Advice for rising senior needed

Hi all! My first forum post ever.

My child (D) wants to major in theatre and is entering her senior year. She is a trained dancer 13 yrs/actor-high school leads/singer…in that order. She could shine in dance, but the singing is good, but not great. I’m kind of at a loss on what direction to send her? (Not Dance) I don’t think she’d get into the top MT programs everyone here is talking about, but is still a talented kid (teachers opinion)?
After ITS festival in NE, she was disappointed in her callbacks-DePaul was her best school which was great. She auditioned for MT, but is thinking of switching her focus to Drama instead and hope to get into some musicals or continue with voice in college. She is also a good student, 4.3 GPA, 1940 SAT, 29 ACT so far. 20th in her class. She’s flexible on the BA vs BFA too. Looking for the best program-that’s not $60,000 a yr? Any advice?

I believe there is a thread on the Musical Theatre forum regarding schools where you may audition for both MT and Acting. You may want to post your question on the MT forum as well, thought many of us frequent both forums. My son auditioned for MT and was accepted for BFA Acting at Otterbein where he will be a sophomore this year. Otterbein’s website lists the merit scholarships a student may qualify to receive, and the amount awarded seems to be consistent. Though he was also artistically/academically accepted to two MT programs, he made the decision to attend Otterbein. As a freshman he had daily dance, and was able to have private voice instruction (paid extra). All BFA students audition for plays, musicals and even the dance concert. I know his program is not unique in that regard, and if you search the MT and Theatre/Drama forums, you will find more information. BAL to your D!!!

There are also schools like UNCSA, where music is integrated into the acting curriculum.

She may want to look for schools where dance is part of the admissions equation.

I know that at JMU, where I teach, we have accepted students who are very strong dancers, but newer to singing and acting. I am sure that there are other schools that will as well.

@KatMT I just want you to know how encouraging your posts are! This one regarding strong dancers and one where you mention JMU liking students that are teachable and ready & eager to be trained. As a legit soprano,no t a belter (working on it with a coach) and as a strong dancer/actor, my D is so happy to hear this. Especially from JMU!!

Thanks for the replies. To say this process is overwhelming is an understatement!
This might be a dumb question, but what is the best resource for finding schools? Do you just use lists compiled on CC and others and start reading websites? Is there a website I’m missing?

There are some really excellent lists of schools on the Musical Theater Forum. (Almost all of the schools that offer MT also offer acting, though there are some exceptions and some schools like DePaul, Purchase, Julliard, Rutgers, MN Guthrie that are acting focused, rather than MT).

Boston is another excellent acting program that gets less discussion on MT forum b/c they have not offered a strictly MT program in the past (though they are moving that way now).

@kmh1993 Mary Anna Dennard’s book I Got In! and Elaina Loveland’s Creative Colleges are good resources as well. D also found out about schools at the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska. She attended with her HS btwn junior and senior years and did the group audition in front of around 40 schools and visited with the representatives from those schools that called her back. And after that it’s all about going to each individual school website and reading!

If there are performers you particularly admire, see if you can find articles etc where they talk about their training. Not that going to x school is going to turn your into y performer, but it can be enlightening about what types of qualities to look for. I also recommend touring schools that are near you- whether they have a strong theater program or not. It can help you discover what kind of “vibe” you are looking for (small/big, urban/rural etc) which can hone your search.

Coastal Carolina would be a good program to look at. You can audition for both MT and Acting/Physical Theatre. There is a dance component during the audition. And Acting/Physical Theatre majors can take private voice lessons.

Both Pace and Rider offer BA acting programs; Pace also offers BFA acting. With those stats, your D would be very competitive for merit aid.