<p>Hey all! My apologies if there is already a thread on a similar topic however.. what colleges with a MT program have a rising reputation? I remember reading somewhere that someone said Marymount Manhattan's performance program is developing quite well.</p>
<p>I’m sure you will get lots of responses to this question. Here are a couple of threads that may interest you:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1473936-programs-most-surprised-you-impressed-you.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1473936-programs-most-surprised-you-impressed-you.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1476926-setc-professional-audition-observations.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1476926-setc-professional-audition-observations.html</a></p>
<p>Montclair State…we’ve gone from about 45 kids auditioning for the program 6-7 years ago to 700 now. Each year more and more kids are coming out and I definitely think that’s a testament to the success of the program.</p>
<p>Ohio Northern
Utah
Coastal Carolina
Rider</p>
<p>I think people call smaller schools like some of the ones (with the exclusion of Rider) Vvnstar mentioned,“rising” because they hear a little about them on these forum, without an exact reason for each school. In my opinion Montclair, Rider, and Northern Colorado are rising in reputation. Rider because of the close proximity to NYC so it intrigues more people but also they are working hard to make the program great. Of course, the dance teacher Robin Lewis is fabulous. Northern Colorado, I don’t know much about but ALOT of their graduates are working which is why we go to college in the first place. Montclair as well, they have a great staff in all areas of MT and is close to the city. I don’t know much about their graduates but I have a feeling that might change soon.</p>
<p>I’m not going to either of these schools so I am not being biased in anyway.</p>
<p>Utah is a rising program because they are very new. They already had a reputable acting and voice department for years, and a nationally acclaimed dance department, when they started the program 3 years ago. They brought the head of the department in last year. Denny has tweaked the curriculum which will be initiated next school year (beware: the curriculum on their website has not yet been updated). They attend Unifieds so are pulling talent nationally. Add to that a sparkling small city surrounded by mountains, their fairly low tuition and the ability to become a resident very easily (by the time sophomore year starts) and it is a school to keep an eye on. My D will be attending in the fall, so if anyone has specific questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>I think Western Michigan is totally rising. The audition number have gone up, and most people accept their offers tuition is manageable and they have a fair amount of working alumni. I think in a few years it will be good and in about ten it will be great.</p>
<p>Any little known, newer, or previously bad program could probably fairly be described as having a rising reputation. And all of them from the most obscure to the top schools have had a huge increase in applicants.</p>
<p>I teach at JMU, so am bias 
but we currently have alums on (or soon to be going on) national tours/ out of town companies of Book of Mormon, Catch me if You Can, Memphis, among others… on BWay in Annie, Far from Heaven, Spiderman, off-Broadway, working actively in regional theatre, and film and TV. </p>
<p>We are a small program… aim for a class of 8 - 12 freshmen/ transfers in musical theatre each year. My first year here seven years ago we auditioned 55 for musical theatre, this past year we auditioned close to 200 for musical theatre. the Theatre program has also become much more selective over the past 7 years. There is opportunity for theatre students to take some music, dance, and participate in musicals, and for musical theatre students to take many acting classes and audition for all plays. We have about 20 - 30 guest artists come to JMU each year to work with our students. </p>
<p>We are an auditioned “intensive BA” program. Students balance significant studio class work and performance opportunities with a fair amount of academic classwork. So, an option to look into for students who are looking for a strong program in musical theatre combined with strong academics and a “college experience.” </p>
<p>I agree with all of the programs listed above… although I think I would call all of these programs more “strong programs you may not have heard as much about,” rather than “programs on the rise.” Some of them are new programs, so they just do not have the same long standing reputation, and of course are on the rise… others have been around for awhile, but may not have been as well known for whatever reason, or have a shift in faculty, curriculum, or focus that seems to be working positively. </p>
<p>I would also add Illinois Wesleyan, Webster, Texas State, Viterbo, UCLA, and Muhlenberg to those mentioned above. I know there are others as well that are slipping my mind right now. </p>
<p>This is a really great question!! In the end it is all about finding a balanced list of programs that pique your interest, and where you think you would be happy to train, live, and grow for four years. Finding programs that may not be as well known, that offer solid training, and where you think you could be happy is a great goal. All students will thrive in different environments. There is no one cookie cutter path to a career. :-)</p>
<p>Many schools are feeling the effect of a major talent pool coming through auditions. Some call it the “Glee Factor” (a term I hate) - a rise in interest due to televisions focus on talent shows and such. I know that many schools mentioned to us that their application submittal rates were higher than normal. I think that will lead to many schools “rising” just due to the talent pool to choose from.</p>
<p>In one of those previous threads, a poster mentioned the success of students from Belmont and Marshall. I was happy to read something good about a W.Va. school (Marshall). I don’t know much about Belmont. Does anyone know much about the program there?</p>
<p>I have heard good things about the program at Belmont. Students used to be able to choose between a BM or BFA, not sure if that is still the case. Nashville is a great town!</p>
<p>In W.V. West Virginia Wesleyan also has a MT program I believe.</p>
<p>My D has 2 friends at Belmont, both Commercial Music majors, one with a Performance emphasis, one with a Song Writing emphasis. There are many, many choices for music students at Belmont and musical theatre students can choose either a BM or BFA (one in the music department and one in the theatre department).</p>
<p>I agree that you can’t have the definition of “rising reputation” just based on how many apply each year, though that is a factor. Go look at the schools and also see what they are doing that is new and innovative, what faculty they are hiring, how has the school changed in the last few years? Texas State is a perfect example of a school that kind of blew out of the water by hiring new faculty, building new facilities, etc. Montclair State has also added faculty, new classes, new buildings, a lot going on there that really impressed us when we visited, and my daughter ultimately chose it over Marymount. Marymount gets a lot of applicants because it is in the City, but I wouldn’t put it in the category of “rising program.” That’s just my opinion.</p>
<p>I can’t say which schools have rising reputations and some of that would have to come from industry insiders. </p>
<p>However, having been a college counselor in this field for 10 years and also having my own kid enter a BFA in MT program in 2005, I can comment on some schools that are more on the “radar” than they were 8 to 10 years ago for MT. Some of these are simply new and weren’t around before. Also, as it gets more competitive and more apply, and people are casting a wider net from what used to be the typical MT college list, I would say that some schools more on the radar than they used to be (or are simply newer), but this doesn’t mean their reputations necessarily have risen, in my observations are:</p>
<p>Baldwin-Wallace
Otterbein
Texas State
Pace
Montclair State
Rider
Webster
Coastal Carolina
UArts
Ball State
Elon
Indiana</p>
<p>I know a LOT of students who have applied to college for MT and around 8-10 years ago, barely heard of anyone applying to the schools above (or those programs did not yet exist), compared to hearing of many who apply to these schools now.</p>
<p>Since Rider has been mentioned here, thought it was worth mentioning this thread/post:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16021204-post1.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16021204-post1.html</a></p>
<p>The Musical Theatre degree at Rider is now officially a BFA! The Rider website will be updated soon.</p>
<p>Re; soozievt’s list of “rising programs” - she is correct, these schools have greatly increased the # of applicants to their MT programs, and as a result, could now be considered highly competitive, in particular Baldwin-Wallace, Otterbein, Coastal Carolina and Webster who have very small MT classes each year. At this point, I would advise against anyone considering any of these schools easy to get into and while adding these excellent programs to your list, make sure you have numerous others that have larger admittance rates AND that you have nonaudition safeties in addition to any of these schools. While not well known in general for those in the outside college world, among those in MT these names are becoming very familiar!</p>
<p>I need to put in a plug for Ball State where my D will be attending this fall. Great faculty and a very well rounded program whose graduates are doing well out there!</p>
<p>Yes! 
Adding to jeffandann-
The [Ball</a> State Theatre and Dance](<a href=“http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance.aspx]Ball”>http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CollegesandDepartments/TheatreDance.aspx) program is always growing and is truly a family like atmosphere. I’ve discovered that one of the most important things for me to have in a school/program is a sense of a family-like environment within the theatre department. It is very important to me that my classmates are not only supportive of me, but also people I will be able to be great friends with throughout my four years of college. Leaving my high school theatre family was really hard, and I wanted to make sure I was going to a place where I would have that same sense of community and I have found that here at Ball State.</p>
<p>Coastal Carolina just added two new great dance faculty, both with tons of professional and Broadway credits! My D is starting as a BFA MT in the fall and could not be more impressed or happy that she will be at CCU!!</p>