<p>Just received my acceptance letter in the mail today! I couldn’t be more excited! I want to connect with future MSU MT majors! So comment below if you’re planning on attending!</p>
<p>I think you’d have better luck connecting with actual students if you created a private FB page. There are more parents than students here on the MT forums, at least!</p>
<p>Although you can’t post the link to it here, you can PM it to the students (or parents of) who are “in.” </p>
<p>Just a suggestion…</p>
<p>Congrats SavannahSmiles. Good for you. My son also received his acceptance letter the other day. He is extremely excited.</p>
<p>That’s fantastic! I am so completely thrilled, I have heard nothing but amazing things about the program and Clay James! I am committing within the next couple of weeks and hopefully visiting the campus and sitting in on some classes soon as well! I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I’ve heard of several more boys getting rejected than girls so far, so congratulations to your son! Is he planning on attending? Or is he waiting to make a decision?</p>
<p>Hey SavannahSmiles! I just got accepted! Clay James called me this morning! I’m ecstatic. See you in the fall :D</p>
<p>I have never seen a more disorganized musical theater program in my life! The auditon was run haphazardly. The whole admission processs is a mess. My son is still waiting to hear back - it’s April 23 and no word from them. He has some friends who have not heard back either. We have tried contacting the school, but no one gets back to you. Really makes me want to have my kid go there - NOT!</p>
<p>Unfortunately I am afraid I have to agree with collegemomxtwo’s assessment. We met Clay James at a college fair last summer and were so impressed with him and with what he had to say about the department.</p>
<p>However, they have simply been terribly disorganized from the beginning. We sent in all of our paperwork and check for D’s audition fee back on November, as soon as we received word that she had been granted an audition. That in itself was a bit of a feat because we had a hard time getting the school to find her SAT scores that had been sent directly from the College Board. We finally had to fax a copy, which they accepted.</p>
<p>When she arrived at her audition at Unifieds in February, there was no record of any of the paperwork nor the check having been received. Naturally I had copies of everything (transcripts, letters of recommendation) so she was fine, but it did concern me. I wrote another check and she had her audition.</p>
<p>She still to this day has not heard one word from them despite several phone calls and emails. Fortunately her online account did change to “WL MUTH” so we found out she was wait listed that way, but I would think that the courtesy of at least an email or snail mail wouldn’t be too much to ask!</p>
<p>Needless to say, she’s already committed to another school, but I feel this treatment of a student who has put in a lot of effort to audition for your school is completely unprofessional and unacceptable.</p>
<p>To those who are going to Montclair for MT,why did you choose their program I have been checking into the school itself and a have not heard great things.</p>
<p>Wow, well I have had a completely different experience with the school entirely! Montclair State was my top choice because of all of the wonderful things I heard about the program! I auditioned at Unifieds in Chicago and it was completely organized and run very smoothly. I heard mid March that I had gotten into the program and I couldn’t be happier. As for contacting the school, my mother and I have been in constant contact with the school and Clay James since my audition and we are impressed with the timely manner as to which we have received responses and help. None of my application materials got “lost” and it all was extremely organized. As to why I chose the program, first of all it has only been a BFA program for 6 years and has already received recognition as one of the top twelve BFA programs in the nation. It’s proximity to the city is extremely convenient which allows the student to concentrate on school without too much distraction, yet to also go into the city whenever he/she would like. I had the privelege of speaking to a few students via Facebook and a couple were transfer from “Big Name” colleges and told me that they liked MSU’s program so much more and they felt more growth and development than they did at their other schools. The fact that MSU does NOT have a cut system is also fantastic! Also, you don’t have to audition to get a BFA, if you get into the program that is what you will receive. There is no graduate program, so it is fair competition for leads and roles in musicals and plays. Clay James also gives kids the opportunity to participate in professional events and industrials outside of school. Last year, some kids studied Musical Theatre in China and London. I also got the chance to talk to several graduates and they have nothing, but wonderful things to say about the program! All of the grads I have spoken to have been successful in landing jobs and agents and credit Montclair for preparing them. Not to mention since the program became a BFA program it has increased by 50-75 more students auditioning to be a part of the program each year. This year MSU auditioned over 600 kids to the BFA MT program and had a 3% acceptance rate. I think that speaks for itself. If it wasn’t a great program it wouldn’t audition over 600 kids a year and continually be increasing in size! I had a great experience with MSU and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be attending in the fall!!</p>
<p>I just want to clarify and reiterate that we were VERY impressed by Mr. James and by the program itself. I think it is very much an “up and coming” program and its proximity to New York while still being a “traditional” campus makes it very attractive. Its reputation for offering great training continues to grow. That’s why D chose to audition for Montclair in the first place.</p>
<p>Our only complaint is that they haven’t been at all responsive via email or phone, they lost her initial documents and they have still, to this day, despite an actual phone conversation with Kim Whittam, never received any official word concerning her admission (wait list) status. Ms. Whittam said that a decision had been made but she wouldn’t tell her what it was and said that she would need to wait until she received notification from the Admissions department. </p>
<p>As I said, we eventually found out via the web portal, but I believe it is extremely disrespectful of a student’s time, money and feelings to completely ignore them and not extend the courtesy of any sort of response.</p>
<p>tracyvp,</p>
<p>I have to say that I agree with Savannah here, and I know I’m biased because I’ve also been accepted, but one of the reasons WHY I was accepted was because of my constant contact with the department and Clay. I feel that if you contact them first, they will respond, and within a reasonable amount of time. Also, I checked my online status every day, so that helped in the process.</p>
<p>I think something that we all have to remember here is that Clay is also a professor and that he has to run classes and teach and direct. Im sorry your audition experience wasnt all it was expected to be.
I love the program. Ive flown up from FL to see shows.
I may be bias too since im going to be an MT there too, and both of my parents are alumni</p>
<p>Can anyone speak about the college feel at the campus specifically because of so many commuters? What is night life like and are there school functions and activities in the evening?</p>