<p>^^^^ I second Angry Dad!</p>
<p>I’m not sure I can live up to kttmom’s example! And we are looking at BFAs in acting, while most of you seem more geared toward science and math. But, that is making the search an eclectic one, so here goes:</p>
<p>University of the Arts, Philadelphia-- D loved this school, and it went from being a last minute addition to the tour, to a top choice. It’s right in the center of Philly, a great theater city, and D sat in on a class and spoke to the chair of the Theater dept. – students were bright, sparkling, friendly; professors thoughtful and welcoming. No campus to speak of but everything is very walkable, public transportation is great, UPenn just across the river… and just an honest, creative vibe as if people were working hard at what they love. </p>
<p>NYU-- another happy surprise-- we expected it to be too big and maybe too full of itself, but the info session was great, the other kids there were bright and thoughtful and natural-seeming. When D heard about the option to audition for the Classical studio for the last 2 years, with intensive Shakespeare etc., she was sold, and will definitely apply. But the city is daunting.</p>
<p>Montclair State University-- a 45 minute train ride from the campus to NYC, a lovely campus, and the theater/dance dept is clearly lively. But it’s more of a commuter school and there was a sense that outside her dept. things wouldn’t be as energetic. </p>
<p>Adelphi-- similar to Montclair-- pretty campus, close to NYC, lots of commuters. D took a class here and the kids didn’t seem to be very attentive, it just rubbed her the wrong way. It has some great theater facilities, but not at all what we’re looking for. </p>
<p>From the past: BU, she loves. University of Rhode Island-- a pretty school with a nice honors program and a theater program with some smart, alive people. University of New Hampshire-- tons of theater, but not that sense of engagement. We’re going to look at U of Hartford, UConn, Ithaca, and Syracuse in April. </p>
<p>But it was a great trip-- and seeing D’s notes on the different schools, I was really proud of her perspective and how much thought she’s putting in. She’s growing up–yikes.</p>
<p>PS-- Brandeis-- loved the school, the kids, the very intelligent info session-- in the end there wasn’t enough theater for D. But oh how I wish it were otherwise.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Gwen. What does your D love about BU, if you don’t mind? I’m a BU alumnus, and though it wasn’t a good fit for me – at all – I think that for the right kid in the right program, it’s a horribly underrated school.</p>
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<p>My daughter is a recovering math/science kid, and has been toying with the idea of going the art school BFA route. There are more of us out here than you might think!</p>
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<p>True. We just don’t dare to speak up :)</p>
<p>Gwen: Have her check out Fordham at Lincoln Center.</p>
<p>Gwen - great summary.</p>
<p>Gwen - thanks for the great write up! We’re visiting Brandeis over S’s spring break, so I’m glad to hear that you and your D liked it!</p>
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<p>I love this! You added it at the last minute and D ended up loving it. Aren’t you glad you discovered it? </p>
<p>There are lots of BFA/performing arts parents on these boards - I think it takes enough extra stuff to get through the application process that people have plenty to talk about. I’m sure there’s lots of good info to be found on CC.</p>
<p>Does it seem like most of our kids are math/science? I know there are a handful. It sure is what my 2010 S is all about. I’m a musician myself, so it was really hard for me to accept when he dropped out of band going into 9th grade. But I’m not bitter at all toward his lame middle school band director who essentially spent three years sucking all the fun out of music. Nope, I’m over it. :(</p>
<p>I love to read the write ups from college visits - keep them coming! And I promise to do the same. Our plans for spring break include Univ of Rochester, Brandeis, BU, Northeastern, and maybe Carnegie Mellon if we aren’t too burned out by the end of our trip. I know CMU is hard to get accepted to and doesn’t give great financial aid, and I hear the vibe is kind of intense & competitive, so all in all, I just don’t find myself getting too excited about it. I think it’s worth a visit so S can formulate an opinion.</p>
<p>Gwen - Sounds like you and your D had a great trip. My D (2010) spent a month the summer before her senior year at the UARTS MT program and loved the school and living in Philly.</p>
<p>Does your D have a non audition safety school on her list yet that she loves? Make sure that she finds one that she would be happy to attend if she does not get into any of the audition programs because of the really low acceptances rates. My MT D had Muhlenberg as her non audition safety and she almost went there even after being admitted to audition programs because she loved the school and the program so much.</p>
<p>We are going back in few weeks. I asked D2 if we should take the opportunity in visiting few schools. She said she would rather go shopping.</p>
<p>oldfort - LOL! At least she is honest :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the great report, Gwen. It’s always helpful to have the on-the-ground reports. I’m curious to hear about your trip, PinotNoir. Sounds like you’ll be visiting some of the schools I’ve wondered about for S. </p>
<p>We’re trying to do too much on our short trip east and S is not putting any effort into learning about colleges yet. We’ll visit MIT just because S is a science/math guy and maybe it will motivate or excite him to start thinking about what he wants. We have some friends at Brown so will also stop there as well. We’ll also be dropping off his older sister at her liberal arts college so maybe that will give him a feel for what that kind of option is like. I hope this will lay the groundwork for some more realistic prospects in our next round of visits.</p>
<p>Ha, glad to be getting you secret BFA arts-types out of the closet!</p>
<p>Angry Dad-- D spent last summer at the BU summer theater institute-- 5 weeks of 10 hour days, living on the un-airconditioned 13th floor of Warren Towers. (It was the hottest summer I can remember). She loved it-- loved everything she learned, the teachers, the sense of camaraderie among all the different people at the College of Fine Arts…even Comm. Ave. It’s such a huge school, but if you have a niche such as the CFA, I think it could be wonderful. </p>
<p>glido-- Fordham would be perfect, but D has a visual/spatial ld that makes math and some science nearly impossible, and Fordham has an extremely rigorous core curriculum that applies to all majors. I feel like going to Fordham myself.</p>
<p>showmom-- yes, she loves the (non-auditioned) BFA at U Rhode Island. Small and underfunded as it is, it seems to have some really wonderful professors and a great interest in every student. She has a good friend who loves Muhlenberg. And it’s lovely to hear your D loved the UArts program! This year–yikes! But I’ve learned tons on CC already and I’m sure there’s more to come.</p>
<p>PN-- now I’m mad at the lame middle-school band teacher too. It’s awful to see that happen, and I’ve seen some lights extinguished that way here as well. (But-- I dreamed of having a science kid! The poor child, I think she mainly learned that her mother is a bit crazy, as I guided her through one experiment after another while she just wanted to play pretend!)</p>
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<p>Sounds like she knows what she’s doing. I think BU is a better school than it was 25 years ago, but it still is a disaster for students who don’t know why they want to go there. My reason – “Well, I didn’t get into Columbia, I guess I’ll go to BU” – was incomprehensibly stupid.</p>
<p>Gwen, Your description of trying to encourage your child towards science cracked me up. I, too, wish that my 2012 D was interested in science. At least my D is taking more math and science than I did in high school so she hasn’t eliminated any options yet, the way I did way too early. When she was interested in psychology early in high school I kept saying, “neuroscience, doesn’t that sound interesting…” But no, she’s fascinated by cultures and languages just like I was. I’m just hoping that she finds a way to make it into a more lucrative career than I have as a librarian.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and kindness toward my DD 2010 who lost her friend. She is dealing with it as well as can be expected. I think she has quite a bit of support with her college friend group and strong church ties there also. I’m sorry if I was off topic…I really just wanted us all to count our blessings and hug our kids tight.</p>
<p>The boy was not an only child and has a brother. I hope with time, that this brings some measure of consolation to the parents, not that one child can replace another, of course.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
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Debbie, there’s no such thing as off-topic here. your story was a welcome, albeit sad, reminder of things more important than our college search.</p>
<p>^^I second that.</p>
<p>Does anyone else follow HS 2011 thread? I glance at it once in a while to get a feel of what to expect in a year. I find it helpful.</p>
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<p>Agreed - not off topic at all. I can’t imagine what those parents are going through - waking up in the morning wondering why you feel kicked in the gut, and then remembering…</p>
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<p>Not the worst though. There’s always turning down Northwestern and sticking to the local college because your boyfriend hasn’t graduated high school yet. ugh.</p>
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<p>I follow it! Hard to believe that a year from now all of the applications will be in, all (most?) of the auditions will be done, and we’ll be in wait mode. </p>
<p>A couple schools S will apply to will be rolling safety schools that he actually likes, so the tension shouldn’t be too high around here.</p>