briansteffy

letsfigureitout: thanks for the input.

briansteffy

letsfigureitout: Ok, now my S is interested. I am curious. USWNews reports that NCSA (school-wide, and not drama) has a retention rate of 75% after the first year and graduates less than 60 %. Is this data distorted by the fact that the data may include HS students who spend their senior year there and then move on? Do a lot of people leave for various reasons? Do they cut? Thanks for responding to my previous note. Beautiful time to be in NC. I went to school in Durham for a year and thought that NC had the greatest weather; four seasons, with winter cut short.

All4FSU

Briansteffy,
I posted this on the MT forum as well in the hopes that you would find it quickly. Our retention is very good. The most frequent reason for a student to leave a program is that they realize that a BFA program is not right for them. An acting program is very rigorous and time consuming. because your class performance often impacts that of another student it comes with a great deal of responsibility. It's a very different college experience than that of a business or biology major, for instance.

All students in the BFA programs jury sophomore, junior & senior years. Juries are part of the feedback process for the program and they are a very important part of communicating with students regarding their areas of growth. BFA students are busy :-) This is a time carved out for each student every year to perform their work in front of all the faculty in their area and receive feedback that will hopefully help them see their next level of development and reach towards it. The intention is not punitive in nature. One thing I will say is that each of our BFA programs are very small in size and very collaborative in nature. The students tend to cohese as a class. If a student loses their drive to excel in their field, it can be detrimental to the collaborative work that is done by the students in their performance classes. Occasionally a student will be redirected to the BA program, usually for this reason. This is not common and if someone wants to know exactly hom many, please PM or e-mail me.
Acting and MT each have different terms they use for jury results. For MT, once you have "passed" your jury in an area, you have reached BFA proficiency and don't have to jury in that area again. Probationary means progressing on track (meeting developmental goals.)
For Acting, a pass means progressing on track. If you fail your jury once, you are given feedback and you re-jury the next semester. Students almost always pass when they re-jury. If you fail your acting jury twice consecutively, you are dismissed from the BFA program. Once again, not common but it does happen every once in a while.

I hope this helps, but if anyone has questions, it's probably best to contact me directly.

Michele
(mdiamonti@fsu.edu)

mommalin

Hi all, rookie poster here...My d attended a college fair/audition in Louisville last week and at the "call-backs" that followed auditions, she was told on the spot that she was accepted to: CCM, U of OK, Stephens, Evansville and about 10 other state or small schools. I had to go back and ask the CCM rep because I didn't expect a decision THAT day. I"m still confused. These schools will be seeing many more students over the next few months, yet they are able to commit already? There were 4 other students accepted for CCM alone. I wondered if the CCM and U of OK drama programs are less selective than their MT? I mean, I think my d is amazing and so did they, but I'm realistic enough to know it shouldn't be that easy??

letsfigureitout

WOW--that sounds fantastic for your D!!!!! It will make the next few months a little easier. We have heard that some schools (CCM being one) will tell some students that they are "in" right after the audition.

Brian--I don't know the answer to your questions. Those data on NCSA retention are scary. (Are there similar numbers for all the schools?) I talked with my husband and son this evening, after they attended the Open House program, toured the campus, and sat in on a class. They said that about 30 drama students are admitted into the freshman class (a little larger than most. . .) and they are split into smaller groups for instruction (15ish). They get "1,000's of applications," just like the other top conservatories. My husband and son listened closely for any hint of a "cut" policy; there was no indication that NCSA accepts a large class with the intention of deliberately reducing the size prior to graduation. My son was very impressed with the instruction in the class he attended. They saw a show tonight, and, again, they were QUITE impressed. Just reporting their impressions. . .sounds like a "keeper!"

briansteffy

letsfigureitout: A 75% return rate of first year students is quite common. Many colleges have a similar rate. A 56% graduation rate is also quite normal. Again, it's typically the top-ranked LACs and national universities that have, say 93% return and 85% graduation rates.
For Comparison (these are college-wide data):
Evansville: 80% return, 60% graduation
Purchase: 75% return, 49% graduation (latter is a pretty low percentage)
Juilliard: 94% return, 80% graduation
University of the Arts: 81% return, 58% graduation

All4FSU. Thanks for the Info. We communicated earlier about scheduling an audition. I have the person's name and number.

briansteffy

mommalin: I am curious, did Univ. of OK have D's academic stats. I ask this because their web site says that applicants have to meet minimal requirements (SAT/class standing, GPA) to get into the Univ. as an out-of-state resident, regardless of audition.

dancersmom

Mommalin,

I can't speak in regard to whether or not the U. of Oklahoma drama department is less selective than their MT program, but I can speak in regard to CCM. I live in greater Cincinnati, my D studied at CCM's Preparatory Department for many years, and I worked as an accompanist for CCM's Pre-professional ballet program. I am very familiar with both CCM drama and MT. The MT program is considered to be much more selective than the drama program. However, the drama department is well-regarded and your D should be very pleased to have been offered an acceptance on the spot. CCM uses a rolling admission policy for both their MT and drama programs. Students are usually notified in regard to their acceptance status within 2 weeks of their auditions. One point you may not be aware of is that at CCM both MT students and straight acting students are taught by the same drama instructors. Casting in productions is usually delineated by major; that is, MT students are normally only cast in musicals and drama students are usually only cast in straight plays.

letsfigureitout

Interesting. . .Does that mean that you have a better chance of an acceptance to CCM if you audition early, since the "slots" might be filling up by the time February rolls around?

mommalin

dancersmom,

thank you so much for this input! we are tying to decide whether to chose from the acceptances we already have or go as planned to the unifieds in chicago.

about ccm...i'm glad to know about the casting as daughter has done MT and it would be nice if she were able to cross-over, but straight drama is her love. she just wants a program that will train her well, have a good repuation and help give her exposure when she graduates. so there's no "stigma" to being a ccm drama student as opposed to MT student? they are still considered selective?

mommalin

I don't know. I was so stunned I asked him again..."you only have 20 spots, right?" and he said that they would end up offerring about 35, knowing that 15 will accept other offers.

mommalin

They did have her GPA which is 3.7, but she had not taken the ACT at that time. She took it the next day and we are still awaiting the results. The representative I spoke with did not tell me a specific minium ACT score, but didn't seem too concerned. The impression I get is that if the drama departments want you, the academics just don't matter that much, unless you are talking about an ivy...

letsfigureitout

When we visited CCM last Spring, we explored the question of whether drama students felt like the "poor step sisters" to the MT students. The answer was "no." The students felt they were treated equally, and felt they would be viewed favorably once they graduated. It appeared they would have the same type of "exposure" as the MT students. There were plenty of opportunities for students to perform, both at school and in the city. The facilities were great. It seemed as though the CCM drama program was growing in terms of reputation: it will only get better each year. I would not be concerned about it for drama at all! My son has applied, and he hopes he is in the same situation as your daughter!!!

dancersmom

Mammalin,
There is certainly no "stigma", as you put it, to being a drama student at CCM. Their BFA acting program is very selective; it is just not quite as selective as the MT program. I think that some parents worry that the drama students will be overshadowed by the MT students. I have not found that to be the case. As I said in my earlier post, the two groups of students are not in head to head competition for roles. The drama students are afforded a large variety of plays in which to perform. They are showcased in both Los Angeles and NYC during their senior year. The MT students do their own separate showcase in NYC.

As a parent, the thing that I would most concern myself with is whether or not the school seems to be a good fit for my child. Study the curriculum, pay a visit to the campus, talk with current students, talk with the faculty, sit in on some classes, and see a production. Doing these things will help your D get a sense of what it would be like to attend the school.

GodIHopeIGetIt

Hi all- trying to figure out where I'm applying this year, and I'm really focusing on acting majors (though MT would be wonderful!). I've been trying to find schools that had good academic stats and such, and Loyola University Chicago stumbled onto the radar. I read a small mention of people being accepted into their program at the Chicago auditions in Febuary. How's the program? Is it conservatory style?