<p>Can any one help me with my situation?</p>
<p>I want to major in musical theatre, but i'm going to a CC first and they offer Associates in Music and Theatre.I've set myself up to get my associates in music. Eventually i want to go back and get my Masters in Music. </p>
<p>any advice on this? or would this just screw me over?</p>
<p>Going from a CC into a BM program is often difficult because most colleges do not accept transfer credit in music theory and other required courses that are normally taken in the first and second years of the curriculum. This often results in needing an extra semester or two in order to graduate. A BA program may be possible to complete in four years if you select your non-musical courses carefully at the CC, because there are a lot more non-musical courses in the typical BA curriculum.</p>
<p>For the lowdown on transferring into a bachelor's level MT program, I suggest that you ask over on the MT Forum here at College Confidential.</p>
<p>Most MM in performance programs expect that you will have completed something close to an undergrad music degree. If your undergrad degree is in MT, some programs may want you to demonstrate that you have the required knowledge of music theory, music history, languages and diction (if a voice major), basic piano skills and so forth before they will consider your application. Depending on the school you attend and the degree you wind up with, you may have to do some additional classwork and/or self-study before you can apply to the MM program. The amount and type of additional work will vary from school to school, so you would need to check the requirements of the specific grad schools that interest you. Your main competition would be from graduates of four-year BM programs, so you would have to audition at their level.</p>
<p>MM programs in areas other than performance will expect that you have the equivalent of at least a BA in music, but in many cases the auditions will be a little less demanding.</p>
<p>There are so many variables at play that you would have to contact individual graduate schools in order to know what they require in terms of acceptable preparation for admission to specific MM programs. I think that if you obtain an Associates degree, then a Bachelor's in MT, there will be some amount of catching up that you will have to do before many grad schools would be willing to consider your application. The amount of catching up can vary greatly, depending on what you do over the next few years and where you intend to apply for grad school.</p>
<p>Because you said you're considering going back and getting your MM, I would think that doing the Associates in Music might work out better for you. It will depend on what type of concentration you might be doing. Check with grad school programs on emphases you might want to be interested in.</p>
<p>At least at my school (large public state university with a top music school and good theatre program), one has the option of either majoring in BM-Musical Theatre, associated more with the music school (offers the full music core classes like theory/sight-singing, music history/literature, choral ensembles, keyboard, a recital after the culmination of the voice lessons, conducting, in addition to the theatre/dance classes), or BFA-Musical Theatre, closer associated with the theatre department (fewer voice/theory/keyboard lessons, more theatre history/theatre dance classes, etc.). Check the undergraduate institution(s) you're looking to transfer and see which they offer, and figure out if one may interest you more.</p>
<p>It might depend on the school(s) that you're looking at transferring, but honestly, either way, you're probably looking at being in school for at least an extra semester (maybe an extra year), simply because much like music degrees, music theatre programs are very tightly structured, and if one misses taking a course, it may not be offered for another semester or two (just as a forewarning).</p>
<p>Overall, I would look very carefully at your potential credits for your Associates in Music. Pseudo-echoing BassDad, there's <em>rarely</em> a concern when transferring liberal studies/core curriculum courses (especially if you're transferring to a state-funded school in the same state where you're going to CC), but transferring <em>some</em> music credits may be a bit more trying. My advice for transferring credits, in case you run into this program, is keep all of your syllabi from all your classes in CC, or at least a record of info taught. One of the pitfalls at my school (and I'm certain this happens at most large universities) is that the music department and the registrar of the university don't communicate everything...as in what may transferred into the university well, may not have transferred into the music school so neatly. (Sidebar: this is coming from someone who took several DE music courses while in high school, and as to try to save myself some money/didn't want to repeat classes I already took, had to go to every music subdepartment to get courses officially transferred, and then let the registrar know what transferred in as something else).</p>
<p>I hope this helped, but you may get more advice asking the MT Forum on this issue.</p>