Auditioning for 2021 entry

[Harry2003]

Does anyone have advice for me not being from the MT world. DD has an offer from Urdang and on reserve for all others she applied to. She has just been offered a place at Mountview. She does not qualify for a dada, so we will have to find the money to fund the course, whereas Urdang is fully covered by the loan. I'm super proud and both offers are of course amazing and feeling very fortunate she is in this position (boy has it been a stressful process!!), but can anyone share thoughts, experiencs on why you would choose one over the other

My thoughts on choosing between the 2 would be as follows, and the reasoning I will use when DS auditions next year.
Urdang - traditionally for strong dancers, they do MT well and have changed their course and their approach has become broader. Huge school. You see lots of urdang dancers as backing dancers. Very strong commercial dancers. You see a few ex students in west end.
Mountview - more for actor/singers traditionally. Very strong and see lots of their students in West End. Top 3 schools for singer/actor MT - Arts Ed, Mountview and Guildford

I guess it all comes down to the strengths of your child and where they see themselves. A child can be successful from any school if they have the talent, work their socks off and have luck on their side. Just make sure they are happy.

[anastasia79]

Urdang recalls from April 9th, still no decisions. All DC’s waiting have been told it will be ‘another week or so’. I can’t believe we’re heading into the 5th week of waiting

[Elysée69]

Urdang recalls from April 9th, still no decisions. All DC’s waiting have been told it will be ‘another week or so’. I can’t believe we’re heading into the 5th week of waiting

It's the waiting that's the worst, then you have the decisions to make. That is a massive wait though. Good luck

[Elysée69]

This site has been so helpful over the years but now even more so.

There seems to be less information about Conti. Has its reputation changed recently? Is it still classes as one of the top? Does anyone have any info on ages in MT diploma? Are they very spread or mostly 18/19? My DD is still 15 although would be 16 by September. One of my concerns is she will be the youngest and not socialize. Should she wait? She has offers elsewhere to take her to 18 and degree entryway

Thank you

[anastasia79]

Urdang recalls from April 9th, still no decisions. All DC’s waiting have been told it will be ‘another week or so’. I can’t believe we’re heading into the 5th week of waiting

It's the waiting that's the worst, then you have the decisions to make. That is a massive wait though. Good luck

Thank you . We’d hoped we would have a yes or no by now so we can plan for option 2 if needed along with accommodation. Hopefully we’ll hear by the end of next week. I really hate this waiting.

[dancelifemum]

Is Mountview also degree but you need to top up? Or diploma.....as the difference could be dependent on what qualification she may prefer or the amount of written work. I know Urdang is a 10K dissertation at the end.....sorry that's not much help! But well done!

Hiya, both are degree course so we would have to pay the top up for Mountview. Interesting about the dissertation, thank you.

The only other info I have is that Urdang selects you for 'tracks' of either dance, acting, singing so then your course will have lessons weighted to your 'strength'....rather than all doing the same so that may suit her or not? Some prefer it and some don't like to be pigeonholed as a 'dancer' etc...I don't know about Mountview.

[amo185]

It might not be as straight forward as one college being more dance based and one being more MT (singing/acting). College course structures and content change and what's been happening over the past 18 difficult months might not be indicative of a college's way forward. Nearly all colleges have representation on tours and in the West End even if just one student as so much is down to luck and look at the final casting stage.
For us a key issue was the number of students - not in terms of training but in terms of getting agency representation and showcased in a final year,
plus also affordability. And the other thing for us was reputation within the industry. I think all the colleges so far discussed on this site offer a great provision. Some just seem a bit more of a favourite than others with applicants, agents and casting directors (some of whom openly state that they look at where a recent graduate has trained). Italia Conti was never on our list but people we know who ended up going there are enjoyng their course. One commented that most of diploma are 16+ rather than 18+. Good luck with all the decisions. It really isn't easy. DD has now made hers and turned down all her other offers. Feels good and quite a relief

[icantdance]

This site has been so helpful over the years but now even more so.

There seems to be less information about Conti. Has its reputation changed recently? Is it still classes as one of the top? Does anyone have any info on ages in MT diploma? Are they very spread or mostly 18/19? My DD is still 15 although would be 16 by September. One of my concerns is she will be the youngest and not socialize. Should she wait? She has offers elsewhere to take her to 18 and degree entryway

Thank you

Hi Elysee69, my DS auditioned when he was 15 and was offered places. At the eleventh hour he decided to stay on and do A levels, because he felt he was not mature enough to move away from home and start on the diploma, and also he was worried about being the youngest - he would have been living with his grandparents who are 2 miles from Bird, so he would still have been with family. However now he is 18 he is certain that was the right decision for him, as all 3 disciplines are now much stronger and also he feels more mature and like he is ready. I guess it is up to each individual. However, DS is very academic and loves learning, so he had a really tough decision. I guess he might have made a different decision if he didn't like traditional school. It's not as easy as whether your DD should wait or not - it's a combination of all of those factors and possibly more!

[dancelifemum]

Just something I saw this week on an industry social media page and quite liked it .......I thought it was quite appropriate for those that are unsure of whether they are making the right choices etc:

"Where you came from doesn't matter
It doesn't matter whether you went to college or not
It also doesn't matter whether you went to a big college, a new college or an unknown college
It doesn't even matter if you have just trained your arse off at Pineapple or a local dance school
What matters is the talent you bring to the casting/audition room and on professional jobs
Yes going to college will provide certain benefits however it doesn't mean that you can't make it and have a great career without."

(getting all philosophical )
I just liked it as a reminder to just choose somewhere they will be happy for 3 years and wherever it is to put the effort in and ultimately what will be will be.......and having a certain college name may or may not make any difference to their path but if they have had the best 3 years they can and take as much as they can/need from it then the choice will have been worthwhile.

There will never (hopefully) be a repeat of our year's situation and I think we should all be so very proud of them all and they should they feel proud of themselves.

[Stayingcalm]

Does anyone have advice for me not being from the MT world. DD has an offer from Urdang and on reserve for all others she applied to. She has just been offered a place at Mountview. She does not qualify for a dada, so we will have to find the money to fund the course, whereas Urdang is fully covered by the loan. I'm super proud and both offers are of course amazing and feeling very fortunate she is in this position (boy has it been a stressful process!!), but can anyone share thoughts, experiencs on why you would choose one over the other

Well done on your DD's offers! Go to Urdang's website and stream their final year shows to get an idea of the standard at the point of entering the profession. I don't know if the other schools do something similar but its a good point of reference. Hope this helps.

[Elysée69]

Just something I saw this week on an industry social media page and quite liked it .......I thought it was quite appropriate for those that are unsure of whether they are making the right choices etc:

"Where you came from doesn't matter
It doesn't matter whether you went to college or not
It also doesn't matter whether you went to a big college, a new college or an unknown college
It doesn't even matter if you have just trained your arse off at Pineapple or a local dance school
What matters is the talent you bring to the casting/audition room and on professional jobs
Yes going to college will provide certain benefits however it doesn't mean that you can't make it and have a great career without."

(getting all philosophical )
I just liked it as a reminder to just choose somewhere they will be happy for 3 years and wherever it is to put the effort in and ultimately what will be will be.......and having a certain college name may or may not make any difference to their path but if they have had the best 3 years they can and take as much as they can/need from it then the choice will have been worthwhile.

There will never (hopefully) be a repeat of our year's situation and I think we should all be so very proud of them all and they should they feel proud of themselves.

This is very true. Thank you for sharing!

[Grace03]

This site has been so helpful over the years but now even more so.

There seems to be less information about Conti. Has its reputation changed recently? Is it still classes as one of the top? Does anyone have any info on ages in MT diploma? Are they very spread or mostly 18/19? My DD is still 15 although would be 16 by September. One of my concerns is she will be the youngest and not socialize. Should she wait? She has offers elsewhere to take her to 18 and degree entryway

Thank you

This is so difficult to answer as it really will depend on your child.
My daughter auditioned for 3 year diplomas and 2 year btec courses at 16 (15 at the time of auditioning).
She chose to go with the 2 year option and is going on to study a degree in MT this year.
It was definitely the right decision for her. Her focus has changed a lot in the last two years and she has a much better idea what she wants do in the future.
She has applied for places she didn’t even consider 2 years ago as her teachers have helped her to think about where best suits her career plans.
I also feel that she is genuinely ready to live independently. At 16 (and a summer birthday) she would have coped I’m sure but I don’t think she was fully ready.
That’s not to say other people shouldn’t go away at 16, just that waiting has been the best option for her.

[IDK]

We have opposite concern in that DD is 19 and offered diploma at IC but will she be training with 16 year olds rather than her own age group? Anyone else got diploma offers in older age group or experience of diploma at Conti?

[Mammamia]

We have opposite concern in that DD is 19 and offered diploma at IC but will she be training with 16 year olds rather than her own age group? Anyone else got diploma offers in older age group or experience of diploma at Conti?

The 1st year diploma at IC has a wide range of ages from 16 -19/20 . Best of luck to your DD

[IDK]

Thanks that reassuring - presume they also mix with the BA cohort too? Just have to work out if it's affordable now!