<p>I realized i added this to the end of the "Big List of Summer programs" thread, by mistake.....</p>
<p>My D and I are in the process of looking at pre-college/independent summer programs and looking for any current opinions thoughts. We did read through the entire thread, which was helpful, but a lot of the particulars are a year old or older.........we would love to hear from anyone who attended, or who's child attended(recently) at CMU, mpulse, the california state run program (can't recall the name!), interlochen, etc. Does anyone feel like one program is a real "value" over another.......they are all pretty expensive!</p>
<p>Northwestern's cherub program for acting is amazing. I believe its 5 weeks with an extended 2 weeks for musical theatre. It's been around forever (I went in the mid 70's) and still have students who have enjoyed it the past several years. I would definitely look into it.</p>
<p>My daughter went to the CMU summer program and had a wonderful experience. The teachers, the kids and all the classes were just fantastic! I thought most of her teachers would be from CMU, but they were not. She had one from Marymount Manhattan that inspired her so much she decided to audition there! I don't think you can go wrong sending her to their program. The classes are intense, but they all seemed to love it!</p>
<p>Also, you may wish to use the Search Function on the musical theater forum and look for particular summer programs by name as we have had many threads devoted to single programs too with much discussion and information. For instance, there are threads on MPulse, CMU Pre-College, Interlochen, and many others if you look them up. On these threads, those who have attended the particular summer program have posted about their experiences.</p>
<p>If you are interested in summer programs at particular colleges, very often the MT sub-forums for those schools have threads on the summer program.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the search tips, but I would also love a "compare and contrast" of programs by students (or parents) who have experience with more than one program. In particular, I have assumed it would be best to attend an audition-based pre-college program the summer before one's senior year so hadn't really considered Interlochen. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>anne1244 - my D has attended both audition based (BTP) and non audition based (NYU Tisch CAP21 & UCLA's Summer MT) programs, and I can tell you that things great vary from program to program. Even though Tisch's summer program was non audition based, admission was highly selective, and I found the talent of those who attended really impressive, when I attended their "end of session" open classes. Most of D's old summer classmates have gone on to attend competitive BFA's, much like those who participate(d) in BTP (a mix of high school and college students). While going through the NYU summer program application process, D and I were joking and imagining that they picked people by "throwing darts" at applications that had been hung up throughout their office. It turned out that the Tisch summer admissions group actually reads through every single piece of information one submits, and tries to select a real diverse group of kids. </p>
<p>It is my understanding that there are other, well respected, programs like CMU, who accept pretty much everyone who applies as long as you complete the application, supply all supporting materials, and observe the deadlines. Other programs apply a "first come, first served" philosophy, where sessions get filled up accordingly, and people may get placed on a waiting list if people don't submit their deposit within the allotted time frames.</p>
<p>My D loved each of the programs she attended, although she would probably consider the UCLA Summer MT Intensive more of a camp experience :).</p>
<p>BTW, things to consider, even though BTP and Tsoa's CAP21 touch on audition etiquette, they primarily focus on training (dance, acting and voice). Also, since Tsoa's CAP21 comes with college credits, my D had actual homework every night (writing reviews, essays, maintaining a journal, and doing a final presentation on an assigned topic).</p>
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I have assumed it would be best to attend an audition-based pre-college program the summer before one's senior year so hadn't really considered Interlochen. Any thoughts?
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<p>My opinion is that it is not "best" (though worthwhile) to attend an audition based pre-collegge program as a rising senior. I think you should pick out a summer program that meets what you are looking for. If you like the idea of being on a college campus and want audition prep, CMU might fit the bill. If you like a mix of intense training, along with production experience with a highly talented group of teens, Interlochen might fit the bill. No single type of summer program is better or needed to get into a BFA. While there are some positive aspects to doing a pre-college program (experiencing college life, for example), there are positive aspects to any summer theater program and it is just a matter of which one suits your own interests and needs. Each summer theater program has value in adding to the MT training of the student. The programs definitely differ but the way they differ is not really by which is better or which required an audition to get in. They differ in their emphasis or what they include and the setting and other factors. </p>
<p>Speaking from personal experience, neither of my kids ever considered a pre-college program. My MT kid had been going every summer to Stagedoor Manor, a theater training program in the Catskills. She absolutely loved it and had no desire or even no reason to change the summer before her admissions year to a pre-college program. The idea never arose as she would not think about not going back to Stagedoor and I completely support that as she loved that program and I think you should do what you love. By the way, Stagedoor does not work on audition prep for college at Stagedoor per se (though they have vocal coaching classes and so forth). My daughter did her audition prep the fall of her application year with her voice teacher and an acting coach. She didn't need her summer to work on that. However, the training she got at Stagedoor, along with the high level of production experience among a very talented group of theater kids from all over, was very significant in her development as a performer. And I must say that all her closest friends and the kids who stood out at Stagedoor (and even some kids who did not) have gone onto the very well regarded BFA programs, and some out of choice to well regarded BA programs (ie., Yale, Brown) and many have gone onto Broadway, National Tours, Off Broadway, movies, and the like. So, these kids did not do a pre-college program, but chose Stagedoor. Just an example. I'm of the school of thought that you choose activities and programs that suit your own needs, interests, and desires and the rest will follow and there is no need to choose a program because it is "the best" or "will help get into college."</p>
<p>PS...I agree with MTgrlsmom that whether there is an audition doesn't necessarily indicate the strength of the talent at the program. Like she indicates, there are many highly talented kids in the NYU/Tisch/CAP summer program that has no audition to get in (but has selection criteria) and I'd say the same with Northwestern Cherubs as well. Kids from both these programs have landed at top BFA programs.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all the tips. I had heard that there was a qualitative difference between the Northwestern Cherubs program (and it sounds like CAP 21) which requires no audition except for the MT add on and a CMU program which I also heard pretty much takes all comers. At this point, I think the length of the program and how it fits with some interesting local opportunities will be important. Again, thanks for all the great advice. There is definitely a wealth of experience on CC!</p>
<p>I am wondering if there is anyone who has attended mpulse as well as CMU or Cap21 or something similar who could offer a "compare and contrast" on them..........this is what i have gleaned so far, please let me know if i have guessed incorrectly!</p>
<p>CMU: No audition........with much emphasis on "auditioning"</p>
<p>Cap21: No audition........less focus on audition.......ending performance</p>
<p>Cherubs: open to rising seniors only..........audition............ending show</p>
<p>CAP21 itself has a summer program with admission by audition. The CAP21 program is NOT for college credit and housing is not provided, I don't think.</p>
<p>There are two CAP21 programs. One is directly through CAP21 and requires an audition. One is through NYU/Tisch and is highly selective but has no audition. </p>
<p>Cherubs has no audition for the five week theater intensive and has an audition tape for the two week MT extension. </p>
<p>I would not say CAP21 has an ending performance but rather simply "demos" similar to what college students do at the end of semester in studio classes and similar to what kids at CMU pre-college do. There is no "show." </p>
<p>All these programs involve training and in my view, that's what matters. </p>
<p>While at a place like CMU or Stagedoor, for example, that have no audition, it is true that the talent pool varies but by the same token, the most talented kids at each program (and they both have many talented kids!) tend to go onto very fine BFA programs.</p>
<p>One more thing....while some may want their summer program to focus on audition prep (and if so, find a program that does that), I personally think the training itself is a form of audition prep and builds one's skill set. You can do one on one audition prep the fall of your admissions year with a vocal and acting coach and consider the summer program as intensive MT training.</p>
<p>I know it wasn't on your original list or anything, but I would strongly suggest you checking out the 4 week summer program at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. I attended this past summer, and though it's a non-audition program,I found the training to be intensive and top notch, and everyone was extremely talented and willing to work. I learned more than I ever expected to. I found it to be one of the cheaper summer programs, and the housing is amazing. Even though it's non audition, I think it's definitely worth checking out!</p>
<p>My daughter attended both the UArts and Syracuse pre-college MT summer programs. She was subsequently accepted for MT at both schools. Her experiences at each summer program played a significant role in selecting which school to attend. If anyone is interested in a "compare and contrast" of these summer programs, feel free to send me a PM.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with Soozievt. My daughter went to Stagedoor for three or four summers and loved working with such talented kids. She went to CMU's summer program this past summer and although it was not an audition program, I have to tell you the kids were also very talented (even though they didn't have to audition). I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be paying that amount of money if my d. weren't very serious about musical theater. I also think it helped her to figure out if she was 100% sure about a BFA program where most of her hours would be spent singing, dancing and acting.</p>
<p>I would like to point out to people who think that BTP is solely dance focused, that, although BTP certainly offers extensive dance instruction for advanced dancers, all those accepted into the program (BTP apprentices) will be divided up by ability in 4 or 5 groups, from beginner to advanced. </p>
<p>For the audition it certainly will be important that you are able to move "gracefully", I can assure you that many great singers/actors audition as well, who then in turn benefit from getting exceptional instruction over a period of 4 weeks, something that will help tremendously going into audition season, especially if dance is actually one of your "weaker" areas. </p>
<p>Several of my D's "non dancer" MT friends have auditioned and taken part in the program for exactly that reason.</p>
<p>My daughter was in class from about 9 a.m. until about 5. They have workshops in the evening as well as homework to do for the classes that they had during the day. I think most of that ends up be researching plays. I believe sign up for workshops is on a first come first serve basis and fill up quickly. I know for sure she had ballet, jazz, singing (in a group) but you can sign up for private lessons as well as other acting type classes which I'd have to ask her to get more specific about. Hope this helps.</p>