How to choose a post-grad program

[ajg]

I thought other parents of adolescent boys might appreciate this. Last night at dinner my 16 year old son and one of his ballet buddies were talking about what they wanted to do after high-school - should they audition for companies or go to a grad program? They thought a grad program sounded like a good idea and decided their citeria for choosing were:

 

- The program itself (but I think this was really an afterthought)

- How late they could sleep before morning class (this was key!)

- Where it was located (CPYB was too isolated)

 

So you can see that although dancing is important, sleeping late is the deciding factor

[Hans]

I wonder if SAB and UBA took the sleep cycles of adolescent boys into account when they designed their schedules--both schools rarely held ballet classes before noon! (And yes, I loved it.)

[Millie]

Yes, I agree that this is important to boys

After four years of getting up at 6 AM at Harid, my son really appreciates getting to sleep in ( relatively) at the NBS graduate course.

[tsavoie]

I would add that food seems to be the second deciding factor. How much,how good, how frequent.

[dancemomCA]

Food and late classes definitely, plus how close to the school are the coffee shops ie. Starbucks, Second Cup, etc!!! DS simply cannot go without his mocha frappacino lattes or whatever it is he drinks!

[cheetah]

Yep, sounds right. Sleeping in has top priority. Then late nights, lots of places to go out to in the evenings, and plenty of places to get food. I thought we were the only ones dealing with this (especially the sleeping in part!) As for 6 am at Harid - my son is a very unpleasant individual that early in the morning!

[Memo]

Location, location, location, how pretty the girls are, quantitiy of food available and variety of food available. Accessibility of other pretty girls at other programs, the ability to sleep in and a music store, a tower records or a virgin records within walking distance. I agree for dedicated dancers there definitely are other important factors for teenage boys.

[dancemomCA]

Oh, I must add the location would also depend upon the stores in that particular city, especially clothing and shoe stores....sometimes males are no different than females! All who know my DS would agree - he LOVES to shop!

[cheetah]

DancemomCA, we have to deal with the shopping situation, too. My DS has more shoes than my husband and I combined. And he still wants more. (He'd chose new clothes over food I think.) So, high on the priority list for his parents would be a place that does NOT have lots of shopping. Too expensive. And yes, Memo, the quantity and accessibiliy of pretty girls is also a high ranking factor. I just didn't want to be the first to bring it up!

[dancerdriver]

Being the only boy in his level here at his home school, my son is so used to being around girls that the access to girlswould be so important to him. He actually sews in pointe shoe ribbons, the girls line up for him to stretch their feet. Because the girls are like him and dedicated to dance with no time for a social life, he goes to many proms and homecoming dances with the girls he dances with because they are friends and they know he will dance at the prom.

 

Shopping and location are very important to him. But the quality of the program certainly is key for him.