Colleges for Musical Theater - PART 39 !

<p>Hope some of you might have some knowledge or experience with scholarship negotiations. Here's the hypothetical situation. Suppose the student has been accepted to both College A and College B. College A has offered a talent scholarship, but College B has not. Is it proper etiquette to go to College B to try and "squeeze" some dollars out by telling them of the other school's financial package?</p>

<p>mtpop, I don't think there would be a problem with it. I know a girl who was in that situation (not with musical theatre), who called College B and talked to them about how much she loves their schools etc etc, but that she was offered a greater financial package elsewhere and she didn't want that to keep her from going to College B. College B wanted her too, so she sent a copy of her scholarship offer from College A and they matched it. It's worth a shot, if your already in the program it's not like they can turn you away for being rude.</p>

<p>This is probably no big deal at all, it probably means NOTHING, and they probably sent these out to everyone so dont freak out! ---- but did anyone else receive an "admission newsletter for spring 2005" from CMU today??? So far I've spoken with 4 ppl who auditioned and none of them have received one yet. Just wondering.</p>

<p>Broadway 32nd-</p>

<p>You may want to post the same question on the CMU thread under Colleges and Universities on the main page. Click on CC Top Universities and then click on CMU. Was it titled "From The Cut"? Someone on that thread said they got it today.</p>

<p>Broadway 32nd,</p>

<p>Sorry to say, that "invite" means nothing. My D got it last year about 2 days before her rejection letter (not that it means you've been rejected!! - just that it has no bearing on acceptance). I wrote about this last year because I thought it was a monumental act of insensitive bad timing. As much as I loved CMU's MT program, I always felt that there was little to no communication between the department and the school administration, leading to lots of confusion in communication with parents and prospectives. Unfortunate.</p>

<p>Still hoping you get the happy news you are waiting for!</p>

<p>You may wish to go to the Parents Forum and read Soozie's post there. She has titled it "Dear Forum Friends". Her younger D was seriously injured in a car accident. Soozie tells about it in her post there. I thought you would all want to know.</p>

<p>Kathy</p>

<p>Kathy,</p>

<p>Thanks so much for letting us know. Not surprisingly, the outpouring over there has been tremendous.</p>

<p>Lennie</p>

<p>susan, hopefully, you'll check here from time to time and get some messages. i read about your daughter. boy, when we hear something like that, we all realize how easily it could be any of us and how much worse it could be. thank heaven she's going to be alright. just wanted you to know that many prayers are being lifted up in her honor and for peace for you in such a trying time. there are many of us who have been through some traumas and can relate. you're not alone. jamie</p>

<p>Thank you! I must say I was getting a little worried! My D also goes to a large public hs very, very strong in music and the arts. Her love and passion is in MT...she is at home on the stage. We just finished our spring musical, where she actually landed the lead as a junior...very rare at our school. She is involved in many music groups and has had 10 years of voice training. We are now looking at a summer program...U of Arts. It is a program fairly close to home and the timing is good. As I read some of these posts, I felt that her chances for acceptance may have been hindered since she will gradutate from a public school. Thanks to those who have told about being accepted to wonderful schools with the background close to my D's. My D would have loved to have had the opportunity to go to a private arts hs, but there are not any in the area.... We are looking at colleges, would love to try for early acceptance. Keep posting for us who are new to this! I have a second daughter in 8th grade who just informed us she may not want to go the equestrian route, instead music! All I could think was "Oh no...now you will have to go through the audition and wait time!" You gotta love em.....</p>

<p>Thank you! I must say I was getting a little worried! My D also goes to a large public hs very, very strong in music and the arts. Her love and passion is in MT...she is at home on the stage. We just finished our spring musical, where she actually landed the lead as a junior...very rare at our school. She is involved in many music groups and has had 10 years of voice training. We are now looking at a summer program...U of Arts. It is a program fairly close to home and the timing is good. As I read some of these posts, I felt that her chances for acceptance may have been hindered since she will gradutate from a public school. Thanks to those who have told about being accepted to wonderful schools with the background close to my D's. My D would have loved to have had the opportunity to go to a private arts hs, but there are not any in the area.... We are looking at colleges, would love to try for early acceptance. Keep posting for us who are new to this! I have a second daughter in 8th grade who just informed us she may not want to go the equestrian route, instead music! All I could think was "Oh no...now you will have to go through the audition and wait time!" You gotta love em.....</p>

<p>i have asked about this before, but want to see if there's any new info out there, with new posters, etc. since we live in texas, we have looked into sam houston u. have not been there, but considering auditioning in april. any thoughts from any of you? i guess my biggest concern is getting a job upon graduation. right now, headed for ocu with a theatre performance degree. (although, auditioning again in april.) at ocu and others, apparently, you get directors, etc., coming in there looking for talent. if you go to a lesser known, such as sam houston, how much harder is it to go out on your own and get a job. thanks, jamie</p>

<p>SHU
There's no doubt that SHU is not as well known as OCU. I don't have any big insights, but you might think about all the factors besides jobs. How large are the two schools? What courses will be taken? What's the background of the teachers? What is the campus atmosphere? If you're not in the MT program, how much voice and dance can you take and how much can you get into when you're competing with MT and Dance/Music students? How many MT performances will you have on your resume in each school? How committed are you to summer work that could get you exposure to the job market. It would seem to me that future jobs are somewhat influenced by pedigree and contacts, but auditions rule, right? If the schools aren't comparable and the programs aren't comparable, find the one that fits you best and worry about 2009 later. Four years of hard work is more important.</p>

<p>Since my D just got accepted into the MT program at American I called the dept because I had some questions. I posted this under the BA thread but then thought I'd put it here too.</p>

<p>I spoke with a senior theatre major. Her sense was that it being a BA gives the students more flexibility--there are enough courses that if you want it to be more like a BFA, she said you can do that. But if you are interested in taking more courses outside of theatre or MT, you can do that as well. She said it is easier to double major. MT are required to take two years of voice (same professors as voice majors) but she said most take it all four years. Needless to say she loves the program. They have just opened a new performing arts building and have hired more faculty, so they are making the program a bit larger: her class has 6 MT majors, the class behind her has 8. She also said that this year they had more applications than ever before and were sending out many more rejections--competition is getting stiffer. And for those of you who are juniors, September is when you should call to find out audition information. She also told me that DC is now ranked number two in the nation for the amount of live theatre.</p>

<p>Hope this is helpful.</p>

<p>We live in the DC area, so of course my D didn't want to apply to American (which folks around here usually call AU) -- it's halfway between our house and my H's office; he passes it every day on his way to and from work; what kid would want to go to school in that kind of location?! But the new performing arts building is gorgeous and, as newmtmom mentioned, the DC area has TONS of theatre. AU, by the way, is not a real urban campus; it's located right on the fringe of one of the most affluent residential areas around here.</p>

<p>Hi - just wanted to tell you, I saw a production of Jekyll and Hyde at a Fairfield, CT summer camp. I don't know the girl's name who played Lucy, but she was one of the most talented performers I have ever seen! SHE is now at American; I think she must be a freshman this year. So they have excellent talent!! (At least in her case)</p>

<p>I have read through past posts and see that some schools focus more on their vocal program, some on their acting and some on their dance. I could nt really find a list though. I was wondering if anyone can offer a quick list of which schools have a stronger program in certain areas for a BFT in MT. Thanks!</p>

<p>kaysmom - We have almost had to visit schools to get a feel for the answer to your question - but a couple of thoughts - go to FAQ link at top of menu page under featured discussions where you'll find a page discussing dance. For strong music, one indication would be if the MT is under the school of music, such as Michigan. My impression is that the ones with BM rather than BFA degrees (OCU and BW, maybe others) have the strongest musical emphasis. I believe the ones strong in acting often are connected to strong theatre / acting programs - examples - Webster, Ithaca, NYU Tisch. Many of the programs are good in all 3 areas, even the ones I named, but it does take investigation.</p>

<p>ericsmom,</p>

<p>thanks so much for the info</p>

<p>I just returned from the California Sate Thespian Festival and I met the Director of Musical Theater at the University of Northern Colorado. His name is Vance Fulkerson. You may want to check out their web site:
<a href="http://www.arts.unco.edu/theatredance/musictheatre.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.arts.unco.edu/theatredance/musictheatre.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>He had just flown in from NY where his seniors did their showcase for casting agents, etc.</p>

<p>Any thoughts on Steinhardt vs Miami musical theatre programs
besides the obvious weather differences
My son needs to decide between the 2</p>