<p>My D transferred to Montclair this year in MT. I have to respond to the above.</p>
<p>Her dorm situation is fine. The food is fine. Her internet service is fine--not wireless; every dorm room has ethernet hookup, so if you just plug in, you're fine. She has experienced absolutely no problems thus far.</p>
<p>She reports that the train into the city takes 45 minutes and is not so convenient, it's true; however, there's a bus line that takes 15-20 minutes into Port Authority, runs very frequently including on weekends, and at some times during the day leaves and drops off from Red Hawk Deck, which is the parking garage area right on campus. It couldn't be easier or quicker. She's been into the city numerous times since she arrived on campus and loves the access to the city.</p>
<p>Edge 17 is not an MT student. My daughter is there for the MT program, and she is unbelievable happy. Clay James is a splendid teacher and extremely caring mentor, as well as a fierce tap teacher. She loves the curriculum. She is carrying a ridiculous number of credits because she wants to, and she is loving every minute of it. The MT students tend to hang around campus perhaps more than the rest of the population on weekends. Remember that the MT curriculum is jam-packed and creates a very different experience!
All in all, my daughter, who was not a happy camper last year, is excited and delighted to be at Montclair. For those considering this program, do not be dissuaded by so much negative talk in these threads!</p>
<p>Momsinger,</p>
<p>I am so glad your D is as happy as mine is at Montclair!</p>
<p>Pretty much ditto on everything you said above. My D's dorm is perfectly fine, she reports that the food in general is good, and she is very picky and healthy and in her eating habits. I do not hear from her overly much or have very long conversations in general, because she is SOOO happily busy taking 21 credits and having quite a nice social life in addition to that. When she wanted to switch into advanced dance classes (she also LOVES Clay James in every way and has two classes with him, one acting and one advanced jazz) Eric Diamond was very accomodating and she got everything she wanted. She is very challenged in all her classes, and has only said mildly negative things about one class, and it is a gen ed, not MT related. Having another daughter in another college, this is miraculous in my opinion!</p>
<p>She is reading one to two EXTRA plays per week beyond the play(s) which she is required to read, plus doing research to find great monologues and songs to add to her repertoire. Almost every time I talk to her she is excited and motivated by what is going on, as well as chattering about the last time she and her friends went into the city for dinner, a jazz club, or just to shop or hang out. She and I took the bus on a weekend about a month ago so I can personally attest to how easy and quick it is. My D takes the train during the week, and now that she has figured it out, thinks it is great. She loves her MT friends and I am just so pleased by the whole situation.</p>
<p>Montclair is an underrated but definitely ascending program, and at the rate Clay James is moving to accelerate the quality and prestige of the program, I feel that by the end of my D's four years, if not before, Montclair will be recognized appropriately in the theatre world. The advantage of its proximity to New York cannot be denied. The other positive point is that even as an out of state parent, the price of Montclair is relatively reasonable in comparison to many of the other programs. The security and general niceness of the campus is wonderful as well.</p>
<p>I wonder if Edge17 is a reincarnation of jsheesh - why does a non MT student post on a musical theatre forum is what my question is. Parents, please listen to parents of actual MT students before someone who has some obvious other problem(s) with the school.</p>
<p>I "third" momsinger and dancermom -- d is at Montclair (getting ready for Les Liaisons Dangereuses this week). She has had very strong "regular" faculty (including both Professors James and Diamond), as well as great learning experiences with guest artists and directors and Master Classes. Having seen several different shows (some of which d was in, some not, so I'm not TOO biased), I was truly impressed with students both in MT and Dance. They certainly work hard and it IS a large bureaucracy, but the opportunities seem well worth it. As far as housing goes, from what I can tell, MT students don't see their dorms much anyway.. Congrats to the new Montclair MT folks; I'll look forward to seeing you in upcoming shows..</p>
<p>My freshman daughter is also happy. I don't get complaints about the Freeman. She's not thrilled about the food, but she's picky. I made the mistake of getting a mealplan with more meals and less flex spending. She was able to change it for the spring. Apparently the MT kids are so busy, she can't get to the meals and needs to swipe at the places closer to classes.
I like the fact that they have had outside 'gigs' and field trips as freshman.
It's also worked out well, that she can jump on a bus on campus, to get to Newark and the NJT train to get home easily.</p>
<p>How many people audition for Montclair? I noticed that they only had 4 audition dates last year.</p>
<p>And about how many students do they accept? And how much does this number usually yield?</p>