Not seeing a lot about them here. Anyone know? How many do they take? How hard is it to get in the MT program?
My S auditioned there last weekend and they told them they take approximately 25 MT students
@wozmom Thanks. Please let me know when you hear something! D auditions next week
@winnieroot it was a very welcoming atmosphere on campus.
@winnieroot Best of luck to D
I say this over and over (and over). Belmont students are the most musically gifted students that I come across on a regular basis (that includes CCM, UMich, etc.).
I say this a lot but if my child wanted to go to school for Musical Theatre, Belmont would be RIGHT THERE with Michigan and the lot.
My daughter is just a junior but we visited while in Nashville in the fall. Had a couple of musical theatre friends with her as well. They all three absolutely loved the campus! We caught a performance of Oklahoma and they all commented on the amazing vocals and choreography. They stayed after the performance and talked to some of the students , who all had very favorable things to say about Belmont’s program. I also spoke with a couple of parents who most certainly felt that Belmont was preparing their students for a musical theatre career. I heard the same @wozmom , 25 students. Most certainly has gone on my daughters list!
That is good to know @TheaterHiringCo Any info on Millikin, Webster, Indiana?
Is Belmont a faith-based school?
It used to be part of the Baptist Convention. Although they aren’t any longer, they still are faith based but not for a specific religious denomination
Ah.
D also auditioned for them and thoroughly enjoyed her experience; we were impresssed. Students, faculty, and the Dean were welcoming, warm, and professional. It was a well-organized (but long for MT) audition. Two somewhat different aspects of the audition: they had a music theory test for admissions (not just placement) purposes, and MTs had to perform a prepared dance solo as well as group dances. The Dean stated that they accept 25 and assume that they will have a class of 10-15; they have about 50 total in their program.
Yes, they are faith-based. A couple religious classes are required as part of the gen ed requirements (students can choose which ones). However, we have heard and observed that there is a very relaxed attitude towards it all; it’s okay to have faith, and it’s ok not to. We’ve also heard that it is an eclectic, welcoming student body and college.
@myloves I agree with you. My S enjoyed his experience also, made some new friends. It was a long day, not ending until 5pm. This was his first audition so we weren’t sure if they all will be that long. Belmont was not scheduled to be that long, it just ran behind I think they said due to the solo dances. Best of luck to your D
Thanks, Wozman! Best of luck to your S, too.
“Though Belmont has historically been a white, upper-class, Christian school…Many Belmont students practice some denomination of Christianity, but with the school building a name for itself as a top music university, religious diversity is changing on campus, as well. There are students at Belmont who practice Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, agnosticism, and atheism. No matter what you believe, you’ll still have to attend 10 spiritual growth convocation events in order to graduate. Most of these have Christian overtones, but there are some events that are more focused on nature and meditation, if you don’t subscribe to those beliefs.”
(I’m guessing Wicca and Satanism, Rastafarianism and Baha’i and are less well integrated.
"Also, sexual orientation is a bit of a touchy issue on campus, especially since Belmont was on the receiving end of a truckload of negative press regarding the subject in 2010.
^ What is the point of this post? Many of the programs listed at the top of this thread are located in schools that are faith-based, or founded on faith-based principals. I’m sure you could find negative press for all of them regarding sexual orientation, racism, classism, feminism, anti-feminism, anti-pick-your-least/most-favorite religion, hate groups, anti-liberalism, anti-conservatism, anti/pro-transgentder, hazing, alcohol consumption, bullying, couch burning, car flipping, rape statistics, crime statistics, police brutality, cheating, and on and on and on. I haven’t done any research, but such reports might also be found for non-faith-based schools as well.
I think it is important to know if a school has requirements to attend religious type activities in order to graduate. My daughter had one such school on her list until we realized that this was part of their program so she took it off her list before applying.
We go back to fit for each person. Some people don’t like weigh-ins at programs, others don’t mind them; some want to avoid internally cut-throat programs, others thrive in them or don’t mind that atmosphere; some people want more academic classes, others want less or none; some people don’t mind or even embrace some faith-based requirements, others avoid them.
It is good to know all of this information–whatever is a deal maker or breaker for a particular student–before auditioning.
@vocal1046, where did the quote come from about sexual orientation attitudes?
Totally agree myloves. What makes a program a top choice for one person could be a deal breaker for another
All the more reason to be up front about unusual requirements. Requiring religious study is quite unusual. Are there other BFA MT programs with similar required curriculum?
Publicizing that information will allow those who seek such an environment to find it more easily and those for whom it would be anathema to steer clear.
The sexual orientation quote is from colleges.niche.com