Schools will accept based on their yields in past years. They will use roughly that percentage when they make offers and hope for the best. The year D went to NYU Steinhardt, their yield was ridiculous–like 99% and they had a larger that usual class. But the following year, I believe they went into their waitlist, because they accepted fewer students and the yield wasn’t as high.
To get yields from various schools, you can go to the school’s common data set. These numbers will be for the overall school, not one specific program. Here are some examples:
For CWPost: 901 (18%) of 5,134 admitted students enrolled
For Muhlenberg: 624 (26%) of 2,426 admitted students enrolled
For Emerson College: 1,085 (26%) of 4,225 admitted students enrolled
For Carnegie Mellon: 1,593 (33%) of 4,873 admitted students enrolled
For NYU: 6,793 (38%) of 18,010 admitted students enrolled
For U of the Arts: 448 (38%) of 1,185 admitted students enrolled
Manhattan School of Music: 136 (34%) of 402 admitted students enrolled
There are always going to be plusses and minuses to every size program. You have to look at the whole program. Schools with larger classes have more faculty and often more choices of classes. If the class size is large, they will divide the students into smaller units for studio classes and there is a wider choice of professors. If you are in a school that accepts 10 kids they will all be together with one professor. If you don’t gel with the professor, it could be an issue. Does the school have a dance program? Or are the dance instructors only for the MT program? Are the dance classes leveled? Do they offer a variety of classes or just ballet, jazz and tap? In larger programs it is harder to get cast in productions. Students have to create their own performance opportunities or just understand that they are there to focus on training. They will perform in class but may not be in shows. That is hard for these kids who have been doing 4 shows a year for ages. Do students get a private voice lesson weekly or so they have to pay extra for that? All things to consider.
@BeBop1 has provided excellent questions to consider. I have one comment to add… Being in a small program does not mean you will be cast. If there are approximately 15-20 students per class, that is still a program with 60-80 students. If acting and other majors can audition, that is a casting pool of 100+ easily. Your average show has how many roles? I’ll guess 20-30, but realize it could swing either way. I said all this to say, no student should assume casting will be an option in college. Every student should assume they are just there to train, casting should be considered a bonus.
Yield for the whole university is not representitive of the yield for the MT programs It would be very Interesting to see those yields. I’m sure most kids don’t turn down CMU or Michigan MT offers
The most highly selective programs (and colleges) typically have high yields. Still, top students are often sitting on several acceptances and so they still turn down top colleges or programs.
People turn down top programs like CMU for reasons other than cost, too. Heck, some (like my D) don’t even apply to them–and not because they don’t think they can get in or couldn’t afford it if they did, but for reasons such as desired environment, perceived personal fit, etc.
@daughtersdreams , I’ve said before, D’s class ended up being larger than normal, which concerned her before she made her decision to attend. However, her coaches and the faculty advised her that the quality of training would not change, studio sizes would remain small, and personal attention would still be a priority. All true. Plus, my D has discovered there are benefits to a larger class, among them more connections and larger social choices. Casting is a challenge, but she was still cast as a lead as a freshman, and she and others are creating their own opportunities, which is great practice for after they graduate. I’d have your D ask LIU how they would handle a larger class; their response should be insightful.
Thanks for the input. I suspect that as LIU Post strives to build their program’s profile and reputation they may have the luxury of being more “selective” in the next few years. Right now, they probably don’t get as many applicants over all as the better known programs. Some the kids posting acceptances said they did walk-ins at unifieds and knew nothing at all about the college or program.
Heading to the last college visit next week. This process has made D snort-laugh every time her classmates talk about their lazy senior years! Happy she is almost over the finish line so she can enjoy a summer job and a couple more months of home-cooked meals.
@daughtersdreams, no, she’s not; sorry, that was unclear. She’s at UArts, which strives for a class of 24 but had higher yields the last 2 years. I was simply addressing benefits of a larger class and a higher yield class situation in case that’s what is happening with LIU. Again, I’d ask them about specifics for the program, though.
@daughtersdreams - LIU folks told us in Chicago that they were intending to expand the program this year. I remember Dave saying during our visit that they were anticipating a class of around 30 (I assume it is based on expected yield of acceptances made). Hope that helps a little.
Its my understanding that the MT major is more popular than ever. More schools , more spots, more competition for those spots. Anyone have a theory as to why?
@JerseyParents … just my personal opinion but I think Glee started it and now the live TV musicals (Grease, Hairspray, etc) have continued to fuel the increase.
This is a thread called the “glee Factor” oddly this was written in 2009 but I find it interesting that it still is going strong in 2017!
Read Below:
I suspect it’s a combo of Glee – which started in 2009 (incidentally when the number of kids from our HS auditioning for MT started to increase each year. I can’t think of a grad <2009 going to college for MT, and yet it has gone up each year since then.)
PLUS, a lot of approachable modern musicals that appealed to teens - Rent, Spring Awakening, Avenue Q, In the Heights, Legally Blonde.
And… yes, Disney / TV musicals - High School Musical - 2006
And… that our kids came up through the explosion of singing shows - American Idol, The Voice, etc.
PLUS, the growth of after school / summer youth theatre programs, dance studios, etc. meant lots of kids in the pipeline started being attuned to auditioning and “the process” and doing all these licensed shows, getting the “bug” earlier. (When I was growing up, youth theatre mainly involved a lot of original plays or fairy-tale theatre. We didn’t have little kids doing licensed Broadway shows. Today, there are kids theaters doing “Into the Woods Jr.” and “Beauty & The Beast Jr.”
But for us, the factor that drove my kids interest in going to COLLEGE FOR MT most of all was seeing / knowing an older HS student they admired who would go through the process successfully – for us it was a VERY talented boy who graduated in 2010 and went to CMU. THAT more than anything showed my kids what their path might look like in 2012, and gave us our first glimpse into the process of auditioning, Unifieds, etc.
I think MT applications began to increase dramatically as a combination of “Wicked,” “American Idol,” and “Glee.” I know that as my 12-year-old d walked out after seeing “Wicked,” she exclaimed, “I want to do that!” and never looked back.
This should be a thread! 2021 parents are due for some fun and we learn a little about each other! Short and concise like @Emsdad is a perfect way to share!
My S has been charging me to see his plays since he was 4 or 5. I put him in a theater camp at 6. The rest is history.
Wicked was it for my girl as well. Up to that point she had been singing Hannah Montana songs and was certain she was destined to be the next pop princess. She saw Wicked at age 9 and Hannah Montana was out the door and her new anthem became The Wizard and I. That song is forever etched in my brain!
She was 6 and it was her first time at Disney.and we all saw their live version of Beauty and the Beast.
Near the end, when the Beast is being attacked, I look over and my little D is leaned as far forward as she could and she’s silently crying and big fat tears are rolling down her cheeks.
