<p>Hello, I was very curious if the school has rehearsal rooms for the students to use while practicing there songs and monologues? </p>
<p>*Sorry for posting a new thread!</p>
<p>Yes - there are a number of them in Terra Building. But you will need someone with more information to let you know how many. My daughter has taken me up there to let me hear some of her songs. They have very good audio equipment and keyboards - I know she uses them quite a lot.</p>
<p>I don’t know the exact number either. They are the same rooms used for voice lessons and music skills/vocal coaching classes during the day. Availability during the day is a function of the class schedules. In the 3 1/2 years my daughter has been at UArts, she has never advised that she has been unable to use a room in the evening when she has so desired. In addition to the equipment and keyboards, students can access the school’s vast electronic music library from the rooms. </p>
<p>What many MT students also do is pick up a digital music recorder for use in recording voice lessons and accompaniments, and for downloading music from the library. Some students also pick up keyboards to keep in their dorm rooms (and later their off campus apartments). These tools also give the students the flexibility to to practice back at their dorms/apartments. My daughter uses both regularly to practice for voice lessons, juries and auditions. During the semesters that she took music skills, having her own keyboard also greatly facilitated her practicing for that class.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! Also, when they say the school does “rolling admissions”- does that mean that they will defer or wait list people who they are not sure about? Do they normally make decisions early or wait for most of the auditions to be finished?</p>
<p>Thank you again for all of your help on this board, UArts is such an impressive school and it is great for all of this information to be open to curious parents and students!</p>
<p>It’s kind of a “modified” rolling admissions. The school has a general policy of notifying students within about 2 weeks of their audition both with respect to acceptances and rejections. There are some students about whom the school may be undecided and those student will hear later, typically after the audition cycle is completed. There is no formal deferral letter or wait list.</p>
<p>Broadwaymom101~ If you are asking about rooms for auditioners, I don’t believe so. There was a group vocal warm up and then the kids just waited in an area for their turn to go in. I know of at least two who were accepted at the November 19 audition.</p>
<p>If the question is about auditions, lojosmo is correct; the rooms oregontheatermom and I were referring to are the voice and music skills class rooms used by matriculated students to practice outside of class. Private practice rooms are not available to auditioning h.s. seniors (which is the case at many if not most schools). The numbers are too large on most audition days and the practice rooms are used as class rooms during the school week and by current students at night and on week ends.</p>
<p>Thank you very much, yes I was asking mostly about rehearsal rooms for current students. But thank you for all of the extra info., that is very good to know. :)</p>
<p>Just a few more questions that came up:</p>
<p>What kind of performance opportunities are there aside from all of the shows? I know I have read about some of this in other posts, but are there voice recitals, or student directed projects?</p>
<p>Also, I know a student who is from the suburbs near Philadelphia, and they are concerned if they will still receive “the” college experience so close to home? I figured asking on here would be helpful since some of your children are from the Philadelphia area and still find UArts to be the right choice. </p>
<p>Thank you very much!</p>
<p>There are all sorts of performing opportunities available outside of shows. Some of them involve student scenes and other work written or directed by Directing Playwriting and Production students, some involving extracurricular cabaret type performances put on by students, some involving nascent theater companies looking to generate exposure and excitement by putting on performances open to UArts students and using UArts facilities. In addition, from time to time, opportunities arise through outside work involving UArts faculty. In the time my daughter has been at UArts, she has performed at a fundraising concert for the Walnut Street Theater as part of an ensemble with the leads in a production of Les Mis (her music skills professor was the music director for the production), has participated in a 24 hour performance marathon for a new theater company held in UArts studio theater space, and with outside performers has done a staged reading of a new work written by a UArts faculty member (who has over 125 published plays) held at UArts. She has also done student directed scenes for students in the DPP program and has assisted as a page turner in the pit of professional productions where her music skills professors were the music director. Other students we know have done a variety of concert and cabaret performances organized by students and outside developing theater companies. There’s lots going on outside of the formal production season. And, in addition, there’s a load of student written and directed work that is part of the production season.</p>
<p>As to your second question concerning “the college experience close to home”, that’s an issue that was in the forefront of my daughter’s process when deciding what school to attend from among her options. We live in Abington, a suburb of Philadelphia, and it is all of 13 miles from our house to UArts. My office is 1 block north on Broad St from the Terra Building. When my daughter was auditioning for schools, she was accepted to UArts by the middle of December. Initially, she was disinclined to attend UArts because of its proximity to home. As she put it, she wanted to “spread her wings and experience new places”. By April, however, her perspective had changed. She had options to attend other well known schools in other states. She concluded, however, that UArts’ program was really the best fit for her and at that point decided that the best program match was more important than “getting away”. She spent 2 days sitting in on classes at UArts and it was like the proverbial light bulb going off. She said to me that she came out of the Terra Building, looked up and down Avenue of the Arts (Broad Street) and said to herself “Why would I want to go anywhere else, this is the place for me.”</p>
<p>Being close to home has not diluted my daughter’s college experience and in many respects has enhanced it. I think, for any student, a threshold issue is whether UArts as a city school arts university without a discrete encapsulated campus will provide a student with the type of college atmosphere they want. There are some students who want a more traditional campus with a more diverse student body and educational/extracurricular environment and for whom a school like UArts does not have the “college feel” they desire. There are other students for whom a small arts university in the heart of the city is very appealing. The lifestyle and feel of each are very different. My daughter is a “city rat” and found the dynamics of city life, cultural and social opportunities to be perfect for her. She finds it to be tremendously exciting and fun to be going to school and living in the heart of Philadelphia’s performing arts district and to have all of the amenities that Philadelphia has to offer right at her doorsteps. She and her friends find that Philadelphia is a mecca for those who enjoy city life.</p>
<p>If the student you know is of a similar ilk, the proximity to home need not be an issue nor interfere with having a “college experience”. In our daughter’s case, we made certain decisions and acted accordingly to facilitate this. First, during her freshman year, our daughter lived in the dorms. Very important to having a college experience. UArts only guarantees housing for freshmen and upperclassmen have limited dorm opportunities by lottery or live in “off campus” housing. Starting with her sophomore year, our daughter has lived in a center city apartment year round. Not living at home and having the independence of life style as though she were hours away was another important factor. While the close proximity to home enables us to conveniently see all of our daughter’s performances, socialize with her and have her participation in family events and holidays, we are mindful of giving her all the space she needs to live as a young adult managing her own life.</p>
<p>For our daughter, she is having the perfect college experience and has said that she, without a scintilla of doubt, made the right choice. She is attending a program that is is ideal for her. She has formed many close friendships at school and has a rich and rewarding social life taking advantage of all that the city has to offer. She lives an independent life managing all of the responsibilities of apartment living. Because she is not a transient college student, she has been able to cultivate professional and employment relationships that both are built on her existing roots and support systems as well as those which she has developed on her own. Going to a school so close to home has not in any manner detracted from her college experience while offering the benefits of convenience that close proximity provides.</p>
<p>Broadwaymom, just to follow up a bit on the “college experience” question for students whose homes are nearby, the most important factor is that the student absolutely can not live at home but must live in center city relatively close to the school. At UArts, the “college experience” outside of classes and program activities is centered on students socializing at area eateries, going to shows, concerts and smaller performing arts venues, visiting area museums and historic sites, gatherings at student residences and otherwise using the city as their social and cultural playground. Even going to area gyms to take spinning and other fitness classes together. A student who does not live initially in the dorms as a freshman and then in a close by apartment as an upperclassman will be at a tremendous disadvantage if the student wants to socialize with other students and could end up feeling isolated from other students. (There is also the factor that the nature and hours demanded by the program make commuting highly impractical but that is a different issue.) The other key factor is parents giving space and not abusing the proximity by intruding uninvited into the student’s life.</p>
<p>As I alluded to earlier, the overall nature of the school and its location result in a very different type of college atmosphere than one would find at more traditional college campuses that house BFA MT programs. Activities outside of classes and the various program related shows, concerts and exhibitions are not based on the “campus” but on the city and what it has to offer. A different subject for a different discussion but a factor none-the-less in determining the “college experience” and one that is probably more critical than “close to home” in determining whether a student finds a “college experience” that meets his or her desires. You can mitigate the “close to home” factor but you can’t alter the location and nature of the school :).</p>
<p>My D has been living in a dorm her freshman year, then an apt by herself in her sophomore year, and now shares an apt with 3 others this year, and has had a wonderful experience mostly in her apt living situation. As Michael says, being permanently in Center City, my D has also established work relationships with those outside of her friendships, and has also developed close friendships with those in her year as well as with others in other years. She’s having the best time of her life, and totally LOVES Philly. So she’s thriving in her college experience.</p>
<p>As for performance opportunities, she’s had the experience of auditioning (which is critical) each year, and although she wasn’t cast for this spring season (turning out to be fortuitous), she has been in a show almost every other semester up to now. Instead, she’s will be able to explore something different by directing a cabaret for “Blurring Edges”; she also sings Karaoke from time to time, and is planning to prepare for auditions for summer shows later on in the spring. </p>
<p>I have to say initially I was disappointed that students don’t seem to get many opportunities to perform, until my D reminded me that she performs everyday in many of her classes in front of fellow students, so she always has an audience. In watching the 3 or 4 shows she has been in, I have been able to see a real improvement in both her vocal and acting skills since high school and that’s what reassures me that she’s getting what she needs to be successful in this business in the future.</p>
<p>I cannot agree more with Michael N Katz posts. My S is a current sophomore and we live nearby in the Philly suburbs. I look at this as a tremendous advantage as a parent. Our S gets to experience the true college experence and we get to see him more often than if he was miles away, not to mention our peace of mind should he need assistance in an emergency. We have been able to see his performances as well as other U Arts perfomances without incurring any additional costs. We also wanted our S to have the full college experience so he lived on campus Freshman year and he got an apartment with friends year round the summer after his freshman year. He loves Phillly and lives close to campus and is experiencing a city univeristy environment and loving it. What is not to love on the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia if you are looking for a city experience. We are also respectful of his independence and try not to impose on his time. It has been a win-win situation. The key is to live on campus freshman year and then live independently afterwards. Some students opt for a lottery chance for on-campus housing after freshman year. I think to live at home locally as an MT major would not be an ideal situation given the demands on the students’ time and the student would not have the true college experience.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! Yes, I have to agree that there is most definitely still a college experience to be had, as long as you swing everything the right way. And, of course, once they move out and are on their own that is all part of the experience as well. </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>