BA, BFA, Non Auditioned Programs OH MY

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>New to CC first post in MT, thank you in advance for answers, guidance and hopefully some sanity </p>

<p>Looking for a college where my son can spend the next 4 years continuing to grow up in a safe environment, gaining a college experience, doing what he loves...musical theater. That said, we are looking at BFA as well as BA programs where he can get training in singing, acting, and dancing. </p>

<p>With little dance experience I'm wondering if we should focus on BA programs in acting where they offer dance and music(performance)as minors.
Rhode Island College offers a BA in theater with a concentration in musical theater where he could double minor in dance and music performance. I know it would not be as intensive as a BFA, but might still allow him more of a traditional college experience doing what he loves in an area he really likes. </p>

<p>Here is some general information about him</p>

<p>GPA 3.4, without an issue freshman year with a horribly demeaning teacher, would be about 3.6, she no longer teaches there.
SAT 1550 - taking again in Oct
ACT- taking in Oct</p>

<p>Experience
Member EMC with 16 points towards equity
Very large vocal range, lowest and highest male voice in his school
Member of select choirs
Acting since age 10, leading and non leading roles
Some local professional theater experience
Very little dance experience, a class or 2 here and there but no real training.
He can read music, sight sing, and has taken AP Music Theory</p>

<p>We are not looking at anything in NYC as he wants a traditional small-medium campus. He can always get a masters in the city later </p>

<p>Right now his top choices are Montclair State in NJ and Rhode Island College, both very different programs. Here is what we are looking at so far </p>

<p>Connecticut:
WCSU
CCSU
Hartt School of Music</p>

<p>Rhode Island
Rhode Island College
URI</p>

<p>New York
Wagner
SUNY Purchase
Hofstra</p>

<p>New Jersey
Montclair State</p>

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<p>Hi TheatreMom14! </p>

<p>If your son’s focus is Acting and Singing and he likes to dance, I don’t see why he should give up on MT programs. If that’s the direction he wants his career to go in, don’t assume schools will not be interested in him due to the lack of formal dance training. Many programs (NOT all of course) are open to boys with little dance as long as they are good movers and are willing to make an effort. Most prefer dance training but many are willing to train. Also, there are several schools that allow you to audition for both MT and Acting programs at once.</p>

<p>I have a bunch of questions/comments for you…</p>

<p>Is your son a Senior? If so, I strongly suggest you find a coach as soon as possible to help evaluate your son’s strengths and weaknesses, identify audition material as soon as possible, and help you develop a list of applicable programs. There are many threads on CC regarding whether or not a coach is needed. My opinion is that although not needed in most cases, it is very helpful. Because you are still unsure of direction, I think you would find that some coaching by MT specialists would be worth its weight in gold. Being prepared makes for more choices in the end. That could even translate into net savings via scholarships or making MT an undergrad focus and therefore not needing grad school. We used MTCA and were 100% satisfied. Is coaching something you have considered?</p>

<p>Where are you located? I am guessing CT based on your list of schools. Have you and your S visited any of the schools on your list yet? I am not a big advocate of visiting school where you will be going for auditions anyway or making expensive trips in advance where you fall in love with a school that has a 1% admittance rate. But if there are some near where you leave, by all means visit and get a tour of the theater facility. It will help your S have a better understanding of what he is really looking for in a school, and of the audition process.</p>

<p>Although some of the school on your list seem to be places where one can experience typical college life, I would consider several to be suitcase schools on the weekends. That may or may not be OK for your son, but be sure to understand the culture of the schools.</p>

<p>Reading music, sight singing, and understanding music theory is very valued at certain programs. Don’t give up on auditioned MT programs!</p>

<p>Feel free to PM me if you would prefer to continue the dialogue out of the public forum.</p>

<p>Best of luck!!</p>

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<p>Thank you for your response, I will try to answer your questions/comments. </p>

<p>My S is a senior and has been taking voice lessons for 2 years and we are starting with a monologue coach and music coach as well. I will look at MTCA as well, thank you. </p>

<p>We are located in CT and have looked at Montclair, Wagner, WCSU, and Rhode Island College so far. We will be looking at Hartt, Hofstra, and URI soon.
One of the questions we ask about the smaller suitcase type schools is how many students live on campus of the total undergraduates enrolled. Wagner only has 1800 total students, RIC has 8,000 but only 1200 live on campus, and others clearly have lots more, but coming from a town of a population of 3000, anything over 1000 might feel like a lot, lol.
We aren’t giving up any any MT programs and appreciate the advice it helps sooo much. Like I said if he gets into a BFA MT program but feels like a BA is where he will be happier, I’ll go with it.</p>

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<p>Some programs in NY, NH and NJ that come to mind when I look at your list:</p>

<p>Rider
Ithaca
U New Hampshire
Plymouth State</p>

<p>Two in E. Pennsylvania that you may want to look at are:</p>

<p>U Arts - Philadelphia
Temple - Philadelphia</p>

<p>Bass voices are always a sought-after commodity in college MT.</p>

<p>If you can squeeze in some basic ballet training so that he can at least learn the terminology, it wouldn’t hurt. A few private lessons might go a long way.</p>

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<p>My son is not a dancer, and he was accepted at BoCo, NYU Tisch, Univ of the Arts, and Rider, so I wouldn’t let the lack of dance experience limit your son’s choices. Honestly, I wouldn’t even characterize my son as one “who can move.” He is at BoCo in beginner level dance classes, and after 4 years of dance 5 days per week, I’m sure he will become proficient.</p>

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<p>I thought of U Arts too but I think they are looking for a non-city environment? I have spent time in that area of the city though and it is a very busy tourist section and U Arts has lots of very visible security.</p>

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<p>Thanks EmsDad, I will look at those. He can definitely sing base, but tenor is his preferred part. Of course he would sing whatever is needed :)</p>

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<p>Very encouraging SaratogaParent. My S has been in a few shows with dance numbers, and has done about 6 classes of hip hip and broadway jazz, as well as a few private lessons to learn some steps but tahrs about it. Hopefully his singing and acting will be enough. Sounds like your S is going great, congratulations.</p>

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<p>He is looking non city environment dramamom0804, he likes the idea of being able to get into a city if he wants, but not to live in one.</p>

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<p>That would be bass, lol</p>

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<p>Hi, TM14, My daughter just started at Montclair MT and loves it and definitely feels she made the right choice. She applied to (and got into) some of the same schools you are looking at, so feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. She has a strong dance background, and the dance training there is stellar and leveled to the student’s ability, but there are students admitted who are not strong dancers. They will train them there. As long as your son is a strong singer/actor, dancing is not imperative to get in, but he will have the opportunity to work on ballet, jazz, and tap right from the start. Clay James, head of the program, is himself a dancer. Last spring when we visited we watched a Tap III class and there was a freshman boy in the class who we were told had never tapped before coming to Montclair, but had worked really hard to move up. You never would have believed by watching him that he had only been tapping for 8 months!</p>

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<p>Calliene, thank you so much he really liked it and we are going back to the open house in 2 weeks. I talked to Clay earlier in the week and he was very helpful, we are excited to look into it more.</p>

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<p>TM14, my S is a current Soph Performance major at Wagner. PM me if you have any questions about their program. I’d be happy to provide insight into their program and audition process.</p>

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<p>Be sure to check out Rider in NJ! It matches your location requirements and is a real up and coming program. My daughter studied under Robin Lewis here in Austin at a community theatre/school he started and he is wonderful! He also was instrumental in putting Texas State on the map a few years back.</p>

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<p>Thanks austinmt, we are going to add it to the list :)</p>