I’m currently a rising sophomore, and although I know that I have nearly a year until I REALLY need to figure out the college search, pre screens, and auditions, I’m trying to get an idea of where I need to be both academically and artistically to have solid applications and auditions that will (hopefully!) get me into a couple of schools. Freshman year, I had an unweighted GPA of 3.9(i think!) and a weighted GPA of 4.33. I took all honors classes freshman year and plan on taking AP Bio, AP Environmental, APUSH, AP Lit, AP Comp, and AP Music Theory at some point in the next three years of high school. I take honors choir and orchestra at school, and I am also involved in my school’s theater program. My extracurriculars are voice, cello, piano (I’ve been playing since I was 5 and playing competitively since I was 12), dance, musical theater, and volunteering at a local children’s theater.
I have been taking private voice lessons since I was 8 years old and I have been training classically for about 3 1/2 years. I’d consider my voice type mainly as a legit mezzo soprano but I also do a lot of mezzo mixed voice. (I’m slowly working on more of a belt, but baby steps at the moment)
I’ve been taking dance for only a few years (2 years jazz and tap, 1 year ballet and contemporary) and I am planning on continuing my training for the next few years before college. I’ll also be taking dance classes during school as my gym requirement for the next three years.
I don’t have a lot of acting training - I don’t have an acting coach, but I just finished a week workshop in New York where I worked on monologues. (Is it worth investing in an acting coach?)
My current “experience” is high school shows, 2 years of community theater, a year at a youth theatre troupe at Centenary University, and youth theatre programs in New York City. I’ve definitely had more “ensemble-isn” experience (Cha Cha Digregorio in Grease type stuff), but I have had a few lead experiences. I’ve also done summer programs at Ithaca College and Broadway Workshop this summer, and I plan on applying for Artsbridge MT 2, CMU pre-college, and Northwestern’s Theatre intensive for the next few summers.
Here are some schools I’m thinking about applying to:
NYU
CMU
CCM
Baldwin-Wallace
Wagner
Ithaca
Michigan
AMDA
UCLA
Fordham
JMU
Syracuse
Penn State
Rider
Viterbo
What are my chances of getting into these schools? Also, any recommendations for schools to look into applying to?
Lawrence College. Davidson. Vanderbilt (very tough to get into, though). Vassar.
Well it definitely sounds like you’re doing all the right things to get ready for a major in Musical Theatre.
All those schools you listed are fantastic programs, but it is hard to predict what your chances are in getting into any of them since they are all very selective. To be honest, almost all MT schools are tough to get into. I would say keep doing what you’re doing and keep working hard. You’re going to want to add more schools to the list just due to the sheer numbers of applicants that will apply.
Other schools you could consider for your list are:
Milikin
Illinois Wesleyan
Montclair
Northern Colorado
Hartt
Utah
Temple
BOCO
Shenendoah
Ball State
@ShannonMH - You’ve got a ton on the ball so - congratulations. You might want to read some of the past threads on this forum that discuss whether grades will help get you into an MT program. The bottom line is - only a few of the bigger-name MT programs care about your academics. You have excellent academic stats which means you should consider applying to those schools for sure! IMO “Chances” are impossible to give when admission depends primarily upon your audition but I do know (anecdotally) that Northwestern tends to favor their past Cherubs for admission and that is one school that admits based on academics so that’s one to add to your list.
I suspect that you possibly gathered your school list from various “best of” postings since half of them are super-reaches for anyone. Nothing wrong with striving for those but I recommend you think about what YOU want in a school. You will be there for (potentially) 4 years of your life. Do you want a large school with lots of college activities? Do you want to go to a conservatory style school and study MT exclusively or do you want to balance art and academics? How do you feel about living in NYC? In the suburbs? Or in the middle of the country? What can you afford? Rather than just aiming for “the best MT school” aim for the best fit - there are many great MT training programs but they are DIFFFERENT and if you think about what fits you you’ll actually improve your odds, as the schools are definitely looking for students who will fit into their program and environment.
If you maintain your current academic standards, I doubt you’ll have trouble getting in academically at many schools - even UM and NYU are easily attainable academically with those stats. It also sounds like you’re doing all the right training. That said - audition results are anyone’s guess. There’s no guarantee no matter how well you are prepared as each school is looking for what they’re looking for during your audition year, and it’s pretty hard to have a read on that.
Additionally, you have a list that includes some very different programs. If you gave some idea of what you’re looking for in a program, we might be able to give better suggestions on other programs to consider.
Your accomplishments academically will help to get scholarship money for a lot of the programs you listed. Your grades/SAT scores don’t usually play a part in getting into the school, it’s mostly based on your audition, but because you have done well academically it will help get Merit based money from schools that offer it.
Bottom line, if you are a Caucasian female, your “chance” is about .05-2% admission into competitive artistic programs. I recommend competing in Young Arts (or NATS) and doing any professional theatre that you can — I still believe a strong resume helps with pre-screen passes for those who are not “unicorns” and makes you stand out in the sea of talent. Make sure your dance lessons have strong technique: ballet, jazz and tap by someone trained and experienced.
Also, good idea to do a pre-college program next summer to help refine your audition package, making sure you are typing yourself correctly and to get feedback and see where you are on a national scale. There is a sub-forum topic on summer programs here.
Congrats on getting an early start! Sounds like you are doing what you need to do to be prepared. I want to reiterate what was said above at figure out what you want from a school and program to help form your list. I keep hearing about people who apply and audition at schools they realize they would never attend just because it had a great reputation. Just because a program is top tier doesn’t mean it’s a fit for you. And your list has some vastly different schools. Figuring out your must haves and must not haves, often from visiting different types of schools, can help in formulating a list.
As far as the acting coach you don’t necessarily need one now unless you feel you have something you need to work on. You will probably learn a lot of the basics in your summer programs. However, as you get closer to senior year, usually Spring semester, a coach can really provide support in making sure you are ready and put your best foot forward with auditions! But many kids do just fine without one.