My D auditioned at Greensboro in 2016 and was offered a spot in the honors program with a great scholarship but the program was just Acting BFA with some MT, but not strong on dance. Saw an excellent production of a straight play and D really liked everyone she met and the area. The theatre department people were super nice though!
I just discovered another up and coming program. Utah Valley University in Orem, UT has both BFA in MT and acting. Pre-screens are due early Jan followed by on-campus callbacks in Feb. UT is a really easy state to gain residency in so after one year, tuition costs go way down!
Does anyone have feedback on Southeast Missouri Stateâs (SEMO) MT program?
I looked up the UNC Greensboro program. The staff all comes with significant Broadwaay experience. Could become the next hidden gem!
My HS sophomore is just starting her journey, thinking about building her resume for applying to MT programs. How updated are lists on here? For example, we are Virginia and are looking around at fairly close options. We are familiar with JMU, Shenandoah, and E&H, but WVU and VCU have prgrams but I donât sse them here. Both WVU and VCU seem recent adds, particularly VCU, which seems to have beeen added just this year.
https://admissions.wvu.edu/academics/majors/musical-theatre
Also, any advice as we navigate this process is much appreciated. We are starting much earlier than we did with our oldestâs college search as the wide variation in audition requirements for applications is a bit overwhelming. Our daughter is, of course, active in her HS theater program, has done some outside programs, and has been taking voice lessons for years with a great teacher who teaches voice and MT at the college level. But her HS Theater program is limited and the teacher a bit useless.
@phillipm if your looking to stay on east coast. Check out Polish Your Passion NYC & College Audition Project for guidance. NYC Combines & CAP auditions will feature lots of East Coast schools. Sounds like you have a good start on schools right around Virgina. But most applying to MT cast a wide net nationally as well as the odds so tough to get in a program. Getting a national coach is helpful to build a smart list. But it is an extra expense.
@brieduck do you mean Missouri State University MT? This college was once called Southwest Missouri State long ago. Hereâs link to Missouri State.
https://musicaltheatre.missouristate.edu
Thanks @Kkrazie. Part of staying localâŠa huge part⊠is cost. But we will look beyond just nearby Virginia, although probably stay East anyway. In addition to our daughterâs voice teacher, who is a BOCO grad who teaches voice and occasionally MT, at American U (primarily voice), a good friend of our oldest is at Baldwin Wallace and we have a friend whose son is a JMU grad and a working actor on Broadway (Kinky Boots, Spiderman, etc) whose advise we will seek. But thanks for the recs, I assumed there was all manner of industry around helping kids building a strong resume and audition, but even figuring out who to engage is a bit overwhelming.
@phillipM get on Amazon and order two books. How I Got in by Mary Anna Dennard & The Ultimate Musical Theater College Audition Guide: by Amy Rogers Schwartzriech. Great overview of whatâs ahead of you. College Auditions is very complex & expensive. Good tips here. Break a leg. Itâs a journey.
@Kkrazie Oh my, two whole books written on applying to be a theater major. Thats kinda kkrazie. Maybe I can talk my daughter into being an accountant.
@PhilipM I hear you so wish my D had gone for the tried & true accounting degree. BFA is statistically harder to get a spot in than the ivy leagues. Itâs a crazy process for sure. The books have been resources for years. Best of luck!!! My daughter passed on a top business school offering to pursue BFA MT. It was so hard as parents. But figured she could get her MBA later and pursue her dream while sheâs young. Thatâs what your 20s are for we finally settled on. Dreamers gotta dream.
Question about programs in public universities (PSU, JMU, SUNYs, Mich). Do instate applicants have an advantage in any way? That is, do programs try to accept a higher percentage from instate like the often do for other programs?
@PhilipM there is no instate advantage to an artistic acceptance that I know of, especially at the most selective schools. Some schools have targeted a more regional approach to recruitment in the past (Missouri State comes to mind) but that even seems to have diminished as more and more schools use prescreen videos and participate (either directly or indirectly) in Unified auditions. That being said, there are state schools that give preference (both ways) in academic acceptance and scholarship availability.
Just speculation on my part, but I would imagine that even public school programs that cast a nation wide net have a slightly higher percentage of in-state students simply because talented in-state students may be more likely to accept the offer because of the tuition benefits.
For the kids from the state of Michigan, there was no advantage given for UMich. Usually, there was one girl and one boy from in state, however, that could vary depending on the year.
@MTDad2025 this was answered on another thread. Missouri State does not have a regional recruitment. They recruit from West Coast to East Coast at all the major national auditions. Missouri State just finished itâs last audition in NYC as itâs having its Senior Showcase as well there this week. Students from all over especially as of late with Westenberg & Price at the helm. Maybe they did years ago. But now itâs a national search. I agree with above for comments for these big state schools with good MT programs there seems to be no advantage to being from that state to get acceptance. Itâs a national audition pool. If advantages exists it might be for those who get national coaches and can attend combine auditions on top of Unifieds/On Campus auditions. Those combine auditions do help get access to many schools at once. More & more itâs a national pool any campus you look at. No advantages to getting in a program if from the state where program exists. Wish there was so parents could get that instate tuition perk. But often MT programs grant instate tuition. Texas State & Missouri State often do. Iâm sure others as well. We have a friend who just got in Michigan MT and no instate tuition perk from them yet. But they are still waiting for their Financial Aide packet & are hopeful.
I said as such in my response. MS did have a regional tilt to its student population in its MT program as recent as a few years ago but now it has changed.
I think that happens. Take BW for example - in my Dâs year, at least 5 of the MT kids were local (3 from her HS, 2 from another) so that represents about 1/3 of the class. But I donât think that makes it a regional programâŠ
I know of at least a couple of schools where being in state can actually be a detriment. They like to say they can draw from a national pool. So it can work both ways. It doesnât mean they wonât take in state though.
@MTDad2025 my apologies my comment wasnât written well. You did state this. I agree with you. This is a national audition process all schools more & more.