My D was accepted for MT and we’re excited! Show clips we’ve seen look great and we like the curriculum. Wondering if any current parents or students are willing to share their experiences? In particular, we are wondering about the larger class sizes and the fact that they are female heavy. Is everyone guaranteed to be cast at some point? Do you feel like you get individual attention? How are students split up for dance, acting, etc? We’d appreciate any info you could give us. Feel free to pm me if you are more comfortable with that. Thanks so much!
Congratulations to your daughter!! I can’t answer your question, but I have a question for you! My son auditioned on December 15th and received an email from Robin Lewis saying they were very interested and he would receive a final decision within the following month. Then today he received a letter saying he was in consideration but wouldn’t hear a final decision until all candidates had auditioned. Did your daughter receive an email like the one my son did? Was your final decision via email or regular mail? Thanks, and good luck to your daughter!!
Thanks @onepercentmom - she did get the same initial “interested” email and the actual acceptance came in a big envelope by snail mail. We saw it first on her rider portal though - all of a sudden it changed to “decision made - admitted bfa in mt” so if you watch there, you may see it about a week before the package comes, or that’s how it worked for us anyway. Hoping your son gets good news too!
@ourturn2 Congrats! That’s so exciting! My D is a freshman at Rider and we are LOVING it! We are blown away with the personal attention she is receiving! Her voice teacher is incredible! They have an hour a week together one on one and then she gets two half hour sessions per week with her coach/ accompanist. (there is an extra fee for the accompanist - $500 per semester but it has been well worth it! And he attends all the voice lessons too)… Then all the students who have that same voice teacher have studio together one evening per week- which has been also awesome! The freshman MT class size might sound “big” but the actual academic classes have been a nice small class size. They get assessed for dance and are placed in an appropriate level for ballet 1st semester and then jazz and ballet 2nd semester. I think my D said there were 12 kids in her ballet. Her acting class was small too- 12 -14 kids I believe. Another nice feature- they have master classes for MT’s on Monday nights almost every week- great opportunities for some wonderful training! They ALL audition fall semseter for ALL spring productions. My D was not cast, but a few freshmen were! From what I understand all MT BFA’s are guaranteed a casting before graduation! They do 2 musicals, a play and a cabaret each semester for main stage productions so there are a lot of opportunities. We have been very very happy with her choice to go to Rider. The professors seem to genuinely care about the kids and it has been a great fit. She is learning a lot and is making some wonderful friends. Rider allows you to have a minor with the BFA or a double major if you choose to go for a BA. That’s also a really nice perk! Many of the BFA MT’s have a minor in dance or Arts Admin etc. Please feel free to send any questions you have my way! @onepercentmom My fingers are crossed for you!
@savedrama4momma thank you for the Rider intel. My daughter has been accepted for class of 2023 MT and this was helpful. Just how many MT’s are there in the class of '22? Do you know if any MT’s are transferring out this year? (just curious). Thanks!
Thanks so much @savedrama4momma! Somehow I missed your response until today when I saw the new post here. Congrats @El-Cee! We went to the rider info session in Chicago and really liked what we heard, in addition to what you are saying above. Another question though, for the Monday master classes when guest artists come in, who is allowed to attend? Is it just the BFA’s or do BA’s get to come? Do individual students get up and work with the guests and if so, how are they chosen? Start with seniors, random, etc. Does your D feel like she’s making personal connections that way or is it more of just a big group class? TIA!
We didn’t go to the Rider info session (it was late! we were pooped!) but we toured the school last summer and sat with admissions so felt like we knew enough to know that we liked the program. Planning to visit soon and sit in on some classes and see a show. Would love to hear any addition info from current parents or students!
Hi! I am new to this board and would love to hear anything you find out. I can not figure out how to message you @onepercentmom
Voice lessons: Do you feel they are getting a good mix of both legit and pop? @onepercentmom
@ourturn2 The Monday “lab” is very different week to week. They have had Fit for Broadway come and do master classes on the health of a performer- this included guest speaker/ small group activities/ and fitness class for all. They have had panel discussions and speakers (ex: Sierra Boggess was one- for a Q and A). They have done some vocal master classes (ex - original broadway cast members coming to work with current cast memgers of Rider’s musical. My daughter did not perform but learns a ton from observing others perform and receive feedback. Her “studio” time is with all the kids in her voice studio once a week- separate from Lab. (so each voice teacher has Studio in addition to your indiv. lessons). Her studio is definitely amazing and inspiring. She learns a lot!! She has performed and learns watching others perform. They get peer feedback too- they really celebrate their accomplishments and it is a special time. They have guets visits too. Hopefully that answered your questions?
@El-Cee I believe that there are about 40 in the class- maybe 42? From what my daughter said- one is switching to Arts Management with a minor in MT for sophomore year but staying at Rider. She also thinks one BA MT freshman auditioned for BFA and was accepted- so that would mean the number stays the same. She has heard one person say they might not return next year- but I am not positive if that is a definite decision yet? Hope that is helpful.
@saintjoan your question about legit vs pop… they will definitely learn BOTH and their show seasons seem to be a good mix of both. I will say freshman year the curriculum is more heavy on the legit side and I think the freshman showcase will be more the legit / standards and classics if I am not mistaken- that is what the kids are working on specifically year- lots of Golden Era etc- but I think the whole class as a whole works on different things each semester if that makes sense. My daughter’s coach at Rider and her voice teacher have also helped with song selection for specific auditions so definitely some of the pieces have been more modern / pop for certain auditions. It isn’t like they are ONLY singing legit standards 24/7 the first year- it’s just what the curriculum focus is.
Can someone please expand on the somewhat large class size? In what situations are all 40 kids being taught at the same time? Are they usually broken into smaller groups, and if so, what classes? Does anyone feel this larger class size is a problem in any way? It does not seem ideal, although other aspects of the program sound good to me.
So glad I found this forum. My DS was accepted to Rider and we are excited to attend the upcoming Admitted session in April. Does anyone know how many were accepted for Fall 2019? I know there are probably more acceptances that went out verses how many will actually attend in the Fall.