According to their website - Wagner’s average GPA was 3.45, and an average ACT of 26
http://wagner.edu/admissions/undergrad/apply/faq/
Wagner is also ACT optional. I think.
Pretty sure that to make the cutoff for Wagner’s MT audition you had to be well above their average stats. Most of the kids we met were not 3.5 GPA kids, probably more like 4.0 and above would be my guess, just a guess mind you, but those kids were really intelligent and well rounded.
@MomofMTBoy - my D has a 4.1 average with AP Classes and some college courses thrown in for good measure 
-I do believe the cut off this year was higher. I can tell you she did just average on her SAT’s - they are a test optional school - but she still sent hers in because her overall grade portfolio was very strong. Still hanging on the WL - fingers crossed she comes off - she really, really loved everything about Wagner!
For anyone looking for schools that may still be auditioning, check out Nazareth College in Pittsford, NY (outside of Rochester). It looks like they have an audition date in April. I’m not sure if they will still accept applications as it’s well past the date on their website, but many of the small liberal arts schools in this area will accept late applications. It’s worth a phone call at least.
Cornish anyone??? Anyone heard from Cornish yet?
Continuing news on Rider: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/Rider-Westminster-Choir-College-sale-princeton-campus.html We are still considering it for sure, but eyes wide open knowing that Rider has a deficit and professors are on a wage freeze. Apparently there is a 7 million dollar deficit looming, but if the sale of Westminster nets around that much, they should be fine.
@ginja17, my D is another who loves intellectual stimulation and is strong academically, and she’s at a conservatory (UArts) that is not known for its academic strength in general education courses. However, she has been intellectually challenged and stretched in some of them, and she definitely has been in all of her major courses and studios. I asked her last year and again recently if she was satisfied with that, and she said, “Yes, absolutely.”
She’s in honors, but she has actually chosen to take other courses (UArts has a lot of flexibility), has not fit been able to fit a couple honors courses into her schedule, and/or has chosen not to make the “normal” courses into honors ones with added work. Other theatre majors have chosen to use honors, and D still might. She’s really enjoying the flexibility and choices she’s had, though, one way or the other.
An additional perk to coming in academically strong and continuing to do well is that she was chosen to be one of two resident tutors (along with another CCer from her year that chose UArts 
). This position gives them free room and board, which is a definite bonus!
As others have mentioned, being able to focus on other opportunities and ways of developing in their field is another benefit.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that even though the 3 choices you mentioned are not known for their academic strength, it’s likely that your D will be challenged and grow intellectually and academically at least through her major courses and studios and through outside opportunities!
@aquarose26 my D auditioned at NY Unifieds for Acting and was accepted less than two weeks later.
A non-audition school that might still be accepting applications for both BA and BFA programs in acting and MT is Columbia College Chicago. It is an excellent school that provides a stimulating arts environment and wonderful faculty who are very active in the Chicago theater scene. If your S or D isn’t feeling satisfied with options yet, I’d highly recommend taking a look.
@MomofMTBoy our local news is actually reporting a deficit of almost double that. I can tell you on Ds audition day I picked up the school newspaper in the lobby and this story was front page news. After Ds audition I had mentioned the article and said “if she gets in I hope they are still open in 4 years”. With the number of kids going to auditions there, if they are looking to increase enrollment they should consider expanding their MT program. My D did not get in, but she definitely would have considered if she did. They gave a very generous merit scholarship to boot!
@marg928 good to know. My D did a walk in at LA Unifieds and haven’t heard yea or nay.
@LBSMOM with my daughter declining hope it open up a spot for yours they did a hard sell on us.
Rider’s bond rating was lowered in 2014 to two notches above “high yield” (aka “junk bonds”):
However, they have managed to maintain that rating and have a stable outlook this year due to continuing cost control efforts:
Its never a bad idea to look up the bond ratings and read the reports for colleges, especially private schools. Most are in good shape, some, however, have pretty low credit ratings. This increases their cost of borrowing money, which, in turn, can constrict their ability to build new facilities. Once they hit “junk bond” status, life can become pretty hard.
I posted in another forum about Rider, but don’t don’t want anyone to confuse Westminster Choir College (owned by Rider - separate campus in Princeton) and Westminster College of the Arts at Rider (under which the School of Fine & Performing Arts and the Musical Theatre program reside). MT is fully housed at Rider University on the Lawrenceville campus.
Search Rider University “the path forward” on the web for all the info on the potential sale and/or relocation of the Choir College, including a video from the president of Rider. WCC only has about 300 students. Bottom line, the sale and/or relocation wouldn’t adversly affect the MT program at Rider, which is very much a “star program” for the university.
I encourage ANY of the prospective Rider families to ask questions of the MT faculty and admissions staff–they are all well-versed in the strategic plan and would be more than open to addressing any concerns you have.
Some of this gets confusing on CC because WCC was formerly listed as a BFA MT school before Rider bought it in 1992.
@lincoln56 thanks! Congrats on Ithaca! Your daughter had fantastic choices!!!
As for Montclair, I would not call a University where 6,000 live on campus a “commuter school.” Maybe years ago it was, but it has grown by leaps and bounds since then. As far as academics go, very few schools with great MT programs also have stellar academic reputations. Most don’t, in fact. But most do have honors programs if you are interested, though many find that unless they are getting financial perks, the honors programs may not be worth it since they suck time from other things they want/need to do (like sleep, since most MT programs are very time-intensive and exhausting). My kid really wanted her focus to be MT, but in spite of herself, she has liked several of her gen ed classes.
Acceptances thread is too long now. I would like to suggest that we remove all the wait list entries, any other suggestions? What did past classes do?
We did it in a line but I don’t know if that made it any less wordy…
Bisouu D, Drew, UMass, Chapman BFA, Emerson, CMU etc
It’s characters that are the problem. Spelling out “University” 50 times isn’t helping. Abbreviations! I went through and abbreviated everything yesterday and then someone changed it back.