@fedewafamily Can you tell me about the Webster Univ program? MyDD is auditioning there this month and we did not have very many details. Curious on feedback.
@amom2girls Thank you for the great response as I found it very helpful. I hear the kids love the Rutgers program but I had a feeling it would not be for my daughter. Rutgers is a great school to attend and I wish your daughter all the best! I appreciate that you took so much time to write me such an informative response, hopefully, it helps answer questions for so many others looking as well.
Hello! My daughter is just starting her search, and interested in a West Coast college that allows her to focus on dance but perhaps get a minor in business. She’s more commercially focused - contemporary, jazz, modern - and plans to dance professionally if she can. Which schools should be on our radar? Thanks!
@will4444 Chapman University comes to mind, as does USC. Possibly Loyola Marymount?
@will4444 Are you in-state for CA schools? If so then UCI, UCSB and CSULB are all cost-effective options, although perhaps not quite so good at getting students into professional dance careers as Chapman. But Chapman can be quite expensive so consider the ROI for a low paying dance career.
USC is excellent but very tough to get a place. UCLA also has modern dance though not particularly focused on professional careers. Arizona and Utah’s modern programs are not quite west coast but also worth considering.
@twoin18, we are out-of-state, but she is set on West Coast and dance. 
Thanks for the insight!
Hope everyone’s dancers are doing well in their program! Here we go again - my son is coming back (we live in SCA) to audition again for USC this weekend
Good luck to him, @SCMHAALUM !
@SCMHAALUM My daughter will be auditioning Sunday at USC. I read about your son’s search process when researching dance schools before the start of our college admissions journey. I was grateful for all the details and advice in last year’s thread from so many families.
@mom2adancer Thank you! @calypte Good luck to your daughter! My son is there on Sunday too!
Merde to your dancers auditioning this Sunday! My kiddo has Purchase this weekend and then USC the following weekend.
@Undercovermom1 Tough auditions…good luck!!
@Undercovermom1 How was Purchase audition? Do they cut before solos/interview? My daughter auditions there beginning of Feb and USC end of January
Purchase makes cuts after modern and ballet before solos
@collegemom9 Thanks! Is it a large cut? I was told at one audition they only asked 7 dancers to show solos and there were almost 50 auditioning
I heard that at this one only 15 out of about 60 were asked to perform their solos. Big cut.
Many probably already know this, USC doesn’t cut any dancers through the half day audition classes (ballet, modern, improv, hip hop). The word was there are more than 2000 applicants this year and about 6% (120 or so) are invited to audition. They want to give each applicant time to be seen. I wasn’t sure if I heard it correctly because last year there were 600+ applicants, but my son said that’s what he heard too. Last year our son was very nervous and didn’t want us to go with him. It was such a pleasant day. They feed the parents and kids breakfast and lunch. Arranged private tour to Walt Disney Concert Hall and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. We’ve been to these places dozens of times and never knew there was a garden behind the Walt Disney Concert Hall! We had lunch with the current students and were able to ask many questions. Solos and interviews were after lunch and was in a relaxed and supportive environment. Great experience.
During the USC parent session last weekend, the admissions director said they couldn’t disclose publicly exactly how many applied until USC made it it official. She did say “about 25%” were invited to audition this year, so it would seem applications were under 500.
Parents in a different session said they had heard over 1,000 applied, so it seems there is a bit of mythology about the process there. Another parent said they were told only 98 of the 120 invited registered to audition–perhaps the travel to LA was an obstacle for some? They definitely do a better job than most at hosting and recruiting, and their facilities are so nice and new. About 30% of their current students are from California, and a little more than 50% are male.
Hey Everyone - I have just spent several hours on this rainy day reading ALL of these posts. So informative and overwhelming at the same time. I would absolutely love some insight from all of you smart people! My DD is currently a Junior and classical ballet dancer. Just for context: she’s taken ballet since she was 4 and currently trains 22-25 hours per week while remaining in a very challenging brick and mortar high school. Her dance studio is very small but very high level - we like to call it a “boutique.” She has attended top summer programs (SAB, PNB, Boston) and been invited to stay and train year-round with all of them but has turned them down. I think it is safe to say that she could have a professional ballet career of some kind if she wanted one, but she has never wanted to give up “real” school (with real teachers) and is just not convinced she wants to be a professional dancer. At the same time, she cannot imagine giving up ballet completely - she says she “needs” some ballet every day. She is a very good student, taking the most difficult classes her school offers and doing really well in them, and she has good test scores. She has won awards for her writing but really doesn’t know what to do with that, either. So - what to do about college?? Is there a college with strong academics where she can continue to dance just because she loves it?? Maybe a minor with strong ballet classes? A double major (though I have read how hard it is to double major). I think a Liberal Arts school would be best for her since she’s quite undecided on a career path?
@JLTAGTEKT I have a high school junior daughter who is a less advanced dancer than yours (gave up dance when she was young to do soccer then came back to ballet in middle school, so she’s an intermediate level dancer now). She also would like to take ballet at school but no desire to major in it. One place she likes (she likes it overall, not just because of dance) which has been mentioned in this thread is USC (Southern California). It’s very strong academically in a number of areas. Not easy to get into actually. They have a BFA in dance but also have a minor in dance. I know someone whose daughter is a senior there now and minored in dance and seems to have liked it. We saw the gorgeous Glorya Kaufman School of Dance building when we visited the school last year and attended a presentation about the school of dance. It’s stunning and quite new, beautiful studios, multiple floors. Here’s something about the dance minor https://kaufman.usc.edu/degrees/minors/ I’m not sure how ballet-oriented the minor is though. Like your daughter, mine is most into ballet. She’s done jazz as well but she wants to go somewhere that she can take ballet classes for fun. She may not even want to minor, just take classes. She asked one of the presenters at USC School of Dance presentation if that is possible to do, and they said it was.