That is interesting news!
Can’t speak about Michigan but CMU is elite due to specific training, success of alumni, reputation, the low (extremely low) acceptance rate, its history, etc.
Same Reasons Juilliard is elite or the ivy leagues,etc.
Here’s where the discussion of which came first the chicken or the egg…my belief is that the kids that are admitted to CMU are already talented beyond belief and would do well even if they didn’t go to CMU. CMU graduates performers who were already ready…Not sure they do anything special that any other program wouldn’t have done for them. I would like to see CMU take a middle of the road kid and turn him/her into a brilliant performer. Then I would believe they offer something unique and special. JMHO
@bisouu I like that idea!
So, while at the LA unifieds, Univ of AZ was taking walk-ins. I noticed they were not at either Chicago or NYC. While my D was busy at another audition, I signed her up for a time slot that worked with her schedule. I know nothing about this program but today is her first positive letter. It’s not an acceptance for MT, but a redirect for BA in Theatre Arts with an invitation to re-audition her sophmore year. Any ideas about Univ of AZ?
If you search Arizona MT some bad stuff comes up. But the new guys are well thought of. My D did a master class with them and liked them a lot.
I meant in my previous post what specific things do u mich & CMU actually do / offer in their program that makes them have the best program? Like is it because the faculty is the most highly trained/ educated MT faculty, do they have the best dance teachers, like why would you choose to go their other then a "reputation of being the best. " ? I know it’s "highly respected " in the MT community but it seems like there has to be other reasons…
D has a friend in the MT program at Univ of Arizona (Freshman) and sounds like she loves it. Think the new people involved are changing things up.
@theaterwork their course lists look no different from any other school offering a BFA in acting or MT. My guess would be that a few performers that have hit Broadway have a CMU degree and people want to follow in their footsteps. Here’s how I see it, as an educator we put all of our gifted kids in a classroom together. They get the highest marks on all the state exams not because of their teachers but because of their intellect. You can interchange any teacher and they will still excel. One teacher is not better than the other. They are all equally qualified to teach these kids and don’t have a magic pill or training to get them to the top. Again, JMHO
@theaterwork that’s a question that’s been asked over and over again. I think @bfahopeful summed it up nicely. But it’s all opinion. Plenty has been written on this topic here on CC and in the media. Google top Musical Theatre programs or notable musical theatre programs and you will find discussion on this topic. My thought is that there are many incredibly fine places to train for MT. It’s akin to what goes on in the summer programs. Certain programs have solid name recognition like Northwestern’s cherubs, Carnegie’s summer program, MPulse, or Interlochen. All good programs, of course. But because of this name recognition, folks think those are the best (or only) places to go but I think that’s short-sighted. Our D attended a little known camp-Columbia Gorge School of Theatre-- for two summers. She chose it over Interlochen because she thought it would be a better use of her time to go small and we liked it because it was far less expensive. She spent her summers digging deep into Meisner and playing lead roles in their musicals. Her friend attended Interlochen and was a mouse in Cinderella and experienced relatively large class sizes. That would not have been good for our daughter at the time. She needed deep, intense acting training and she found it at this small camp. She also got great training at Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory, not mentioned often here. My point is that many institutions can provide solid training and that’s what really matters. Your student has to provide the rest.
Thanks @HappyDancer98 . I’m not trying to stir the pot I’m just trying to dig underneath the whole thing. I think @bisouu raises a good point in that all the most talented kids get in there, like that’s who they pick. The cream of the crop i guess. So it would make sense that that’s how they got their reputation in some ways. I mean obviously the best teachers are going their to work because of the name prestige of teaching there. So great training of course but yes I agree the kids are triple threats to begin with .
@remartin67 - Because my D’s coach suggested she apply to some straight Acting programs along with MT, I too had the misconception that she made the suggestion because it was somehow easier to get into a BFA Acting program.
Nothing could be farther from the truth! If you haven’t done so yet, visit the chat thread for BFA Acting: “Class of 2021 (Discussing, sharing, venting)” and you’ll see just as much worry and waiting - tons of rejections and then finally getting that one yes.
When I’ve asked the colleges about numbers, they’ve said there are about equal number of applicants for both. Oddly, there are usually fewer spots in the Acting programs. I’m not sure why, but maybe because most musicals have much large casts than straight shows?
@HappyDancer98 - Columbia Gorge School? No Way! No one ever knows about them! We have friends who have taught there. 
I understand @theaterwork. My guess is that the solid program came first. Carnegie and CCM are two of the oldest MT programs in the country. Brent Wagner, head of MT at Michigan for decades (now an endowed chair) is a force in the MT world. My D takes Musical Theatre history with him and she claims she has never met anyone who loved MT more. That’s quite a statement-- She’s spent a lot of time around MT people. Go to YouTube and search “Maize and Blue on Broadway”. This was a surprise tribute program, funded and produced by alumni, to honor Mr. Wagner upon his retirement last May. It shows the depth of love his former, and current, students have for him. So my guess is the solid program came first and then success led to more success. As far as great teachers, there are great teachers in many programs across the country. And as far as triple threats, not all students in Michigan, Carnegie, CCM or other “top tier” programs are triple threats.
@stagedoormama Your friends are probably friends with my D. It’s a small program. A wonderful small program.
Offering a different perspective as to CMU, UMich and other top tier highly selective and regarded MT programs…
Someone opined that the kids who attend may already be “Broadway ready” since these schools can pick the “cream of the crop,” so to speak. I happen to think that while top programs definitely have a high concentration of tippy top talent, that these kids learn a great deal in their four years of these MT college programs and come out way better prepared to hit the professional world than if they had skipped college and gone straight to auditioning in NYC. One can have excellent skills, talent, and even experience before age 18, but there is lots more to learn and grow in a college program. I think they are much better after the college training and education. My kid went to a well known program and she’d say she learned sooooo much in those four years. That level of training is not really what you get prior to college. You may enter quite talented, but with the college training and education and experience, be much better prepared for the longevity of a career as a performer. I don’t think these kids graduate with the same level of talent as they entered, even if they entered with a very high level of talent for 18 years old.
ONE (of many) reasons one might be attracted to a highly selective well known program isn’t just the teaching, but rather, the peer group in the program. There is a lot to be gained when challenged by one’s peers who are operating at a very high level. Sometimes even classes may be more challenging when every single kid in the class is at a certain level of skill, motivation, and so on (sort of like tracked classes in high school). I think a huge part of my MT kid’s experience in college was the stimulation and talent of her peers at her BFA program (sooooo many have gone onto great success in this field already at the highest levels). If you are highly driven, it helps to be among a group where everyone else is too (that is not to say that such kids are not at other programs!). My non-MT daughter went to an Ivy League college and top tier graduate school, and the learning environment was very much affected by the peer group at each one, who were so highly driven, craved rigor, and were high achievers. For some kids, they crave being in an environment like that, in part, because of being surrounded by those who keep them challenged. So, it doesn’t necessarily mean the training at such schools is better, but the entire learning environment may be affected by the make up of the student body and the stimulation of being among those similar to themselves. That attracts some to such programs.
I’d definitely consider applying for Acting along with MT in the audition process, but not because getting into a BFA Acting program is necessarily easier. The top theatre schools will be as competitive as MT. Though many of the top theatre schools and top MT schools are not the same, so also applying/auditioning for the Acting side could be another chance for an acceptance.
But the other reason I’d highly advise it is that the straight theatre auditions were so different from the MT audition experience. The theatre schools my D auditioned for took more time giving adjustments to her monologue, referencing her resume, and asking her questions, She felt so much more SEEN by these schools, and she’s going to a BFA Theatre program - even though we’d have said her voice was her strongest feature and she has good dance training. In the end she may be more of theatre kid than a musical theatre kid, but who would have known if she hadn’t been open to the acting programs.
@kaf011 we are waiting on 'Cuse too - what does it mean that she heard on company FB page that it was only rejections going out yesterday? It’s so hard to get clear info from the college websites. Thank you!
You hit the nail on the head @soozievt! Thank you for sharing.
@Eliza806 She just said that no kids reported acceptances in yesterdays emails. Last week on friday both acceptances and rejection emails came out.