nytheatermom

PS: Belle, where are you from in NY? We are from Westchester.

Belle

I am from Rockland county.... right over the tappen zee bridge!

janenw

Belle-

The main thing that I have heard to bring is a FAN for the window - the dorms are NOT air-conditioned.

I know there is a dance 'placement' class first thing on Monday - but I am not sure about the other elements.

My daughter will also be attending - we are from Oregon!

janenw

DizzyDani88

And I get to say I know BOTH janenw's D and Belle!! Such a small theater world...

P.S. Heyyy girl. Guess I'm not the only college freak!

BroadwayWannabe

And I know common people with Dizzy and Belle...I know people who know them! lol...

theatermom

To Melsmom,

I'm really sorry that you have had such a difficult time with communications at CMU. I'm also sorry to report that when my D went to precollege and during her subsequent application process, we had much similar aggravation over communication with administration folks at CMU. I wrote to someone in charge at the time and got a call from a senior admissions person with whom I spent an hour on the phone, detailing the problems we encountered. He was appalled at the stories I had to tell and we discussed several strategies for improvong their communication. As a rsult, I was especially pained to read about your experience. I tell you this not to "slam" these folks but to suggest that to the degree to which it is possible, I would urge you not to definitively walk away from the opportunity for your D to study at CMU because the paper pushers can't seem to get their act together. It is really not a reflection on the quality of the edicational experience which my D found invaluable.

Clearly, it is a lot of money to spend and you have choices about where to spend it. You have every right to expect courtesy and honesty from everyone you deal with and when you don't get it, it is incredibly frustrating. And of course, all of our emotions are racheted up even higher when we go into "Mama or Papa Lion" mode - when we feel as if someone has wronged our children.

I don't know if you ever heard anything yesterday as you requested, but if you did or do get a positive response, I would suggest that you consider not throwing out the pre-college baby with the dirty administrative bath water.

ToTheStage

Hi! I'm new to this musical theater forum! I'm a junior in high school and I've just applied to CMU's program. I'm waiting to hear their reply.
I have a friend who just got in though.
<3

4KidsMom

My son sent everything in for his application by April 1st. I called yesterday and was told a decision has not been made and will not be made for 2 more weeks......... Which translates into 3 weeks once the letter arrives. He wants to now audition at the professional theatre he worked at last summer. If he doesn't audition next week, he will lose any opportunity to get a job there and a part in their summer show.

I guess this "waiting" by the mailbox experience is just a preview of coming attractions for next Spring when he is a senior..........

NOCCAMom

4KidsMom - We sent my D's info on April 4 by overnight mail. She received an acceptance letter dated April 15, however, we did not receive it in the mail until April 22. She has since decided to decline the acceptance to attend CAP21 instead. I called yesterday to make sure that they had received my fax declining her spot so that they could offer it to someone else. I was first told that the fax number I used was the wrong one. When I told the woman that it was the one on the acceptance letter in bold that we were instructed to use she put me on hold. It took 10 minutes and several times being put on hold for them to confirm that they had received my fax. From what I have been told this is a wonderful program so don't give up!! You might want to try contacting the department directly if you have not already done so and circum-navigating the admissions office if possible. I hope you are successful, the waiting and sweating out the timing issues are hard.

4KidsMom

NOCCAMom ~ Thanks for your note. I'll try calling again.

catsmom

Belle - I will try to answer some of your questions.
1)Besides the regular clothing, toiletries ect, is there anything I should bring that isn't asked. Certain dance shoes? a computer? Are their computer hookups? Anything out of the ordinary that comes up halfway through the summer?

As far as dance shoes, my D brought all. They offered a tap class as an extra class if so desired. The main shoes needed were ballet & jazz. The first day they had dance clothes for sale if you have the wrong tights, etc. They did have computer hook-ups, however my D used the ones in the library which is open until all hours (although they do have a curfew of 11:00 pm on weekedays and 12:00 weekends).

2) Do you recieve a list of books you need, or do you have to buy them when you get there?
We bought all books at the bookstore when we got there.

3) Do they tell you your roomate in advance? Also do they pair up the different sections together. For example I am going for the musical theater part so will I be rooming with another musical theater girl?
They do not tell you your roommate in advance. We called ahead of time to pre-arrange having her friend as her roommate, however when we got there, this had not been done and was kind of a pain to make it happen, but we did. I don't recall about mt's roomimg with non-mts.

4) Do you have to bring monologues and songs you normally perform at home? Do they ask for anything specific?
My D brought all of her music with her, as they do have a talent show, private voice, etc., but it wasn't necessary. She did not bring monologues. There is plenty of research material in the library.

If you go back to the archives during the last 2 summers you will find lots of info about the cmu-precollge summer programs. Hope this helps.

Melsmom

Hi theatermom,

I guess I could have been a bit more patient, but truthfully we have a serious conflict that entailed training another dancer to take my D's part in some numbers going to FL for a National competition in July. The hope was that my mailing her application in by the end of March, we would know something by the end of April so that we wouldn't stress too many people out at the last minute. Turns out we were the ones stressing the whole time!
It is apparent to me that she was probably going to be in this last batch that straggled in at the due date, and we would have had to wait another two weeks or so...unacceptable.
As it is, we are relieved to be moving forward with FL, and will have to come up with an alternative, locally to prep for college auditions. I was pretty sure I read in past posts of others having difficulty with admissions there, and am glad to know I'm not alone. I just hope they don't have her pegged as having "stage mom" in the negative sense, or being a diva or something. We just happen to have a life! LOL
Thanks for the commiserating (sp?)!
Eileen

debelli

I sent out my application a couple weeks ago and I just found out today I got in for the musical theater program! I'm from Miami and have never been up in Pittsburgh. We should find people that got in and start a board so we know a little bit about eachother before we arrive

4KidsMom

Still Waiting......No Word.........This is painful...........

debelli

Question: Is Carnegie Mellon's summer program hard to get into (or easy...more like a summer camp)? About how many do they accept? As much information would help