<p>Theater mom
Thank you so much for your thoughts. My S is going to take the SAT again in Oct. but we are feeling a little better after reading your words.</p>
<p>If I read the thread correctly your D is at CMU and it sounds like she is happy. We haven’t looked closely into that school. Do they have a technical directing major?
My S loves rigging, fly, and carpentry, but he’s had CAD drawing, costuming, etc. Trying to find a good fit for him.</p>
<p>Thank you again for your help.</p>
<p>She did wind up at CMU and she is very happy there. They do indeed have a technical direction major. It is part of the Production Technology and Management division which also includes majors in stage and production management.</p>
<p>The program is organized differently from many theater programs. They put the PTM students with the design students for the first two years. Everyone takes design and drawing, stagecraft and PTM. At the end of the first year, they give some students the option of taking a double major in, for example, set design and technical direction. This makes it an especially good choice for someone who doesn’t want to specialize immediately or who wants more than one kind of job in the theater.</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you have any further questions and best to your son!</p>
<p>Outside Boston, College of the Holy Cross’ Theatre Department is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
A HC Alum recently won a Tony Award for Best Direction in a Musical. Alum Peter Jankowski ’86 produces Law & Order as president of Wolf Films. Alum Ann Dowd ’78 has guest-starred in House and Law & Order and appeared in films, such as Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers.</p>
<p>Last November the department of theatre at the College of the Holy Cross was awarded the New England Theatre Conference’s (NETC) Moss Hart Award for best college play in New England, for its production of My Life with Albertine. This is the second consecutive Moss Hart win for the Holy Cross theatre department.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Same SAT issues here - acceptable not great and it didn’t matter. Got acceptances to the places he applied.</p>
<p>UNSCA follows a conservatory approach - 1st year the design and production kids go through a rotation through all departments and then they get right into their major. </p>
<p>They have some great opportunities - for instance this weekend the school is hosting a conference with lighting manufactures and Cirque du Soleil.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone and welcome to anyone new - (FYI - this thread has been a wealth of information and advice!)</p>
<p>My daughter is applying Early Decision to NYU for Sound Design. She has scheduled her artistic review/interview for the first week in November. I believe she has a handle on her portfolio, but now she has started thinking about the interview itself. If anyone has any experience with portfolio review/interview at Tisch or another conservatory program, I would love to hear your story – especially if it was a sound design interview! (Unlike costumes, lights or scenery, there really aren’t renderings and sound plots just aren’t as interesting as lighting plots. So we’ve been told that the sound design portfolio for undergraduate admissions really is not much more than a starting point for the conversation of the interview. ??)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any assistance!</p>
<p>Lisa</p>
<p>When my D was interviewing, I noted 5 types of questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Technical. Where have you worked? What size house(es)? Describe the equipment. Tell us exactly what you did.</p></li>
<li><p>Personal. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? Tell us something we don’t know about you from your resume.</p></li>
<li><p>Critical. Which are your favorite plays/playwrights/designers? Describe a professional performance you’ve seen and tell us what you liked about it.</p></li>
<li><p>Creative. For each of your portfolio pieces and everything on your resume be prepared to list the problems, explain your choices, and assess the success of your designs. </p></li>
<li><p>Do you have any questions for us?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The interviews varied quite a bit from the brusque 10 minute brush-off to the relaxed one hour welcome but I did not hear of any questions that did not fall into one of these categories. Of course, I was not there so I can’t comment in any depth. I will add that, as many others have remarked, you cannot tell by the interview if you got in or not.</p>
<p>Thank you theater mom</p>
<p>This is great advice. I printed this off for my son so he can think about his answers before he interviews.</p>
<p>Some of these we had thought they would ask, but some of them had not crossed our minds. </p>
<p>Really appreciate your help. </p>
<p>It’s getting closer. He is in the middle of doing applications right now.</p>
<p>Linda</p>
<p>I remember the tension as my D worked on her applications. It didn’t dissipate until she got her answers from the schools. It is quite an ordeal but next year will be a lot easier.</p>
<p>Break a leg.</p>
<p>Thanks for the list of questions theater mom! I’ll pass them on to happykid and her techie pals.</p>
<p>Hi rightfit,</p>
<p>Thanks. This past month, we were on the road twice, and visited 5 schools. Each visit was the result of my son first having emailed the LD profs to set up meetings. For some, the conservatory admissions folks were also involved (via prof). Similar to your experiences, in all cases we were warmly received and hosted. </p>
<p>Dunno about why S omitted NCSA - maybe he thought it had too much GenEd. He too is now focusing on conservatory based programs. </p>
<p>PP</p>
<p>Hello everyone,
Just an update – -my girl has her artistic review (sound design) at Tisch this Saturday in NYC. She is excited beyond belief and is just about ready – just needs a few final touches on her portfolio. She did decide to apply Early Decision so we’ll see where this road takes us.
If anyone has experienced the Tisch interview, can you give us an idea of what the process is like? She is to plan to be there from 2-6, but we have no idea what might take four hours. She will go with the flow, but if we can get any more info it might take the edge off a little bit!
Once this is done, she moves on to the apps for (in no particular order!):
Syracuse
Boston
CCM
DePaul
UNCSA
UCLA (and other UCs – only because we live in Cali)</p>
<p>Will keep you posted!
Lisa</p>
<p>Have a great trip and best of luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter. My son is at CCM for lighting design and their sound program is pretty awesome with a good emedia program as well. Out of state is out of state and CCM is expensive but NYU was way more than we could afford. Not too may girls in sound design, kudos to her! (We are from California too!) If she wants to tour CCM you should drop me a line, my kid LOVES to give tours of CCM!
Best,
Keira</p>
<p>PhotonPhreak -
UNSCA doesn’t require too many gen ed’s. Most kids are done with all the requirements before senior year so they can concentrate on productions.</p>
<p>Our son transferred in credits from high school so he was done pretty early. It’s allowed him to take additional classes that he wanted. He’ll graduate with a lot more credits than he actually needs. He’s gained great experience throughout his years and he’s ready to look for employment in the spring. Before that he was one last internship and he’s headed to England for winter term.</p>
<p>Thanks to all the parents and students who’ve already been through this process for your valuable advice on this thread. I could use a little more!</p>
<p>My S2 wants to major in Scenic Design (previously was researching B. Arch programs but…) and we are pretty behind in figuring out schools that might be right for his new direction. He has been involved in theatre all his life, lots of acting, playwriting, directing, etc. He’s also been seriously involved in studio art and design. So—questions:</p>
<p>1) Most Scenic Design majors he’s found so far are specific for BFA. Which schools should he definitely check out. We live on the West Coast and he likes cities and warm weather, if possible. But he’s open-minded.</p>
<p>2) What are some top BA programs at universities that would also give him good training in scenic design? He is still interested in doing a minor in Arch, if possible, and he is a good student who has many interests. Any recommendations?</p>
<p>3) Also, we are a family who will not qualify for FA (although we will fill out FAFSA etc), so merit $$ opportunities are important. Have any of you done Theatre major w/ good merit aid research? What grades or scores will help a Theatre kid get merit, or will that solely depend on portfolio/interview or audition?</p>
<p>Deep thanks for any help. So far, here is his list:</p>
<p>CMU - BFA
USC - BFA or BA?
U Miami - BFA or BA?
Rice
WUSTL - BA
UCLA - in state
Oxy - BA
Tulane - </p>
<p>I’ve seen mention of CCM and UNCSA so we’ll look closer at those. Not sure if they will be affordable for oos.</p>
<p>I feel like we are getting such a late start on this! Add to that, his field seems like a tiny niche and even here on cc I don’t see a lot posted from the past.</p>
<p>THANKS again!</p>
<p>Stats are always important. At least at Tulane, a portfolio won’t matter at all. What are his stats?</p>
<p>Tulane has a minor in architectural studies.</p>
<p>Hi, Madbean:</p>
<p>At most schools, merit aid depends upon your S’s stats compared to those of the school as a whole so the best school for merit aid will be one for which your S is just a bit overqualified.</p>
<p>How about SMU for sun and (nearby) cities.</p>
<p>Thanks, FC. I’ve IM’d you as you are such a great source of Tulane wisdom!</p>
<p>Great suggestion, theater mom. My S2 has had the impression it’s a pretty Greek and preppy campus (which he finds not his style) so perhaps he needs to look closer at the Theatre community there and if he can find his sort of artsy independent funny kids at SMU. I hear where you are coming from re: merit stats and it is a lovely campus.</p>
<p>I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with the change in direction, and I’m so grateful for your help.</p>
<p>Hi, again, madbean. </p>
<p>My D was very wary of Greek and preppy, too, but it is tough to find an alt/indy scene in warm weather! Just exactly why this should be, I don’t know. Since your S has an open mind, however …</p>
<p>BFA programs: UNCSA is affordable to most. UNCSA and SUNY-Purchase are the two outstanding bargains in top-tier BFA programs. They are not known for their academics, however, and UNCSA is not near a city. I don’t know much about CCM but it has a good reputation. BU has a great BFA program as part of a large university and take a look at NYU-Tisch as well. UCLA and NYU are similar in attempting to combine serious academics with highly-structured theater programs. </p>
<p>BA programs: There are plenty of good schools with good theater departments but they will not generally provide intensive training in set design or any other tech specialty. There is definitely a trade-off here.</p>
<p>madbean - If you are considering Rice and SMU, why not look at University of Texas? In a wonderful city with lots of “artsy” things to do, offers a B.A. so pursuing other interests is definitely possible, and is most definitely a warm weather climate! Admissions are based on academics and an essay - no portfolio review.
[B.A</a>. in Theatre and Dance : Department of Theatre and Dance : University of Texas at Austin](<a href=“http://www.finearts.utexas.edu/tad/degree_programs/undergraduate/ba_theatre_and_dance/index.cfm]B.A”>http://www.finearts.utexas.edu/tad/degree_programs/undergraduate/ba_theatre_and_dance/index.cfm)</p>