<p>Does anyone know much about the MT Program at Cornish? I don't see it listed in the MT Colleges here but I know they offer a BFA in MT.</p>
<p>Welcome to CC. Just so you know, Cornish IS listed in the Big List of Musical Theater Colleges on this forum on the following link:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/801037-big-list-mt-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/801037-big-list-mt-colleges.html</a>
(see Post #2 on that thread which is the most updated list of colleges)
^^^This thread in “pinned” to the top of the MT Forum discussion threads.</p>
<p>I assume you are looking at the colleges atop this forum and those are merely subforums discussing particularly MT colleges, but NOT all the MT colleges, just the ones that have significant discussion to warrant their own specific forum.</p>
<p>The “Big List” is the comprehensive list. The subforums on certain colleges are just a subset of MT colleges that have their own discussion forums.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information.</p>
<p>I was wondering about the MT program at Cornish too, so I recently went to a college rep visit for Cornish at my HS, and I learned a lot. They don’t exactly have an MT major… but what you can do is audition for their Theatre program, and then starting your sophomore year in college, you could start to focus on a concentration- i.e. MT or Dance. So your major would be Theatre, but you can concentrate after your freshman year.</p>
<p>Be sure to look carefully at Cornish, and visit it if possible. It is very different from all other MT programs and the school is, too. It is housed in some older buildings in downtown Seattle and has no campus to speak of. I do not believe there is any dorm housing. If you are looking for a true college experience, I don’t think you will find it here.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. I don’t think my D will be interested in it.</p>
<p>I know they now have dorms for freshman. Their program does seem very different but it did spark and interest with my D even though it is very different from any other program. Anyone have any current info or opinion on Cornish?</p>
<p>My daughter has several very talented friends at Cornish and did a summer program that was based there (though not through Cornish - they were using their facilities) a few years ago. Though I can’t speak specifically to the MT program, I can say that the instruction is excellent and Cornish students are very well connected with the Seattle theatre community which among other things includes the 5th Ave. Theatre where many musicals are tweaked before going to Broadway. Not a bad place to be.</p>
<p>Yes there are dorms and I believe freshman are required to live on campus.</p>
<p>Bumping this post to see if anyone has visited or has more info</p>
<p>Just an update to what elizabeth247 said, the auditor who auditioned us at Chicago Unifieds said that the degree is in Theatre, but in Sophomore year you can concentrate in either Musical Theatre or Acting, not dance. Maybe they changed it since her post.</p>
<p>Also, in Junior year you can concentrate in Original Works, which the auditor said involves a lot of experimentation with techniques for developing new material, such as writing scripts and skits from improv sessions, and also involves working with the MT and Acting concentration students with OW student-written and directed performances. There’s more detailed information about each concentration’s curriculum on the school’s website.</p>
<p>We know a very talented girl who, after her freshman year at Cornish, wanted to transfer. (This gal could’ve easily gotten into the most competitive programs in the country, but she didn’t have the type of family support that would help her seek out a better fit.) She wanted to leave because she felt the training was not any better than her previous experiences in our theatre-rich, but relatively small town. But, she didn’t have the support of her family to transfer, so there she sits. </p>
<p>We live in the West and were so disappointed that this program wasn’t a viable option for my daughter. It would’ve been nice to have her only one plane ride away.</p>
<p>@kksmom5 - Do you know any specifics as to what she disliked about the program?</p>
<p>She didn’t say specifics, just that she learned more through our local theatre programs than she had her freshmen year. I think Christie gave some really good advice . . . visit the school and try to arrange sitting in on classes before committing to go there. I would also ask to see a four-year plan and sample schedules for each semester/quarter. They may be a just right place for you. But, here’s something to think about . . . this isn’t some hidden gem that’s out in the middle of nowhere, this program is in Seattle, a very vibrant theatre community. Why aren’t people flocking to attend?</p>
<p>P.S. I just checked, and cost of attendance is $45,780 a year. I think there are better programs out there for THAT money, for sure.</p>
<p>I wrote the above post after a very long week. Reading back on it now (especially the P.S.), it sounds kind of crabby and smart-alecky. Sorry about that . . . I think I was partially shocked at the cost of attendance. And tired and a little crabby. ;)</p>
<p>Hey, kksmom - Your post was NOT crabby - the price does seem very high. In answer to a query performerporter sent me but that I was unable to answer for a bit because I think CC got hacked earlier today . . .I haven’t been to Seattle for a few years, but I believe the main building of Cornish is located a few blocks up from the waterfront where the ferries into Puget Sound take off from. It’s a few blocks down from the Pike’s Place market area, which is nice, but right around there are lots of dock buildings and parking lots. It’s not as nice as the SF waterfront and there is a busy road that runs right along the waterfront. Unless it’s changed from a few years back, It’s a place very busy by day, but I’m not sure I’d want to walk around it at night . . . its down a ways from the downtown where stores and restaurants are, walkable, but not so much fun in the rain:-) I hope someone who has been to Seattle more recently than I will chime in.</p>
<p>Cornish is nowhere near the ferry docks and waterfront. It’s located between Seattle’s downtown and Capitol Hill neighborhoods which is a great place to be for an arts college. There are plenty of other artsy neighborhood in Seattle, but if you’re student, this is a better place to be for easy public transportation and walking to the things you care about. The location is with in walking distance of all of Seattle’s theatres of which there are many both downtown and in the Seattle Center. Though fairly close to the old greyhound bus station, the area is undergoing all kinds of construction and anything that would have been considered “seedy” about that area is being rapidly replaced by developments that few of us could afford. I’d never hesitate to walk around in that area at night. The Whole Foods Market and apartments that sit above it are for people that can afford to buy their organic grass fed hamburger for $8.99/lb. And it is literally… right there in the middle of “that”.</p>
<p>Repeating myself a bit but Cornish has good ties to many of the Seattle theatres. Students are often used in local productions as “apprentices” and believe me, some of these kids are going places. </p>
<p>People do flock to Cornish more than you think but they more than not from the Northwest but local preference is often the case for many of the schools that people talk about here. If you live in the Northwest, you’ve heard of Cornish. If you live in the Northwest, you didn’t know of CCU, Elon, Evansville, Otterbein and many others unless you deliberately branched out and got lucky enough to bump into this forum.</p>
<p>Like many that are still working to become more national (and I don’t even know if they are working on that but I know they feel they have a legitimate offering and I’d second that they do), one would certainly find a mixed bag of peers. All must offer something artistically and they do. Some are not now and have never been famous for being good students. Some walk to the beat of their own drummer. That can be good for artists but it also might mean people don’t stay to the end. I’m sure that has next to nothing to do with the training there and is more a result of the student’s needs. Seattle is overflowing with really good teaching talent and many of them teach at Cornish.</p>
<p>End of commercial. My kid doesn’t go to Cornish, didn’t apply to Cornish but took classes in their facilities and has friends who are there as freshman right now. If nobody else can offer something better I thought I’d throw it out there. Cornish is one of several schools that I follow that if nobody else wants to say something in its defense… I guess I will.</p>
<p>Thanks halflokum- my D and I are planning a one day crazy trip(she really can’t miss anymore school or rehearsal time)…since being from the Midwest we gain time -so flying out early and taking the red-eye back. She will cram in sitting in on class and a production opens that night so hopefully we can get a feel for the place.</p>
<p>There are so many times when I wish my D was posting here instead of me. She knows these programs best as she has taken classes at Cornish. She says the dance program is really strong but she would not have considered it for MT. Perhaps the program is building, but it just wasn’t strong enough fro her to think about this year. On the plus side - Seattle is probably one of the BEST cities to study theatre in beyond NYC. It is home to amazing talent and the theatre culture is HUGE. Many Broadway stars come here for a second career - or for a stint and teach/act/ etc.</p>
<p>Halflokum, so glad you chimed in on Cornish’s location. I was going off their published address on Mapquest, which put it down closer to the waterfront. Perhaps that is an administrative office or such. I do think the program is building from beyond where it was 2 years ago when my daughter and I looked at it via the web. At that time, there were no dorms available and it seemed it had just gone through some major reorganization. Hopefully, broadway95 can give everyone some good feedback from their visit.</p>
<p>We live just outside Seattle in the burbs but my daughter wasn’t interested in applying to Cornish. She also didn’t feel that the dance program was strong enough for what she was looking for. My impression of the school is that it is very strong in the visual arts programs and not as strong in musical theatre. However, the theatre scene in Seattle and the surrounding area is very strong and prntosome, you’re right…many professsionals in the industry elsewhere come here for a second career. My D has been so lucky to have professional choreographers with off-Broadway credits, etc. etc. choreograph her high school shows and in a summer regional theatre production of Chorus Line that my D was in there was a professional actor playing Zach who has played leads in Chorus Line on Broadway and the national tour two diffferent times in his career. I just wish there was an Ithaca or some such quality musical theatre school here in our area so my D could stay in the Seattle area instead of going out of state!!!</p>