<p>does anyone have feedback about the differences between the interlochen and uarts summer high school musical theater program? My daughter has been accepted to both and gathering more data to help seal the decision. I like uarts since it is also one of the colleges which she will be applying, however, that should not be the sole factor for her decision. She is a sophomore now. thanx,</p>
<p>My D (a hs junior) decided on UARTS for this summer for their precollege MT program. My D wanted a program that was focused on training and taught by the faculty of the school. She wanted to experience some of how a BFA program would be. She was also very interested in getting together audition material and being able to do a mock audition with feedback from the faculty. UARTS is also a school she will apply to in the fall. She was not concerned about attending a program that put on a full production at the end since she has many performing opportunities at home. As a side note she will have either been in rehearsals or in a show beginning last November up until the night before she leaves for UARTS in July.</p>
<p>Also, we visited UARTS last summer when we were touring colleges in the east (we are from SoCal) and D loved the city of Philly and really wanted to see how living there would be. She loves the fact that it is close enough to New York that she will be able to take the train to meet up with her uncle there on a couple of weekends. </p>
<p>I would also suggest you send a PM to Michaelnkat as his D is a current UARTS MT student that also went through the summer program and he is a great source of information on UARTS and Philadelphia.</p>
<p>I attended the UArts summer program last summer. I would be MORE than happy to answer any questions you or your D has or just give you feed back on the program! Feel free to PM me!</p>
<p>well, i am a uarts student AND an interlochen alum!!!</p>
<p>i think the question you (or your daughter) must answer is, where would she rather be for the summer? would she rather be in a city filled with tons to do and a fairly independent dorm life or would she rather live in a cabin set-up with 13 other girls in a more rural area? either answer is fine. there are advantages to both. i went to interlochen before 10th and 11th grade and then did the carnegie mellon summer program the summer before 12th grade. i liked at carnegie mellon being in the dorms and having more of the college independence, especially since i would be starting college the next year and it gave me more of a sense of what to expect. however, i loved interlochen so much. it is in the middle of nowhere, but there are such advantages to that too. beautiful beaches, lovely concerts every night, it’s a very very special place. so either way, you really can’t go wrong. pm me with any more questions about interlochen and uarts. both places, the training will be great!</p>
<p>thank you to all… i will be sharing this information with my d later tonight…she is hooked on interlochen for now, but i agree with your daughter the junior - that it is valuable to work with the college faculty now to prepare for the college auditions. Last summer my d went to rutgers for their summer mt program and also got a great understanding of the different programs that colleges offer and loved the training too. She is so excited to have been accepted to interlochen that seems to be overshadowing the uart program…
we live in nj and phila is so easy compared to michigan…</p>
<p>Antoinette…perhaps if your D is so excited about Interlochen, she could go there this summer and do a pre-college program, such as UArts the following summer. Then she gets to do both!</p>
<p>thank you soozievt - that is true - she is only entering junior year - she does have next summer too - do you think that colleges look at the pre college summer programs when considering applicants?</p>
<p>Antoinette,
My strong opinion is to choose to do summer activities that you want to do first and foremost over any perception of what you may think would look good on the application/resume for college. Just so you know, my child, who is about to graduate from a BFA in MT program, never attended a pre-college program. What I DO think is beneficial, however, is to do summer theater programs of any sort (doesn’t have to be a pre-college one but could be) for the chance to be immersed in MT 24/7 to get a feel for what that is like and to meet others who are talented from all over the country who also share a similar passion. But also, another reason is purely for the training one will get in any of these programs. It is not so much what is on the resume but what you did in those activities that landed on the resume…the experiences themselves. And so in THAT regard, colleges would look favorably upon any theater arts training such as a summer intensive (theater camp or pre-college) and know that the student is serious about the field but also that the student has garnered some significant training experiences in those programs. But it doesn’t matter WHERE one trains, but only that they DO train. It is the experiences and training that will matter in terms of one’s preparation. Colleges will see that but not care so much WHERE you did it. And it is not so much that it is listed on a resume but what you gained in those activities. </p>
<p>In my view, if you can afford to send your child to a summer theater intensive, perhaps your D would go to Interlochen this year and if she loves it, she may return next summer again or if she prefers, she could do a pre-college program next summer. This is not her only summer left, in other words. Often, those in pre-college programs are rising seniors, by the way. My own daughter went to a theater camp for 8 summers (not with college in mind but out of sheer interest in attending) and she never changed course in her summers right before college as she loved her theater camp and would never think of making a switch, nor was it necessary to attend a pre-college program. She had a successful BFA admissions outcome. A pre-college program is NOT necessary but it is a good experience. Basically, any theater training, particularly a summer intensive, would be a good thing for your daughter and so it seems like either option she has is great and again, she could opt to do one this summer and another next summer. She truly ought to pick whichever program she most wishes to attend. And then see what she wants to do next summer later on.</p>
<p>I’ll second Soozie’s opinion about it being the quality of the training that matters, not the specific environment in which it takes place. My son, too, spent his summers at theater camp, and was incredibly well-prepared for auditions. The skills he honed and the performance resume he amassed are both quite impressive, as was the letter of recommendation from the camp’s production director he included in his admission package.</p>
<p>Not for one minute or with one program did we have a sense that the lack of a specific pre-college program hurt him in any way. On the contrary, alumni of the camp are very highly regarded in the college MT community, and the feedback we got was that the schools would be very happy with another kid from there, as would be the story with Interlochen.</p>
<p>I don’t think your daughter can go wrong, Antoinette. If she’s desirous of a college atmosphere now, so be it. If she’d like more of a camp environment, that’s good too! I don’t believe she’s getting accepted or rejected to an MT program based on where she spent her summers…it’s what she gets out of them that will matter, and that will directly translate into how well she auditions.</p>
<p>thanx again to all - I think some of my question stems from speaking to many of her senior friends in mt had a really hard time getting into mt bfa programs…we have decided to send her to interlochen, actually never said we wouldnt - I was just poking around for other’s experiences.</p>
<p>Your daughter will love Interlochen Summer Camp! My daughter spent 4 summers there and enjoyed every wonderful minute of it. She still keeps in contact with many of her bunkmates, even after not seeing some of them for 6 years! Your daughter will make many wonderful memories this summer! Great choice!</p>
<p>Sorry to reply to my own message, but I just saw this article on the Interlochen Academy home page!</p>
<p>[Theatre</a> Student is Academy’s 40th Presidential Scholar | Interlochen Arts Academy High School](<a href=“http://academy.interlochen.org/news/theatre-student-academys-40th-presidential-scholar]Theatre”>http://academy.interlochen.org/news/theatre-student-academys-40th-presidential-scholar)</p>
<p>i have one D who is finishing boarding school at the interlochen arts academy, having done her jr. and sr. years there as a theatre major, and another D who will be at interlochen for the first time this summer for the six week MT intensive. interlochen does a wonderful job training students in their areas of interest and developing them as creative, responsible, interested citizens. I know there are several strong programs from which to choose during the summer. Interlochen is among the best.</p>
<p>Putting aside for the moment the question of “Interlochen v. UArts” summer programs, it is important to keep in mind why one should or shouldn’t attend a summer MT program. I would summarize it as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Do it because you desire to get the focused training and experience which is offered.</li>
<li>Do it because it will be a more fun, rewarding and gratifying way to spend your summer as opposed to other worthwhile activities that may be available to you. If you are a typical h.s. student involved in MT, your school year is a packed, highly scheduled life between school, training and shows. A summer MT program is also packed, highly scheduled and intensive. Make sure that is how you want to spend your summer as opposed to something else that gives you more opportunities to relax and decompress. Attending a summer program does not give you a “guarantee” that you will be accepted into a college MT program, so make sure you are doing it because it is something you really want and will enjoy.</li>
<li>Do it because you want an immersion experience in MT related activities with a load of other highly talented students.</li>
<li>Do not attend a program because you believe that the “connections” you make will increase your chances of acceptance into a specific college MT program. To illustrate, my daughter attended both the UArts and Syracuse summer MT programs. She met many very talented and motivated students. Many of them applied to UArts or Syracuse and were not accepted.</li>
</ol>
<p>As to a college related program v. a more “camp” like setting (and I use that term loosely), I suspect the differences have little to do with the training and experience received as opposed to the nature and context of the settings. I think one would be hard pressed to qualitatively differentiate between the level of training and experience a student gets at the UArts, Syracuse and other college connected summer programs and that which is received at programs such as Interlochen or Stagedoor Manor. There will certainly be differences in the atmosphere, structure, focus and experiences between various summer programs but at the end of the day, all of the known quality programs are going to provide a high level of training and experience for a h.s. student. Pick the one that fits your budget, seems to provide what you are looking for and will be an enjoyable setting in which to spend your summer.</p>
<p>In my daughter’s case, she chose 2 college connected programs because of the desire to experience in general what life might feel like in a college MT program. She chose programs at 2 of the schools on her list of schools of interest so that she would have the opportunity to experience the professors there and get a taste of what life at those schools could be like. She chose UArts and Syracuse specifically because of a combination of location, cost and summer schedule. Obviously, experiencing a 4 or 6 week summer program is not the same as what it is like to be in a college BFA program, but attending the summer programs gave her some good insight about what to expect in general and some extended experience with the MT faculty at each school. Coincidently, my daughter was accepted to both UArts and Syracuse (as well as other schools) and the opportunity to have experienced life at 2 college connected summer programs greatly assisted her in evaluating her options and making a final decision. Her experience at the UArts summer program was pivotal in concluding that was the school she wanted to attend.</p>