<p>My d is finishing up her junior year and beginning the daunting task of reasearching schools that offer musical theatre programs. Since Pace is so new on the radar, we were wondering if current students/parents (including those recently accepted) could share your thoughts on the program and why you chose Pace over other programs you may have been acceptanced to. We would be especially keen to know how you feel about the strength of the voice and dance instruction. We’ve heard great things about the acting portion of the program, but have heard little about the voice and dance classes, or the faculty that teaches them. The website really doesn’t offer much information of that sort. Any input would we appreciated as we weigh the decision to visit NYC in the fall. Thanks!</p>
<p>I'm still hoping that some of the students who attend or will be attending Pace will check-in here again at some point. We'd love to hear some personal opinions on the program and the answer to my question, "why Pace?"
In the meantime, I have dug a little deeper into the Pace website and understand that voice lessons are taken at Mannes College of Music. Sounds like a checkmark in the "positive column". I'll be anxious to know more about their placement procedures. Anyone else interested in this program?</p>
<p>A closer look at the info: The voice lessons at Mannes College of Music are private lessons that would be taken in addition to those taught at Pace, requiring consent of the faculty. Still sounds good to me.
I've put a request in to Pace for more information, but have gotten no email response. I will try a phone call next!</p>
<p>My D is also looking at Pace. Have you found out anything else?</p>
<p>We've put in a request for more information from the MT department, but received nothing to date. There have been a couple of phone calls from Pace, with one being a sort of "screening" since the person asked my D about her test scores, GPA, etc. and the other call merely asking if she planned to apply online or by paper application. When the answer was online, the caller merely thanked my D and said good-bye. I guess they were wanting to know if they should bother to send out the application and other informational materials in the mail. I wish she would have asked for those anyway! D is working on the application currently, and oddly enough a couple of days ago she received an email thanking her for her application. She hasn't finished and sent it yet! (no, she did not accidently send it prematurely) I have to assume she must be on some sort of "list" of interested applicants. Hopefully, we'll be able to get some up-to-date information on the program soon. We're anxious to know what growth the MT department has experienced so far, and what their expectations are for the next 5 years.</p>
<p>Glad to hear we are not the only one's frustrated by the lack of info. and response at PACE. I left a message last week with the dept. re: arranging a tour of the dept. and have not had my call returned. I think they just started their semster this week, so maybe we'll hear something back soon. Have you been able to find out anything about when/where they do auditions for MT? And do you know if freshmen have access to the private voice lessons you mentioned above?</p>
<p>Also, their website seems to be working quite poorly - very frustrating. I can't even schedule a general tour on-line.</p>
<p>We have had a similar experience...I thought I had booked a general tour online last spring but never received a confirmation. About 2 weeks before the tour was scheduled, I called Pace. They had no record so I re-booked it over the phone. I had no response when I emailed the Theatre Dept. about wanting a tour and the chance to ask some questions. Eventually a student who attends Pace and posts on CC was able to help us out. Good Luck!</p>
<p>The administration as a whole at this school is, to be frank, not so good. The lack of answers from the dept. is unacceptable, however, we did just get a new secretary who is split between two departments and we did just start classes on Wednesday. I would like to help anybody here who needs answers; I would not want you and your sons/daughters to lose interest in our program simply because the administration for the university is lacking. </p>
<p>Please throw any questions my way and I will be sure to answer them ASAP. I already answered an email message from a poster on here and would not mind if they posted what I said. </p>
<p>I will be talking to the heads of the department about your frustrations and see what we can do to make this process easier for you.</p>
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I will be talking to the heads of the department about your frustrations and see what we can do to make this process easier for you.
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<p>Hilary, you have been so helpful to many prospective students and parents on here in the past. I think it is a good idea if you talk to the department head for your program at Pace about the feedback being posted here on CC. A LOT of people read CC to learn about these programs and when there are posts like some of the ones here about the difficulty to get information about the program (already a big issue), that doesn't put the program in the light they may wish it to be shown in. So, give them a head's up to not only the problem that people can't find the information they need on the website or by phone and lack of responsiveness, but also that it is being talked about on a very active website for those looking at BFA programs for MT. </p>
<p>I suggest MT programs to students all the time. When they go to learn more about the programs and can't find what they need to know, they sometimes nix that program. There are consumers out there who compare even simply the information on a website or just what they can get from a phone call seeking more information and they decide amongst a smorgasboard of options and so it is something for them to think about and you may wish to pass that feedback on. I am sure they'd want to know.</p>
<p>I corresponded with someone from Pace yesterday who was extremely nice and helpful. The person may or may not be Hilary who posted above, but I'd be happy to share the information I was given.
There are 4 voice teachers, 2 who teach on campus and 2 who teach out of their home.
There are vocal juries and placement.
The person I communicated with didn't have knowledge of the information regarding Mannes given on their website.
Dance classes are taken on campus in their new studios, and the dance requirements now include 5 courses...tap, ballet, theatre dance, jazz, and theatre styles (which is also a history course)
Acting classes are taught by the BFA acting faculty, and MT students take classes with the BFA and the BA acting students.
Pace recently hired Rob Meffe, musical theatre director and conductor, to "handle" (?) the music dept. (Rob Meffe, and his wife Sharon Wheatley are CCM alum.)
Pace has a full liberal arts core requirement, with 18 credits taken per semester to graduate in 4 years.
The mainstage productions this year are Ragtime and The Wild Party (Lippa)
Pace hosts the Straw Hat auditions, and is the home of Inside the Actors Studio. BFA students are required to attend those tapings.
Pace recently received a grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, which will be used to provide such improvements as a professional orchestra for the musicals, and master classes.
That's about all I can remember from the email. I do hope I've managed to get everything right! I'll post more as I learn it, and hopefully others will do the same.</p>
<p>Also, they audition about 300 and accept 15-20.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman BFA Acting major at Pace. During the application/auditon process, I always found Pat Woodward to be extremely helpful and very prompt in replying to my emails. She is the person who scheduled auditions last year and is a professor there. Her email address is <a href="mailto:pwoodward@pace.edu">pwoodward@pace.edu</a>.</p>
<p>SeaShells, I was wondering if I could ask you to comment on my original question, "Why Pace?". If you felt comfortable doing so, I would really appreciate it! I realize your D is an acting major, but it would still be helpful to know what drew you to the programs there. Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi folks, My son is a freshman at Pace. I empathize with all of the frustration expressed in the multiple postings above. their web site is chronically malfunctioning, they are slow to respond, they are not organized (we had to send confirmation of acceptance of financial aid 4 times. My son was supposed to be on the honors floor but he was not and we were not told ahead of time.)</p>
<p>But the big problem from my perspective is the figure quoted by triplethreatx3 above: audition 300 take 15-20. I think they may have auditioned 200 this year, and they told us the same 15-20. THEY ACCEPTED 36!!!</p>
<p>I did not hear any explanation for this. I am concerned that they just took more in to cover expenses, e.g. new dance facility. The only acceptable explanation would be: "Gee in the past we accepted 40 but only got 15 but this year everybody said yes." But that would be hard to believe and they did not say that. It is awkward as a parent. I want to complain but do not want my son to suffer repercussions. At this rate by the time he is a senior there will be 150 in the program instead of 80.</p>
<p>But in spite of all that my son loves Pace. He says the teachers are wonderful. He saw John Edwards there last week and Alec Baldwin and Halle Berry are scheduled for inside the Actors studio. His main complain is time conflict in choosing among so many great options.</p>
<p>I was impressed by the enthusiasm and camaraderie at the audition. Amy Rogers, the director of the program is young, enthusiastic and has her head in the right place from what I can tell.</p>
<p>Why Pace? The short answer is the same as the old joke about the 3 most important things in real estate: location, location and location. It is only the second program in NYC offering a BFA in MT. Is is (was?) a small program. I like the general education that they require. They have a huge number of course options and they try to make them real world applicable. the cost of this, as mentioned above, is carrying 18 credits. One downside is no dance the first year. I won't be surprised if this changes.</p>
<p>to respond to the number of freshman this year: it is true, the answer is that you accept more thinking that people will say no. its the way things go- just like movie screenings; producers over book to guarentee full attendence. we did not in a million years think that all 36 would say yes. how often does that even happen? what are the chances? but IT did. i saw it happen- i sent out the acceptance letters and watched them roll back in. we were and always are just looking for 15-20 thinking that the other people will have already said yes elsewhere or have chosen another program. NOBODY here can believe it. </p>
<p>we still are a small program in comparison to other big name MT schools out there but there is no doubt that it is growing in reputation and size and quite rapidly as per evidence of this years acceptances.</p>
<p>Thanks Hilary. It might be a good idea to make that clear to the current class. My impression is that they are all surprised and have not been told that it was a near impossible occurrence.</p>
<p>beriglour....no dance the first year?! That's NOT a good sign....
Any comments on the voice training? Are you familiar with the information on the website that lists voices lessons with Mannes faculty per faculty consent?
hilary25, can you comment on those points?...and do you know if the plan will be to take less students this year in an effort to begin leveling the class size out and keeping it at a reasonable level? I believe NYU can take larger numbers, given that they have the faculty and finances to support that choice, but I am under the impression that Pace is not able to financially commit to this MT program growing so big, so fast.
No dance the first year???!!!.....</p>
<p>Dance: No dance the first year has nothing to do with financial issues; its just the way our program is designed- focusing on acting, voice and movement, etc. There are plenty of opportunities to dance as freshman including going outside of the school- a number of our students attend STEPS, New Dance Group, etc. Also, there are several studets here who have taken it upon themselves to Audit classes when they could or if so desired, taken extra credits. In addition, this year, two very skilled students have begun teaching their own class which ANY student can attend if they want to get extra help or just practice.
Not trying to be anything other than honest, but if you are looking for an intense dance program, another school would be best for you; we have never been and have never claimed to be a big Dance school. We are however growing in that department and have had several quality teachers join our staff these past 2 years including those who last semester presented their class with private seminars with performers like Kelli Ohara and this year a possible talk with Jerry Mitchell. </p>
<p>About leveling the classes: Obviously as new as our program is, we dont have the same facilities and faculty as NYU; however, that is not to say that all of the Freshman we accepted will not be accomodated; nobody is being left without the education they are supposed to be getting. I would like to hope that come next spring the number of students that choose to come to Pace is in the desired range of 15-20; it is to my understanding that the acceptances come next spring will be even more selective so as to avoid this issue again. That is not to say we will downsize the desired number to 10 instead of 20 (we do want the numbers so that we can grow) but we will be making sure that there canNOT be anymore than say 25 or so. </p>
<p>Voice Lessons: Each student is assigned a Voice teacher in the first week of school when they have a placement audition in front of the teachers, Amy, and Rob Meffe. They have a weekly lesson for 45 minutes just like a normal voice lesson. They are also given 20 minutes worth of coaching time over every 2 week period to work on material with one of our accompanists. </p>
<p>if there is anything else I can elaborate on, please let me know.</p>
<p>Thank you very much, Hilary, for addressing my questions. I appreciate your honesty, and your willingness to be of help. My D is not necessarily looking for a program with a concentration in dance, but is certainly wanting to find a program with instruction in all three areas...acting, singing and dancing, from the start. I don't know how I feel about my D having to schedule dance classes outside of school. Maybe it's not that big a deal? We'll have to give that some thought.
I am still interested in knowing if the voice lesson opportunities through Mannes still exist?
Thank you, Hilary. You're a gem for helping us out, and Pace is lucky to have you!</p>