# Hi there!



## jimw (Feb 8, 2007)

Just wanted to hello to everyone, and to pose a question.

I am the father of a college bound son who wants to get into lighting design/technical theatre.

After doing some research he decided on a BFA program.

So far - He has applied to Boston University, Ithaca College, and Carnegie Mellon. We have toured the theatre at Carnegie but not the campus, and have toured both at Ithaca and Boston. He has had his portfolio interview with Boston, and will have had same with Ithaca and Carnegie within the next two weeks.

My question to you is what are your opinions about the three schools technical theatre programs? I am trying to get passed the hype that the colleges give, and get the scoop from real people who are students or graduates.

Thanks for your help. I have worked in the business since I got out of high school some forty years ago. Couldn't afford college, but was just lucky to get some breaks early on. So this "going to college" is new to me. I realized right away that any school is selling a product called education in whatever career you have chosen. Therefore, they only put their best foot forward in the literature and when you visit them.

Thanks,
jimw


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## Chris15 (Feb 8, 2007)

First off, Welcome to Controlbooth.

Secondly, if you have a look at some of the threads taht have been active in teh last couple of days then there is a reasonable amount of info on those colleges amongst others. You could also have a look through the "Student Feedback" forum for that kind of information. I can't say whether you will be entirely successful in that search but you can try. (Being 12000+ kms away make it all pretty much irrelevant...)


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## Van (Feb 8, 2007)

Jim, I'll second Chris's welcome. I'll also say I'm sort of in a similar situation as you. While I did go to college, I went to a small local school thaty had a great technical program, and no real national reputation. What I got out of it was a lot of hands on expirience, a lot of real world knowledge and a piece of paper. I'm sure there are a lot of folks on here that will respond with some good insights for you. Sorry I can't help you on this one, been out of the educational world too long myself.


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## TheJeanieness (Feb 10, 2007)

Hi, jimw. I'm a freshman at CMU, and I can say without any apprehension that I absolutely adore the program. The school's pretty cool, too.

I also applied to Ithaca, but never actually visited the campus, and I didn't apply to BU, so I don't have much to say about either of those schools.

BUT if you have any questions about CMU, I'd be more than happy to answer them. Are you two coming to Pittsburgh to interview?


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## kovacika (Feb 10, 2007)

I did visit Ithica and it has a beautiful campus with a very solid program. I decided not to go there for two reasons. A:, I was looking for a BS, not a BA. I dont like gen ed stuff to begin with and liberal arts stuff is the worst. B:, Hands on seemed to be lacking for all but the upperclassmen. I didnt want to get bored cause i was low on the totem pole. I ended up going to Fitchburg State College, MA. It has a strong program but a tight budget. You dont get to play with all the cool moving toys on a regular basis, only when we can rent them, but the design element of the program is very strong. Recently 3 out of 12 tech theater majors won design awards in the ACTF theater festival for region 1, and are going on to compete nationally.


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## jimw (Feb 12, 2007)

Yes my son has an interview on the 2/18. His cousin is a first year engineering student so we are having him give us a tour of the campus. We were able to tour the theatre this past summer on our way home from Ohio.

Thanks
jimw


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## TheJeanieness (Feb 12, 2007)

Excellent. You will invariably get another tour of the theatre building. You can never see the bowels of the Purnell Center too many times it seems. I think I toured it three or four times before ever starting classes. They do tend to show you more and more each time, though, so it is actually interesting.

You wouldn't perhaps be inclined to come up early on Saturday? You could catch the end of Playground (http://www.cmu.edu/cfa/drama/playground) and see the heart and soul of what Carnegie Mellon School of Drama's really all about. I'd HIGHLY recommend it.

Otherwise, tell your son to break a leg with his interview. And if you find yourselves wandering around Purnell after the interview, I'll probably be in the freshman studio if you want to say hey.


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