessons or an audition coach, but with experience in school productions and a few summer classes and productions at a local youth theater. He never did a full-time conservatory-style program, so I did wonder whether he knew what he was getting into at CMU. Turned out he loves it. But that might be the best reason to do one of these programs–to see if you really want to be in classes and rehearsal 16 hours a day for weeks at a time.</p>
<p>KarmaM – you make an excellent point and one I often make about summer programs. A BFA training environment is not for everyone. Several CMU kids have chosen not to pursue a BFA program after experiencing it this past summer. Better to spend between 2500-6000 for a summer program and find out its not for you than to find out 1st year after paying a lot more in tuition.</p>