<p>I am willing to fly my DD from Chicago to one school that offers only on-site auditions. The others we will drive to or do at Unifieds. How do we choose without having visited?</p>
<p>She would like a conservatory within a competitive academic environment, a “real” campus, preferably near a major city. I want affordable. She wants BFA Acting with an opportunity to continue her dance and voice training. (At the same time, doesn’t want the Acting program to be the forgotten step child of the department compared to MT.) Please help us sort through these options…</p>
<p>MONTCLAIR: Never visited. From what I learned online it seems it has quite a nice program, although it is not often mentioned on these boards. Is it better known for its MT? It is hard for me to gauge the level of academics in comparison to, say, Rutgers. What is the surrounding area like? I know it is very close to NYC which is a huge plus.</p>
<p>FSU: Never visited. I hear about FSU all the time in relation to MT, but not so much straight acting. Very difficult/pricey to get to and obviously not near a major city, but may be worth it! Seems academically strong. I think DD could be convinced to go to school far from major city if everything else about the program is appealing.</p>
<p>ELON: DD loved the gorgeous campus, but again concerned about distance from major city. Seems equal emphasis on MT and Acting, but I could be wrong. I hear they are not great with merit aid, so affordability may be a factor.</p>
<p>FSU is definitely the cheapest school you will find even with oos tuition. Students in the honors college find it appropriately academically challenging. Having said that, the auditions are the supreme cattle call. You spend a lot of time waiting around for your 2 minutes to shine. My s did not get a call-back so I’m not sure what they do in the afternoon. </p>
<p>Having said that, both MT and straight acting are very strong and there is a significant FSU theater alumni presence in Chicago (if she is planning to return there after graduation).</p>
<p>Also, having said that, the theater director recently told two friends touring the dept with their kids, “If you want to do MT, you MUST be a superb triple threat. Most of our students for both programs are from out of state also. We are very selective”. </p>
<p>You might want to see what their current complement of boys/girls is currently in the program. When we toured 2 years ago, the guy who showed us around said the year he auditioned for MT, there were so many boys already in the program, they only took 2 BOYS that year! He also said that almost all of the students (speaking for MT) come from performing arts high schools.</p>
<p>Montclair State has certainly participated in the Unified Auditions in the past. They offer non-binding early decision, though, and so there is an advantage for auditioning there at an early date.</p>
<p>Montclair should be available for Unifieds. From what we understand, their Acting program is very good and not overshadowed by MT. My D was rejected but already had decided not to go - her ideal school wouldn’t even have MT. </p>
<p>With my D, we did all of the schools at Unifieds that she could (we live a couple of hours from Chicago), and went to the NY area for 2 schools that did not travel. She could have done video auditions there, but I decided to pay for that one trip because I felt those schools were important for her both to see and to have “live” auditions with.</p>
<p>I offered to take her to one of her first choices if she felt she’d do a better job auditioning, even though it would have been an expense. There’s only so much you can do, but I did let her know that was an option. She decided auditioning at Unifieds was fine. We had no reason to believe that auditioning on campus gave any kind of boost, but if it had made a difference to her personally, I would have supported it. Also, any time you go to campus, it helps with the kid’s choice in the long run. </p>
<p>In hindsight, of course I’m glad we didn’t spend more money - she was rejected from both schools where I’d made that offer, and I don’t think going to campus would have changed that - probability-wise, anyway. We did find out my D did not respond well to Unifieds - found them overwhelming and got very anxious. But who knew? You just do what you think is best at the time.</p>
<p>She did get into both of the schools we traveled to - probably because they were better fits (all of the Unifieds were reaches) and also because she was calmer.</p>
<p>Good luck - and try not to second guess too much!!</p>
<p>My son auditioned at FSU, Elon and Unifieds for straight acting programs. The poster who said FSU was a cattle call wasn’t kidding–like her son, mine did not receive a callback. The callbacks are done the same day. It seems apparent from the folks that were called back that FSU was interested in minorities that particular day–it looked like only 1 or 2 non-minoroties were called back the day we were there. Not to say that my S should have been called back–he had a rough day and was not happy with his auditions. The staff at FSU was not warm–it really felt like that could not wait to get it all over with–and he auditioned in December, early in the audition season!. The students in the program were friendly when answering questions in the group Q & A session but beyond that–not much.</p>
<p>Elon was the complete opposite, even though they auditioned an equal amount of kids as FSU the day were there. They were warm and friendly, available to answer questions–enthusiastic students, professors, and administrators. They did not do a callback–just the 1 audition in front of 3 auditors–Fred, the head of the department and 2 acting teachers/professors. My son did get in but for financial reasons chose Texas State. We live in FL so FSU would have been ideal if it had been more like Elon!</p>
<p>I would check further about the balance of acting and MT at Elon. We are in VA and know several kids from our theatre community who go to Elon. The “rumor” or inside scoop in our community is that Elon is definitely focused on their MT program. I have no first hand knowledge of that, but my D had heard it enough that she decided not to even visit Elon because that was a concern for her. I have heard that it is a wonderful program though and a very beautiful campus. Best of luck!</p>
<p>One way my D figured out if there was “too much MT” at a school was through the admissions office and tour. We visited Wagner college when she was a junior: among the promotional materials there was a flyer for “theatre” at Wagner. Huge multi-page spread about their musicals, and a one-page list of straight plays on the back like an afterthought. On the tour, we were shown the main auditorium and told it is used for musicals; the black box for straight plays is behind the football stadium (and the tour didn’t go down there). Third, the admissions officer couldn’t seem to remember that my D was interested in Acting and kept referring to the MT program when answering questions. This was not the case at other schools that had both programs.</p>
<p>My D happens to love MT, has an encyclopedic knowledge of it, has directed and choreographed several youth MT productions and is an excellent singer. She learned through this process, however, that she wanted to spend her training focused on Acting, along with Directing, Design, Writing, and Theatre Lit and History. The program and productions can tell you a lot about how MT and other Theatre subjects are balanced. The public face of the school also can show you a lot about what it might feel like to be “just” an Acting major at a school that does both.</p>