Hello! I’m a current high school junior looking at BFA programs, and BoCo is my absolute dream school. I was wondering if anyone had any information on the MT admissions rate, audition experience, etc.
One thing I’ve been worried about in particular is the dance aspect of the audition. I’m wondering if anyone knows what the dance portion of the audition is like, or if anyone has any tips for preparing for it? I have minimal dance training, not a lot other than learning numbers for community and school productions and show choir, but I pick things up quickly and I’m eager to improve and have the opportunity to learn. I will be taking semi-private ballet lessons over the summer and into the fall in preparation for the college audition season and possibly joining a jazz dance class at a local university. I’ve also started the process of working with MTCA, and I’ve trained with a local professor as a vocal coach since 7th grade.
Any information would be greatly appreciated… I love hearing about the conservatory and learning about the life of an MT major and admissions process!
My DD auditioned there this past week and loved it!. They were very interactive in the audition and she felt like they wanted to get to know her personally as opposed to the many other schools who were quick just to listen to her and leave the room. She said the dance call was the most challenging and toughest dance audition she’s faced from all the college auditions. My DD only started dance as a freshman in HS but has been taking 3 dance classes a week for 3 years. She came out exhilarated and challenged from the choreography and was even doing it in the room to show me the steps she learned as she loved every minute of it.
@3Blessings my daughter auditioned at NY Unifieds and felt the same way! They really were interested in getting to know her. Do you know when they will let them know? It seems some have already gotten acceptances but I don’t know if that is from on campus auditions or not.
I don’t know when students are told they are accepted or not. It seems every school does it a little differently in their timing and I can’t keep it straight in my head. If you hear updates to that end please share ?
In the past, BoCo typically came out with decisions in late March. They send an email to everyone at the same time with the decisions. Last year I believe it was around March 22, the prior couple of years it was March 31st. My D is a senior there now and her class was notified on March 17th in 2015. This year they had an early action option and kids who auditioned in early December received their decisions. So if you’ve heard about someone getting in, it’s because they auditioned in December. Everyone else will probably have to wait until March to hear.
Even thought BoCo is known as a dance school, do NOT worry over the dance audition if your child is not a dancer. Mine had essentially no dance training when she auditioned and still claims it to be the hardest dance call of her many auditions. But she got in. A family friend who did early action this year came out of the dance call crying, thinking she blew it, but ended up with an acceptance! Just tell them to do their best!
Based on the last few years, they generally accept up to 100 kids for a target class of 60. Each class is separated into “core” groups of 12 or so, and the core does most of their classes together. So the class sizes are small. There are a TON of performance opportunities at BoCo. That’s one of the best things about it IMO. It’s a great school with great training. My “non-dancer” is now quite accomplished and can hang in with any professional MT dance call.
If anyone has any other questions, I’m happy to share what I know! Break a leg to you all during your audition seasons!
BOCO actually is doing something new with their admissions decisions this year. They have been sending them out on a rolling admission basis. I auditioned for MT on January 6th - regular decision - and I received my acceptance January 31st.
@nikkiw13 That is wonderful! Congratulations! Do you know if they are also rolling out the “no’s” on a rolling basis? I don’t think we got any information on when decisions would be made.
Those that have gotten yeses congrats! Did you hear both academically and artistically all at the same time? Someone told me they’d applied early and heard academically first and are waiting on artistic acceptance.
@frisbee3 I don’t think BoCo has separate acceptances since it is a conservatory program. They have been admitting MT students on a rolling basis this year.
It’s true that ED and prescreens were new this year. The bulk of BoCo notifications will be sent out all at once, at the end of March, so wouldn’t consider them truly “rolling” where you audition on XX date and hear at a set time after that. Congrats on the acceptances thus far, though! I’ll write to the school and ask for clarification. Note, they’re on spring break next week.
Agree with @Bogeyw on the dance component - my daughter did not have formal dance training, but she’s a “mover” and a quick study. We were very pleasantly surprised when she got in last year! Class of 2022, woot! She has doubled up on tap and ballet classes (jazz comes a little more naturally to her) and hopes to move up the ranks next year. She is having a wonderful experience and she and I are happy to answer any and all questions!
@1bamom @“paicked in the suburbs” @SingerDancerMom@mauidad Continuing our conversation from the “venting” thread…my daughter is a freshman and she has roommates that are dancers and MT and they are very supportive of each other, attending each others’ productions. There are also so many schools in close proximity in Boston, She has friends at BU, Emerson, etc. within walking distance, so she gets outside the “BoCo bubble.” Fenway Park is right next door, so that was fun, with the World Series last fall. There are so many performances and events on campus and all around Boston and students get discounted tickets - I’m envious!
Like all MT students, kids are super busy (so what else is new?) The BoCo class of 60 is divided into 4 cohorts that rotate each year so the classes they take are small (15) and, by the end of 4 years, kids know the entire class really well (for future networking!) Only a few freshmen are cast in the main productions, but there are tons of performance opportunities with student productions and many blend instrumentalists from Berklee with performers from BoCo. They’re working on casting the Freshman Revue now, which features the entire MT class. The atmosphere is competitive (crazy talent!) but warm and supportive, with individual attention to each student’s needs and development. It might not be the environment for every kid, but it suits mine to a t.
They did lose a few kids from the class during first semester, which, from what I hear, is not unique to BoCo. One wanted more of the big campus all-around collegiate experience, one left for financial reasons, I think. As a parent, I feel that communication could be better, but they are working on integrating and improving systems between Berklee and BoCo and there’s a supportive parent network. On the rare occasion I’ve needed to call with questions, the staff has been friendly and responsive. Feel free to PM me or openly ask any questions here!
I will chime in here, too! My freshman MT at BoCo LOVES it! Performance opportunities are plentiful (and the tech opportunities are great, too). The conservatory environment was absolutely what he wanted and where he is thriving. Classes from morning into the evening usually every day. His voice teacher is amazing! Anyone we’ve talked to in administration (from admission/registration to financials) has been very helpful and supportive. I feel like the atmosphere is not so much competitive as serious and focused.
Thank you so much @DramaLlama18 for sharing much more detailed information about BoCo than my tired self could produce last night! Pretty much everything you shared has been part of my D’s experience as well. This year she is sharing an apartment with one other MTer, but next year she is moving into a place with three other people, one of whom is Contemporary Theater major. My son attends a small liberal arts college and true, the surroundings are pretty different there from BoCo, but I’m also delighted by how my D will be walking down, say Hemenway, and shout out hello to a BoCo friend; it really feels like we are on a campus when she does that! And she does it constantly. So I think really, she experiences those few blocks of Boston as her college campus. She loves the school, especially her teachers. She arrived at BoCo stronger in dance than voice, and her voice teacher has been AMAZING. I seriously can’t believe how well she is singing. And this, her sophomore year, I’ve been pleased by how being at BoCo has facilitated her summer stock auditioning (which she didn’t do as a freshman). Some theaters come directly to BoCo to audition students, and other auditions for East Coast summer theaters have been close enough to enable them to share costs of a ZipCar, pile in, and go together and not leave until that last one finishes callbacks. They support each other! It is also easy to get to New York, but for my D it’s been good that she’s in the environment she loves (city life!) with the greater challenges of New York still in her future—sort of a a training camp, urban living-wise. For everyone reading this thread who is weighing BoCo against other options I can just say that I truly believe the training is superb and the community is a great mix: many MTers, divided up into cores that change each year, at a small school, affiliated with another school, in a big city. It’s a wonderful mix of resources and opportunities for a budding performing artist! Good luck to all!
My dd is a senior and today is the anniversary of her acceptance in 2015! I just cannot believe she will be graduating in less than two months! The time truly does fly. I agree wholeheartedly with everything folks have said above. I feel like there are so many performance opportunities at BoCo that just aren’t possible at other MT schools, especially those outside NYC. In addition to theatre companies and casting agents (DEH recently did a call just for BoCo students) that come directly to BoCo for auditions, she’s had faculty members recommend her for local professional productions over the years. Boston is such a great city too, much less intimidating and scary than NYC (imo). But the thing that I love most is that the kids really do seem to support each other. I’ve been to numerous shows; mainstage, student directed, cabarets…and other students fill the seats and couldn’t be a more enthusiastic, energetic and appreciative audience. Fingers crossed to those still waiting for decisions!
