<p>Other than a great fit at a top notch school that will train our kids well. What else are you looking for in a school, or area of the country that will make their experience more enriching, enjoyable, or at least tolerable?</p>
<p>My daughter went to a PA school so she knew she did NOT want to go to a conservatory or a school that only had arts kids in it. She had been doing that since 6th grade. She wanted to be near a large city (in her case, Chicago), wanted a large school that had sports (her schools never had them), Greek life, a strong BFA program, study abroad options (in her case, her program studies in Russia their junior year), and one that offered programs in exercise science/pre-physical therapy and one that wouldn’t put her in as high debt as her brother who goes to NYU. She only applied to 4 schools and her ultimate choice, Northern Illinois University, was the perfect fit.</p>
<p>I’ll try to portray what my daughter wants in an ideal world. Assuming the training is good in all three areas of MT (especially dance since she feels she needs that the most), then she’d ideally want a smaller college environment (less than 10 k students)since she goes to a big high school (she has 1300 kids in her class alone). She wants an actual college campus feel as opposed to an urban campus where all classes might be in one building. She wants a college ideally as opposed to a conservatory, or a program that is conservatory-like but where you still get exposure to a sound liberal arts education. An academic honors program would be on the list, as would be the potential to either double major or at least get a minot in something like arts management or communications. She is interested in perhaps doing a sorority since her mom has fond memories of her sorority experience, but isn’t sure how that would fit her schedule.</p>
<p>Now as for her parents? We first of all want her to be somewhere that gives her the best education, in a safe environment. We have tried to tell her that absolute size isn’t critical since the number of students she’d interact with in theater and class sizes would generally be small regardless (she’s starting to get that). I’d like a place where she’d be able to develop useful professional alumni contacts. Mom would like her to be within a few hours so it’s easier to come to performances bu is starting to understand that may not be what ultimately is best. And we’d like something affordable!! And we’d like there to be good merit based scholarships!</p>
<p>What areas are within a close distance to you? What is affordable? Merit or talent at a private university may make it similar in cost to a public university… Although, some private universities offer merit or talent aid to make it less expensive than OOS public, it will vary.</p>
<p>We’re looking from East Coast to Southeast to Midwest (live in Indiana). Just kidding a bit on the cost issue; I think we’ll be OK based on my daughter’s grades, and based on the fact that no matter where you go or what you go into college is going to be expensive. Near as I can tell she should get merit scholarships, but we’ll see what each college offers. For me my two biggest priorities are whether she’ll get the training and education she needs to meet her goals and to have a successful future, and whether I feel she’ll be safe at whatever school she attends.</p>
<p>My D is just starting to voice her ideas – having to put together a preliminary list for MTCA was very helpful. She does not want a big university, she wants a smaller conservatory program. She wants to make sure there will be no math or science involved! She wants a strong acting component. She’s looking to improve her dance, but is not expecting to emerge from her BFA as a dancer. No cut programs!
I woud like her to be in an easy driving distance from home (midwest) for several reasons, but her list has a few east coast choices – no west coast.</p>
<p>My D’s list has schools all over the country, and all types and sizes. She doesn’t care WHERE she is. If (knock on wood) she has the luxury of choosing between 2 schools or more, she will think about geography, size, etc. But right now, she would be happy to go to any one of the diverse schools on her list. And while some would be more financially manageable than others, they are all, ultimately, doable. So she is wide open.</p>
<p>My S has has offers in 4 cities, 2 of which are in Chicago. He has a handful of acceptences in several other cities, including New York. New York is his first choice because of being so close to Broadway, but Chicago is #2 and he already has offers there. Once we see what they offer from New York we will start making a hard list and gear up for fall auditions and Unifieds. it will be nice to detail the list a little tighter once we know more.</p>
<p>He spent a week in New York in March at the Lincoln Center performing and taking master classes with Stephen Zegree from Western Michigan. He fell in love with New York, but Stephen kind of had him convinced to come to Indiana where he’s at now. I don’t think it’s going to be easy to get New York out of his blood.</p>
<p>JeffandAnn
Your daughter’s ideal, given what you have posted, sounds like Elon. I hope she is auditioning there.</p>
<p>Elon is one of the eight on her list. A friend who just graduated is going to Elon next year for MT, as is someone she knows from Summer Stock. They both are encouraging her to go there.</p>
<p>Which causes me to ask a question of the veterans out there. Do students already in programs have any influence on who gets accepted since they can speak to the talents of a former classmate/summerstock/etc? I presume not but was interested in anyone’s experience.</p>
<p>^ Personally, I would want my child to get into a program on their own merit, not because they were recommended by a friend.</p>
<p>I did not see any mechanism whereby that would happen. I think friends already in the program can provide great advice on the auditions and the inside scoop on the program so that future prospects will be well informed about what they are getting into and perhaps formulate excellent questions that reflect a good understanding and hit the hot buttons. (Or they would know enough up front to judge the program as not being a good fit. Either case is helpful). Beyond that though, I saw no examples of anyone gaining advantage by having a current student whisper in the ear of someone in the decision process. Could be but if that could be done, I honestly don’t know how one could gain access to enough of the decision makers for it to matter.</p>
<p>The only example I am aware of along those lines is at CMU. There, current BFA students are allowed to write about and recommend someone they know who is auditioning to the faculty. I have no idea how much that is weighted (likely not a lot). The way I know this is because when my kid auditioned at CMU, she had a friend in the MT program who showed us around and told my D that she was allowed to talk to the faculty and put a word in for applicants like my D who she knew (they had spent many summers going to the same theater camp). I doubt it counts that much but it is just more input. For the record, my D was Priority Wait Listed there.</p>
<p>I presumed that there would be little if any influence of existing students so it’s good to know that’s the case. And just as an aside to supportive’s message above, I too expect my daughter will get a spot on her own merits. It was simply a question about process since I am new to the game. One of the reasons I asked is that one thing I hear a lot about in terms of success in the profession is networking, so I didn’t know if that kind of networking starts with the audtion process, i.e. having a network of colleagues going to the same school.</p>
<p>jeffandann, my D had many of the same wants as yours and was accepted to ELON, but passed it up for Ball State, even with out-of-state tuition. The Honors College at Ball State along with the selective BFA MT program make the large school a much smaller one and you can’t beat the merit monies. My D was selected as an ELON Fellow and received the maximum merit the college offers and it was still going to be about $100K for four years. She received the Honors Distinction Scholarship at Ball State and her debt is only room and board. Good luck!</p>
<p>Well, we’d love Ball State since it’s an hour from our house. She’d be in Honors College as well I think based on her grades and ACT. Definitely on the list!</p>
<p>@JeffandAnn</p>
<p>On the student influence question, I would assert that every little bit helps. The MT communities at these schools are small and tight knit in my observation and although the faculty makes the ultimate decision, a kind/supportive word or introduction from a current MT student about a prospective while on campus may carry a small bit of weight on a close call. I’m not sure if it was a coincidence or not but at two of the schools (FSU and Alabama)where the boys knew current MT students, they were admitted. (It did not help at Elon, though :)). They were also admitted at school knowing no one. Similarly, for your D, she will get a bit of benefit at Ball State, Elon and FSU because they will be aware of your Ds school (based on current MT students in the program) and the talent that comes out of her HS. In my humble opinion, 99% will be on her merit, but a good word here and there never hurts.</p>
<p>@supportive, sure we want our kids to be admitted on their merit (nobody gets admitted without the talent), but when March and April come around, you just want those calls and letters to be positive, regardless of the reason.</p>
<p>My D did rather well on the audition circuit, and I don’t think she knew anybody. (A hint about current students: although you can’t “read” anything into the responses (or lack there of) from the profs at auditions, often the students who help at the auditions are not as good at hiding their glee if you did well! It’s not 100% however.)</p>
<p>Nccpdad- I do get what you’re saying. It is the nature of this industry too- networking. Personally, I used to hate it when theatre booster moms would only volunteer to help with the high school if their child would get cast. I never wanted my kids to get cast for that reason. I wanted them to get cast because they were right for the part- not because I was super volunteer mom. Ultimately, it doesn’t do any justice. I would help by doing things that were needed but were not in the public eye. Anyway, I do understand. :)</p>