Hello my daughter is looking for a smaller university to study musical theater. Her grades are just ok 2.7, her SAT’s were good. We aren’t looking for the best of the best in MT as those tend to be filled with egos. We are looking for a nice friendly school where she can study MT, perform, and get a great collage experience. Can anyone help?
Purchase College?
Not small, but the first school that comes to mind in Boston area is Emerson College and is very competitive. Ana Maria is a small Catholic liberal arts college that does a lot with music and performing arts in Paxton Massachusetts. They are known also for majors in a very employable area called music therapy. The combination might work.
Columbia College, Chicago?
Where are you from? Financial constraints? And is she looking to be in a specific geographic region? Off the top of my head, consider looking into University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.
North Central College in Naperville - @ 1 hr train ride from Chicago - has an award-winning MT Dept: https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/musical-theatre
University of the Arts in Philly has strong Musical Theater, by audition. I suggest you post your query on the Musical Theater forum under Majors. There are some very knowledgeable people who contribute to those threads. If she’s interested in a major or a BFA, she should put together an audition piece, and study the requirements for various colleges. Purchase’s BFA is highly competitive. I’ve heard good things about University of Cincinnati (CCM, for their Theater & Music), Evansville, and Ithaca.
Some other ideas from Princeton Review’s list of top 20 College Theater programs: https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=best-college-theater