September 2015

[Katymac]

We were there on Wednesday - did you come too? You would have seen DD she has quite a large afro!!

We got the letter today - Pearl how are you responding? Do you think we can put a provisional yes but only if funding becomes available?

Btw DD's freinds who got no letters got theirs today too

[Pearl]

We just accepted the place, if no funding becomes available then we will withdraw our acceptance!!

[Recless]

My DD has her audition this coming Wednesday! You didn't have a long wait then. Did the offer come this morning?

[Katymac]

We got a letter

I think I will write something on to say we can't accept it without funding

I just heard someonereturned their funding as they are out of the income bracket - so we areall one step closer

[sapphire]

Congrats to your DDs Katymac and Pearl Crossing my fingers for movement on the funding front for you both

[Katymac]

Thanks Sapphire

DD is busy deciding which one is better for her

[sapphire]

A happy dilemma to have

[Megmar610]

Well done to your dd Katymac, how many more auditions has she got to go, she might have more offers yet? Did she have a favourite college when she started the auditions?

[cluelessmum]

My dd just got another offer...

I don't know what will happen as one offer is for a degree and the other one is only for a diploma until we hear what happens after her recall (her recall will be for the degree program if she does well). But how do you weigh up the different schools.

She enjoyed both auditions. But she has only seen one school. Both schools have great reputations. Does the University the degree is linked to matter?

We are thrilled for her - so far the 2 schools she felt were tied for her first choice have made offers. But she is completely unsure on how to figure out what the better school is for her.

GSA - she feels would be brilliant for acting and singing. She didn't get a feel for the dance as at her audition they only did a few basics.
Urdang - she feels her dancing would really improve and the information on the teachers that is available on the website shows how talented they all are. She adored the dance section of the audition.

All the schools have different information available. She loves the fact that GSA is accredited by drama uk but she also loves much about Urdang. Since she will travel to the UK soon for a recall audition she is going to try and have a tour of the school she hasn't seen yet to get a feel for it. Is there anything else she should look at or ask about schools? What ended up being the deciding factor when your kids had more than one choice?

[Katymac]

Oh poor DD, Cluelessmum what a choice - A degree is useful if she wants to teach in the UK in the future, Urdang is very dance based & definitely in the top 3 & I always thought GSA was more acting (but we didn't research it sorry - so I could be wrong)

Megmar still 5 to go (Barcelona, The Centre, Performers, Masters & Tiffanys) & she is totally confused by it all she just posted "Got a really unexpected surprise yesterday that I got into Bird College; was not really considering it an option for next September, nor expecting to get in, but this has sortve changed my mind! Very very pleased and shocked" on Facebook

[oscar]

Gsa is most definitely triple threat. The facilities are amazing and the atmosphere is very special. I think going to have a look is an excellent idea. Their students often get excellent roles. Good luck with your decision.

[Katymac]

Thanks Oscar - I knew I hadn't researched it

[cluelessmum]

Thanks Oscar!

She loves the idea of GSA but there are few things to consider - a) the offer is for the equivalent of just shy of 600 UCAS points, we think its doable but it will require alot of hard work. b) We are worried that all answers and results will need to be in by a certain time. She won't have her final results until sometime in July.

I am thinking she is going to need to keep two offers as long as possible as we won't have any certainty until she has results in hand and can see if she has the required UCAS points.

That and we haven't got another degree offer in hand yet. This is a much more stressful process than I had realised but the fact that some schools feel she is trainable has been wonderful.

Can anyone tell me if it possible to hold onto offers as long as that? Also does anyone know what the average week training at GSA entails?

[oscar]

I noticed that they put their grade requirements up. I am sure there is flexibility within that. To the best of my knowledge the average day for. BA students starts 8ish and goes on til about 6 but there are often conditioning classes or rehearsals outside of these hours. I believe there is a lot of dance approx 4/5 hours a day ballet/jazz/tap , one to one singing, group singing, rep work for singing, acting, improvisation, And much more. Everything is timetabled and there are often guest teachers from other top schools, the west end. This is what ds tells me but bop2thehop may Hv even more detailed info. Is urdang Part of drama uk? If it isn't you may get away with holding two offers open. The grade thing is difficult maybe gsa could reassure you about this.

[moleseymum]

Congrats to your DD Cluelessmum, GSA is my DS's dream school! When we went to the open day the impression was that the days are long, probably 8 til 6 every day. They said that in the first year they go 'back to basics' and focus on training with no performances, the aim being to give all students the stamina for 8 shows a week. They get to do a performance in the second year and the third year is mainly all performances. Oscar is correct, the atmosphere was lovely.
No student, unless they have taken one or more years out, will have their A level results until mid August, so I guess you can safely hold your places.
Oscar, I think on another thread you offered to send some audition tips, would be very grateful if you could PM me too