<p>trill,
Susan makes a great point about the availability of department heads to prospective students and their parents. </p>
<p>Where have you been reading about the wonderful vocal music department at OU? There isn't really a vocal music department, but there is a MUSIC department and a separate MUSICAL THEATRE department. I just wanted to make sure you're not talking about the praise for the department on the CC musical theatre threads as what has been written here by myself and others is about the MUSICAL THEATRE department, not the music department. These are totally separate departments. The musical theatre department and the dance department, then the drama department, are I believe the most well-known performing arts departments at OU. I don't know anything about the music department. My daughter's music classes are all with musical theatre faculty, whereas her acting and other drama classes are with drama department faculty (and she takes them with drama students) and her ballet class is with the dance department. Her jazz and tap classes will be with musical theatre faculty.</p>
<p>Since you're posting on the musical theatre threads, too bad you didn't visit the MT department and stick around to see "Once Upon a Mattress" which opens tonight. I heard it's going to be a great show. I am going to see it next week.</p>
<p>We visited OU with our son a couple of weeks ago. It was our first school visit and it was very exciting for him and us. I don't claim to know much about the different programs available across the country but I would be very pleased if my son got into the program at OU.</p>
<p>I'm finding this whole application/audition experience frightening because most of the programs that my son is interested in seem to be so selective. I've been wondering if a school like OU would consider a transfer student in their MT department if my son decided to get a year of the basics done at a good but local school. This seems like a good option if he doesn't get in where he wants to. Any thoughts on this?</p>
<p>My daughter met with the people from OU at the Thespian conference in Lincoln. She found them to be very informative and friendly. She also talked with some of the students who were very happy with the program at OU. She is looking forward to auditioning for them. She was so impressed with the people she met that she is considering a school that is pretty far from home.<br>
This will be her first college audition. Does anyone have any advice?</p>
<p>Hi PJmom, my daughter is a freshman in OU's MT program. She auditioned for them last October. I can't believe it's been an entire year! I would be happy to give you information about it. Feel free to email me, and let me know what you would like to know. I will tell you what I know, although I did not personally attend the audition day. She loves the program and finds it very well balanced in all three areas. We are also a long way away as we are from California. I am going to visit her this week. I'll be attending the parents' dinner and seeing the musical twice :)!!</p>
<p>RJinTexas, I hope our PMing was helpful to you. If you think of more questions, please email me. I know how stressful this whole process is, trust me!</p>
<p>Thanks, BiGismama. I had a great time in Norman. The department had a dinner for the parents on Saturday, which was lovely. I saw the show three times; it was the best college musical I've ever seen. I was so impressed! The director of the show was Wayne Bryan, the Producing Director for Music Theatre of Wichita. It's wonderful seeing my daughter happy in such a supportive and challenging atmosphere. I believe that within the next month they audition for the spring musical Company, the spring season of straight plays, and a country musical being workshopped at OU this winter.</p>
<p>Since I don't check in here every day, I was not able to respond to the comments about our visit.</p>
<p>Of course...a department head does not need to make time to meet potential students.</p>
<p>But it speaks volumes for the schools that do make an effort or actually arrange a meeting. We have visited several schools over the past few years and had no trouble meeting the MT head from Boston Conservatory, FSU, or OCU.</p>
<p>As I said..it's not a requirement. But actions are often louder than words.</p>
<p>While it is natural to make judgments about a program based on a visit, I like to be wary about a rush to judgment as to how good a program or college is based on the visit day alone. </p>
<p>For instance, you mention BOCO. We lined up our visit to BOCO well in advance. We made the appointment for a tour and were told that when we visited, we could speak to people in the theater department. We got there and our tour was with a student who was a trumpet player. He was nice enough but of course knew very little about the theater program. We saw the facilities, however. Then, we waited in an office with a very nice young woman working there who felt terribly that she could not find anyone in theater for us to talk to even though we were told this was possible. She could not find any faculty or any students. We had come a long way and just getting the little tour paled in comparison to what we were able to line up and do at other schools. She couldn't get anyone. A student was to have come to the office but none showed up. We tried to observe a class and this person scrambled to make that happen and we saw a ballet class. But we never got to speak to ANYONE in theater. So, as you can see, each person's visit may turn out differently, yet the school is the same good school either way and to walk away thinking this "spoke louder than words" would have been a not so good conclusion. You bring up BOCO as a school whose director talked to a prospie on a visit, yet that was impossible when we visited and it would be a shame if we had concluded that the school wasn't so great if the director, any teacher, or any student would not meet with us. Same school, two very different visit experiences.</p>
<p>In fact, a few months later, we returned to BOCO for my D's audition and got tix to their MT production. The production was very good with a lot of talent and my D's thoughts about BOCO rose from what were pretty low after the first visit to genuine interest after the second visit. That can happen. But the visits and/or who you meet, etc. can create images that one needs to try hard to look beyond. Here was a school that was more attractive based on what my daughter could see on one visit, than what she came away with on another visit, yet to the same school.</p>
<p>I've read folks talk about poor tour guides and that their kid didn't like the tour guide and so had a poor image of a school which is unfortunate as they might really like the school. It's hard, but one needs to look past some things on the surface on a visit to really see if they'd like the true school. You can run into something in an office that is not a reflection on how good the program is or how your child would fit there and enjoy it. I can give you plenty of examples to that affect. Add in your example of a department head not meeting with a visitiing student. While it has been great when dept. heads have met with my kid on a visit, no question, I can look beyond schools where that didn't happen and not conclude that it wouldn't be as good or loved as much as a good fit. It's easy to judge programs on these things, but in the long run, an in depth exploration may reveal that the college is a great fit despite things on the surface on a visit day.</p>
<p>Of course one visit may or may not be reflective of the program.</p>
<p>But first impressions are everything and for families who are making a special trip to visit schools, those schools better try to do everything in their power to make it a constructive and useful visit. Hence my remarks about the head of the programs.</p>
<p>if you don't mind me asking, who is your daughter at OU? I actually go to UT right now (Freshman) but I auditioned at OU last week, and I've visited four or five times to see friends in the MT dept, I just thought I might have met her. (I also saw "mattress" and youre right, it was great!)</p>