Musical Theatre- Comparing Top Choices

@Crazy2024BFAMom - I’d love to message with you since our kids seem to be looking at Roosevelt and Molloy!

@Crazy2024BFAMom
@Dance3Looks3 and @TexasMTDad are right about the trains from both O’Hare and Midway to downtown Chicago. That is what kids usually do when they fly back and forth to Roosevelt. @Dance3Looks3 is also correct about the CTA pass that is included in CCPA’s student fees. It costs about $150 and covers city trains and buses. Very useful, including for transportation to extra dance classes at Lou Conte and Chicago auditions.

Since you are coming all the way from LA (oof!!), you might also want to factor into your Chicago/NY comparison the time change (2 hours vs. 3 hours), the length of the flights, and the cost of hotels. Another consideration might be a summer storage rental, so that you don’t have to haul the big stuff back home. There is a place 2 blocks south of the dorm called Devon Storage at 615 S. Wabash that is very convenient. Roosevelt has huge, wheeled boxes that you can load up and push right down the street to the storage space.

@frisbee3 @“2kids2dogs&aclass” @secondtimemt @minnmtmom @AbigCurveBall @Abutilon

So how much should personal connection with the incoming class and their desire to connect be important in making a decision?

@CBSQandA I am interested in hearing info about Hofstra too. If anyone emails you directly could you forward info to me? Thanks!

@RVCVRN1 @MTMom2024 I saw that you were looking for some information on Arizona. This probably won’t be much help but my D and I went and visited the school/program when she waitlisted. First, let me say we are from Michigan and it was March…however, the campus is beautiful! It felt like a vacation destination. My D sat in on classes, and she will be happy to tell you about them if you think it would help. We saw a Shakespeare play(can’t remember which one) and it was very good. When I was waiting for my D at the end of the day, I watched a combat class they were holding outside. Impressive. The program has a lot of crossover of MT and Acting. That was something she really liked about it. Hope this little bit help.
Also, @MommyMT has a D who is a freshman at Oklahoma and maybe she can give some insight.

@frisbee3 When my older daughter went through this she had formed opinions about the other accepted students she was meeting on social media, and she didn’t like a lot of them and it freaked her out. After the second week of school though she said she was wrong about all of them and that they were the best people she had ever known.
I think they are all in different places about what they are showing about themselves as they get to know each other in snapchat groups online. None of that is the whole person. Maybe a better indicator is what is your child learning about the vibe of the program from the current students?

@SingerDancerMom - I think what’s she’s struggling with is one school overall seems much more enthusiastic about communicating about the school vs another option that few current OR accepted students in the groups are interested in connecting so it is freaking her out a little. She thinks the less enthusiastic schools program is probably more what she’s looking for in an MT program but she wants to be excited about meeting people,finding a roommate,etc and it’s holding her back from making a decision. I know it’s a difficult time but she’s getting anxious about making a decision and was just wondering how many had kids that had that help make their decision or not.

@frisbee3 My son is definitely thinking about this. But I don’t have an answer - should he be? I don’t know. But just looking back at his time in school - the class cohort really made a huge difference. So maybe it is justified?

@MI3rdClosingAct Thank you so much. After your daughter visited, did she feel like Arizona was the place for her?

@MommyMT - would you mind sharing your OU experiences?

@frisbee3 I know the connection with incoming students is a huge factor for my S. He made a pro con list yesterday for his 4 options and the lack of connection in the snapchat group for one school was a big negative compared to a couple of the other options where he has had some really good communication with the group. The excitement of the current students to share info about the school/program is the other factor he is looking for. He is very laid back about the grades aspect and even curriculum to a certain extent (they all are offering very similar classes throughout the 4 years), but the social aspect and connecting with the people he is going to spend all this time with is huge for him. Good luck!!

It is such a different world with the connecting via social media before they even meet in person. But now without accepted student days I guess it becomes important. Then theres the added stress of “finding a roommate”. Some schools let you choose and these poor kids go right into stressing about that! At the UMICH meet and greet a Senior girl mentioned her biggest struggle frosh year was connecting with the other MT students. Interesting right? In bigger programs with more kids you may not have that issue but when there are 12 boys or girls that you have to chose from…statistically that could be tough. Its almost like family you cant “chose” them…LOLs good luck! 2 of my Childs friends transferred from their MT programs b/c they thought the kids were “weird” so it can happen!

@MTMom2024 She loved the program however two things…she never came off the waitlist(she was sad) and it was far away and not easy to get to from Michigan. She felt the training would have been great at Arizona. It is that traditional campus that she knew( Michigan State grad for parents) She picked Western Michigan as she felt it was the right place for her, the training is strong, it is less money and family and friends have been able to see her in performances.

Does anyone happen to have some insight on Otterbein University? My S loved his audition experience. We met and spent some time with a few of the faculty members at Chicago Unifieds and they have given him a very generous financial aid package. It checks a lot of boxes but the unknown of not stepping on campus is killing him. Any insight would be appreciated.

@TheatreDad69 - doesn’t Otterbein only take like 6-8 people a year? Your S must be insanely awesome. I don’t know anything about it outside of that. I had heard they take the smallest classes, which may be good, but hopefully he likes those other kids for the next 4 years

@TheatreDad69 there are 2 parents of Otterbein sons on here but I can’t remember their screen names. I DO remember that their sons LOVE Otterbein and so do the parents!

@MI3rdClosingAct Thanks so much for sharing that. The logistics of travel and cost are certainly important and they are becoming more important each day! I hope your daughter is absolutely loving Western Mich. I have heard SO many great things!

@StanfordAI2019 Yes they take a small class. Last year was 16. 10 women and 6 men. He likes the idea of a small class and a small school. We shall see.

@TheatreDad69 I believe @gatorbridget has an S at Otterbein

@frisbee3 and @Crazy2024BFAMom The year that my S went through the decision process, Molloy (Rebecca) helped get an accepted students snapchat started. I think she had one student who committed that volunteered to get it started. I’d contact her to see if they’re doing anything like that or if she can help get something like that setup. Perhaps the other school you’re considering does or could do the same?

Additionally, if you are looking for current students to connect with, I could get you connected with my DS who is a sophomore (Molloy) or I bet @JavaJo would help connect you to her DD who is also a sophomore.

I agree that the cohort is important to the kid’s experience. Although Molloy splits their total class (just heard they are targeting 32-36 over on the Molloy/CAP21 thread) into different smaller classes, they aren’t specifically 2 separate cohorts or whatever - they have different people from their total group in their classes - so they might have different folks in their acting class vs. their vocal performance class for example. I’m sure that each year is a little different, but I can tell you that the group in general are very warm and engaging. DS felt it from the moment he walked into the CAP21 Studios when we toured. He has many friends in the program and just like anywhere, there are a few that aren’t people that gravitates to.

@TheatreDad69 One of my students absolutely loved Otterbein, particularly Thom Warren, who he met at CAP Atlanta. Unfortunately, he got called back but scheduled it as one of his last auditions at Unifieds and did not do well. He was getting sick and had lost part of his voice and it just wasn’t a good audition. He was VERY disappointed, but has kept his communication going with Thom and has reached out to him to ask for some advice about his other choices. After he got back from CAP Atlanta, he did a lot of research on Otterbein and started communicating with Thom. The only negative thing about Otterbein he found (honestly) was no AC in the dorms. LOL - being from Texas, that’s a little worrisome, but he checked with some other students there and apparently they only really need it for a few weeks. The heavy 5x a week dance schedule was exciting because that is the main area he needs to work on. Thom wasn’t at Chicago Unifieds because of a show that was going up but he is newer to the department and has Broadway (performance) experience. I think one of the reasons that he connected well with my student is they are both character actors. Even though his audition pieces were not character-driven for CAP Atlanta audition, Thom seemed to recognize that in him and they had a long talk about that. Thom immediately (more so than probably any other director so far) seemed to see his “type” and know what to do with him. That was exciting.