California State Univ. - Long Beach

[Taradriver]

CSU Long Beach has been suggested to my dd by her guidance counselor. I know it is a modern-based program. Does anyone know about the quality of their ballet classes? Is it possible to have a ballet focus?

 

Thank you for your help; this board has been fantastic in helping dd get her college act together.

[gogators]

Lorin Johnson, who formerly was head of Ballet Pacifica's school, is now teaching at Cal State LB. (Before that, he danced professionally with ABT.) I don't know much about Long Beach's dance program, but you can probably contact him through his personal website: www.lorinjohnson.com.

[ballaurena]

I don't know anything about the program, but I went to the RAD summer program which used their studios, and I can tell you that the facilities are gorgeous. They have 3 huge studios on the main floor and some more on the upper levels.

[Taradriver]

Thanks for the info! Have heard the school is not in a very good area, though, so need to do a road trip, unless, of course, any of you SoCal folks can enlighten me. I WILL email Mr. Johnson.

[gogators]

Actually CSULB is located in a nice area of Long Beach, next to Belmont Heights and Belmont Shore area of the city (near the beach). I think it's one of the larger CSU campuses, besides Cal State Fullerton?

[Taradriver]

Thanks, gogators, I think we definitely will do the road trip and visit a few schools while down there.

[foreveranne]

Cal State Long Beach has a really good dance program with a lot of professional teachers (my dance teacher actually graduated from there!). If you are visiting around here, you should try to visit UC Irvine and UC San Diego as well.

[pat]

Does anyone here have a student attending, and if so, can you give me any insights into the program and the audition process for the program? Any idea as to how difficult it is for freshmen to get into? Thank you.

[Taradriver]

I don't have any information regarding the difficulty of getting into Long Beach's dance program, however I do know that admission to Long Beach itself is competitive. For Californians, this means that meeting the minimum qualifications (admissions index) for resident admission won't be enough. The admissions index for non-residents is even tougher. "The Beach" is a very popular school.

[Taradriver]

Here's an update on "The Beach" as DD and I were there yesterday. CSULB is in a nice part of Long Beach, drove around quite a bit. Dance facilities are just wonderful, campus very pretty. 250-300+ audition and they fill 35-40 spaces, so about 50 get accepted to the program, because not all those accepted actually attend. There were over 60 auditioning yesterday and this included prospective freshman, transfers and some students already attending CSULB. Audition results are available 5 days after the audition, by phone.

 

The school itself is competitive for admission, as previously stated. I do not know if the dance department can "lobby" for a successful auditioner if s/he doesn't get accepted to the university, as can be done in some private universities.

 

DD & I observed a few classes, she felt they were well-taught. I noticed many current postings for area dance performances and auditions on the bulletin boards. The Dance Department is presenting "Serenade and Other Dances (featuring the 1st movement of Balanchine's Serenade) Nov. 15-18, so it might be a good chance to see their work, if you are interested.

[Taradriver]

DD passed the audition and was admitted. We knew about the audition reults since November, but the university admission decision only came last week. Would really appreciate hearing from some current students ASAP.

 

The one problem with this school - and probably ALL the "impacted" schools in the Cali system - is the housing deposit. DD applied for a housing license on the first day she was able to, in fact she had it 13 minutes after the housing weblink became active. They only have housing for around 2000 on campus. OK, so the problem is that CSU Long Beach requires a housing deposit by the end of March. And it isn't a small amount, it is over $1000. That is an awful lot to ask for a housing deposit if the Candidate's Reply Date for university admission is May 1. I believe most of it is refundable if you cancel by a certain date, but who has $1000+ to "lend" to a university for 30-60 days, without interest?

[2llori]

Taradriver--I hope you saw the comment about MYSPACE in a different section. Anyhow, my dd also applied to CSULB, as a business major. She has yet to hear from the school whether or not she has been accepted. We visited several weeks ago, and she was inspired to apply for their dance audition in March, as she has been having mixed feelings about how dance would fit in with college. That being said, the facilities are awesome, and we were all impressed--and she has visited other schools, including SMU. She has also been accepted to TCU. Right now one of her top choices is the Beach, but we are waiting to hear. We have put our name into the housing mix--March 1st seems to be an important date for many schools, including Arizona State, where she has also been accepted as a non-dance major. We anxiously await the mail and email every day to help us make our decisions!

[Taradriver]

Yes, the dance facilities at Long Beach are incredible. It is one of the big plusses about The Beach, along with the weather and excellent faculty. In state costs are quite reasonable. And LA is right there with LOTS of dance opportunities, although maybe not lots in classical ballet. It is a difficult decision. But Long Beach does have a dance minor, as well as a BFA and BA in dance. Nice to have options . . .

 

I don't want to get so maybe we can open a new thread? I know comparing programs is not allowed on the board and that is not my intent. So, if we open that new thread, we shall have to speak in generalities, not specifics. And I will be so happy when you get PM privileges!

 

Congrats to your dd on TCU! Business? Dance? By the way, I didn't catch the MySpace reference & will look for it.

 

Next month we make another short trek to REALLY scope out the Long Beach campus before that huge housing payment is due.

[Taradriver]

OK, another visit to The Beach yesterday, in glorious Southern California weather!

 

Spoke with a tap teacher on the faculty who happened to know dd's former tap teacher here in Northern California- small world.

 

Those dance facilities remain stand-outs. Would still have to say the best we've seen amongst any place we visited. The students were nice, very friendly. It is a huge school, 35,000+.

 

Dorms are, well, dorms. They are older, seem in good repair, both traditional style and suite style available, dd liked the suites better.

 

Acording to the admissions office, in state residents had to have a minimum GPA of 3.4 and minimum SAT of 1020 to be admitted for the 2006-2007 year. I couldn't get this year's minimum's. Out of state students have higher requirements.

 

CSUBL offers a Dance Science major which dd finds attractive. She though she had already made her choice, but yesterday's visit has muddied the waters - again. Now it is TCU, CSULB and UIowa.

[2llori]

Taradriver, my dd has been accepted to Long Beach as a business major and will audition in a few weeks to be a dance dual major or minor--whatever works the best. It is her number 1 choice as $ is a consideration for us. TCU sounds awesome tho--best of luck to your dd, whatever she decides. Your info has been so helpful to us in thinking about college this year!