How many colleges should you visit the open day for?

[islandofsodor]

Just a little disclaimer. Although my dh teaches in these courses he is a voice tutor not a dance teacher. He has also taught on the acting/mt courses. His current place if work now has a common first year and the students then choose dance or MT from their 2nd year onwards.

[Katymac]

a multi-way Skype type - what an amazing idea - how kind of you to suggest it

If that isn't possible; how about a 'slow release' webchat. They could post questions on a dedicated thread and you experts could offer help, advice & suggestions as you have time

I imagine getting everyone together for a Skype session could be tricky

[2dancersmum]

I think puck explains the 3 different entry levels very well indeed.
Further Education - betch level3/4
Advanced Education - level 6 diploma, DADA/fee paying
Degrees - student loans

If you are happy for your child to live away from home at 16, then I would echo the advice of others and apply for some level 6 diploma courses. sometimes you may be lucky enough to live close enough for your child to commute. These courses are diifcult to get onto and you do need a back up plan, especially if finances are tight as not every student is offered a DADA and student loans are not allowed if a college gets the DADA funding. I think attending an open day or better still a 1 day pre-audition or insight day, if at all possible would be an excellent idea so that your DDs can see the standard for themselves and get more idea on what the courses involve. There is a written element for the diploma but its not huge. The level 6 diploma can often be converted to a BA Honours degree as distance learning following graduation by further written work in the form of dissertations. My DD recently started on one of these courses at 16, living with a landlady away from home and is loving it. Starting this year with her other students are aged 16-20.

But do check out all your local colleges for further education courses as a back up or in case your DDs feel happier to wait until they are 18. A levels and good local training is another possibility. As I said before several of DDs friends did not get in to the advanced courses and others felt they were not ready yet. In the past we have known several students stay local and get places at 18 who definately would not have been accepted at 16. Sadly we have also known those who have tried at 16,18,19 and 20 without success.

Move It will be a good experience for you as you will be able to collect lots of prospectuses and talk to many schools. It is impossible for any of us on here to really advise on your DDs chances as even if we knew your DDs, no-one knows really what makes one college chose one student over another.

[Caroline A-C]

If you get the chance, it is a good idea to go and see some of the colleges' productions as well as going to the open days to get a real feel of the places.

[2girlsmum]

When in the year is Move It?

[Katymac]

It's mid March http://www.moveitdance.co.uk/

[Katymac]

We have booked some, Tiffanys as we met a teacher from there who was lovely, Millenium, we have a form for Stella Mann but Performers was fully booked

[stars-in-their-eyes]

I'd just like to say that if you are trying to choose a college, we found going to their end of year shows much more valuable than going to an open day. You can see the standard and what their strengths and weaknesses are (to see if they fit in with your ds/dd's apirations) rather than just looking at studios which don't tell you much!

[Katymac]

Thanks - we will try to get to some

[islandofsodor]

I sort of agree with a couple of caveats (is that the word?)

At a couple of places dh has taught some of the best dances never hit to be in the graduate showcase because they began auditioning in their final term and were offered contracts that started beforehand.

I went to one show a couple of years ago though abd quickly decided it wasn't the sort of place I ever wanted dd to go to. Awful choreography, gratuitous for the sake of it rather than for an artistic reason. I'm not a prude I watched a student production of cabaret recently that was dark but very well done but this one was just eurgh.

[Katymac]

I really liked the 'showcase' on Urdang's website

I know it was cleverly edited but it looked really fun & there was lots of stuff I could see/imagine DD doing

[Katymac]

I have come across a few Open Days which don't do anything for parents; just for the audition

I thought that a bit backwards - how do we decide if it's appropriate unless we get to see it & seeing it at the audition means a fee

More reason to see end of years shows I guess & looking at Move-it

[Katymac]

We went to Stella Mann today

DD loved it!

She really looked good with the other youngsters, and I had a lot of questions answered.

[Welsh Mum]

You are making me very guilty - I didn't go to any open days or auditions with my DD apart from one recall. So she did all her applications and research and went to al of the auditions on her own. Open days were never an option due to cost. She did it all herself - if I am honest, I wasn't happy about her going to drama college and thought if she wasn't committed my "tough love" approach would make her re-think and go to uni instead. Hmmm - that worked well - NOT

[JayLou62]

Cost is a definite factor...my dds are also looking at auditioning for 2014 entrance. One is looking at dance and the other musical theatre. Would love (or perhaps not!) to know how much it will cost us to put 2 children through whether with a DADA or student loan. My husband and I are both working, but it's a struggle to find the money for dance classes etc let alone if they get places. We'd be better off if we weren't together
Elder dd is thinking of Arts Ed mainly - where else is good for musical theatre (not dance based)?
Younger dd wants to audition for ballet mainly - Elmhurst, Central, ENB, Rambert and Laines.