<p>We just finished our spring break whirlwind of Boston and NYC -- great trip, saw 7 schools and learned a ton. I am already planning the next trip which will involve a road trip to see Syracuse, Ithaca, etc. Question: aside from Spring Break, when do you visit? Can you get an idea of a campus during the summer or Xmas when it is shut down? I found the schools that had an actual theater person meet with us was extremely informative but I don't think that will be available on off times.</p>
<p>My D and I visited 11 schools last summer. At all but 2 we were able to meet with people from the theater dept, or tour theater dept etc- however we were not always able to sit in on classes etc. Still really useful in terms of getting the “vibe” of the school as most schools have SOME sort of summer program (even if not for theater), and large schools still have significant numbers of students working through the summer. It was good for us as it was a more “relaxed” trip- both of us were off school (I am a teacher) and it wasn’t as rushed as thing we have done during the school year.</p>
<p>We did almost exclusively summer tours or when class was not in session in December/January. Not ideal for some perhaps, but that was what we could do. We did have a theatre department tour/info session however at every school. I figured if we needed to go back when class was in session to get more of a feel for the students we would go after acceptances. (Which is what we are doing, although if you read my posts on the sharing venting thread you will know my D has made a little bump in that road, haha)
We ended up at some of the schools for on campus auditions too, and those were generally during school time. But it is pretty difficult to plan which schools you are going to definitely do on campus this far out. You can have an idea, but not be sure.</p>
<p>We did the same summer-tour thing after my son’s junior year. He was able to arrange meetings with somebody from the department at most schools (not all) and it worked okay as a way to screen places. One school that seemed fine in the summer turned out to be a bad fit when we returned for his audition–but at least we DID go back and didn’t rely on that decent first impression. My own feeling (based on experience) is that any visit is better than NO visit, but if you can’t see what the people are like, try to go back at some point to find out! </p>
<p>We visited some schools in Summer and S was able to get a voice lesson with faculty, sometimes see a rehearsal for summer productions if they were happening. Also, some current students may be performing in Summer theatre, on-campus or at a community theatre nearby. A good way to see a production if you can’t get to them during the school year.</p>
<p>Even if you cannot speak with someone in the theatre department, you can at least get a feel for the school. Is it a big campus, small campus, in a city or small town, what sort of stores/restaurants are in walking distance, etc. </p>
<p>Also note where the fine arts/theatre building is in campus - nearer the center or off on a corner. Not a deciding factor, but will give you an idea of how much walking may be required for your general ed classes. For example, where I went to school at U of Arizona, all the fine arts buildings were in the northwest corner of campus and it is a fairly large campus. I had a minimum 5-10 minute walk to any of my non-music classes. Not an issue in AZ (except when it was 110 degrees or more!), but in the colder & snowy climates it is something you might want to think about. </p>
<p>Also look at dorm locations. There was only one dorm near fine arts and I wasn’t in it! Now that dorms aren’t so segregated by gender that may be less of an issue, but at that time all the men’s dorms were across campus. I got a lot of walking in every day. </p>
<p>So there is stuff you can learn. But if you can speak to the theatre dept that would be even better. </p>
<p>There are differing views on whether or not it is even worth it to visit schools in advance of auditioning or acceptance. In my opinion, if you can only see schools when they are on break, save your money for lessons or coaching and for all the travel needed during audition season. If a school on your list requires an on-campus audition anyway, definitely don’t bother. I do understand the temptation. All your child’s friends are visiting schools so it feels you “should” be doing it too, and you are probably eager to start developing your own opinions, separate from reputation. But the odds are so small for getting in to most of these programs that if your child gets accepted to three auditioned programs, I am guessing he/she is above average. If you really need to get out there, maybe focus on finding the safety school? If you visit non-audition programs, then your child is still getting exposure to a college campus and this may inform her opinions on what he/she prefers in the audition programs too. But beware, there is nothing like a dead campus to suck the energy right out of a visit. During a break, you will be short-changing the school and yourselves no matter how imaginative you are.</p>
<p>I am in the opposite camp. I think seeing the place is very important even if it is off session. We elimanted two top programs last summer because the feel of the place wasn’t right for my D. That’s application fees and time and hassle that we elimanted by understanding what she wanted as far as place. Different for every kid – you gotta know your own – but we are hitting 6 more campuses after her summer program. Not ideal being off session, but important to us</p>
<p>I agree- it’s different for everyone, but for my D, seeing the campus was important to know if she could see herself there. We eliminated several respected schools from her list, including a previous “top choice” when she couldn’t. To be fair- we are now RE visiting the schools where she has been accepted to assist in making final decisions- but we did the bulk of her auditions at unifieds, I think if we had been on campus for those, we might not have needed this last step. Just offering disclosure- b/c it’s another “hidden expense” of the college process!</p>
<p>Great comments, thank you. The purpose of our visits is as much to figure out what type of school she prefers as much as whether that school is a good fit. We have a coach at our Perf. Arts school who also says don’t bother to visit unless you have been admitted so many suscribe to that idea, however I just don’t see how we pick our 15 or 20 schools to audition without actually visiting some. We just did cities and really learned a lot and d actually thinks while she ultimately wants city life, she would like a traditional campus setting for college, again if possible as we realize how hard it is to get in. Thanks for the thoughts – I appreciate all o fthem. </p>
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