Experiences from Pre-College

kaysmom · 06-24-2006, 08:06 PM

I thought that the forum that everyone posted on last year "has anyone heard from pre-college" should be updated a bit with so many kids going from year to year. If I could figure out how to move the weekly accounts of broadwaywannabe, her mom and others from last year, I would, but I am not that computer savy. So I hope everyone can enjoy some accounts on the pre-college experience to maybe help those who would like to go in the future. I know I enjoyed reading everything!

kaysmom · 06-24-2006, 08:21 PM

So I am sitting here in the hotel.....alone.... having just spent the day with my daughter on her first day of pre-college. I'm not venturing home until tomorrow. She moved in early so I have to say that made things incredibly easy! She is excited about her roommate....a friend from her high school who is there for acting. My d is there for MT. In today's orientation they said that this is the biggest drama pre-college program they have ever had! 120 MT kids and 39 in acting! Crazy!

My d was thrilled about her room!! Just her and her roomie and their own bathroom...how cool is that????? The pre-college myspace was a wonderful site that many of the drama kids visited before attending. So today was a bit of walking around recognizing the kids the already "met". A definite ice breaker!

The orientation was packed and very informative. It is going to be six weeks of work for sure but I know my d is thrilled about it!! The drama faculty seemed excited and eager to work with everyone. The kids were even more excited. Tomorrow is dance placement auditions for my d. I know she is a little nervous but I am sure all will go well!

It was a great to meet some cc mom's too! Evasmom and dancersmom (please forgive me if I didn't get your screen name exactly right)! So glad our daughter's met.

I would love to hear everyone's reports as to how your kids are enjoying pre-college and I will share my d's experience as well. Would be nice to "compare notes" so to speak!

Hope everyone has a safe trip home and a great first few days of pre-college!

kaysmom

Someonesmom2 · 06-25-2006, 03:48 PM

We combined our CMU pre-college drop off with a stop in Ann Arbor to see the University of Michigan's School of Music. While there, we had an appointment with an admissions rep from the School of Music, which was very helpful and informative. The new Walgreen Center will open this fall, and most of the MT classes and rehearsals will be held there. We also toured the School of Music and the main campus.

To make a long story short (unsuccessfully), my S was not up for yet another campus tour of CMU yesterday, although we did tour the Purnell Center. Although I wanted to tour the campus, I figured that we could do that on Family Weekend.

Small problem: My S doesn't know where anything is, including the cafeteria. As of 2pm this afternoon, he hadn't eaten a cafeteria meal yet. I guess he skipped breakfast before heading to dance auditions and then wandered down to the Underground for lunch. I told him that he needs to find the cafeteria instead of wasting his PLAID ca$h on junk food.

Does anyone know if there is there a cafeteria in the dorm?

evasmom · 06-25-2006, 07:16 PM

JOhnsmom, we didn't manage the tour either so I am only hoping some kind person directed D to food. Last night her roommate's parents got a call that our Ds were lost in the Dorm!
Thanks Kaysmom for posting this. It was nice to meet you and your D. I wish I had met more CC folks, it is great to be able to put a face to this impersonal form of communication.
I have not talked to D yet today amd I am having a bit of a hard time letting go.

kaysmom · 06-25-2006, 08:14 PM

evasmom,

having a hard time letting go myself....

Someonesmom2 · 06-25-2006, 09:58 PM

I'll admit that I've called my S no less than 4 or 5 times since we left him in his dorm yesterday at 1:30 pm. (much too early...I didn't know the schedule of events when I had made plane reservations. I wasn't happy about leaving so early, though I suspect my S was ready for us to leave.) I'm happy to report that he seems to be having fun and has enjoyed meeting the other MT students.

Are most of the CC parents planning to come to Family Weekend? My husband and I will be there. It would be nice if all of us could meet. Would anyone like to meet for breakfast on Saturday morning? There are drama class presentations on Saturday at 11:00 am, followed by a luncheon with the faculty, which might also be a good time to meet. I'd like to put faces to all of these names that I've seen as I've been lurking around here for the past year, gleaning so much helpful information and seeing so much support for one another!

MrActor · 06-25-2006, 10:54 PM

Hey I'm an acting student at pre-college! (Elliott)

The cafeteria is near the outdoor track/football field that is being redone. There is two buildings on the south side of the track. I think one of them is called "west wing" that is the first one you will hit, u can walk through that building down the hall. you'll walk out of the building, keep going forward, and u will enter another building. THAT is the cafeteria.

If you're still not sure, just ask your foor counsler or anyone with the lime green shirts. (or just anyone really. most students know where it is) just say "hey i don't know where the cafe is. can u help me?"

It's really great to meet everyone that i've "met" on myspace. everyone is so nice. the workshops today were amazing! from the movement/stretching class, to the boah...these professors really know there stuff and how to make the work fun!

Great actvites and comuter clusters too. (an hour ago the 3rd floor of my dorm building emptied out all the soda bottles out of the hallway trash cans and played bowling with a plastic pumpkin in the halls right by the elevator. we drew a crowd of about 10 other people! some of us had cameras so i'm gonna try and upload the pictures and give links to anyone who wants to see them. Then we played freeze tag. I hid in the laundry room. lol

great times!

kaysmom · 06-26-2006, 06:24 AM

We are not going up for Parent Weekend otherwise we would have loved to meet you for breakfast! I hope you will give a good report back though, for all of us who can not make it there.

evasmom · 06-27-2006, 11:08 AM

Apparently the tap classes are already full and a list was not posted? Anyone else hear anything about this? I know last year people posted about some confusion with tap.

Also we will be at parents weekend so hope to meet more of you and if anyone needs parent subs will be happy to adopt CC kids for the weekend.

NotMamaRose · 06-27-2006, 11:13 AM

Johnsmom, I sure hope your son has found the cafeteria. Your post brought to mind how scary and confusing and overwhelming a new situation can feel to a teenager, and I think that suddenly being put in a dorm in an unfamiliar college with people you don't know qualifies!

I have tried to model good "asking behavior" for my daughters, but I know they still hesitate sometimes to ask people for things such as directions, etc. hoping instead that they can figure it out for themselves. Of course, my lovely grandma used to say that "Necessity is the mother of invention," and hopefully that will be true in this case, and your son by now is eating salads and a good amount of protein in the caf!

L

Someonesmom2 · 06-28-2006, 03:57 PM

Thanks everyone. Yes, my S has found the cafeteria and is adjusting well (too well) to being away at "college." So far, he is enjoying the hectic pace and is getting to know some of the other students (probably some of the kids of CC parents).

FYI: He had forgotten to bring some of his sheet music, which I was planning to mail to him. On Sunday or Monday, he discovered the library which, he reports, has tons of sheet music and plays from which he can choose his monologues.

evasmom · 06-28-2006, 05:12 PM

Yes, Johnsmom, I believe that John and Eva have met. I still don't know much about who's who and all... it is hard to get much time for conversation, they are so busy!

ElliottsMom · 06-30-2006, 01:54 PM

We just returned from a 2 week college tour and dropping off our S at CMU. The move-in Saturday was crazy with activities and my greatest regret of the trip is not having been able to find all of you (travelinghopefully, dancersmom, evasmom, notmamarose, kaysmom). I couldn't access my PMs via hubby's computer because my S was logged on and we couldn't get him logged out of CC. Fortunately we did bump into Hannah and her Dad for a chat before lunch.

Driving in Pitt was a challenge, but the city and surrounding areas were lovely. We did take the Duck Tour on Sunday which was enjoyable and I recommend doing it on Family Weekend. The information presented through the cultural district was particularly interesting as they spoke about impressive theater attendance and pointed out the various theaters. It also goes by Point Park with some correlating facts about that school. The vehicle is amphibious and starts out on land (wheels) then progresses into the river (boat). While on the river, the tour guides allow the young kids to drive the boat. A fun and informative tour of Pitt.

S and I did the CMU campus tour, but it wasn't very in-depth compared to the other schools we visited. Parents, you didn't miss much. We didn't enter buildings, see the food services, etc. In contrast, the Purnell Center tour (theater facility) was quite good and detailed.

We purchased required books on Sat. and I was pleasantly surprised that the grand total was only $58 (minus one book out of stock). The biggest challenge of the day was to figure out what to buy for the "required boys tights" for the Styles class. What the heck is Styles anyway? We were out of our element at the dance attire table trying to figure out the male danceware for my non-MT kid.

CMU was amazingly organized in handling the 700 kids there. The drama department presentation was fun, informative, and energizing. A very nice introduction and reassuring to parents. My hubby commented that he believes we're getting our monies-worth with this program.

MrActor · 06-30-2006, 11:18 PM

Styles class is training actors to perform classical monologues for auditions. We've been doing a lot of analysis. My instructor is excellent. We go through about 2 physical exersises before getting down to business to help us relax and stay focused. Every one of my professors are absolutley amazing at what they do.

kaysmom · 07-05-2006, 08:57 AM

A week and a half in and my d is having a great time at pre-college! She said there is a lot of work involved but is loving everything that she is doing and she said all of the faculty that she is working with is so knowledgeable and just fabulous! She said the feedback has been constructive and is not sugared down to make everyone happy. She said they absolutely tell it like it is and are brutally honest. D likes that about the program.

D and some friends she has made have ventured out using the Pittsburgh bus system and seem to finally be figuring out where they are going. They have returned to the CLO to see Grease again (loved it), have been to the water park and yesterday was the amusement park. This weekend it's 42nd Street. So there is certainly plenty of extra activities to keep them busy.

My d loves all her instructors. She loves her teacher for the Styles class! She wasn't looking forward to Styles at first because she didn't want to give up the improv class (one of her favs), but is loving and learning a lot in that class.

My d did get into the tap workshop but since there were so many kids who wanted to take the workshop, they have divided it up and they only get to attend a few classes instead of every Monday and Wednesday night. So I think my daughter said she will not tap again until the end of camp.

Private voice does not start until this weekend (at least for her). She is excited about that and we have heard that the lessons are invaluable, so I hope she gets some wonderful things to work on.

Looking forward to hearing more reports. I hope everyone's kids are having a wonderful experience too at pre-college!!

kaysmom