<p>Help - I need your expert advice.</p>
<p>We are planning college visits this summer but not sure what order is the best route. I know I'll have to double check with schools as far as visits but I would appreciate advice on best order. Steinhardt, Syracuse, Ithaca, CMM, OCU U of M. Also, how important is it to visit prior to auditions? Do you think it makes a difference as to attend the auditions at school or unifieds?</p>
<p>Thank you for all your info - so helpful for us upcoming seniors.</p>
<p>An additional question from me - are summer visits valuable. It would be easier to see the campuses prior to the school year, but with the student/faculty on break, do you really get a "feel" for the program.</p>
<p>illinisue: Summer visits can't give you a true reading. You end up looking at a bunch of empty buildings, dark theaters, etc. It is much better to visit when students are there. When school is in session, you can sit in on classes, do a "stay-over" in a dorm, and see productions. All very important elements in a MT school. However, if summer is your only time, it is better than nothing.</p>
<p>Lexismom: What do you mean by order? I don't know your geographic location, so it is hard to dispense advice. In my experience, if a school has a combined Open House/Info Session on the same day as an audition (Steinhardt, U Mich and Syracuse all do), then just one visit is enough. In our case, we ended up visiting some programs more than once, but it is different for each individual. You need to carefully check open houses, audition dates and performance schedules for each program. If you live wthin 2 hours of any of your choice schools, by all means take advantage of any free time you might have.</p>
<p>Unifieds or Not? This is also covered on many old threads. Some schools prefer an in-person audition (like U Mich). Most have no preference. Again, make sure you check this out with admissions staff. I know many kids (including my own) who got acceptances via the Unifieds.</p>
<p>There are many old posts (some very detailed) on visiting these schools. Maybe some enerprising CC moderator or computer-savvy CC kid can compile archives on this topic into a new "bumped' thread.</p>
<p>A couple of years back,when we were in Michigan for my daughter to go to Interlochen, we stopped at U Mich (which is 4 hours away from Interlochen). It was fine to see the music school and get a sense of the size of the campus, but it is not comparable to visiting when school is in session. </p>
<p>I would tend to believe the same is true for the other schools as well, even though some have summer programs. Syracuse, for example, does have an MT summer program. But still one would not get the real flavor of the school. </p>
<p>So it is not ideal.</p>
<p>Lexismom,
If you are afforded the time and opportunity to visit schools during the school year, then it would be well worth it. However, you don't see much going on in the summer and your d would probably not get a real feel for what the school/program is really like. My d and I visited each school she auditioned for on the audition date only, but each school had tours, info sessions, and current students available to answer questions. We felt like this worked for her, especially since we don't really live anywhere close to any of the schools and travel is expensive. This is also the reason she decided not to do unifieds, so she could see each of the schools and cities to which she was applying. We usually took the whole weekend, so we could do a little sightseeing as well. Good luck as you begin the college search!</p>
<p>We have done many college visits, and I believe summer is better than nothing. We did Chicago schools 2 summers ago and upstate NY schools last summer. Be sure you can schedule to talk to someone in theatre as well as the admissions office before scheduling to go in the summer. We found the visits in summer to be helpful because we planned ahead with people in the department. The advantage to going during the school year (which we have done in many locations) is that you can observe and meet students, possibly see performances, and observe classes (very helpful). We wanted to visit schools before deciding where to audition. It has been worth it! Also, now we will have the flexibility of choosing unified auditions or auditions in other cities rather than always going back to campus.</p>
<p>To clarify my previous message, the ones we saw in summer were MT's under theatre dept's or just drama schools. Of course, some schools will be under the school of music, so plan and schedule accordingly. The only way summer visits are effective, in my opinion, is if you can talk to someone in MT and not just to the admissions office.</p>
<p>Also, as previously noted, some schools will require (OCU) or prefer (Michigan) for you to come on campus for the audition, so you could consider waiting until audition date to see the school. My son is a junior now, so we haven't been to any audition days to see what they are all about.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with Ericsmom that summer visits are better than no visit at all, but do make sure that you get to speak with someone in the department you are interested in. Again, we chose to visit campuses on audition dates; therefore we did not do any unifieds, and of course, some schools require that you audition at the school, but visiting prior to the audition and then doing unified auditions makes sense also. From our location, it just wasn't feasible to pay for all the extensive travel more than once, so we made the best of it and I think my d came away from each audition with a good feel for the campus and program. I do know that some people have waited until decisions come in to visit or revisit campuses they have an interest in and spend more time sitting in on classes, talking to students, etc., so this is perhaps, another option to consider.</p>
<p>we visited a couple of schools in the summer. and it's probably not optimum however, our college days during the school year are very limited. just make sure you make an appointment with someone to tour you and talk to someone, preferable the head, in the mt department. one thing about summer, if the dept. chair is around, he has more time for you.</p>
<p>I'm bumping this so trill can see the previous thread that has same topic as new thread.</p>
<p>bumped for notmamarose</p>