<p>I understand that Catholic in DC has a program for MT - anybody have any insight on it?</p>
<p>I also heard that the community college in Montgomery County (near DC) has some sort of associates MT program that sends folks on to strong MT universities… anyone know anything about that program?</p>
<p>I think the community college you are talking about is Montgomery Community College. It is a fairly small community college located in Rockville Maryland, but seems to have a fairly strong musical theater program. We know several people who teach there. My daughter was in a very selective program jointly run by Signature Theater and The Kennedy Center and some of the kids in the program were from there. They were quite impressive. Many of the kids there want to act in the DC theater scene and not have a strenuous college load.</p>
<p>Catholic's program is very well respected in the DC area.</p>
<p>CrtnUp, I live in the DC metro area so I know Catholic and Montgomery College well. Catholic has highly regarded MT and drama programs. The MT program offers a BM through the Rome School of Music. Drama is a separate school (the drama program is very prestigious here in DC). Many of the kids that come out of Catholic are working actors in the DC metro area theatre scene as Alliesmom says. You can find them at Signature, the Kennedy Center, Olney Theatre and many, many others. There are usually one or more Catholic alum in any local production you go to around here, including musicals.</p>
<p>Entrance into Catholic MT through the Rome School is by audition -- same as the other MT programs: singing, acting and dancing. If you are a good academic student, there is major money to be had at Catholic though tuition is high as it is a private school. (There is also a nice honors program.) If you're Catholic, there's more money, and if you're talented, there's talent money though I understand that pot is pretty tight.</p>
<p>My D auditioned/applied and was accepted. I was quite impressed with the Rome School of Music faculty. She did not want to attend CUA because it is close to home and she was not that thrilled with the campus compared to other schools she applied to. The people at this school are especially nice and welcoming. From our informal survey of students we met at the audition, all really loved the MT program and they came from all of the US.</p>
<p>Interestingly, some of the Catholic MT faculty work at Montgomery College in the summer at what's known as the Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre. This is a great summer program that a lot of MT kids from this area go to when they come home from college. You not only get to perform (if cast) in 2 musicals over the summer, you get college credit. The program and shows are also highly regarded. </p>
<p>MC is a fantastic community college to begin with -- it has one of the best reputations in the country. You can definitely go there and get some good and inexpensive training as well as some solid academic classes. There are a few theatres on campus and they not only feature the students, they host many traveling theatrical (and other) productions. </p>
<p>I do not know about MC's track record of placing grads into 4-year MT programs. However, I do know that MC grads in general get into some of the best universities around the country. If you're lucky to become one of the MC scholars (a special free ride for 20 or so top students), you basically have a ticket to any school in the US after you get your MC degree, including the Ivies, but especially MD's top schools like U of MD and Johns Hopkins. </p>
<p>It's worth checking out. You'd get a lot of performing experience at MC.</p>