<p>Daughter got into OCU, Syracuse and Cap 21 summer programs. Looking for guidance in figuring out which one she should attend.</p>
<p>Hi and welcome to the forum. I can tell you that if you look at the top of the page where some of the schools have there own section, I know there is a discussion on the summer program in the OCU area. Good Luck!</p>
<p>My daughter attended Syracuse’s Summer MT program the summer of 2006. I have posted about her experiences on the Syracuse sub-forum. I believe there has been some restructuring of the program. If you look into it, inquire about the amount of time spent on voice. When my daughter was there, while musical theater performance work was of course done, the bulk of the studio instruction was focused on acting and dance.</p>
<p>Mine was set to attend Syracuse’s summer program in the summer of 2007 and guess what? They cancelled it! It was quite a shock to have that all settled (where she was going, etc.) and then find out that the program was not being held after all. I felt quite bad for the dean who called me personally (she called the parent of every student who was set to attend) and it was classy that she did that, but it wasn’t cool to find out in April that it was cancelled.</p>
<p>My D had a choice between Cherubs, Carnegie Mellon and CAP21. All would have been great, but she chose CAP21 as she was very interested in NYU-Tisch (even though we knew the program was not actually affiliated with the university during the summer) and wanted to see what living in New York City would be like and if she could see herself being there for four years. It helped solidify her college application choices (which turned out to be, yes, NYU).</p>
<p>ccsmom, that’s where my D is right now: NYU Tisch CAP21. Mine, however, didn’t apply tot he CAP21 (non NYU) summer program, and ended up at CMU Precollege that summer and had a blast.</p>
<p>My daughter attended OCU’s Performing Arts Academy in Summer 2008. It was a fabulous experience for her! She would have returned for a second year, but I encouraged her to try something different. Dr. David Herendeen is an outstanding person and director, and the production of “Sweeney Todd” was first class. Facilities at the university are good, and the instruction team is wonderful. The talent of the students in the program was top notch, and they were from all over the U.S. Days were long, and training was extremely rigorous, but my daughter loved every minute of it and made some wonderful friends. I would highly recommend this program to anyone with a talented, musical theatre loving child.</p>
<p>Just to follow up on NMR’s post #4, that summer of 2007, Syracuse cancelled its entire summer pre-college program, across a broad variety of areas of study, not just MT. That’s when the restructuring occurred of its entire summer institute, which resumed for 2008. As NMR says, it put a lot of students in a jam, particularly performing arts students who had to really scramble to find other programs that still had openings and the program heads felt really bad about it, particularly the timing.</p>
<p>This is heresay from a friend who attends the program:</p>
<p>A lot of really talented kids attend Syracuse, however not very many are satisfied with the program in that it spends too much time focused on dance. She also comments that the facilities are cramped.</p>
<p>theaternerd: were you referring to the Syracuse theater program itself, and not the summer program? I am not familiar with the summer program, but if you were commenting about the 4-year MT program, I have to disagree strongly with your statement.</p>
<p>My daughter is a senior in the MT program at SU. Dance is indeed an important part of the program there. My D was never unhappy with the amount of dance training; in fact she often took extra dance classes. She also feels, however, that the main focus of the department is not dance but acting. And I can tell you as a parent that all of her skills have improved tremendously as a result of the excellent training she has received at SU.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I have visited many university facilities, and I can tell you that the classrooms, studios and theaters at Syracuse are comparable to most, and larger than many I have seen. Again, I’ve never heard my daughter or her classmates (and I know most of them personally) complain that the facilities were cramped, or that they were dissatisfied with the program.</p>
<p>Parents and students read this discussion board to get accurate information about colleges; it is not helpful to pass along comments about programs you are not personally familiar with.</p>
<p>I have to agree with onstage. While my daughter is not a current student at Syracuse, she had the opportunity to work with 3 full time faculty members the summer she was there and accessed all the theater and dance facilities. Based on her summer experience, acting is heavily emphasized. The facilities are great and in many respects superior to many schools we visited.</p>
<p>Yeah I was referring to the program itself. Sorry! My friend is also finicky which could explain the reason why she doesn’t feel like she fits the program.</p>
<p>No program is perfect, and there are always a few students who are dissatisfied for one reason or another. I understand that. However, it’s an entirely different thing to say “not very many are satisfied with the program”. It’s simply not true, and unfairly puts a very negative light on what is an excellent program.</p>
<p>I’ll chime in and also agree with onstage. My D is a sophomore MT major at Syracuse and loves it too. It’s very much an acting emphasis program which is a real positive for a graduate’s future employment. You just also have to know how to dance or be very teachable in dance to be admitted to the MT program because it requires that a student have the ability to act, sing and dance.</p>
<p>Funny but I’ve never heard any of the kids make a crack about the facilities being cramped. Have I seen nicer dance studios in my life? Yes, but theirs are perfectly fine.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the most awesome thing about the facilities at Syracuse is that the drama students are housed in the building that holds Syracuse Stage, the professional LORT theatre. The kids are immersed in professional theatre 7 days a week, learning everything there is to learn about theatre from a play’s conception to closing night/ strike and everything in between. It’s a major selling feature of this program.</p>
<p>By chance, did your D do the MT precollege summer program at Syracuse?</p>
<p>Mine did not.</p>
<p>My D did not either. </p>
<p>One thing I might mention, however, is that I saw an ad in Pointe magazine earlier this year for the summer dance intensive being held at Syracuse U and I was highly impressed with the guest faculty in terms of ballet if anyone out there is interested. It appeared to me that they are trying to become competitive with some of the top summer intensive ballet programs out there. Several guest faculty were top dancers at Boston Ballet and have also danced with Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Other faculty members are SU Drama’s own dance faculty. Highly impressive if anyone is looking for a summer intensive that has really good ballet.</p>