<p>Bwaybound- I too am happy to hear that the school made such a positive impression on you. For future reference there is more than one bus from Newark airport to Allentown, Look for the Transbridge busline next time you go. They run pretty often, although if when the bus gets to Newark from Manhattan and it is already full you sometimes have to wait for the next bus. That happened to my D a couple of weeks ago, and she was not happy.
Transbridge is cheaper than the one operated by Continental too. Oh, when my H and I first went to Allentown we wanted to fly to NYC, and had our travel agent buy us a ticket on Continental. We got to the airport for our "flight" and were given tickets that said it was leaving from gate bus. We asked where gate Bus was, and the nice woman pointed to the curb.....</p>
<p>My D is planning to do a semester abroad in Sydney next year. It is very complicated because we don't know what kind of training she can get through the school there, but she has her heart set on it. She feels that even if she can't take acting clases she can find a private voice teacher and still get some dance classes. I will let everyone know how that gos once she gets some info.</p>
<p>it is just an amazing school! love it! funny thing too, my dad and i thought that we were taking a flight from newark to allentown! but it was strange how it left 30 minutes prior to departure! but really it was a blessing in disguise, i loved the drive! I hope she has a good time in sydney. my cousin actually spent a semester there last year and loved it. she was a dance major at colorado state and was able to get in a lot of dance. i know it might not be the same college, but at least there is the opportunity to keep up dance.</p>
<p>oh i forgot to mention, show A LOT of interest in muhlenberg!!! during my interview, my interviewee was SHOCKED that i flew all the way from texas for just one school on the east coast to visit. I think she got the idea that I was really interested.</p>
<p>BWayBound - you're preaching to the choir here... anothermom is from California, and we live in the Chicagoland area; I think they are actually very impressed and moved when they seem an interested student come from so far away.</p>
<p>Where in Texas are you from? I grew up in Houston; then went to UT.</p>
<p>ah, we lived there a year while my husband was doing at post-doc at UT-Southwestern Medical School. My daughter who attends Muhlenberg was born in Dallas... actually Irving.</p>
<p>I also still have a brother that lives there.</p>
<p>small world! i was born and of course grew up here in d-town. i love it here but i'm afraid the east coast is calling my name! it was great talking to mr. richter since he went to SMU and was a director at theatre three and was happy to hear that it's still around.</p>
<p>D has mentioned only one person currently at Muhlenberg from the South (that she's aware of)... someone from New Orleans. Welcome to the minority. You'll learn to begin questions with, "Are you from Jersey, New York, or Pennsylvania?" She has heard there are a couple of people from the Midwest... one from Milwaukee, and one from Chicago 'burbs.</p>
<p>My S is EXTREMELY focused on theater and he was recently accepted at Muhlenburg and elated. His big fear factor is that he would find spoiled suburban type kids who are just there to play and not commit. He comes from a small upperclass town in New York and does not want to repeat the same high school experience. I do not want to appear curt but I think you all know what I am talking about. It APPEARS to be a fantastic program and I was wondering if the appearance is as it seems. His other concern is that he would not be exposed to a diverse grouping of people. Is the main population of Muhlenburg from Jersey and Pa? He was also accepted at Syracuse University but Muhlenberg has offered a full scholarship.</p>
<p>I am confused. If your son is already admitted to Muhlenberg and to Syracuse.....to my knowledge, this would only be possible at either school under their respective Early Decision admissions process. For Regular Decision applicants, neither college will have yet sent out decisions. Was your son an ED applicant to Muhlenberg? Was he an ED applicant to Syracuse? You can only apply to ONE school through ED and in fact, ED is a binding agreement and if accepted, you must withdraw all apps to your other schools. Can you clarify as I do not understand? Thank you very much.</p>
<p>I hoping that coming from the south will help a little since not many people are from the south and possibly they want a little more diversity. I'll be saying, " I'm from Texas, y'all!"</p>
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My S is EXTREMELY focused on theater and he was recently accepted at Muhlenburg and elated. His big fear factor is that he would find spoiled suburban type kids who are just there to play and not commit.
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<p>The first thing I'd say is the only way to find out if he thinks it is too much like high school is to spend some time on campus, with students. Does your son know that aside from theatre, the most highly sought after major is pre-med and that the school has one of the highest percentage rates of med school acceptances across the country? </p>
<p>But, yes, most of the kids are from Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. D2's roommate is from an Allentown suburb, but goes home every weekend because she needs to continue working for money (her family has very little), so that doesn't fit the 'spoiled suburban type kids'.</p>
<p>D1 attends Syracuse, and while this may be attributed to my daughters' different personalities, people would definitely describe D1 as the more spoiled suburban type girl, as opposed to D2 at Muhlenberg. D1 chose the Greek life, D2 will not. Both are extremely happy at their respective schools.</p>
<p>Syracuse is much more diverse than Muhlenberg, but again, D2 is happy as a clam at Muhlenberg (I always joke that if either one were to marry someone of a different race, it would be D2).</p>
<p>I guess I, too, would like to know how you applied ED to both schools?</p>
<p>My D's roomate last year was from Georgia, so there are at least two southern folks there.</p>
<p>As for diversity on campus, I believe Muhlenberg is truly interested in expanding cultural diversity on campus. Is there much now? Not really, but the multicultural center seems to always be offering opportunities to learn about different cultures. As for where the students are from, the majority are from the tri-state area, but my D's friends are from Colorado, Massachusetts as well as New Jersey and PA. And the theatre kids do not go home much on weekends, they are too busy dancing and singing and acting themselves silly!</p>
<p>yay southern folk! My tour guide was actually a dance major from MA wanting to do MT. She said how she really didn't have much time for doing anything but dance!</p>
<p>I suspect that one of the reasons this thread's posters have such a strong southern (and West Coast anothermom) representation is that if it weren't for this web site, we would have never found out about Muhlenberg. Those who live on the East coast are more likely to know about Muhlenberg, so they may not use this web site.</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to Muhlenberg and offered both a talent and a president's scholarship--woohoo! We just sent her commitment letter today. She felt she had to wait until she'd heard from EVERY program she'd applied to before deciding, but she really loved 'Berg from the start. But about that diversity issue: we visited last weekend (to see Zanna Don't--amahzing, as Seth Rudetsky would say!) and had breakfast with a girl, a fellow drama student who graduated from my daughter's high school two years ago. She said there's a tendency for students there to be somewhat sheltered, from similar (read: upper middleclass) backgrounds. She (and we) had noticed an undercurrent that certain parts of Allentown were dangerous or unsavory (not our experience--great ethnic restaurants, an awesome farmer's market, not to be missed!), but she was trying to get the school to work out better transportation into those areas to help develop a more symbiotic relationship between "town and gown." My D's friend didn't feel it was a problem, but felt it could use improvement.</p>
<p>We were also at the accepted students day on Saturday. My daughter was disappointed to learn that freshman may not take acting classes. Does this sound right? This is a real issue for her.</p>
<p>This would be unsettling for my D as well. If they don't take acting classes as freshman, what do they take in their major? Also, does anyone know if they can audition for productions as freshmen?</p>