<p>Thanks to all the wonderful information shared on this site, my son will be starting a Musical Theatre BFA in the Fall. His sister will be a high school junior and so we start the process all over again!</p>
<p>I would welcome suggestions of colleges we should look at. Daughter is an excellent student and enjoys her honors English and History classes. She's in the top 10% of her class. She has wanted to be an actress since she was 3 years old and has been performing in community theater since she was 6 (her older brother actually followed her into the theater!). She's studied voice since age 12. She has mostly performed in musicals, but did two roles in plays this year and won an award for one. She also takes dance class. So, she's getting the triple-threat training. But . . .</p>
<p>She's thinking about BFA programs, or about at theater BA and continuing her voice study on the side. But then she also thinks she'd enjoy being at a wonderful liberal arts college in a vibrant learning environment, where her performing interests would be extra-curricular.</p>
<p>We have read, for example, about both Yale and Brown--how they have great opportunities to participate in theater, no matter what your major. But we've also read about the intense focus on performing skills at Juilliard, and that's attractive to her, too. </p>
<p>We only have the big names, and know we need to look for other, similar, schools. So, I would greatly appreciate any thoughts the great folks at CC might have! Thanks!</p>
<p>USC. of course, I am biased, but it’s academic profile is on the rise, and it has become quite selective. USC offers both a BFA (about 18 performance majors) and a BA (I think about 160 students?). Non-BFAs can minor in musical theatre. I believe musicalstudent on here is a BA with the MT minor, so he can probably speak more to that. It is a big university, not a small liberal school, but then again, when I was a junior, I thought I wanted to go to a small liberal arts school, but I realized that I will really appreciate a large university so much more. There are so many more opportunities on both a social and academic level.</p>
<p>Juilliard has a theater major and a vocal major which is focused on classical training. There is no MT major there; I also believe that they accept very few students right out of high school.
There are many excellent BFA or BA schools that might suit your daughter, I’m just wondering what schools you might already be familiar with. What school will your son be attending?</p>
<p>My son will be heading off to Penn State in 18 days! He knew from the start that he wanted a BFA program and he’d wanted to go to Penn State since he was 13 and thought he’d be playing college football. We focused our attention on BFA programs, although he did apply to two colleges with theater BAs, one with an audition and one not.</p>
<p>Of all the places we visited for him, his sister only liked American University. </p>
<p>She’s a serious voice student, a serious academic student, and she loves theater and performing. Musical Theater BFA is certainly one of the routes she’s thinking about, but she’s also drawn to the liberal arts. That’s why Yale and Brown jumped out at us–serious academics and lots of theater opportunities. But we know the odds, so we’re looking for other suggestions.</p>
<p>Umm . . .USC? Southern California? South Carolina? Thanks!</p>
<p>Temple, James Madison, American (which you mentioned), USC (Southern California – which someone mentioned above), and UCLA are BA MT programs at which you may want to take a look. </p>
<p>Northwestern.</p>
<p>Skidmore, Muhlenberg, Rollins, Vassar, Wesleyan, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Barnard (would be able to study privately in NYC), University of Maryland, UVA, Boston College are also be worth looking at for their strong BA theatre programs… I think the number of musical theatre productions will vary depending on the school, and you would need to check the availability of voice lessons at each school.</p>
<p>Hi Francesca- My daughter is also heading off to Penn St. in MT in a couple of weeks. She will be a sophomore, but is transferring in so is a new student to the school. Very exciting. She is the opposite of your son; she had never really considered the program and didn’t know much about it. She did a walk-in at Unifieds, then started investigating the program and it slowly became one of her top choices. </p>
<p>Her top choice was originally UCLA and she still loves the school and the program. Just a few notes: freshman and soph. are not offered vocal lessons thru their program so have to opt for private lessons on the side. Also, if she were to attend as a BA in MT there is little or no room for outside classes on the side and they do not allow double majors or minors for MT majors. An option is to major in another, more liberal arts program, and then minor in theater. It is a great program and a beautiful campus-just be aware of the limitations. I am still kind of wishing she had chosen this program, only because it is so close to us and Penn State is SO FAR (and she could have entered UCLA as a Jr.)! But I know that she made the right choice in PSU and she is very excited. Did your son get his football ticket? Good luck with both of your children -eventually we will probably run into each other as PSU has such a small program.</p>
<p>Since my daughter is starting as a freshman MT at UCLA this fall, I will chime in! I have one minor correction to takeitalin’s post. The MTs get group voice in small groups their sophomore year. Private voice lessons as part of the curriculum do not start until the junior year. At least for us–even out of state–the tuition is lower than many other schools we looked at, so subsidizing voice the freshman year is a “wash.” Meanwhile, the MTS are in exactly the same acting classes as the straight theater majors unlike most programs in the country. </p>
<p>My D was also interested in a program that has high academics as well. Northwestern is another university your daughter may want to look at but know that there are no guarantees of getting into their MT certificate program. You audition for that program at the end of your freshman or sophomore year and it is extremely selective. We now know two kids who were quite successful in our large metropolitan area who were not admitted to the NWU MT program.</p>
<p>“Meanwhile, the MTS are in exactly the same acting classes as the straight theater majors unlike most programs in the country.” </p>
<p>In many MT programs the kids are in the acting classes with the non-MT theatre students… I think this is actually more common than the other… at least at the programs I have more information about.</p>
<p>In most of the programs we looked at this year, while the MTS might have some of the same acting instructors, they were in different “streams” which can lead to different expectations/bench marks. Acting is simply not the strength of some MT programs.</p>
<p>“Acting is simply not the strength of some MT programs.”</p>
<p>True, but not the case at most or all. A good question to ask when you are looking at programs that have both acting and MT is if both groups of students are in the same acting classes, can musical theatre students continue in non-required upper level acting classes with the acting students if they so wish. Do MT students often choose to do this? Are they eligible to be cast in plays with acting focused students? Does this happen often?</p>
<p>PS. The culture and practices in each program are different. If someone is looking for a MT program where the students receive acting training in classes with the non-MT students, and are often cast in plays those programs exist… Sounds like UCLA is one, Syracuse, American, James Madison, CMU (I believe), Tisch (not sure how things will work in the New MT Studio), but students have the option of auditioning to move into an acting studio for their final two years of study.</p>
<p>^^^In looking at the curriculum for Tisch’s New Studio on Broadway for Musical Theatre and Acting, the acting classes are part of a core that both sets of students (MT or Acting) take.</p>
<p>Elon MT and Acting majors are in the same core acting classes and MTs audition for all plays (as well as musicals obviously) and are frequently cast.</p>
<p>Those are all great questions to ask, KatMT. Of course, it all depends on how strong the drama department is at the school to begin with, so I would add that one should consider the strength of the drama department and the success of its acting alumni as well if an acting emphasis is important to the prospective student.</p>
<p>Same deal at UArts. For the first 6 semesters, acting and MT students are in the same acting studio classes with the same instructors. All acting and MT students can audition for all of the same shows. The curricula for each program do differentiate and specialize throughout the programs, but there is a heavy emphasis on training MT majors as actors.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to get a list of schools that your daughter likes and see which ones have MT/acting?music programs that are strong. Then look at the list of the “big 'uns” in MT circles and add them to the list. I would say top are Umich, CmU, Syracuse, NYU MT. A great thing about those schools is that they are also excellent academically. The first three schools also offer admissions through various fronts, such as BA Drama, English, Theatre, etc along with the MT major so that a student can accepted in those programs at the school and not the MT program. There are lists, on this forum that I’m sure you know from your son of other colleges like USC, UCLA, Penn State that are academically very competitive as well as having terrific MT programs. These are the absolute reach schools. Pick the ones that are top choices from that batch. And then start looking at some smaller, less well known programs as well and check them out.</p>
<p>You have the great advantage of having seen and investigated many of these schools already with your son. He can also help you with information that he learns about the program…</p>
<p>I went into this thinking that my son would change his mind about MT and go the route of a Theater, Acting or Drama major–a BA rather than a BFA. He did not. However, a lot of kids do that and end up going to some schools that are not MT specialties but have a strong performing arts program.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your helpful replies. I really appreciate the time you took to think about my daughter and her options!</p>
<p>I’ve been immersed in this college search thing for two years now and it’s just going to continue . . . so I’ve also been reading some novels and non-fiction about the admission process. And I’ve noticed that my town’s high school guidance counselors don’t seem to do what the ones in all the books do! Do yours?</p>
<p>I had to initiate a college-planning meeting with my son’s counselor–there was no parent meeting announced and nothing sent home about how the process works. My son and I looked at lists and websites and planned visits. He wrote his essays and I proofread them. He asked teachers for recommendations and they asked him what they should emphasize. The guidance counselor did give him a form to fill out to help her write her letter. But she never saw a thing he submitted! The counselors in the books are all suggesting colleges and visiting colleges and helping the students with their essays. Nothing like that happens at my kids’ high school.</p>
<p>I will say that the counselor did send everything to colleges in a timely manner–she kept on top of all the paperwork. But she also commented that my son was a lot of work because he applied to 8 colleges! Only one other student in his class applied to more.</p>
<p>I just wonder how many high school guidance counselors actually work actively to help a student find and apply to colleges. And how much does that matter? A counselor who has a relationship with someone in a college admissions office seems to tip the scale sometimes. They go to bat for their students. I don’t think that happens at my daughter’s school.</p>
<p>In our school with 2000 kids, the GCs were helpful about the college application process - emails, newsletters, parent meetings in English and Spanish - but there was not a lot of one on one help. Because our school is a fine arts magnet, my kids (both MT) have academic counselor and a magnet counselor, who helps with professional goals, school selection, etc. Academic counselor wrote very generic letter about academic stuff, etc. The magnet counselor wrote a great letter about D’s artistic accomplishments and leadership, etc. We also found her theatre and music teachers to be really helpful in suggesting colleges, and providing contacts with former students and professors at some of the bigger MT schools. In general, I think the academic counselors just have their hands full with the kids who are barely passing and first generation college bound students. You have to really work to find teachers and others who can help with the process. We also have some MT college coaches in the area, but they were incredibly expensive.</p>
of course, I am biased, but it’s academic profile is on the rise, and it has become quite selective. USC offers both a BFA (about 18 performance majors) and a BA (I think about 160 students?). Non-BFAs can minor in musical theatre. I believe musicalstudent on here is a BA with the MT minor, so he can probably speak more to that. It is a big university, not a small liberal school, but then again, when I was a junior, I thought I wanted to go to a small liberal arts school, but I realized that I will really appreciate a large university so much more. There are so many more opportunities on both a social and academic level.</p>