@DramaLove2020 , I understand your worries. Obviously every school applied to should be a school you can see yourself at, so that can be a double edged sword when acceptances come. S and I are going to just keep up with the spreadsheet, factoring in money, location issues, curriculum, senior showcase, etc. and then also visiting and hopefully sitting in on classes when possible, to get to the all important feeling of fit for him.
One thing we didn’t take into account in how difficult it can be is personal connections with faculty. He has 2 acceptances at this point and feels really great connections with both, to the point of thinking it’s going to be so hard to let go of either, which he will of course have to do.
I guess just one day at a time, keep investigating and have faith in your own gut feelings about what is going to be right for YOU!
@DramaLove2020 on your list the 2 that I know of that have a reputation for strong dance are Otterbein and Rider.
My daughter is a freshman at Rider and came from a competitive dance background. She loves Rider and feels challenged in her dance classes. She had ballet last semester and now has ballet and jazz (with Robin Lewis) this semester. The jazz class is fun, but a challenge when they have class in the 3 inch heels 
.She is at the highest level for freshmen for dance and feels like it is still helping her grow as a dancer. There are some absolutely amazing dancers in the program that could have been dance majors. She and classmates also go to NY on weekends occasionally and take classes at Broadway Dance Center. She also was accepted at other programs you listed but we can’t speak to the programs since she didn’t attend. She has a good friend at Otterbein who was not a dancer but likes her classes.
@DramaLove2020 at the top of the MT page here is a list of discussion boards that are specific to several schools (5 out of the 7 schools you list are on there). Check those out–some are more updated and some are not, so they may not be as helpful as you want them to be, but it’s a place to start.
I have three kids who’ve attended or are attending BFA MT or Acting programs and one thing we found very helpful was to check out the curricula for each school. If you google the name of the school/program and the the word ‘curriculum’ (for example, ‘Rider University BFA Musical Theatre curriculum’), you can often find what the whole four year plan is, as well as how many electives are available in a program and that can help you compare. You can see which schools have more required dance/music/acting classes etc.
One thing to keep in mind is that AP credit acceptance varies by school. My BFA Acting daughter started college with 40 credits and was able to complete two majors in college because most of her core classes were covered. Other schools may accept the credits, but might not apply them to the core classes. You can google the name of the school and ‘AP credits’ to see what each school accepts, which might help you with your decision as well.
As @NYYFanNowMTdad mentioned, I have a freshman MT son at Temple. He is thrilled with his training, the program, the opportunities he’s gotten, and the supportive faculty. As far as required dance curriculum, there are currently three semesters of ballet, four semesters of jazz, one semester of tap, and one semester of MT dance, so they are MT and jazz focused, but with foundations of ballet. Temple’s MT program is part of the ‘Theatre, Film, and Media Arts’ department but there is a lot of crossover with the ‘Boyer College of Music and Dance,’ and there is the opportunity for a dance minor through Boyer as well (modern, African, improv, and more ballet are some of the technique courses offered).
@DramaLove2020 at the LIU callback, David Hugo told the kids it is an acting heavy program and if dance is important, you will need to use all your electives for dance.
@DramaLove2020, from your criteria, I think that almost all the schools on your list would meet them.
My daughter is a freshman theatre (not MT) major at JMU and has a love of dance. She is in a dance club, where the dance majors teach class this semester (she takes 2 hours of dance twice a week) and is choreographing a show for elementary students for credit (and a stipend!). Next year, she will start her dance minor and will likely take 4-6 hours of dance a week. The JMU classes are leveled and if you have a lot of experience, I think there would be a lot you could do.
While JMU is a BA program, a lot of the students wind up with a lot of credits in theatre and dance as there is a lot of flexibility with electives. They do have a bunch of Gen Eds, but if you are coming in with dual enrollment/AP, some of these can be waived. My daughter had some waived, but actually likes the Gen Eds as they seem to balance out her load. So, while the MT program has 60ish credits (I think), a lot of the students wind up taking 70 to 90 credits of music, theatre, and dance, depending on their goals.
Choosing the right school is a personal decision for everyone. It seems like you have some great options and am guessing you would thrive in whatever you choose. And I agree that the more you can identify what you want, the easier the choice will be 
BAL to you and if you have any further questions about JMU, I’d be happy to answer them.
The Big List from late March 2019 and all dates are 2019 dates. Things may be different for 2020 - we can all wiki-edit as the craziness unfolds!
American - Notifying 3/18 via snail mail
Arizona State - 3/14 and rolling via email
Baldwin Wallace–Fall early auditions have been notified. Will notify 3/7 via email for those who auditioned after Nov.
Ball State—rolling - email and phone call to accepted students
Belmont - some yes and no notifications already rolling. Everyone should know March 1st via snail mail
Boston Conservatory— ED on January 31 via portal, RD no later than 4/1/2020.
BU - March 23 via email and portal
Carnegie Mellon—Plans to notify 3/7 via Acceptd direct to portal (or just check the portal), all at once
Catholic -rolling
CCM—3/9 has notified yes’ - email notifications for those still in the pool weekly through out Feb and March
Coastal Carolina University- emails started 3/6, trying to notify everyone by 3/15 - may be spread out over several days/week
Drake - have seen at least one acceptance 3/14 - not sure if they’re rolling or all at once?
Elon - all on the same day, expected to be 3/15 this year
Emerson—3/14, email directing to portal, all at once for both artistic and academic decisions.
Five Towns - rolling
FSU—Acceptance calls made 2/27, there is an alternate list - look for notification letter next week.
Hartt - Rolling notifications
Illinois Wesleyan - notifies via snail mail, some yeses reported last week of Feb.
Indiana (IU Bloomington) - Notifications started 3/5 via Acceptd
Ithaca - Starts notifying typically last week of February/first week of March vis portal - notifications have started
Jacksonville University - 3/17 email to check portal
JMU - March 1 EA. 3/13 for RD applicants via MyMadison portal.
LIU/Post— Now rolling out as of 2/10/20
Manhattan School of Music—4/1 vis portal, all at once
Marymount Manhattan - sends email to check portal, rolling? or maybe rolling after a certain date?
Michigan—February 28 acceptance via phone call; portal change for others - notify all at once
Minnesota Duluth - email from head of the program - rolling?
Millikin - rolling
Missouri State - rolling, via email
Montclair - Rolling notifications, they’re still auditioning through 3/23
Molloy/CAP21—started 3/1, email
Muhlenberg - decisions for ED 1 in Dec, ED 2 by Feb 28, and RD by March 19 - posted on portal
Nebraska Wesleyan - rolling - still auditioning up until April 1.
Northern Colorado—rolling
Northwestern— 3/21 email directing to portal, all at once
NYU— 3/28 via portal, everyone, all at once
OCU —rolling now, via email
Ohio Northern - rolling
Ohio University - rolling notifications - have head of a few acceptance phone calls thus far
Otterbein - Notifications going out now thru mid-March - calls to accepted students, getacceptd for no and waitlist
Pace—3/1 has started to notify, phone call for accepted students and/or snail mail, rolling more calls 3/7
Penn State - starting updating portal 2/14; started notifications for accepted students 2/26
Point Park—3/13 Emails to everyone, all at once, snail mail to follow up.
Rider - Portal change beginning 2/11. Definite Y to be posted on the portal and mailed out before 2/21; Committee meets 2/21 to discuss remaining applicants and then everyone else notified 1st of March via snail mail
Roosevelt—started notifying 3/15 email was sent out to check your portal
Shenandoah—2020 around 3/2-3/6 via phone call (for acceptances); email for waitlist. Last day of auditions is 2/22, then will decide and call before their spring break 3/6.
SUNY Cortland 1/30/19 email
Syracuse—3/15 via email (not MySlice), decisions were sent in waves last three weekends of March last year
TCU - Notifications started 3/5 via email
Temple—notifying now, rolling - portal update for academic admit, email for artistic admit
Texas State—phone call to accepted students, rolling once auditions are complete, they meet each weekend and send notifications the following week.
UArts—starting about a week after audition; snail mail, rolling
UAB - email notification
UAZ—Rolling notifications have started 2/28
University of Miami—3/22, via portal, all at once - navigate to the letter under “student center” and then “message center.”
University of OK - changed to prescreens and auditions this year - notifications will be a few more weeks - 4/1?
Utah—notifications going out now (early March) via email mail and then rolling
UC Irvine - 3/22 via portal
UCLA—3/22 via portal, all at once
UNCG - Everyone should know March 15 “give or take a day” phone call: 3/11
UNSCA - Rolling out now through the end of Feb - calls to accepted students, email direct to portal for “no” decision.
USC - 3/21 will mail notifications, with portal update 3/24
Viterbo—via email, rolling
Wagner - 3/9 rolling now - there have been some calls - more to follow
Webster— snail mail acceptances go out around 3/8 (info from this year) - some calls have been reported for “yes”
Western CT State—2-3 weeks after final audition day on March 2nd, all at once; snail mail 3/11
Western Michigan - 3/20 - notifications rolling calls for acceptances, email for anything else
Wright St - discontinued rolling admission this year. Last audition day was 2/24, has started notifying 2/26
Xavier — Emailing acceptances now - 3/1
Just got acceptance to Viterbo via email! Woohoo!
@onette It looks like you did not use the most recent list to update. Did you use the original list? Several of the updates others made are not on the list you posted today. Can you please find the most recent list and add to that one? Thank you!!
From the information above it seems that in 2019 CCM sent emails throughout February and March for applicants still being considered. Has anyone received any communication at all (rejection/acceptance/still on the waitlist) from CCM so far this year?
@SingerDancerMom , we haven’t heard anything from CCM on campus audition in January.
I can tell you from my son’s experience… if it’s a definite no, you will know by the end of the week.
Congratulations @Sparklyunicorn !!! What wonderful news!
@TexasMTDad thank you for sharing! Is your son’s experience from this year or last year? “By the end of the week” do you mean the end of the week after auditions? My daughter auditioned for them more than 3 weeks ago at NY Unifieds and we’ve heard nothing. I know that is standard for many schools to just go dark until decisions are released, but I understand that in the past CCM gave out “no’s” pretty quickly after auditions. This year, however, I haven’t heard anyone say they’ve received a rejection from CCM.
last year. He auditioned on campus on 12/1 or so (first audition). They told him that they would have a decision by the end of the week… of course “defer” could be one decision. He found out that Friday that it was a no.
Of course, they didn’t have a prescreen last year, so they might have been more proactive.
@DramaLove2020 My son is a freshman MT major at Otterbein so this may help some. He is a singer first, dancer last but said the dance program has dramatically improved that piece of his triple threat in just one+ semester. They have dance every day (M-F for all 4 years) and cover the different genres on different days (Tap, Jazz, Modern and an option between Musical Theater Dance or Ballet).
The dance classes are tiered at the beginning of the year so that all the students in each class start at roughly the same level. There are 4 levels of each class that are rated individually. So someone that is already a level 4 ballet person could also be in a level 1 tap class, for example. The professors of each dance genre are EXPERTS in that type of dance. These two things (specialized instructors and tiered starting point) allows Otterbein to maximize the exact type of individual training each student needs to progress - whether that be from “basic mover” to professionally qualified musical theater dance or from experienced dancer to feature dancer in the 4 years.
For people that have enough training prior to college, they will be invited to add a dance minor to their program and focus even more. My son is not a dance minor but I’d say about half of the incoming MT class is.
As far as AP credits, I think my son came in with 20 to 30 credit hours. In MT, that doesn’t help MUCH but it does help. Here’s what I mean by that - if you look at the course catalog and the 120 hours needed to graduate, there aren’t many classes that you can “AP out of”. Of the 120 hours, 84 are requirements within the major that everybody needs to take. The campus also has Otterbein specific courses (First year studies and Senior year experience) that also can’t be skipped regardless of any test scores. You may cover a basic math class and writing with AP credits in those areas but that’s about it.
So while you may get out of a couple of classes that your classmates have to take, you will have very little room to deviate from the same schedule that ALL MT students have to take anyway just to get the BFA. What my son did with his credits is use them as a foundation to pursue a French minor while he is there. Since his starting credits were so high, the opportunity existed to get that additional minor with just a few extra French classes over 4 years.
That being said, he won’t finish any EARLIER or have a lighter workload than his classmates because of AP but more likely he will graduate with 132 to 140 hours instead of 120 and have a minor on his resume along with the BFA in MT. That meant him taking 20 hours of classes first semester while his classmates took 16. Minors (other than dance) are discouraged just because the workload is EXTRA from the bare core BFA degree requirements but in special circumstances where you bring a lot of credits to the table, the school will work with you to develop a game plan. In other words, the fact that you have a ton of AP credits is demonstration that you are used to handling advanced work loads but as a general rule, minors aren’t usually possible. TBD if the extra workload to get a minor turns out to be valuable or not but he has a strong personal interest in French so its more of an opportunity to get the most of his education while he is there rather than any kind of norm in the MT program.
I hope that helps some.
Updated to add LIU acceptance info. PLEASE ALWAYS USE THE MOST RECENT LIST TO UPDATE!
The Big List from late March 2019 and all dates are 2019 dates. Things may be different for 2020 - we can all wiki-edit as the craziness unfolds!
American - Notifying 3/18 via snail mail
Arizona State - 3/14 and rolling via email
Baldwin Wallace–Fall early auditions have been notified. Will notify 3/7 via email for those who auditioned after Nov.
Ball State— 2020 rolling - email and phone call to accepted students. Email for rejection or deferral to another arts program, a few weeks after audition.
Belmont - some yes and no notifications already rolling. Everyone should know March 1st via snail mail
Boston Conservatory— ED on January 31 via portal, RD no later than 4/1/2020.
BU - March 23 via email and portal
Carnegie Mellon—Plans to notify 3/7 via Acceptd direct to portal (or just check the portal), all at once
Catholic -rolling
CCM—3/9 has notified yes’ - email notifications for those still in the pool weekly through out Feb and March
Coastal Carolina University- emails started 3/6, trying to notify everyone by 3/15 - may be spread out over several days/week
Drake - have seen at least one acceptance 3/14 - not sure if they’re rolling or all at once?
Elon - all on the same day, expected to be 3/15 this year
Emerson—3/14, email directing to portal, all at once for both artistic and academic decisions.
Five Towns - rolling
FSU—Acceptance calls made 2/27, there is an alternate list - look for notification letter next week.
Hartt - 2020, Rolling notifications snail mail by mid-March
Illinois Wesleyan - notifies via snail mail, some yeses reported last week of Feb.
Indiana (IU Bloomington) - Notifications started 3/5 via Acceptd
Ithaca - Starts notifying typically last week of February/first week of March vis portal - notifications have started
Jacksonville University - 3/17 email to check portal
JMU - March 1 EA. 3/13 for RD applicants via MyMadison portal.
LIU/Post— Rolling beginning 2/10/2020, snail mail
Manhattan School of Music— 2/24 (2020)
Marymount Manhattan - 2020 update: They try to send email notifications to check portal within 2 weeks of the audition, sometimes much sooner.
Michigan—February 28 acceptance via phone call; portal change for others - notify all at once
Minnesota Duluth - email from head of the program - rolling?
Millikin - rolling
Missouri State - rolling, via email
Montclair - Rolling notifications, they’re still auditioning through 3/23
Molloy/CAP21—started 3/1, email (confirmed for 2020 too)
Muhlenberg - decisions for ED 1 in Dec, ED 2 by Feb 28, and RD by March 19 - posted on portal
Nebraska Wesleyan - rolling - still auditioning up until April 1.
Northern Colorado—rolling
Northwestern— 3/21 email directing to portal, all at once
NYU— 3/28 via portal, everyone, all at once
OCU —rolling now, via email
Ohio Northern - rolling
Ohio University - 2020 Update: Confirm rolling notifications for this year - last year - rolling notifications - have head of a few acceptance phone calls thus far
Otterbein - Notifications going out now thru mid-March - calls to accepted students, getacceptd for no and waitlist
Pace—3/1 has started to notify, phone call for accepted students and/or snail mail, rolling more calls 3/7
Penn State - starting updating portal 2/14; started notifications for accepted students 2/26
Point Park—3/13 Emails to everyone, all at once, snail mail to follow up.
Rider - 2020 Update: Rolling and can be as quick as a few days after audition - Last year: Portal change beginning 2/11. Definite Y to be posted on the portal and mailed out before 2/21; Committee meets 2/21 to discuss remaining applicants and then everyone else notified 1st of March via snail mail
Roosevelt— 2020 - said trying for 3/15 - last year they started notifying 3/15 email was sent out to check your portal
Shenandoah—2020 around 3/2-3/6 via phone call (for acceptances); email for waitlist. Last day of auditions is 2/22, then will decide and call before their spring break 3/6.
SUNY Cortland 1/30/19 email
Syracuse—3/15 via email (not MySlice), decisions were sent in waves last three weekends of March last year
SE Missouri St-Rolling, via email
TCU - Notifications started 3/5 via email
Temple—notifying now, rolling - portal update for academic admit, email for artistic admit
Texas State—phone call to accepted students, rolling once auditions are complete, they meet each weekend and send notifications the following week.
UArts—starting about a week after audition; snail mail, rolling
UAB - email notification
UAZ—Rolling notifications have started 2/28
University of Miami—3/22, via portal, all at once - navigate to the letter under “student center” and then “message center.”
University of OK - changed to prescreens and auditions this year - notifications will be a few more weeks - 4/1?
Utah—notifications going out now (early March) via email mail and then rolling
UC Irvine - 3/22 via portal
UCLA—3/22 via portal, all at once
UNCG - Everyone should know March 15 “give or take a day” phone call: 3/11
UNSCA - Rolling out now through the end of Feb - calls to accepted students, email direct to portal for “no” decision.
USC - 3/21 will mail notifications, with portal update 3/24
Viterbo—via email, rolling
Wagner - 3/9 rolling now - there have been some calls - more to follow
Webster— snail mail acceptances go out around 3/8 (info from this year) - some calls have been reported for “yes”
Western CT State—2-3 weeks after final audition day on March 2nd, all at once; snail mail 3/11
Western Michigan - 3/20 - notifications rolling calls for acceptances, email for anything else
Wright St - discontinued rolling admission this year. Last audition day was 2/24, has started notifying 2/26
Xavier — Emailing acceptances now - 3/1
Re: Ball State Rolling admission notification- My D has been admitted academically, but nothing yet about artistic decision. Anyone else in the same situation?
@flippedout YES
historically Ball state makes phone calls late in Feb. to accepted students followed by emails for waitlists and rejections
I know the waiting is the hardest part, but I feel like we can’t even celebrate the academic acceptances. I will say that at all the callbacks D has been to, the schools have been great about making the point that the reason they got the callback was because they were admitted academically AND had strong pre-screens. It’s still hard to look at the numbers, though, and realize that of the schools D is still in the running for, she has less than 1% chance for each of them. I tell all the parents of non-MT kids, this seems so much more difficult than applying to an Ivy.