@luvbloominroses @DramaLlama18 @Kkrazie @CaMom13 Thank you so much for the USC info!
@lithpool my daughter submitted Coastal on 10/3 and got her invite to audition today.
Hey everyone, I was curious on what, if any summer programs/ pre-college programs your kids did, how much does that matter?
@frisbee3 My S is still waiting on Rider as well. He emailed yesterday and was told they are still reviewing, but it should be soon.
@MTMomma13 - So we went back and forth over this. Money was a serious consideration for us. We couldn’t afford $3,000- 6,000 for one child. (we have 3- one who’s in an expensive college- ugh). We did feel that doing some kind of program was a good idea to make sure that our daughter liked and could handle the intensity of “the life” outside of Community and HS theatre and Dance team. We decided on Broadway Dreams in Philadelphia. It’s a week and was a FULL week. She took the train in to the city and was there all day. Mixed rehearsals with masterclasses. Very talented kids. Performance put on at the end of the week for parents. Maria Anna Dennard (college coach) is also involved to give advice. We considered trying to scrape together money for a pre-college program for summer before her senior year but got mixed reviews. What I was told by others on “college confidential” was that many kids love the programs but it was no guarantee that it would give them an edge at that college program and often the kids fell in love with the program and then were crushed if they didn’t get in. So we did another summer of Broadway Dreams in Philly. She loved it again and got better roles the second summer. She worked with incredible staff both summers that all are or have been Broadway. They also have a number of college admissions people come and talk to the parents in a very informal atmosphere that was invaluable information. The kids were also able to take part in mock auditions with college and talent agents that then give you feedback on your audition, also helpful. They have program all over the country. Some kids do more than one. They also give out scholarship money that I would definitely apply for. If you go to Broadwaycon look for their table. Last year we went for fun and saw the table and stopped by and got a $200 off coupon! Hope that helps. As for getting into college, we’re in the middle of the process so we don’t know yet but we do know a lot about a number of the schools because of the admissions people that were at the program. Oh and Milliken has some kind of connection with Broadway Dreams and offers a Broadway Dreams Scholarship.
@CanaDad @BFAMTOrBust @MTBackstagemom We’re West Coast so really had to pack Unifieds. My D did all her own audition scheduling and we ran support/pack mule duty. We booked an AirBnb in Chicago near the Joffrey (a lot of auditions are there) and she did 11 Unified auditions Sunday thru Thursday. Two of those were walk-ins. Many were split with singing/acting one day and dance another day. On Friday she and my husband flew out of a Chicago snowstorm to NY for NYU Steinhardt on Saturday (quickie since she had done their summer intensive) and then straight to the airport for 3 LA Unified auditions on Sunday. It was crazy, but all done in one swoop. The BoCo audition was split between Chicago and LA Unifieds and they were NOT happy about it (don’t tell them I told you!) but D was firm and polite and they relented. And she ultimately got in! I echo others’ comments here that, once you’re at Unifieds, the door monitors are very accommodating and will help with timing so you can go first or do another audition and come back last. So, do your best with scheduling and the staff at the events will help you with the last mile. Somehow it all works and it was a lot of fun!
@MTMomma13 I’ll second the post from @frisbee3. I think pre-college programs are very helpful to give your child a taste of the MT college life to see if that’s where they really want to be. I don’t think it’s a necessity for training purposes. My D attended a 2-week theatre intensive at Hartt a couple of summers ago and loved it. It was reasonably priced, especially if you could commute.
I don’t know if they’re doing it again next summer but LIU has a summer honors institute that has an MT course that is free if you’re accepted. We looked into it last year, but didn’t end up applying due to our schedule.
@MTMomma13 I’ve posted this before on some other thread, but my son did the BW MTO program the summer before senior year. It is a week long program and they only take 15 kids. It was valuable in that, the kids live on campus with roommates, they work with the heads of the programs there, the program selected new material for the kids -and my son came out with a great audition package that he used throughout the audition season. It also helps in that the MTO kids are highly encouraged to get their aps in and are nearly guaranteed a fall audition slot. That said, S made the WL there, but was not accepted. I don’t think the experience changed the outcome of what his audition result would have been - except that perhaps his audition material wouldn’t have been as good. We did not use an audition coach so for my son, this program was his coaching. I think you could use a coach instead of a program like this for audition packaging - you just wouldn’t get the BFA intense experience to see how your kid likes it.
@DramaLlama18
Wow, I wish your daughter had done our scheduling!
Michigan has a Sunday dance call, and then asks for a full day commitment later in the week. BoCo and CCM each also make you book a full day. Doesn’t leave much room for the other schools. We solved it by bailing on Boco and doing that on campus in January. Still means another unplanned trip and unplanned $
Agree with @DramaLlama18 - the monitors are very helpful in moving your student in the ordering. If you are the lucky “sherpa” you may be the one running back and forth to assist with adjustments. I worked remotely (from the hotel room) the week of Chicago Unifieds when my kids attended and was able to be a runner for adjustments and snacks. Everyone is in the same boat so they are usually fairly accommodating.
@CanaDad Unless things have changed, CCM may actually take less time than you think. Last year, we had a morning blocked for them, and they had the dance call which was about an hour maybe a little more and then the kids each had a 5 minute time block. We were lucky as I think my son was about 3rd on the list for the other portion of the audition. He was done in 1.5 hours. They gave us a very specific timefame around January last year. So - there is hope that you’ll end up with more time on that day than you think. I think we could go and see the scheduled time on his portal too - so you might be able to check there for a more concrete time.
Thank you @frisbee3 @NYart15 @speezagmom My D went to Pace before her junior year and BW this past summer, I was wondering what the overall feeling was. That is very helpful, especially if any of my other kiddos decide to pursue a BFA
@canadad Agree with @speezagmom . D is scheduled for Chicago Unifieds with CCM, and has a 9:00am dance call and then audition slot before noon, so we have 2 other auditions scheduled later in the day.
@CanaDad Our D did the big Michigan day on Sunday when there wasn’t a lot else going on and then the dance call at the end of another day 4:40 pm. (Could have skipped that one - she wasn’t admitted!) BoCo, was a lot and she split it between two cities (shhh!) but hopefully you can find a way to cram it in without the extra trip. If you do go to Boston, though, my kid would be happy to meet you, show you the dorm, etc!
We ran in to the same challenges with scheduling at Unifieds. … and the order that the responses came in. We likely could have gotten more than one in a day if the order had been different, but when one school asks for a whole day, another a half and a 3rd for time in the morning and in the afternoon, we just couldn’t make the puzzle work to more than one a day. And that did include asking 2 schools to change the days they scheduled her because she already had auditions scheduled! We too are now making an unexpected trip to Boston in January to get the Boco audition in that we couldn’t make work at Unifieds.
For those of you working on the Unifieds puzzle, here are a few schools who had late afternoon 4:50ish dance calls in Chicago: Michigan, Temple, Ball State, Manhattan School of Music and BoCo. So you can split the acting/singing and dance auditions for more flexibility. There are more, so check the fine print for each school on your list. Good luck, everyone!
@Mtbackstagemom mmmmm - Boston in January…! Let me know if you want to look up my daughter at BoCo if it’s after winter break/MLK weekend.
^^ ^^^^^Sorry, meant for @MTBackstagemom
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Any early dance calls in New York? A day or so before the official start date?