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Feature
|
By Jacob Coakley
Hit the
Road
Getting the most out of your
Boston University Photo Services
summer college tour
It’s a paradox of our education system that students have the
most time to check out colleges when school is out of session.
Still, it has to be done, as you want to get the most info you can
about a college before you commit to spending four years and tens
of thousands of dollars on a school. We talked to professors and
admissions counselors at schools to find out the best ways to maximize
your summer college tour, learn the most about programs
that aren’t in full swing, and even picked up a few tactics other than
just a tour to get a better look at what a program is really like.
Preparation
Like everything else involving school, there’s homework.
Everyone we spoke to—everyone, repeatedly—said that if you’re
taking the time to visit a school, take some time before you hit the
road to hit the Web. Do research to find out about what type of program
the school offers. Is it a conservatory or liberal arts education?
Paolo S. DiFabio, assistant director of the School of Theatre
at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, considers it his duty
to make sure students know the right questions to ask: “What sort
of academic supplement to their training will a student receive?”
he rattles off. “Does the school have a cut system? Does the school
have any professional affiliations?”
“Students have really got to research the curriculum on the Web
site,” says Kelly Maxner, faculty member at the University of North
Carolina School of the Arts and director of their Summer School
Program. “They need to be prepared to ask questions of the person
that they meet when they’re on campus.”
The next step is fairly obvious.
“The first thing you do is call the admissions office and find out
if there are tours of the campus,” says Patricia Decker, director of
recruitment at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts “The second thing is
to find out through the admissions office who you should call to get
a tour of the theatre department.”
A cohort of students at the 2008 Boston University Summer Theatre Institute
All that research you did earlier will also help you directly contact
someone in the Theatre Department to see if they will be around on
the day of your visit to give you a more in-depth look at the department.
Don’t be shy about contacting faculty in the field you’re
interested in, but don’t be rude either. Maintain a professional
demeanor, and contact them as far in advance of your trip as possible
to give them the most time to accommodate you.
“Faculty can give very specialized answers to specific questions
about our program that other people might not be able to do,” says
David Boevers, an associate professor of drama at Carnegie Mellon
University and TD at their Purnell Center For The Arts. But faculty
members need time to prepare, and you may have to massage your
schedule to fit with a professor’s. Still, Boevers thinks that if you do
the extra legwork to talk to people in the theatre department, they
should be welcoming. “If they have enough time to plan, and they’ll
be available, they’ll come in to meet with a student. That student
has made the effort to come all the way to campus, so it’s only fair
that we’d come in and meet them and do what we can for them.”
While On Campus
Schools may not be operating in full swing during the summer,
but there are a few things you can look at that will give you
a good idea about what the school would be like when it’s going
full throttle.
First off, not only should you talk to faculty, you should also talk
to any students who are currently enrolled in the theatre department.
When setting up a time to meet with a faculty member, try to
set up an appointment to talk to a current student, too.
“Just spend 10 or 15 minutes in the hallway and ask someone
what’s it like to be here? And what are you learning? What are
the challenges and what are the positives and what are the negatives?”
advises Don Wadsworth, professor of voice and speech
Courtesy of UNCSA
David Boevers
An actress rehearses in the University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ Summer Session
Design and production students at Carnegie Mellon’s Summer Study Program work on a dinosaur set piece.
12 April 2009 • www.stage-directions.com