<p>Hello,
I have read through many of the Elon threads and have not found the answer to this question. Would sincerely appreciate help with the answer.</p>
<p>DS(#2 MT hopeful) is a junior is compiling his list of schools. Elon’s admissions stats seem really high (3.9 avg GPA, high SATs). My son is a good student but not a 3.9. His SATs are good. Must a student get accepted into the school in order to get offered a spot in the MT program? Is there any leeway between the program and the admissions dept?
We want to be realistic about both this talent and his chances of admissions academically.</p>
<p>Thanks for any input you might have on this subject.</p>
<p>oh that makes much more sense. DS has taken AP courses and several honors courses so that should help. But the question remains: must you qualify academically first before you can be accepted into the MT program?</p>
<p>I don’t think you have to be admitted academically first, but you do have to be admitted eventually. Although if they really like you, they’ll fight for you. I’ve been accepted academically, but went I was at my audition I mentioned my worry that I wouldn’t get in as it’s a tough academic school and someone was like, “It is? Oh, I should apply…” so obviously you can atleast audition without being admitted.</p>
<p>Elon’s academic admission is separate from the MT decision. You can apply to Elon either ED, EA, or RD. If you audition in the fall, you will hear about MT decision in December, either rejected, deferred until all auditions are completed in March, or accepted (very few). Then depending on how you applied to the university you may know whether you are in or not. For example, if you applied EA, and you are notified in early December that you are accepted for the MT program, and then in later December you find out you were accepted to the university EA, then you are in! But if you applied RD to the school, audition in the fall and are accepted for MT, you won’t know until March if you are really in because you have to wait for the academic acceptance. However, I do think in that case, the MT department might go to bat for you if it was questionable whether or not you would be admitted academically. But I know they say they can’t get a poor student in, but sounds like that wouldn’t apply to your son. You do have to keep in mind that Elon’s BFA program does have a fairly significant gen. ed. component, it is not a conservatory program, so an applicant who is not a fairly strong student would expect to struggle more, and that is why the audition isn’t the only element considered.
I hope I’ve answered your question, but if you need more info. I’ll try to help.</p>
<p>nydancemom, your response was VERY helpful. Thank you so much to you and others who responded. The magic words you wrote were “they will go to bat for you” if there might be a question about academics. I guess that was at the heart of my question. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>The main thing to remember is that admissions into the university and the acceptance into the BFA MT are 2 separate components, both of which have to happen before one can go to that program. They happen independently and can happen in various orders, as nydancemom explained. We have known of people that were rejected in regular admissions, so the school has a high standard of academic expectations. On the other hand, we’ve known many people who were accepted academically but not into the MT program.</p>
<p>If it helps any…my daughter was accepted/admitted to Elon for the Fall of 2010, and she has a 3.86 GPA and got a 28 on the ACT…several of her subscores were above 30, but her math dragged her down…her writing score on the ACT was an 11 out of 12.</p>
<p>I think one more observation may be helpful. If your S/D likes Elon a lot and is at all on the verge of not getting in academically it is very important that you apply at least EA. Elon selects most of their students from a qualified pool of students who are very familiar with what makes Elon unique and want to go to Elon. They are very sensitive to not wanting to be “just another good school”. So a student who can articulate why they want Elon, visits, and demonstrates interest is much more likely to be accepted ED or EA, and a relatively small percentage of the class is admitted regular decision. </p>
<p>As mentioned above “remember is that admissions into the university and the acceptance into the BFA MT are 2 separate components”. And applying EA won’t get you into the performance side of the school, but it will give a student a better chance to be looked at holistically during the academic admission process.</p>
<p>I’m assuming that if a MT student is accepted academically, but does not get into the MT program, that he/she is still eligible to attend Elon, just not as a MT major. Is that correct?</p>
<p>That is correct, and I know of people who this has happened to and they have declared B.A.s in theatre so they can still be a part of the department.</p>
<p>Yes, they can attend in another major as Alexa mentioned, BA Theater or sometimes Theater Tech, or even a non-performance related program if they just really want Elon. There are one or two students each year it seems who choose to attend Elon and reaudition while there and have (rarely I would say, but it has happened) been able to move into the BFA Acting or MT programs.</p>
<p>I would encourage you not to assume that a reaudition will get you into the program. Attend Elon if you are interested in the school and doing another major, but I believe it is rare that a student would be accepted upon reaudition after going to Elon for another major, although it has happened, as nydancemom points out. Please note that the BA theatre major is a non-performance based major. These students do not take the same classes as are taken by the BFA majors. My observation is that they do not interact very much with the BFA’s nor are they very often cast in shows. I know this seems negative, but if BA theatre is your option and you want to perform, I’d strongly consider other schools, if there is one where you can get into a performance based degree program.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your responses and insights. My daughter visited the Elon campus in late August and loved it. If she does not get into a BFA MT program, my daughter told me that she could see herself happy as an academic (undeclared) major at Elon.</p>
<p>I am auditioning for the Elon MT program in February. I was accepted academically to the university already with a Presidential Scholarship (which means I was in approximately the top 15% of kids who applied) and I really am not that wonderful of a student. I have a 3.6 unweighted and 3.9 weighted GPA and 2100 on SATs. If that gets me top honors, I’m sure they would be willing to accept someone who is talented to the school with lower stats than what they claim to be their “average.” Also, hate to add a flipped question here, but how competitive is the MT program? I’m just not sure about my chances of getting into the actual BFA MT program.</p>
<p>My son graduated from Elon last May, and I can tell you that they have a top notch MT program. Many of the recent graduates are working. My son tells me that Elon may audition 500 for MT, and they take about 20 per class. You should definitely audition but realize that it is competitive.</p>
Thanks so much.</p>