<p>I have traveled a lot in my life but I have never been to Oklahoma(grew up in the south, lived in Chicago and then the great Northeast ever since). As we discuss the merits of each program my D is applying to- artistically, academically and geographically- I find myself speechless with regards to Oklahoma. SHe loves the musicality of the program, likes a lot of what she has researched on academics but we get blank looks about what else is there to draw anyone to OCU. As this is coming up a lot recently, I thouhgt I would pose the question here:</p>
<p>What is the major selling feature of OCU?<br>
Do national folks/tours etc come there to recruit?
Is there a lot of cultural activity in the general area?</p>
<p>Glad to hear of your interest in Oklahoma City University. Oklahoma City is the 29th largest US city and there's plenty to do. It's a large city with all the national stores, restaurants and attractions as other cities. Major corporations such as Dell, Hertz, AOL and Charles Schwab have regional headquarters here.</p>
<p>The main selling point for OCU is the superb training your child will receive. As one of the few music schools to have produced Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winners, OCU provides the training needed for one to exist in the world of musical theater. Our graduates work.</p>
<p>For other questions, please contact Mary Mowry, Student Services Coordinator at 1-800-633-7242 x5980. Thanks</p>
<p>Thanks! I hope I didnt sound mean or rude in my questions - I am just truly clueless and as this is a school that my D is VERY interested in, I want to be informed!!</p>
<p>You will also find that everyone is very warm, friendly and helpful. My D is a student there, and she and her friends seem to find plenty to do. There is shopping, of course, and they even have a minor league baseball team in town which makes for a fun evening in the spring. Oklahoma has symphonies and chorales, in fact my D's choir is performing with them this weekend. I must confess that being from Texas, Oklahoma is often the butt of jokes here, but I was very impressed with it all. The drive up I35 is scenic. My whole impression of OK, before I went there, was from the history books: a vast wasteland where we sent the Indians to live on reservations, but the parts that I have seen are beautiful, and there seems to be a lot more "culture" going on than I thought! The school has top-rated music, MT, and dance programs, drawing students from all over the nation, and there is also a law school there. I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you come to audition.</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with musicmom1215. Everyone at OCU is very warm and friendly and eager for their students to do well. My daughter is a freshman musical theater major and loves the school, her professors and her new friends. We are from the Chicago area so we were a little worried about culture shock but she really enjoys the area. She has gotten involved in Greek life at OCU as well and is enjoying a very typical college experience except that OCU students have get their football thrills by living vicariously through OU! In my daughter's MT class there are students from all over the US - New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Kansas, Georgia, Nebraska, California, Minnesota, and Texas. </p>
<p>The major selling feature for us was the small size, dedicated staff, amazing facility and curriculum - my daughter feels like she will be a well-rounded musician upon graduation. </p>
<p>As a parent of a freshman, I really can't speak to national folks coming to OCU to recruit but my daughter has already been exposed to well-regarded professionals in the master class that all music theater students must take. </p>
<p>Another feature which I appreciate is that the cost is reasonable when compared to other top-tier MT schools and they give excellent academic scholarships. Feel free to PM me if you or your student have any further questions. </p>
<p>PS to musicmom1215: Thanks for the note regarding Oklahoma being the butt of jokes in Texas. My Texas-born friend who posts on here as Teriwtt has given my daughter a few pokes regarding this.</p>
<p>This is just the kind of information I needed- first hand experience from students and parents who are there. Reading all this makes me feel pretty good. We are really looking forward to the audition and getting a sense of what is there. It is high on her list and has been for a while but I'm the one who kept saying "Oklahoma?" to my daughter! </p>
<p>And anyone who's students will be around November 18 are welcome to say HI!</p>
<p>There really is a lot to do. The problem that I've found is that I don't really have enough time to go do that much off campus. I'm also involved in greek life and a few other clubs, and then after that and getting all my homework and practicing done, it leave me a little time to run to Walmart, but not much else. However, I took the time yesterday to go see Sweeney Todd, which is in Guthrie (about 40 mins away) and it totally blew me away. It was a professional show, and sooo amazing, so there's definitely "culture" here. Plus everything (not just the school) is cheaper (at least coming from CA) so money seems to last longer... And that's nice.</p>
<p>Our daughter is set to audition on the 18th at OCU as well. We live in Tulsa (have been there for about 20 years), which is close to Oklahoma City.</p>
<p>Our daughter is in her high school drama on Friday and Saturday nights. We have to drive down on Saturday morning and go back for her play on Saturday evening. We would love to stay and see the Urban Cowboy musical OCU is putting on, but its not in the cards.</p>
<p>She is really interested in OCU, so I hope all goes well. In a way, she is so busy that the pressure has not had a chance to build, which is probably for the best.</p>
<p>We have visited OCU before, and she went to the OCU summer camp this year, and everything there is definetly top-notch. From everything I have seen, the staff and faculty are truly outstanding. </p>
<p>Look forward to seeing there for the auditions</p>
<p>What a great place! You should all be very proud of the program, the facilities and the school! Everyone we met was very positive and friendly and LOVED it!</p>
<p>The most telling quote for the weekend was " We do not concentrate on a single genre - we train the voice" - from the dean. What a great philosophy!</p>
<p>My daughter arrived for Thanksgiving break last night (we sprung her a day early!) She assisted at the auditions on Saturday, 11/18/06 and said there was a tremendous amount of talent there auditioning. She continues to love being at OCU, is excited to be auditioning for a community theater production in Norman in the next couple of weeks as well as the spring Stripped musical next week. She has been singing a lot since she has been home (we both love The Wedding Singer CD) and she sounds wonderful. She was selected as one of OCU's Fifty Fabulous Freshman and attended a reception in their honor about a week ago which she casually mentioned in passing. Going from being very involved in all her high school activities to settling for crumbs of information now has been an adjustment for me. Bottom line is she still loves where she is. Best of luck to all of those who just auditioned last weekend. It's hard to believe it was a year ago that she was there auditioning. She had her acceptance in hand approximately 3 1/2 weeks after auditioning. </p>
<p>I will be visiting my son to see the Stripped show this weekend. I arrive on Friday; dateless, hubby will be home taking care of our ailing dog. S warned me that he may be going to a sorority formal if the girl didn?t have rehearsal. She doesn?t. Now it seems I have Friday night free. I would love to meet up with any other OCU visiting CC parents. I have his wheels ? wheee! I was also informed I need to find him a Fuchsia tie to go with her dress, so now I am off to do that in the middle of a Minnesota April snow storm. Some things never change!!!</p>
<p>Sorry, I won't be going up this weekend. I have another obligation at home on Friday night, and my D is not in stripped. She will be busy with NATS this weekend, so not a good time for me to visit. Your son will look great in fuschia! Good luck finding the tie!
Christi</p>
<p>I will be going down the following week-end, my s is in a show and it's also parents week-end, so we can combine both, works out well, is any one else going to parents week-end or the opera? (Also, good luck finding that tie? and good luck at NATS)
Rusty</p>
<p>Mikksmom, hi
OCU turned out to be a good choice for my D, who just finished her freshman year in the MT program (which uses Meisner, BTW). She worked incredibly hard, auditioned for everything (as they all do), and was cast in nothing, which was a big change for someone used to doing 5 or 6 shows a year. On the plus side, she started at the 'basic' dance level and has moved up two levels, and her singing has become incredible. She is in Frank Ragsdale's studio (her first choice), and we both think he's a magician. Others have alluded to the caring faculty, and it's no joke. If your student does his part, (s)he will get all the encouragement in the world. That's been important for us, as we live 1,000 miles away and our D does not make friends easily (why are so many theatre people so shy?).
Culturally, there's lots to do in the capital city (although the immediate neighborhood is a bit seedy), but not a lot of time to enjoy it. Be prepared - the BMMT has 92 (ninety-two!!!!) hours required for the major in addition to the core. I haven't seen the BFA theatre breakdown (anybody have the website?), so I don't know how it compares, but the BA TP or VP require about half what the MT does.</p>
<p>Thanks for that information! D is VERY excited about OCU and arriving in the fall.....being 1100 miles away will be hard but everyone seems to have nothing but good things to say!</p>
<p>There are a lot of students from out of state. My D had roommates from Pennsylvania and North Carolina and friends from all over. I'm lucky to be able to drive up to see her shows, but it is too far for a casual or "drop-in" visit, which is just fine with her. lol</p>