@StanfordAI2019 @DivaStageMom yeah, I probably could have worded that more gently. For that I apologize. I totally get the excitement from getting into an excellent school and skipping the opportunity, but not all schools are created equal for all things.
Princeton is the #1 school, but if you wanted to be an engineer, you might pick Michigan over Princeton.
@MTDad27 Congratulations! My D is a junior MT at BoCo (and works in admissions and is an orientation leader), and I cannot begin to tell you how much she loves the school, the training, the other students in the program, and her teachers. PM me if your daughter would like to connect with mine.
@TexasMTDad - I completely āgotā and agreed with what you were saying - and agree - my instinct is just that - but then there are these moments of doubtā¦ But I always value and appreciate your input - you have been a good friend over these past few months and I truly value your opinion :).
@Sitzprobe - from what I have learned at NU they accept 150 to yield 100 and from that they take 12 girls and 12 boys so 24 into the MT certificate program where you get additional training mostly vocal and dance - because everyone seems to get acting. This happens sophomore year - you audition end of freshmen year.
Ironically BU also has an MT concentration audition - but they have a smaller group of people (45ish) - some direct, some straight acting and some MT so not sure that itās as hyper-competitive because it is a school top-ranked for acting - the MT concentration is new - but they appear to have had some success - the lead in Book of Morman - is a recent grad, booked it right after graduationā¦ And she mentioned some other successes but they escape me at the moment.
RE: NU - Remember that not all 150 theatre majors have an interest in pursuing MT. In fact, not all of them want to be performers. Some want to be writers, directors, etcā¦ It could be only half of them even audition for MT. So you may want to find out from someone who has been through the process how many actually audition for the MT program and how many they accept to get your true numbers regarding percent of those who audition accepted to the certificate program.
@vvnstar - my d did speak with a current student who had a positive experience - she got into MT, got into an a cappella group, got the private voice - and is good friends with one who did not - he actually just changed majors to journalism - so after all this honestly its easier to know where you stand BEFORE you go into the school - for instance, we applied to Elon MT, D did not get into that program, but they have a theater program, as do many schools. If she really wanted to go to Elon she could do that - but she would understand that going inā¦ This is like you probably have a good chance butā¦ maybe you donāt - I donāt know who these 150 people areā¦
My personal take on this is what I have told the two students I am working with this year if your goals are musical theatre/theatre. If you have other goals (non-theatre), then strike this.
Donāt worry about āname brandā schools. If it happens that your fit is a name brand school ā awesome! But donāt worry about it if it isnāt. At your future auditions. NO ONE will care what school you attended (unless they went there also!). Cannot stress that enough.
More importantly, find somewhere you have a REAL connection with. That means the director, the faculty and the students. You are going to invest four years there. They are investing in you. This is more like a marriage. So treat it like that. Donāt jump into a relationship if you are not compatible. I donāt care if it is Ivy League Best School #1 In The World For Everything. This school is going to be your conduit to the next level of training you need AND the connections you need to be successful.
Make sure the training is what YOU need as an artist. One size does not necessarily fit all. Make sure there are enough opportunities for you to grow as an artist in that program. This doesnāt mean you have to be cast in four shows a year, but make sure you will have something that helps you continue to grow in your desired area. This is why some of the āname brandā schools are such ā because of the exceptional training they provide. But there are many places to get exceptional training.
Make sure you can graduate without being in significant debt. A performing arts degree and $150k of debt do not fit unless your personal wealth affords this. For this reason and the research I did for them (including hearing stories from many on this forum and others about the amount and types of financial aid possible), many well-known ātopā schools were ruled out from the beginning and not even on the list.
Make sure they have a plan for what happens ānextā after your training. Some schools have showcases. Others use casting agents to workshop with you. There is no one right way to do this, but make sure they are vested in getting you to the next level. Research this and talk to previous graduates of the program if possible.
Make sure you are in a collaborative, nurturing and SAFE environment. There are many, MANY different ways to train students. I have posted often about how I chose wrong with my first college and ended up in a very stressful and toxic environment that in 1980 was not uncommon with some types of training, but today would raise red flags and #metoo hashtags everywhere. I have seen (even recently) articles about particular schools and teachers and issues. This goes for both male and female students.
I will say that this list is not for everyone. But sometimes you need to step back and look at things holistically.
@onette - OMG - such good advice - this group of people is AMAZING!!!
D spoke with her coach about this and he asked her why she felt more strongly about BU - and after reading your post I just now realize what great insight she had.
She told him although she was honored to be accepted to NU, she felt completely intimidated by everything about it - that she would always be trying to impress people, she would never feel like she deserved to be there. She said her feelings about BU, from her audition with McCaela, led her to believe that this was a place where it was alright to fail - its funny because at the time it seemed like a bad answer - I work at a hedge fund -so itās actually like never ok to fail - so I was like - ok to fail - no thatās a bad thing!! lol.
But after reading your post I completely get what she meant - it was a safe space where she could be herself and grow as a performer. She didnāt want to fail - she wanted to try things and this was a place she felt that she could do that - her perception - nothing against the school - just what she feltā¦
WOW - this is group therapy - I love you guys!!!
We are lucky and fortunate to have @onette as a resource. She is a seasoned and sensible person (who knows her stuff) and truly cares about the well being of all these amazing kids.
Thank you for your continued sharing of knowledge. Youāve personally been quite helpful to me, and Iām sure many others as well!
Thank You!!!
@DivaStageMom I think a BIG difference for your D among these two schools is that she visited and connected with the department at one school and did not at the other school. So, in essence, it is apples to oranges. She canāt even fairly compare them. She connected at one and has had not connection with the other. For example, you mention she feels that at BU, she could be herself and take risks and fail. There is no way to know if that is also true at NU.
I happen to agree with @vvnstar about the numbers issue at NU. First, you keep mentioning 150, but the number who enroll is more like 100 for theater. Not all those 100 kids are even going to audition for MT! Not all are even interested in MT. Youād have to get the numbers from NU as to how many audition for the Certificate program. Now, you mention that at BU, your daughter will also have to eventually audition to get into the MT track. So, who knows if the numbers differ all that much between the odds at both schools to get into the MT track. I do know, however, at NU, even if not in the MT Certificate program, a student can still take MT classes and be in musicals.
I think your D has found her fit and connection at BU. However, I donāt think your D has the full picture of NU. It may not even matter and thatās totally fine.
@soozievt - yes - I think I was careful to say that it is her perception from speaking to current students - obviously, some students will have a different perception. She has over the past few days looked into the school - although never got to visit. But in this process, there are facts and there are feelings. Obviously, she is expressing her feelings. And without a visit or conversation with the head of the department - that so far has not been offered by NU -, McCaela Donovan at BU sent everyone that got accepted her cell phone number if they had questions - so there is building that connection that doesnāt seem to be happening either - at least at this point.
Thank you @onette! Such great advice!! I just emailed it to my D 
@rickle1 - I am in awe of the amount of valuable resources on this board - I am so grateful to be a part of this amazing community, and only hope that next year I can be just a little bit as insightful as people like @soozievt and @onette!
@rickle1 @DivaStageMom Thank you for those kind words. Anyone who knows me in real life will tell you I am this way. Always have been. I care about helping kids and youths learn and grow and have done this mainly because of the experiences I had getting through college. I wish I had some helpā¦a mentorā¦someone to ask questions of or talk to when I was trying to figure this all out. I absolutely donāt know all the answers! Nobody does! But I am very resourceful and I go dig for things if I donāt knowā¦my care for all of your kids is that they find the right place for their safety, training and success. With a pricetag that makes it not painful and a burden for half their lives.
@DivaStageMom - I wouldnāt worry too much about the ānot feeling good enough.ā Itās everywhereā¦all the timeā¦and itās human nature. For example, when I was an undergrad at Yale in the 90ās, all students were intimidated by kids from Cambridge or Oxford. (was a lot of cross registration and semesters abroad) At NU for grad school, majority werenāt admitted to Harvard Business School, and felt intimidated by them during mock corporate competitions. Everyone everywhere is intimidated by someone who they perceive to be āaboveā them.
On a side note, when I was 18, I went to the University of Chicago campus and I thought it was the most intimidating environment ever, so I know itās easier said than done, but hopefully that perspective helps.
Your D will kill it no matter where she goes.
@StanfordAI2019 - OMG - you have gone to some impressive schools! Thanks for the insight 
@DivaStageMom - a lot easier to get in back then than they are now. My son wants to go to Yale, and Iām likeā¦eh. When I went, the acceptance rate was 14%. Now itās 4%. Big difference
I am actually going to do a zoom call this weekend with my two students and some theatre kids of mine from the past who plan to go through in the next few years so they can get the war stories and advice from those who went before them! We were going to meet at a local coffee shop butā¦corona! The mom of the female student (who is lurking on here somewhere?? LOL I donāt know her name on here!!) and I are going to give our perspectives and then the kids will. But the number one thing I am going to start with is ādonāt have A dream school.ā That may work in 90% of the rest of college majors, but it doesnāt really work for theatre and musical theatre (although back in my day, acceptance rates were much higher as @StanfordAI2019 mentionedā¦a stellar ACT and GPA could pave the way for you and I was 1 point away from perfect ACT, so I had no issues getting in anywhere I wanted to go).
These days, the ārubricā for admissions is convoluted. Some prize your ābalanceā as a citizen + the rigor of your coursework and how well you performed against your peers. Some colleges are pushing away from valuing standardized tests and looking at you as an individual. Some do that, but only make it affordable IF you did well on the standardized tests and gpa. So many messages. And with kids in theatre and musical theatre, they have limited āextraā time because they are always in rehearsal. Or auditioning. Or performing in the other mandatory ensemble groups they must do to be allowed to be in a certain level class, etc. You need to look for schools that fit YOU.
I personally think gap years are awesome ā especially if you have a very full academic and extracurricular load and you want to ENJOY senior year. (Someone postedā¦canāt remember whoā¦but I actually got tears when I read about how everything is cancelled. They missed out on everything else this year because of college auditionsā¦now school is done. That makes me incredibly sad.) Some kids are done with high school before senior year even starts and just want to move on. They are ready to start their livesā¦and thatās great!
You just need to know who you are and what matters. And THAT wonāt be the same answer for everyone (the second thing Iām going to tell them!! LOL).
@onette You are amazing - I watched you on this board care about those kids like they were your own - they are all very lucky to have you!
I also advise to not have a dream school. It is natural to have favorites. But pining oneās hopes on a dream school can be a big recipe for disappointment, especially if applying to very competitive colleges or programs. I recall my D had a favorite pile, a like a real lot pile, and a like enough to attend pile.
One thing I often read are posts saying, āI got into X and Y, but have no interest in attending.ā I never understand that, because I donāt think any college should land on oneās list that someone doesnāt like enough to consider attending.
I agree on the not having a favorite. Also, I truly believe the audition process is another layer of vetting for your kid, meeting them in person is invaluable and personal and canāt be gauged off of what is available online or even good friends opinions. Which is also why I really think programs who donāt send their heads or high ups lose out in the end when it takes extra steps (especially this year with no visits), to get to know them. Also, my D experienced a lot of growth over the process and it really influenced her thoughts about what she wanted and prioritized over the course of the process vs what we thought and knew a year before when we made the initial list (ha!) and what ended up in the final pile!