<p>It is not necessarily just the number of applicants. I think BoCo had the highest acceptance rate this year. They had 776 applicants for MT, and they said they were going to accept between 140 and 160 kids to yield a class of about 60. That results in an acceptance rate of between 18% and almost 21% - far higher than most other audition MT schools (although Tisch may be almost as high, if you combine all the studios, but I could be wrong). Of course, BoCo is a great program, and competitive…I suspect the reason their yield is so low is that they are very expensive, and I do not believe they give academic scholarships. I know the cost certainly played into my D’s decision to turn them down. So, if you are looking for schools that have high acceptance rates, look at the schools that accept larger numbers of kids as well.</p>
<p>That’s good information, thank you monkey13. What is the best way to find out how many applicants a program has had the previous year?</p>
<p>The schools don’t usually post it…I found out from being there during auditions…many of the schools tell the parents in the parent info session. I tried to post most of the numbers that we were given…I’m pretty sure I posted Emerson, Syracuse, and a few others.</p>
<p>What are Ithaca’s stats, Monkey13?</p>
<p>Oooops, sorry dreambelle13, I was wrong. Ithaca only told us they accept about 32 to yield 16, but when someone asked how many applied for MT, they did not tell us. When my D did her on-campus audition, there were at least 50 there for MT, and they did 2 sessions a day…so probably 100/day for each of the on-campus auditions, plus Unifieds, plus video auditions for kids who did not get an actual audition slot…I would totally be guessing if I gave you a number, but I think you get the idea.</p>
<p>That’s a good way of thinking of it monkey13 in terms of “guessing”. Programs that require pre-screening will be harder to “guess-ti-mate” because there is no way we can know how many kids sent in videos and were not offered a callback. Also Unifieds makes it a bit of a wild card as well. I like that you used Tisch and BoCo as examples of higher yield programs because I don’t think anyone would argue that they are both excellent programs, yet their acceptance rate is a bit higher than others. Makes the point that “less-competitive” and “good programs” can indeed be synonymous.</p>
<p>Another big factor with those two particular schools and a few others is the lack of the whole type thing. They take so many they are not going to reject you because they already have a blonde soprano or whatever. Tisch cares more about GPA and test scores, too. But Boco doesn’t so it’s still very individualized. Having said that I do know people who happened to get into those 2 schools but no others so I do think chances are better there.They are also very expensive so I’m reasonably sure alot of people don’rt end up going so they have to take more. That’s true with schools closer to the bottom of the list, too. If they want 20 they may have to take 100 because they know perfectly well they are not many people’s first choice program. Some of the rejections this year are just weird, though. I wonder if some of the “less competitive” schools reject the “more competitive” people because they figure they will have better offers and not attend.</p>
<p>Another unknown is how each school counts the number who audition. For example, CCU doesn’t include the numbers they see at auditions like International Thespian Festival, North Texas Drama Auditions, etc., unless CCU calls them back for an on campus audition and they accept the invitation. They only count the number who audition specifically for entrance into their program. But some other schools do count those number because they actually see that many kids at “auditions.”</p>
<p>Just a clarification about Tisch. The acceptance rate for MUSICAL THEATER tends to be about 5-6% usually. The reason some may say 18-20% rate is when looking at acceptances to ALL the drama studios, the majority of which are acting studios and only one is the MT studio. So, the acceptance rate for MT at Tisch is still very low, even if it is a big program. </p>
<p>Another thing you have to factor in is that not every audition pool is the same from school to school. One school may have 800 kids audition but it is a more concentrated talent pool and another school has 800 audition but many of the top talented kids in the country are not applying there. </p>
<p>Also, to the OP…I know you want some schools that have a higher acceptance rate than others, but most BFA in MT programs have acceptance rates that run anywhere from 2% to 10%. Frankly, there is not a lot of difference or better odds at a school that accepts 9% than a school that accepts 3%, for example. It’s low odds all the way around. I think what makes some BFA programs more competitive than others is the strength of the talent pool. I hate to name program names for fear of offending some people, but certain BFA programs are harder to get into generally speaking, than others, and not due to any numbers but simply the competitiveness of admission and talent pool. For example, in my D’s year, she had many friends around the country who I would call top talented kids who were admitted to many of the so-called top programs for MT and many of these kids did not even apply to certain BFA programs mentioned here on this forum…none.</p>
<p>I don’t have any specific #s, but word on the street is Ithaca had record number of acceptances for both BFA programs (MT and Acting)…60 (?) between the two programs has been batted about…D’s class of 2014 has twenty between BFA MT and Acting so looks like she’ll have multiple “littles” next year!</p>
<p>^Just to clarify, by “acceptance” I actually meant “yield”…not sure how many Ithaca actually accepted, but their yield was way way higher than normal…</p>
<p>No business - do you know about Ithaca’s numbers for sure or is this rumor?</p>
<p>Also - Emerson this year has a huge incoming MT class. They are taking in the mid-30’s this year after a small class last year of only 16. Then they cut to 16 Junior year. This one’s gonna be hard!</p>
<p>Prntosome, I am about a 9 out of 10 on this one in terms of certainty. I too was incredulous when my D (BFA MT) shared this statistic with me just the other day…especially considering her own MT class has 12 (9 women, 3 men), and the BFA acting class is even smaller (8 total I think)…so in essence, the Freshman 2017 BFA class is triple the Senior 2014 BFA class…it happens every so often I suppose, but is a first for Ithaca in quite some time, if ever, that I’m aware.</p>
<p>It happens everywhere! Coastal also has quite the large class coming in. Part of that was high yield and part of that was an intentional push for a larger class due to the sophomore class (2016) being smaller than anticipated. My senior 2014 BFA class only has 11 total, but it was the first year the BFA was auditioned- the rising junior class has 18 total I think. This year’s incoming freshmen class has 14 MT (8 girls, 6 boys) and 10 acting/physical theatre (6 girls, 4 boys)- so 24! It was a big year of auditioning for a lot of schools, I think.</p>