@MadameT Sent you a pm regarding your questions and my daughter’s contact info
@Jasklo we are in that exact spot. My D is on the WL at a school we visited, and her other two top choices are schools we have not. Trying to get as much info online as possible!
I don’t know how many people saw, but Dr. Fauci provided guidance at WH briefing that he expected for things to be at a ‘new normal’ by fall 2020.
He predicated that assertion on the wide availability of antibody testing to be able to detect who has been exposed and who is naive, and suggested that individual status might adjust behavior.
I found the full clip on CNN’s site.
@singoutlouise I am feeling stressed out too! This are BIG decisions we are making. We wanted to go back to schools to see their shows, sit in on classes, and get a better feel for the “vibe.” It is hard to base these decisions on a brief interaction during the audition! And now the clock is ticking to decide… But will they even start in the fall?? What if they enroll and then do virtual classes? Is that a waste? Could it do more harm than good to try to attempt virtual performance based classes (like dance?) Is it possible or advisable to start in the winter instead? Is a gap year worth considering yet? Questions bouncing around in my head…
I don’t know if this is helpful for anyone - maybe it’s counter-productive for some, I hope not! But it’s based on a couple of years seeing students go through this.
Someone earlier mentioned the kids could get a feel about a program from accepted student chats and I wanted to mention that the opposite can also occur. Accepted students are pretty stressed out right now and for kids who aren’t huge social media users the overall affect of hearing ALL these stressed out 17 years olds randomly chatting can actually be off-putting and make them more indecisive because they feel they don’t belong anywhere. If your kid is not finding the accepted student groups to be helpful see if they can connect one-on-one to a single upperclassman in the program who can answer questions. And make sure to reassure them that theatre people overall are wonderful and warm and this IS what they were meant to do - they WILL find their peeps at school, no matter which program they choose.
My daughter is graduating from Skidmore this year. She is not a theater major but has many friends who are and she also takes dance classes with some very serious dancers. If she can answer any questions please let me know.
@MTisNutz I saw the same article.
Broadway shows closed till June 7th
@BoogieMa What Campuses have you not visited.? Maybe we have been there. PM me if you don’t want info in public domain.
@Jasklo thank you for the offer! Rider and Temple. Any reviews you’re willing to share would be most gratefully received!
@BoogieMa Shoot, No experience in either of those places.
@BoogieMa there is a quite a bit on Temple in the following thread:
It is high on D’s list too so trying to find out as much as I can. We have not been able to visit yet. I don’t know much about Rider MT. I have been to both schools but not recently and all I can say is Temple is a campus in the city (leaning towards more of true city campus) and Rider is a real suburban campus (not much in walking distance of the campus). It is a 10-15 minute drive to Princeton which has a lot going on.
We visited Temple last year - it was the first visit we scheduled but by the time it came around, my son said he didn’t want to bother to visit because he’d already narrowed his choices down to 2 other programs. His dad & I insisted though and Temple blew us all away.
It’s an urban campus but it feels like a campus. The theater faculty were just wonderful - every one of them with whom we interacted. And the director did more to welcome my son, communicate with him, get him set up to attend classes that would interest him than any other program director he interacted with. I really just can’t say enough about how much that man impressed me from the day of my son’s audition through the decision making process. The music building is amazing. The theater building was okay but my understanding was that it is (or is about to be?) undergoing some renovation. My son really enjoyed the classes he attended. But IMO, the best part of all were the students. A freshman student on his own initiative reached out to the accepted kids who were visiting that day and gathered them all to do his own tour of the campus - i.e. what it’s really like for students. He was a wonderful ambassador to the program and explained how many, many opportunities there are for kids to perform both on campus and in the city. There was also a student panel with kids from the various programs and they were all enthusiastic and helpful as well.
So what seemed like it was going to be a check off the box tour really changed my son’s perception and although he eventually opted for a different program, it was a very hard decision and Temple was in it until the very end.
@mindatwork thanks for sharing your Temple experience. The students in the MT program do seem great. They have been the most approachable and interactive of all the schools my D is considering. It is definitely making a differrence as they keep bubbling to the top of her list.
THANK YOU @mindatwork and @modanbsmt001! Your posts are very helpful. We also found an interesting 40-minute tour on YouTube that podiatry student recorded, it was helpful in its own way but of course did not show anything about the theatre program. My D is really struggling with this one, both programs seem so great. I think it will probably come down to the campus differences in general, and her options for minoring.
@BoogieMa Temple was one of the choices for one of my students. I suggested that for his list early on because I have been following their work for awhile. He really did click with their department and faculty, but they did not have much to offer in the way of financial aid. The only school, for him, so far that has not really given much. He has tried several approaches to solving this, but I have seen others talk about a similar issue. So if that isn’t an issue, then from what we have seen, it looks like a wonderful program. They do established plus a lot of new works, some of which end up going on to other places. They truly are a good place for “creators.” You can view footage (trailers, teasers, some b-roll) on YouTube and I will bet Peter will send you some additional links if you email him.
For those struggling with decisions because you can’t visit schools, a lot of schools have performance videos that they can share and the college audition project on Instagram have student take over days where the drama and mt students do tours of the facilities, show classes and share why they love their schools. It’s worth a peek
Thank you I will take a look!
Financial aide at Temple was also an issue for us. We even visited and had a few terribly uncomfortable meetings with people to try and make it work. I think my D would have committed there had it been feasible. She is extremely happy where she is, however. Goes to show you that option B or even C can be great, too.
Thank you @onette . Temple and Rider are basically equal with the $ aid they have offered, which works for us. I think it’s going to come down to what kind of campus my D wants, since it seems clear from all we’ve learned via Zoom and other online resources that both programs are really terrific, with great students in the programs. D is a city kid and is comfortable with Temple-like settings but she is intrigued by Rider. We may just have to take a long drive to see the surrounding area for ourselves before May 1!