Hoping to hear from some of you who have been through this crazy process in the past year or two. DD is getting ready to apply/audition and we are working on her list of schools. She has less training/experience than a lot of kids I’ve read about on here as she attends a public county high school with a small performing arts program and there are limited other local opportunities. That said, MT is her thing, her passion, her dream etc. She is a good singer - soprano with belt, etc, and she has been taking voice lessons for several years - and she has taken every acting class offered. Her weakness is definitely dance because she was never really exposed to it. If I had known this would be her life focus, I would have put her in dance classes in elementary school, but alas I cannot go back in time… So, she has been taking contemporary dance for the past year and as such is a beginner.
So, after that long winded post (sorry), what are your experiences/recommendations for schools to consider/schools to avoid applying to. She wants a program where she will get great training in dance along with acting and voice, but we don’t want to waste time nor money applying to schools that are looking for girls who can already dance. (I emphasize girls because my sense is that there may be more allowances made for boys that don’t have a ton of dance experience)
Her current list is way too long and needs a ton of refining - she has way too many reach (more likely to win the lottery than get in) schools… we know that, but it is our jumping off point. So, what schools do you think we should just eliminate based on her limited dance background? Any we didn’t list you might add? Thanks in advance for any advice!
Catholic University
American University
Millikin
Ball State
University of Michigan
Webster University
Elon
UNCSA
Montclair State U
Rider
Wagner University
University of Cincinnati - College Conservatory of Music
Baldwin Wallace
Oklahoma City University
Temple
Seton Hall
Muhlenberg
Coastal Carolina
Belmont
Texas State
Shenandoah
James Madison
Viterbo
I would say get her in ballet ASAP! Even for an intensive. It will help her with the dance calls. This list has some big dance names on it which may be big reaches with her level of dance so i would maybe add to be safe. It is a big name heavy list.
Roosevelt CCPA has a BFA in musical theatre with an emphasis on voice. The dance call is very minimal and easy. Cincinnati, Michigan and Elon are SERIOUS dance calls.
Take a look at Lipscomb University in Nashville. They have a wonderful program and amazing professors. Also, they offer opportunities to collaborate with the many professional theatres in Nashville. And they have Fall auditions so if your D gets a yes, she has the added assurance of a great program early in audition season!
Michigan mama here…I noticed you have Michigan but not CMU - if you are going to go for one of the two and she is not a dancer, my advice is audition for CMU - they eliminated their dance call. If your heart is set on UMIch follow the advice above and get her into ballet as quickly as you can! Best of luck and enjoy the audition season!!
Thank you so much for all the responses! Such great advice! Keep it coming!
(Re Michigan/CMU - Michigan is her dream school, so it will probably be the one ridiculous reach we leave on there because it is fun to throw money away. Hahaha. Seriously, though she strongly considered CMU for that exact reason (and we lived in Pittsburgh for 4 years and I love it!), but since they don’t offer much in the way of merit aid or post-GI bill scholarship aid, we would not be able to swing that financially. I should have mentioned that as a major factor in “the list”. I am spending a ridiculous amount of time making a spreadsheet that includes cost of attendance and types of aid at all these programs. Her dad is military and so we have some GI-bill money allotted to her, but there seems to a wide range in the way that can be used. I wouldn’t want to be in the situation where she was accepted to a favorite school but we couldn’t pay for it. We are not thinking this is a degree to take on a lot of debt for…)
At Western Michigan the dance call is used primarily for placement in Freshman Jazz class. Only those under serious consideration are called back to dance - if you don’t get called back to dance at the audition, then you are not going to get an offer. If you do get called back to dance, then you will probably at least make the wait list. The dance call is typically fairly simple compared to Boco, Elon, etc. WMU does take applicants without extensive dance experience.
@ncmomof5 - I would also consider adding some straight acting programs to her list. All actors study voice and private voice lessons and choir can be taken separately from your major work, as can dance classes. Acting auditions sure are a piece of cake compared to MT! My D was originally set on MT, added a few acting programs then realized during auditions that she’d be perfectly happy doing a BFA Acting…
Also, I don’t wish at all to be discouraging but my D didn’t pass most of her MT prescreens and I think it was due to her dance video. She’s actually a decent dancer but she ran out of steam with filming the voice and acting prescreens and mailed the dance one in. Look for schools that don’t screen for dance or don’t prescreen at all.
Also - forgot to ask: what state are you in? If you’re in the midwest the cross-state agreements make Steven’s Point (UW) or Indiana U huge bargains. Other states have some great in-state options as well.
Just so you know, there are schools that will grant in-state tuition rates to military children. It’s hit-or-miss, but they do exist.
I second everyone saying get her into ballet ASAP. Contemporary is nice, but ballet is the basis of everything and is essential for posture and body awareness. The most important thing is for her to learn how to pick up choreography quickly. If you have good lines and can pick up quickly, it’s more likely that a school will take you without much experience. Even if there’s not much in the way of classes available, she can practice learning MT/jazz combinations from youtube videos.
On the other hand, don’t rule out BFA acting. There’s no rule anywhere that says you can’t audition for musicals without a MT degree. One of my daughter’s friends got a callback for Aladdin and Lion King in Chicago with a biology degree. She might be better off being an actor who can sing rather than an MT who can’t dance.
Since your D is a singer, one thing to check is who teaches the MT/T voice lessons. At some schools, it’s TAs and grad. students, at others you get full professors. I know for sure that Temple uses grad. students and for sure that Millikin uses professors.
Otherwise, to pare it down, look at the percent of students receiving aid and what the standards for merit aid are. Also check who goes to which unifieds if you’re thinking of going that route. If your state has a high school theatre fest or something like that, that’s a good place to audition for a bunch of schools at once. If nothing else, theatre fest auditions are practice even if she’s not interested in in-state schools. If you can do it, schedule her first audition for a school that is not in her top 3.
The JMU dance call is leveled, and auditioning students choose whether they will do the beginner/ intermediate or the intermediate/ advanced call. There are students (including young women) admitted to the program who are strong singer/actors who have very little dance training. Those who come in with more dance training are placed in higher level dance classes, those who come in with less/ no dance experience are in beginner level classes.
Coastal Carolina definitely takes dancers of all levels and then places them accordingly in the program. The dance call is fairly simple but allows for those who have advanced skills to shine.
Western Carolina University also takes all levels of dance. My D is a BFA MT there entering her junior year and came into the program with limited dance. This year they are part of the NC Promise program and have reduced tuition rates for both instate and out of state students.
Look for schools that don’t screen for dance or don’t prescreen at all.