@MThopeful2022 , @MusicGoals , Millkin has a beautiful, well-kept campus. It’s American Gothic Revival in matching red brick. Small class sizes mean the profs know you by name, so don’t cut class. Stay off your phone during class time. Profs may or may not tell you that they will deduct points from your grade if you’re on your phone. That’s one way to drop as much as a full letter grade. If they plan on trying out for choir (sign up for auditions is posted during first week), it is very, very competitive, more than theatre is, so don’t be surprised if they end up in the bottom choir. All choirs participate in Vespers, a massive choreographed concert, at the end of the semester. Vespers is a major time suck, so try to get ahead before tech week. Use your free time wisely. Vespers usually comes with “Vespers plague”. All it takes is someone to get exposed to a cold or stomach virus over Thanksgiving break and bring it back. When everyone is standing in close quarters for hours at a time, days on end, it spreads. If you don’t get cast in a mainstage at unifieds, there are other performances you can go out for. Usually only one or two Pipe Dreams shows are cast at unifieds, so as the season fills out, there’s more shows to audition for. The cabaret series is also worth doing. The audience is always packed for cabarets. Some years there’s bonus shows like when they did a staged reading of “Ordinary Days” for 9/11 or when JMS students write shows. All of these groups have youtube pages, so go check it out.
Get involved. Joining a few clubs or organizations will help with adjustment and you’ll make friends outside of your major and dorm floor. UCB is good because you can volunteer to work an activity only when you know what your theatre time commitment is. UCB runs a lot of campus activities so there’s something to do on the weekends. Bingo is surprisingly very popular. Who doesn’t like to win gift cards, food and other items? Go to the involvement fair, if only for the free food, but seriously check out the groups. There’s a quidditch team made up of mostly theatre majors. There’s an improv group. Millipalooza features campus bands who are usually fairly decent. Some years there are campus games. “Assassins” is banned, but “Humans vs. Zombies” was allowed. No one cares about the homecoming game, but the other events are a big deal. Kick-off has fun things like inflatable lazer tag, the talent show has real talent, there’s a 5k color run etc. There are things to do on campus if you look. Cookie party and the drag ball are highlights of the social year. Pancake breakfast at the start of finals comes with entertainment and profs serving food.
Campus is safe, certain off-campus areas not so much. The buildings have card swipe access for safety, academic buildings after 7? 8? and dorms 24/7. Security is visible and responsive. The block immediately north of campus is safe as well. The school has been buying buildings in that area, so it’s pretty much a campus annex now. Security offers a free ride program, so you don’t have to walk alone at night unless you choose to. You’ll be fine as long as you don’t do stupid things like wandering off-campus alone at night. There’s some minor student-on-student theft every year, but it’s the kind of environment where you can leave your laptop/phone/purse on a cafeteria table while you get more food and not worry about anyone touching your stuff. On the whole, students are polite at a minimum. Milli-kids are nice people.
For what it is worth, if your child somehow got into Boston Conservatory for MT and is NOT a strong dancer and is more of a “diamond in the rough” type of kid, feel free to message me. I think my son’s experience is much different from the many kids who got in and were already dancers. My son is loves the training and would not trade it for the world, but BoCo, unlike many schools, really favors their dancer students so buyer beware. He lucked out getting an amazing acting teacher, an amazing vocal teacher (not everyone lucks out on that), and is taking tap, ballet, and jazz (all level one). The growth this year has been impressive. Is it worth the price tag? For us it was, but we had not saved up for it, the economic strain would have been too much.
@MomofMTBoy I can’t send PMs yet, would you mind if I asked you a question or two about that price tag and the process there? If OK, could you please message me? Thanks.
@rutgersmom321 Thank you. There it was! D checked just before she went out of town and there was nothing there. It is there now and she made her selection. They have until May 4 to notify students on the PWL :((
Looking for some advice… We are down to 2 schools, and they could not be more different from each other. Illinois Wesleyan for BFA MT (MT is what my son wants) and Carnegie Mellon for BFA Acting. Both schools leave us with the same out of pocket. I didn’t want him far in the first place because we want to be able to travel back and forth to see him perform. But then we keep saying, IT’S CARNEGIE MELLON…But not MT. He was ready to commit to ILL WES but Carnegie FA package was pretty good. UGH don’t know what to do!!
@latinaMTmom aww He has some great choices. “it’s Carnegie Mellon” but is it something that he wants to do? If the finances are there, Go with whatever is his passion he could be the next breakout star for IWU or he could say that he went to Carnegie Mellon I’m sure he will come to the perfect decision very soon I can imagine how stressful it is. Many of the parents are feeling it right now
@NewEngMTMom - take a look at the website for Michigan State University. http://theatre.msu.edu/academics/undergraduate-studies/bfa-audition-requirements/
I believe a student can apply (non-audition & still open) to the university – and start in BA Theatre program…then audition for BFA Acting and they have a MT Immersion program. I’m not clear on the details. But it could be place to start and open doors without transferring. Best of luck!
@latinaMTmom … in my totally honest and personal opinion, with no cost difference, if it was me, I would totally commit to Carnegie Mellon BFA Acting. You can always pick up voice lessons … people can disagree but I always think a great actor who’s a good singer is going to work far more than a great singer who’s a good actor. YMMV.
I think Carnegie Mellon will prepare him for whatever he wants to do with his career whether it be MT or straight shows. So I would not let the fact that it is an “Acting” degree rather than MT deter you. At Ds school, OCU, we’ve recently had 2 acting majors both be leads in national tours of musicals. They were not part of the MT program during college. Getting an Acting degree will not preclude you from pursuing MT roles. He needs to decide which program is the best fit for him. Cost being equal, I think most people would say Carnegie Mellon offers the best training, more prestige and better alumni network. BUT - if he doesn’t see himself there, he should go with what will make him happy and makes the most sense to your family. We have a friend who turned down CMU - she studied theatre at Harvard and was very happy. So Carnegie Mellon is not the right spot for everyone. But it is an amazing opportunity that many can only dream of. Best wishes in your decision making!
@latinaMTmom when D and I visited CMU last year, our guide was BFA Acting. He said the two worked so closely together and crossed over all the time. I know my D would have gone there for BFA Acting even though she was trying for MT. Unfortunately, she was not accepted. Your son is blessed to have this opportunity. Congratulations.
@theaterlove3
I have a current freshman MT at Syracuse. There is a lot of crossover between MT and acting. They even take many of their acting classes together and I do know that Acting majors can take dance as long as there is space available. MT do get priority for dance. They are all also allowed to audition for any straight plays or musicals- they are not limited to their major. The foundation of both Syracuse majors is their strong acting program. Let me know if I can be of help.
I think there is a lot of crossover with the MT and Acting programs at CMU. There are also quite a number of MT kids who end up in the Acting track there. My own D was priority waitlisted for Acting there and is an MT kid. My D is now in musicals with Broadway actor, Andrew Kober, who is a graduate of the Acting program at CMU. In fact, a funny thing is that when we toured CMU’s program, Andrew was the guide. Check on if your S can take private voice there. I think there are a number of CMU Acting grads working in professional musicals. This is also true at NYU/Tisch, where my D has friends who were in Acting studios who went on to Broadway musicals.
MolloyCAP21 tells its students constantly that acting is the core; everything else builds on it and is dependent on it. A lot of actors can sing, but not many singers can act.
@latinaMTmom I think 99 out of 100 would take CMU in a heartbeat. I know we would have. I believe CMU absolutely opens doors for aspiring actors and it doesn’t matter whether the degree is in MT or Acting. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
he could be the next breakout star for IWU or he could say that he went to Carnegie Mellon