Freshman year at CCM:

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>I was contacted regarding CCM in the MT page of College Confidential - but since my son is a Drama student, and not a MT student at CCM, I thought that I would paste my response here also - sorry it’s so long:</p>

<p>My son is a Freshman in the acting program (Theatre) and loves it - he was a fish to water since day one. I have lots to tell you if you are still interested:

  1. I had never been to Ohio (we are in Texas) before drop off day - my husband came to tour the school with my son. To say that the area around the campus is “edgy” is probably one of the better terms. Two sides of the campus are “edgy” and eccletic - the other two sides are very rough and students are told by administrators not to go to those areas. I was not that happy to say the least.
  2. However, the campus is beautiful! And CCM Village is a school to itself - everything a student may need is there. The CCM Freshmen students are all assigned to the same dorm - which really bonds them all together. They have underground tunnels and a the student center is within walking distance. If your daughter follows the “rules” and does not venture off, she should be fine.
  3. My son’s class is one of the largest that they have ever had - but within the first few weeks they lost two students who didn’t want to go there or this was not the time in their lives to start this career.
  4. The professors are all excellent with wonderful reputations - but they can and do call it as they see it - not always in sugar coated words either.
  5. It is a very time consuming program and requires a students full attention. They can not be working on the side unless they are just super human.
  6. It’s strange - the kids don’t get “grades” (ccm only) when they turn in assignments - they get a check showing that they did it - this, however, does not mean that the professors don’t keep track of the quality of the work - they do!! As some of them found out in the December boards. If they are doing only what is needed to get by, it will kill them at boards. Several students were told, after the December boards, that if they did not improve by Spring - the second set of boards - that they would be removed from the program. (That’s how they “cut”).
  7. Boards: out of the 20 students who took the boards in December - only 11 passed the boards (thankfully my son did), 9 did not. HOWEVER, all 9 did not receive a letter saying that they should look for another school - only those kids that are just not trying or those that won’t follow the direction of the professors. You do not have to pass the boards to advance to the next year - in fact, as I have been told by my son, one upper class girl has not passed a board her entire time at CCM - this is probably the exception, not the norm.
  8. Finally, the Freshman year consists of the professors getting rid of bad theatre skills the students have aquired and then building them back up - many of the student’s don’t accept the comments lightly - many are offended or hurt. The kids just have to remember that they are attending that school to learn at a professional level and listen to the teachers.
    Hope this helps you and others out.</p>
2

<p>I was wondering, do you know how intensive the BFA Drama (not MT) program is? I also got a little bit of the impression that the MT’s slightly overshadow the Drama majors there, as the MT alumni have been able to make “names” for themselves more in the real world. Does this appear to be the case, even in the slightest?</p>

3

<p>Hi, theatreguy321! My S is a student at CCM (Drama), and my D applied this year, and so I will try to answer your questions based on what I hear from him and from his friends. It is certain that you hear more about the CCM MT program and their alums than about the CCM Drama program. However, those MT students have the very same acting instructors as the Drama students. The Drama students take movement instead of MT dance, and there might be other adjustments. That being said, several Drama students in my S’s class add in dance classes as electives and take voice lessons (for singing). You do need to know that the MTs audition for the musicals and the Drama students audition for the plays, and they do not mix this up. Some faculty members direct both musicals and plays, some focus on one or the other. There appear to be some indications that CCM Drama is on the rise in terms of reputation/popularity. I can’t remember for sure (so double check this if the stats are important to you), but I think the number of applications for Drama this year is 3 times the number three years ago (based on my notes from info sessions). Further, more students are accepting the admissions offers (as you can see by the large size of the current Freshman class). I think there might be fewer offers this time around!</p>

<p>My S does not talk much about his interactions with or impressions of the MT students; however, I do know that some of his friends have close friends who are MTs. The Drama students go to the musicals and the MTs go to the plays (and to other, less structured performances) to support each other. There are equal numbers of main stage musicals as plays. If the musicals are better funded (and that may be a big if) it is no doubt because the audiences are easier to come by, and the musicals may have a longer run because of that (not unique to CCM). Of course, in Cincy, the reputation of the entire program (Drama and MT), and the lovely facilities, almost guarantee a full house for every performance. You will never work in a nicer facility or have the amount of tech support the CCM students have.</p>

<p>The CCM Drama program is quite rigorous. There is always prep for class, you end up taking 1 or 2 classes outside of CCM each term, and, starting in sophomore year, there are the performances. At CCM, you seem to be encouraged to audition for opportunities outside of school, too (plays, voiceovers, TV spots). There will always be students who choose recreation over preparation, and, as was mentioned by 2dogs1cat, those students are the ones who may find themselves in trouble. CCM (Drama and MT) is not a cut system in the sense that they admit a large number of students intending to whittle them down to a set number, but students do get evaluated and get straightforward feedback on their growth, across the first two years in the program.</p>

<p>Yes, the campus is lovely, and the surrounding neighborhood has a little to be desired. However, the CCM Drama and MT students mostly live on the same street, and they travel in groups. Thankfully, my S has not had a problem in the neighborhood (and all the CCM students move off campus sophomore year).</p>

4

<p>letsfigureitout, thank you for your thoughtful response. It is very informative, and I know my S will appreciate the insight. Also, many thanks to 2dogs1cat.</p>

5

<p>Oh, thank you! That was a much better response than I was expecting to get!</p>

<p>One more thing – when you say “all the CCM students move off campus sophomore year”, what exactly do you mean by that?</p>

6

<p>Freshman year, students live in the dorms. Sophomore year, they move off-campus into apartments–not university housing. Most do not continue the meal plan, either. There is plenty of housing around campus, rented continuously by students at the university.</p>

7

<p>“all the CCM students move off campus sophomore year”</p>

<p>I do not believe this to be a hard and fast “rule”. My son was in CCM and lived in a dorm his freshman year. For the next three years he chose to be a Resident Advisor (he received free room and board) in a dorm right next to CCM Village. Each year he had CCM students on his floor. Moving into off campus housing is a choice, and not one made by “all”.</p>

8

<p>A little background . . . I have a daughter . . . a junior in high school . . . looking at everything (vocal, drama, MT . . . all the way to science geek on the other end). I think CCM is in her top 5 (also includes Yale, Northwestern and Michigan). She would like to do both ends of her spectrum, but realizes she probably can’t.</p>

<p>I thought I would pass on a few things that I learned in the course of looking at schools (actually speaking with a CCM drama student). Most of what I have heard comes from that student. I would be interested in your response at some point in the future. Keep in mind, the student with whom we spoke loved the program (didn’t realize it was a cut program going in) . . . no need to repeat all the positives though . . . that would take a while.</p>

<p>• CCM: likes to call itself a “Retention Program” . . . the kids who leave will tell everyone they got cut.
• Boards: Extremely stressful, but in hindsight not necessarily as important as the classroom. One of the best boards (if not the best) my contact saw while at CCM was a student that was cut within hours of her performance.
• Cuts: Your comment about cuts included the following: “only those kids that are just not trying or those that won’t follow the direction of the professors.” I was told that is just the corporate line. While its true, that your comment might fit some of the students that are cut, there are always some surprises . . . kids cut that don’t seem to fit that description. CCM has boards in the spring, it would be interesting to see if your son still agrees with this comment after he experiences he first showcase or after he graduates. Guess I should say . . . break a leg.
• Showcase: This is a big event for seniors. The school puts on a showcase for casting directors and talent agents the spring of the senior year. While it is possible to graduate without passing boards, the students are excluded from the showcase. Also, there have been times that students are excluded from the showcase who have passed their boards . . . no explanation as to why . . . at least not to the general population.
• The numbers . . . according to the web site the drama program accepts 18-20 kids a year . . . yet there are only 10 - 14 kids in the current classes. Are they cutting 20% - 30% of the kids in the program because they “just not trying or those that won’t follow the direction of the professors”?
• After seeing the above numbers, I tried to get numbers related to historical graduation . . . ie what percent actually graduated from CCM relative to those who started in the program. It was not available
• Straight forward feedback . . . from another poster . . . “CCM (Drama and MT) is not a cut system in the sense that they admit a large number of students intending to whittle them down to a set number, but students do get evaluated and get straight forward feedback on their growth, across the first two years in the program.” . . . part of the reason for the surprise that related to some of the cuts was that some of these students seemed to be getting very positive feedback in the classroom just before they were cut. What was being said in private may have been entirely different.
• Head of the program . . . related to straight forward feedback . . . the head of the program is very hard to read at times . . . not sure what that meant.</p>

<p>The bottom line is that yes, CCM is a cut program, and it doesn’t seem like all the cuts are easily explained . . . seemingly hard working students with decent/good boards are not retained.</p>

<p>CCM’s philosophy seems to be to quickly eliminate their perceived mistakes. This seems very different from a school like Michigan which seems to be more willing to work with their mistakes . . . at least that is the corporate line from U of M. Maybe I just haven’t spoken with the right student.</p>

9

<p>I guess the situation can be perceived in many ways. For that reason, it’s probably good to chat with more than one person. However, I will say in regards to the idea of “cutting” students, that it is the case in many programs that students leave before finishing. This might be because the BFA approach is not right or they get a job offer or something else. Several students left my son’s class and were not cut. While sometimes feedback on performance might be difficult to comprehend, I think help is available to get over rough spots. </p>

<p>I am not sure how to respond to some of the other comments as I am not aware of issues with particular teachers or the criteria for participating in the showcase, etc. Feel free to PM me if you would like to chat.</p>

10

<p>I’m a 2nd yr CCM drama parent. I can confirm all of the points listed by 2dogs1cat.</p>

<p>The program and facilities are top-notch and my kid couldn’t be happier with it. It’s been a perfect fit, beyond my hopes.</p>

<p>About the boards, since there seems to be concern about them:
There are a total of four of these performance examinations - Winter and Spring of freshman and sophomore yr.
Boards are difficult to pass, and serve as benchmarks for some mastery of an additional skill/concept that has been taught. If he doesn’t pass, it lets the student know they haven’t grasped it yet. It doesn’t mean they will be expelled from the program. Only 2 out of 13 students in my kid’s class passed all 4 of their board exams.</p>

<p>Students can be expelled from the program for just giving up or not putting in the effort. That has happened before. If your child is motivated, it likely won’t be a problem at all.
Cheers.</p>

11

<p>First of all, let’s put this out there: CCM has a fantastic program with great training and facilities, and if you fit their mold and love it there, then I congratulate you. But I am good friends with one of the girls who was cut from the freshman class this year and she was not cut for being lazy in any way, shape, or form. I barely heard from her the entire winter quarter after she got her letter at fall boards because she was working her butt off trying to improve on what they had said were problems during fall quarter. Throughout the spring quarter, she met with teachers who told her that she was improving on everything they had found a problem, and then she was cut. </p>

<p>There are motivated students who are kept (the majority), motivated students who are cut, unmotivated students who are kept (though this is much less than the other categories), and unmotivated students who are cut. Personally, I think it’s wrong to judge and generalize based on what a website says. On top of that, wonder why there are students on acid kept while those who worked to stay were cut. And why a senior was cut from showcase a week before it went up. There is no way to tell why things happen unless you ask the teachers in the department. I’m sorry if any of this post sounded mean, but I’m a bit protective of my friends and reading people say that got to me.</p>

<p>P.S. 1 student left in the first couple weeks, and there were 21 students in the freshman class at the time of fall boards.</p>