September 2015

[Almo]

My ds has also just received an email informing him that he is on the waiting list for a DADA

[Pearl]

I should imagine most are put on the waiting list until they have finished all their funding recalls. We are there on the 19th of April, I think there are further recalls in May so could be a long wait!!!

[TotallycluelessMum]

Well done to your DC Squashballs and Almo, fingers crossed for waiting list movement
Squash, has your Dd already got an Urdang degree offer but would prefer diploma, or have I misunderstood?

[squashballs]

Yes, she has the degree but ideally she wants the funded diploma (well, I say 'she' but I actually mean I want the funding - we will barely be able to meet costs of living if she moves from home and I worry about student loans on top, which don't appear to cover all the fees anyway. To be honest no-one has really spelled out the difference between the two courses at Urdang and whether opportunities are the same for both sets of students. I think Urdang were being very optimistic in saying they would sort out funding within 2 weeks of the recalls and am not at all surprised it's taking longer - 2200 applicants and so few places this year. It does make me jittery though as decisions have to be made sooner rather than later. I hope we have a yes or no from them before the Laine recall later this month. DD is veering towards Bird degree though but I worry this is more to do with the fact that she has a definite place on the degree course there and that the funding for Bird is more straightforward with the loan covering the fees. Like all of us, we don't want money to be the deciding factor but I am a poorly paid public servant. I recognise also that DD is in a better position than most of her peers at her current college as at least she does have choices. Any info about differences between the 'dang courses gratefully received.

[Lorry]

My DD has been offered place on diploma at Laines without funding she can't go, place on 3 yr at Stella mann but she wasn't keen and there doesn't seem to be many people raving about it, ba in MT at Chichester and LCM. She has also got a recall at LSC next week. She has been offered 3 foundations - Bird, Urdang and Performers my question is with Bird and Urdang what is the contact hours as I know Performers is really high and want as much info on the other too so that if she is not lucky with funding and recall she can make an informed choice with regards to her options. Hope that makes sense I have search through previous posts with out any joy

Thank you I advance

Also well done to all DC with offers exciting times ahead

[carriecrafts]

Hi squashballs,
My dd is in 1st year on the degree at Urdang, she was offered a choice of a DaDA for the Diploma or the Degree with £3,000 bursary to cover the shortfall in Student Finance for the fees. She (we) chose the degree as Student Finance loans and grants cover all her living costs (well over £10,000 per year in London) whereas even the maximum DaDA maintenance grant would have only covered half and we have 2 other DCs to consider.

The 1st year training is almost exactly the same on both courses (same teachers, same number of contact hours) except the Diploma students get one extra jazz class and a body conditioning class while the degree students have extra academic subjects. I don't think that is a big enough difference to outweigh the benefit of graduating with a degree if that is something that is important to you. DD says the Diploma classes are larger and rowdier as there are 90 Diploma students split into 4 classes compared to 60 degrees students also split into 4 classes.

At the start of 2nd year the Diploma students are split into tracks depending on the teachers’ assessment of their strengths (not student choice as I understand it) whereas all Degree students are triple threat all the way through.

However, this week the 3rd years have been doing their dance showcase for agents and DD is quite worried that the degree students don't seem to have been given as much exposure as the diploma students. She says (but I don't know this as a fact!) that the degree students seemed to only be in 3 or 4 numbers each while diploma students were in 7... She seems to think that this is the case in all the shows... I'm encouraging her to query this with Urdang as it seems so unfair and unlikely. This may not be the case, or it may be changing now the Degree numbers have doubled to 60… You may want to ask Urdang that specific question yourself before you make a decision.

Congratulations on the offers, and everyone else x

[squashballs]

Thank you Carriecrafts for the detailed information about the Urdang courses. I personally want her to go for the degree if possible - it just seems sensible in the long run to have a degree under your belt as we all know this business is precarious and plans will change as our dancers get older. It would seem very unfair if the two sets of students received different exposure during showcases and really clarifying the amount of contact time is something we will take up with Urdang if she decides to go there. I take it your DC would recommend Urdang over Bird!

[carriecrafts]

I take it your DC would recommend Urdang over Bird!

No, not at all, it is always a personal choice DD knows the type of teaching she responds to best and she felt she had found that during the audition classes at Urdang more than she did at Bird. Even so, it wasn't a simple decision and if she hadn't been awarded the £3,000 top-up bursary she would have gone to Bird.

[oscar]

If you are considering a foundation course I would suggest that you look into what the course content and time given to each discipline . Quite often the foundation courses don't reflect the quality of the 3 year courses. I know when ds was at a a musical theatre audition there were several girls from the bird foundation and they were very happy with the dance side of things but felt very let down by the lack of singing support. ( I think it was 1 lesson a week) I think foundation courses are a great idea on the whole,if finances allow it, because after intense training their audition technique rapidly improves and they can often get into great schools. More importantly they get advice on what schools would or wouldn't suit them. Last year ds was dead set on where he wanted to go . A foundation year completely changed that and he will be going to Arts Ed in September. Choosing where to go is so hard as what person may rave about , the next may not.

[Lorry]

Thank you Oscar, for your reply where did your DS do his foundation?

[oscar]

GSA x

[Looboo]

Hi All, new to this Forum, but have read the posts that are great. Does anyone have idea how often you get offered a place from the Reserve list at Bird. Thank you

[Almo]

I would also like to know the answer to this.
My ds is on the waiting list for a dada at Urdang.
Is this the same as the reserve list or do they wait until all funding auditions are over before allocating dadas?

[dancingmoll]

I'm interested to see a few of you have been put on the 'waiting list' from Urdang too, my DD was worried it was a sort of rejection as she really wants/needs the degree and it seemed to suggest she was now only being considered for the Diploma and Dada awards. Is that how you guys all saw it? or do you think they're just waiting till the end of the recalls to designate places? Gutted that's another 3 weeks of having to wait before we get a confirmed decision, this process just goes on and on:(

[dancingmoll]

I would also like to know the answer to this.
My ds is on the waiting list for a dada at Urdang.
Is this the same as the reserve list or do they wait until all funding auditions are over before allocating dadas?

We're in the same boat Almo, also looking for answers and the email wasn't all too clear! did your DD audition on 14th or 22nd and are they after diploma or degree?