@mom2adancer that’s not the best path for her. I don’t think it’s usually wise for students to go to community college so far from home- I know a few have dorms, but it’s not the norm and she’ll only be a 16 yo freshman so off campus housing wouldn’t be a good idea imo. We currently live in VA but by the time she graduates will be moving, likely to New Orleans, but no guarantee. It’s my understanding that most dance majors prefer not to take transfers anyway, plus her training here is four hundred a month- plus various extra costs. I couldn’t imagine her paying that on her own when she could train in school with her peers.
@milgymfam how attached is she to heading back to the west coast? Some schools worth considering (depending on exactly what she’s looking for) in the mid-Atlantic would include UNC-Greensboro, Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason, James Madison, Towson, Eastern Carolina, and Elon.
We are also homeschoolers so I hear you about some schools being difficult to deal with. We’ve struck the SUNY schools off our list because they require the GED to apply.
@threegirlpileup very, very attached. She has exactly one non-California school on her list, college of Charleston- and that’s iffy. She hates Virginia, all of the south really (and we didn’t realize how much VA was a part of the south until we moved here). Those three VA schools were actually specifically recommended to her by dance teachers. Maybe if we were staying in this state I could persuade her to stick closer to me, but we’ll be leaving VA and she is looking forward to it not being “home” anymore. It’s kinda funny because we’ve lived all over and my girls each mentally adopted a different place as “home”. D19 holds Philadelphia in her heart as home and D20 holds the east bay of California.
Forgot about Santa Clara as another private CA option- https://www.scu.edu/theatre/academic-program/
My daughter is a rising 11th grader. Her list so far is
SMU
Texas State
UT(Austin)
USC
Loyola Marymount
Pace
Columbia University
Goucher
The following schools we are visiting next month: Duke, Elon, and University of NC Greensboro. They might be added to her list.
@klbj1966 Depending on what kind of school/program you are looking for, you might also check out Eastern Carolina when you are in NC. We have a friend headed for their BFA program in dance next year. I would say that it is more commercial dance oriented than UNC-G, which seems to have more of a contemporary/choreography oriented program. I saw Pace was on your list, so maybe that would be a good fit.
And you may already know this, but Duke does not offer a BFA in dance, although they do have a new MFA program.
My dd and I sat down the other night and managed to whittle her list of potential schools down to 14. Trying to get the list down to 10. Any thoughts appreciated, including if there is a school missing from the list!
She is looking for a program that combines strong technical training (class every day) with plenty of coursework/opportunities for choreography and creative work AND dance theory/pedagogy classes. Her focus is contemporary and choreography but she would like to be in a place that offers classes in other genres (as well as ballet of course). She wants access to a liberal arts education and would prefer a place where classes aren’t huge. It’s hard to game out the dance audition aspect but she’s a strong candidate academically.
Still on the list:
Temple
University of Illinois (Urbana)
Marymount Manhattan
UNC-Greensboro
Virginia Commonwealth
Montclair State
George Mason
Rutgers
Ohio State
Ohio University
University of South Florida
Johns Hopkins
Towson
Florida State
@threegirlpileup Have you looked at which schools offer fall auditions? Those will mean less conflicts and may be good practice before the intense audition period in Jan/Feb. So I would tend to focus your cuts on the other schools where scheduling conflicts are more likely to arise, especially if you will need to travel around the eastern US for them (we had 9 auditions in 5 weeks in Jan/early Feb).
Did you drop Fordham/Ailey for some reason? We found their (academic) merit aid was quite good.
@Twoin18 we have a calendar going already! I was actually just looking at the Dancewave college fair in early October and wondering if it might be a good way to meet people from a bunch of schools and possibly get some sense of her chances of admission.
Fordham/Ailey was actually not ever on her list. One of her teachers went through that program, and another went to the Ailey school, and agree that it wouldn’t be a good fit for her, and we really trust them. Among other things, my daughter is not a beanpole, and we have heard that they can be tough on curvy girls, giving them mandates to visit the nutritionist and lose weight.
For anyone thinking about DTCB: My daughter did the Dancewave DTCB college fair & audition in NYC last year and it was absolutely the best way to start her admissions process. She was admitted to several great conservatories and universities early based on that audition (or call backs) and we had the chance to talk to college reps about their programs. We planned for as many fall auditions as possible to make the spring more manageable with coursework and performances.
In the end she was admitted to 10 amazing schools with scholarships ranging from $10-$26K. She wanted a rigorous dance program with choreography opportunities, a beautiful campus, options to minor/double major in other fields, and a supportive university community.
After lots of pro/con lists and talking with dance mentors she committed to The Ohio State University, and we are so excited for her! The dance studios are gorgeous with huge windows and high ceilings, the classes we observed were technically advanced and tough, but the students were smiling and kind to each other. The BFA program has several study/perform abroad programs, excellent performance opportunities, and interaction with MFA and PhD students in the dance department doing very unique work in the dance field. The last few entering classes are about 30 students, so there is a lot of individual attention. On the academic side, she was admitted as an Arts Scholar and fortunate to earn an out-of-state Buckeye Scholarship and a Provost scholarship for her grades, so the cost is lower than our state university.
She was a little sad to pass up some of the conservatories and schools closer to NYC, but she knew she wanted a performance-oriented program and a positive, fun traditional college experience (i.e., football games and some traditional academic classes), so she feels she has it all. (side note: Everyone in Columbus is so friendly and the airport is so close to campus, which makes it feel more manageable than even some schools that were closer to us in New England.)
Best of luck to all of you starting your search!
I second the recommendation for Dancewave DTCB! My daughter attended and auditioned in October and found the whole experience to be very valuable. Having the opportunity to speak with reps from so many dance programs all in one place was so helpful. She received several acceptances despite having been diagnosed with mono the week prior, but we did come back to NY for auditions at some of the schools. It was really helpful to know that you can always reaudition at the school if needed!
We’re back in NY now for her college orientation at SUNY Purchase ?
Thanks for the recommendation! I signed my daughter up for the auditions. Could you tell me, where there really 30+ schools there last year?
Any suggestions of a good place to stay for Dancewave? Hoping to be in the city but not break the bank too badly.
Last year the colleges below with the * were auditioning. Some offer dance acceptances based on the auditions while some schools tend to offer a callback auditions on campus if they like what they see at the audition. Applying for academic admissions can follow after you get a dance decision. I have no idea what this year’s list will look like–I feel like this full list wasn’t posted on their website until right before the event. My dancer made a list of schools she was interested in and had to bring a pile of 8x10 headshots with a resume (also trimmed down to 8x10) stapled on the back. You’ll have time in the fair to visit each table and hand a headshot to any schools where you want to be considered for the audition. Some of the tables were popular and lines formed, but we got to talk to at least 10 or so schools.
2018 Dancewave DTCB Auditions
Adelphi University*
AMDA*
Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Broadway Dance Center*
California Institute of the Arts - The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance
Cornish College*
DeSales University*
Drexel University*
East Carolina University School of Theatre and Dance
George Mason University - School of Dance*
Hobart and William Smith Colleges*
Hope College*
Hunter College
Juilliard
Marymount Manhattan
The Ohio State University*
Pace University
Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins*
Point Park University*
Queensborough Community College - CUNY
Rutgers University - Mason Gross School of the Arts*
Sacred Heart University
Slippery Rock University*
SUNY Brockport
SUNY Purchase*
Temple University*
The Hartt School, University of Hartford*
University at Buffalo*
University of the Arts*
University of Massachusetts Amherst*
USC-Glorya Kaufman School of Dance
Virginia Commonwealth University*
Wayne State University *
I also highly recommend Dancewave, for the reasons other posters have stated, but also as a great way to prepare for the college dance audition process, which is a completely different process from auditioning for ballet summer intensive programs (what my daughter had been used to). The fair can be a little frenetic and crowded, but my daughter found it an invaluable experience.
So happy that I found this post. I just registered my dd for Dancewave and hoping that a lot of her college wish list is there. She is still looking for more colleges that she can double major in. Those are hard to find.
So far she will be applying to:
Towson University
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Purchase
SUNY Brockport
Pace
She was also interested in Fordham, but the price is a big concern and believe there is an added fee if you are in the dance program.
I know this is the page for majors - but was wondering which programs seem to have the most robust minors for ballet specifically. My daughter really wants the option to continue daily technique and pointe at least twice a week. Performance opportunities are a huge, huge plus. Quite a few of the minors look like they’re expecting little to know ballet experience. Right now she has Duke, Washington University, University of Richmond, University of Iowa, University of South Carolina and University of Washing on her list as options. Any feedback on those and any thoughts on additional programs she should consider? She’s aware of Columbia/Barnard but is not looking for a heavy core currciulum.
I wasn’t aware there were any schools where you could continue pointe and perform as a minor. I’ll be following along. My daughter is looking to double major, but only because she doesn’t think it’s possible to get what she wants from a minor.
@milgymfam With several of these the performance opportunities are through on campus groups which are audition based (Duke, University of Richmond, University of South Carolina). I don’t have any color on how competitive they are and if in reality it’s the majors who participate. WashU states on their webpage that minors have performance opportunities.
I wonder if schools are finding the auditions less useful than they hoped? The list on the DCTB website is short so far, but I noticed that while both Peabody/Johns Hopkins and Rutgers will be back, but neither is auditioning this year. I was really hoping to be able to get some auditioning/feedback at this event!