Summer Program Help?

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

I’ll be a rising Junior this year and I was looking to attend a summer program this summer. The four main options I’m looking at right now are MPulse, Pace Summer Scholars, UNCSA, and CCM. But there are a lot of decisions to be made.

UNCSA does not require an audition, so basically, if you sign up, you’re in. But this year they have limited space due to dorm renovations, and their website states “Please do not wait to register.” The deadline isn’t until April 15, but I’m not sure exactly when spots will fill up. It also has a 300 dollar non refundable deposit at the time of registration.

I want to audition for MPulse and apply for Pace Summer Scholars, and MPulse priority decisions come out February 28th and Pace has rolling admissions so I should expect to hear back about three weeks after I submit my application.

My parents and I are deciding right now whether to audition/apply for MPulse and Pace Summer Scholars with the risk I won’t get in (especially with MPulse since it is such a reach, I know I have extreme slim chances but I don’t think it could hurt to audition) and then that by February 28th UNCSA spots will fill up and I’ll have nowhere to go except for CCM, which is by audition only, too, so I don’t know if I’ll get into that one, leaving me with nowhere to go this summer.

We’re also considering the option of putting in the 300 dollar deposit at UNCSA, waiting for MPulse and Pace Summer Scholars, and if I miraculously somehow get into one of them (very very slim chances but worth a shot? This is a completely hypothetical scenario) withdrawing from UNCSA, which will seem like a waste of 300 dollars, but if you consider that UNCSA is 4,000 dollars and both Pace and MPulse are around 3,000, I don’t think the 300 dollars makes much of a difference. But also, will spots even fill up that fast at UNCSA? Is it too much of a risk to wait until the end of February to register?

Also, I can’t audition for CCM unless I give up the option of UNCSA completely since I don’t think CCM decisions come out until April (someone correct me if I’m wrong) which is when half the non refundable tuition for UNCSA is due. Should I just give up UNCSA completely and try for MPulse, Pace, and CCM? I’m not exactly sure what to do here, as I have three options

A. Audition/apply for MPulse (very slim chances) and Pace Summer Scholars and wait until the end of February when decisions come out to register for UNCSA and risk that the spots in UNCSA ran out and have nowhere to go

B. Put in the 300 dollar deposit for UNCSA, audition/apply for MPulse and Pace, and if I somehow by the grace of God get in, withdraw from UNCSA, and have the security of knowing I’ll have SOMEWHERE to go for sure this summer

C. Give up UNCSA and audition/apply for MPulse, Pace, and CCM knowing I have a high chance of not going anywhere this summer

I know I’m being very presumptuous with that MPulse/Pace Summer Scholars scenario, but I feel like I have to consider every situation there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Additionally, if anyone has information about Pace Summer Scholars, please let me know! Based on their website and the few reviews I could find on CC, it seems great, but I haven’t heard about it until recently so I’m not sure what its reputation is.

2

One of the things to consider is MPulse is only 2 weeks, while the UNCSA program is 4. We didn’t look into Pace, so don’t know anything about that one. My daughter did the UNCSA summer drama program last year and absolutely loved it. I was a little concerned at first, since there was no audition component, but that has no reflection on the quality of the program or the students there. We’re currently looking at summer programs right now as well, and she feels like MPulse is just too short. I know that probably doesn’t help too much with your specific question you asked, but hope it gives you a little more info to help in your decision making.

3

My daughter did the UNCSA summer intensive in 2017. It allowed her to experience a conservatory schedule / environment and the faculty were some of the college professors. She absolutely LOVED it and is now in a BFA program pursuing an acting major.

4

@magictodo - You may have already made your decision - but I’ll still share a few thoughts.

  1. Keep in mind that attending a particular’s school summer intensive does not really get you an “in” to be accepted at that school.

  2. Not to muddy the waters, but have you looked at The Performing Arts Program (TPAP)? My son was accepted to both MPulse and TPAP, but went to TPAP (two summers). He absolutely loved it. He is now a 2nd year acting major at UNCSA.

  3. Look at your schedule, the cost, the location, etc. All of that is important.

5

Our daughter already got her acceptance email for the musical theater insensive at CCM, so they have a quick turnaround. She also applied to Texas State, Florida State, and Penn State, but we accepted CCM before those results came back. Good luck!

6

Hi everyone I just wanted to let you know if you are still looking for an unbelievable summer theater program I have heard that the Summer university theater experience (SUTE) is still accepting applications. My son did the program and learned so much and had a great time. It was virtual last year and like most of the other summer programs this year it will be virtual again, but the program is outstanding. This is the list of the faculty: Baldwin Wallace - Vicky Bussart, Boston University: McCaela Donovan, Carnegie Mellon - Gary Kline and Catherine Moore, Chapman University - Tamiko Washington, DePaul University - Jason Beck, Hartt School - Tracey Moore, Otterbein University - Lennie Leibowitz, Pace University - Julie Lawrence-Edsell and Bob Cline, Penn State University - Tyler McKenzie, Syracuse University - Christine Albright-Tufts and Rebecca Karpoff, Texas State - Kaitlin Hopkins, University of Michigan - Mark Madama and Gillian Eaton, UCLA - Joe Olivieri and Linda Kerns, UNCSA - Quin Gordon, USC - Anita Dashiell-Sparks and Kenneth Noel Mitchell.