Any insight on Nazareth college in NY for MT? Friends kid had a positive audition there …
@theaterwork , I can help out. My son committed there Early Action, so he will be attending Naz in Fall 2019. Small BFA program that has wonderful facilities. The college is putting money into the arts, as they just built a new concert hall that opened this year. The program head for MT is Corinne Aqualina and she is wonderful! I can only say great things about my interactions with her. She is a working professional and is looking to really build and grow this program. They just brought on a new head of dance this past fall and I liked her immensely. Corrine told me that they hold master classes several times a month for the students and they have several performance opportunities for all students over the year. They bring in guest directors for performances so the students know what it is like to work with everyone and not just one director. the A1’s held on campus summerstock auditions there this year. Prof. Aqualina has very good industry connections, especially with the Finger Lakes regional theatre. There is private voice all four years along with voice labs. I feel it is up and coming and is right now a hidden gem. Is there anything else specific I can answer for you? Feel free to PM as well
Congratulations do your D @BrennaK! Hope she gets into the program she wants.
@ZukAndSowash - having been a part of 5 years of this type of thread, in fact, having read EVERY thread posted on the MT and the drama forum since 2013 - I can tell you that this one ends up as catch alls for a WIDE variety of things - and not are topics of equal interest. For example, my D has some SOLID sinuses, rarely experiences problems with humidity levels etc. But I have read a LOT of posts (on this thread an others like it) about best types of humidifiers, secret of thieves (the name of which always fascinates me) etc, none of which have been necessary in my world. It’s just part of the conversation.
TBH - I think the walk in conversation has merit for those in the future - all the junior parents reading the thread. You do need to figure out how you feel about these things in advance. In 2014 - my D was ADAMANTLY against walk ins… her thinking was that we had agonizingly researched the schools on the list - those were the schools, case closed. But frankly, we didn’t understand walk ins well. I hadn’t been long on CC (ah, my younger days), and only heard about them a couple of weeks before Chicago. So we didn’t discuss it until we were there, and it clearly freaked her out - so I dropped it - why cause stress? Since then, I have read over and over again about kids finding “hidden gems” etc, and have come to think they offer a wonderful opportunity. And looking back, my D says that if she were doing it all again, she WOULD try walk ins, that she was just too stressed in Chicago to deal with any new ideas. Cut to this year - I am helping guide a student of mine through this process. She and I talked about walk ins at the beginning of the year - and I told her that she should put that concept on her radar. She was NOT a fan (another, “my schools are on my list for a reason”) but I told her to think about it, just let it marinate. Right up to last week, she was hemming and hawing… but I kept nudging. Low and behold - she got to Chicago, started looking around, and ended up checking out some walk in schools - and found a couple that may be actual contenders. We are adding it to my “I told you so” list. Right @penny1234 ?
The point of this forum in to help kids during the process, AND to help kids prepare for the process. BTW- CONGRATS to those who have now finished. May your waits be small… and your acceptances be numerous
This is the last I’ll say on the walk in topic: Chelsea Diehl from My College Audition posted a GREAT blog on this just today. It talks about the pros and cons of walk ins, and who should and shouldn’t be doing them. Can’t post links here, but I encourage everyone to read it on the My College Audition website or Facebook page.
@mamaboyz - agreed that the Department Heads often make the program. They are the ones who have the vision, guide the direction of the program, and have/make the industry connections. So yes, it’s important to know if a department head is in his or her prime, is new and untested, or is about to retire.
I have one last thing to say about the walk-in debate. I read the most recent post from @WeRnutz You make a really excellent point. I can validate your feelings that it’s not fair and/or deceptive and/or a red flag. And for everyone else weighing in, your points are all valid for you and where you are whether you agree or have a completely opposite opinion. There is absolutely NOT a “correct” opinion on this matter. If you feel strongly about it and want to do something about it, perhaps with the altruistic goal of helping people in future years who are going through this process, let the schools know about it. Give them the feedback. It’s entirely possible that they are just trying to give as many people a chance as they can and that it has never even occurred to them that you are being treated unfairly. Or maybe they will let you know the reason why they do it - maybe they realize that this process is inherently biased against families from lower incomes and they are making a conscious effort to try to correct that problem just a little bit. Maybe they have a reason, maybe they don’t. But as we argue with each other, trying to convince each other that we are right and someone else is wrong, we are doing the opposite of what I think is wonderful about this forum - supporting each other.
@carriemc95 we spoke to Scotland yesterday and they said that even if you don’t get an audition, to reach out to them and they will look at video.
I’ve been on CC for 17 years. 
To give some of you some history…While CC has many sub forums on a vast number of topics, MT wasn’t its own sub forum at first. There was one very LONNNNNGGG thread discussing MT and it became like a 25-part thread that kept continuing and continuing on all aspects of MT college admissions. It was one big catchall thread. Then, MT became its own sub forum on CC. That allowed there to be MANY threads, not just one veryyyyyy long thread, and thus, threads broken into subtopics, making it all much more manageable. It has been this way now for years.
In recent years, there has been a “venting” thread for the current year’s class. The thread reminds me of the original catchall MT thread before MT had its own subform. Lots of discussions and topics going on at one time. I think it is nice having a general discussion or support thread for the current year’s class. However, when a big subtopic comes up, such as currently, the many posts on walk in auditions at Unifieds, it makes sense to make its own thread for it. It can warrant its own discussion rather than monopolizing the entire thread. Otherwise, this “class support” thread becomes like the original catchall thread on every topic for MT under the sun, like the original veryyyy long thread that MT started as on CC. Just an observation from a long term member!
Congratulations to all of the Unified parents for surviving the week. My D has her final Chicago audition (her 8th, 7 scheduled and 1 walk-in), and she and my wife are exhausted. Highs and lows, trying to guess the significance or not of every sneeze, glance, comment or lack of comment, from each program. The piano accompanist in her audition for one of her top school choices flubbed the song, and just stopped playing; she just kept going but it threw her. They didn’t apologize or give sympathy; some of the big programs that are seeing a pile of talented kids feel like a factory assembly line. But some equally warm and friendly auditors, and very supportive hall monitors, kept the week rolling. Who knows what will come of all of it. She had a great walk-in with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland that really lifted her spirits too, not that she’s necessarily seriously considering it, but just got some warm fuzzies from them and a few needed compliments at that point in the week. She and some friends went to Hamilton to get inspired and loved it. Off to BW on Saturday for her only on-campus audition. My wife also was glad to not have stayed at Palmer, the walk from the Hampton Inn was good to clear the head and escape the pressure cooker. What a crazy adventure for all of them…………
Thanks @NYKaren . Do you know how many kids they accept normally?
@theaterwork, the usual 14-16. Last year it was around 14, I believe. My son sat in on the first day of classes for the freshmen and My hubby and I sat in on Corinne Aqualina’s pep talk to the freshman class so I’m trying to remember, but I would say 14 sounds right. Very supportive environment as well. PM me if you want my email for your friend.
Accepting Offers Before May 1:
Almost every school my daughter was accepted to requested she check back in with them by a specific date and let them know if they are still under consideration. This was mainly so they had an idea on their numbers (if they manage a waitlist) or so they can release her talent scholarships to other students, since the theatre departments are allotted a certain number to play with and some lose those funds if they don’t grant them by June 1. It wasn’t a “or you will lose your spot” situation, but if the school is no longer a consideration, they just wanted to know. This was also discussed at some of the information sessions. Some students have no idea they even need to notify schools they are not accepting their offer.
Otherwise, May 1 is the official deadline they must hold your spot. From the time you get your offer until May 1, the student is finally in the driver’s seat. Take advantage of this time and use it wisely! We had our daughter narrow down to three choices (even though she had it down to two) and visit the schools again over spring break, because those schools were in session. She sat in classes and talked one to one with students and we met with department heads to discuss curriculum. This was critical for us because we were able to see how the program really runs vs. what’s on paper and hearsay. This was an eye opener for some programs.
Also, we contacted at least 6 alumni or current students (or parents) from each program with our specific questions or concerns for each program. This also became critical to choosing or not choosing her top three to visit.
We found parents, alumni and students for each school through this forum, the department. Facebook searches and our MTCA network.
@16or32bars We totally agree. We stayed at the Hampton down the street and we were so thankful to be able to “get away” from the madness at The Palmer House. Had it been -50 I may have felt differently but we enjoyed our walks back and forth
@WeRnutz - for what it’s worth… I 100% agree with you on prescreen schools offering walk ins - or doing the combine thing in NYC. BUT- not my circus, not my monkeys
I’m 99% sure I’ve said everything I want to say about walk-ins, 100% sure my mind’s not gonna change, and 101% sure that 102% of the people who frequent this board are 103% sick of the walk-in topic.
That said, our kids aspire to careers in an industry with a well-deserved reputation for taking advantage of starry-eyed youth, financially and otherwise. Ever see the director’s cut of The Godfather? The scene when the little girl leaves the big shot producer’s mansion? She’s crying, her lipstick is smeared from some unspeakable act… and her mother’s face has that “this is how the game is played” look on her face.
It’s absolutely none of my business how anyone raises their kids. But I hope everyone, especially those of us with daughters, equip our kids with b.s. detectors. Not “instead” of joy and hope and persistence, but as a necessary trait for maintaining those things.
Break Legs!
I don’t think anyone is trying to shut down discussion on the topic of walk-ins. It just seems that there is a lot of interest in the topic and various perspectives related to it, that it can monopolize a more general thread, and might warrant its own thread for adequate and more organized discussion, not interrupted by other topics as well. Just a suggestion to make it a break out topic thread. The idea of the MT Forum, when it was created, was to have threads on various topics to keep it more organized rather than one giant thread on tons of topics where many discussions are going on at one time.
I don’t have a child in this year’s cycle and nobody needs to go with this suggestion! In fact, when my D auditioned for BFA in MT programs, we opted to ONLY do on-campus auditions and didn’t attend any Unified auditions.
Anybody been to Michigan or Baldwin Wallace yet? Headed there in a week and would not mind knowing what to expect at each. D is audition for MT at Michigan and both MT and Acting at BW. Having to plan a day and a drive from Ann Arbour to Cleveland so any info you have about how long it takes etc. will be helpful.
@16or32bars my son will be at Michigan the weekend of the 15th.
@16or32bars - it’s about a 3.5 hr drive from Ann Arbor to Cleveland