<p>my daughter is interested in the following colleges and has applied and some already been accepted to, but she wants modern and ballet to be equally taught or at least close to equally taught. she wants a strong program with good academics.</p>
<p>Here is the list:
Goucher College
George Mason
Rutgers (mason gross school of the arts)
Point Park
Suny Purchase
Mercyhurst </p>
<p>Any opinions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I think you may find some helpful info on the musical theatre forum. I don't know much about dance, but I do know of one young woman who is attending Goucher for dance.</p>
<p>We checked out Goucher and my son applied. He really liked the international focus. I know they have a strong dance program and are good academically, but I don't know more specifics. I believe they're the only college in the country that requires some time abroad. We were very impressed with it.</p>
<p>You might check out Hampshire. I don't know specifics about dance there either, but the dancer/choreographer Stephen Petronio is a grad and had never danced before he took a dance class in college.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg - strong academics with a very respected dance program</p>
<p>I'll definitely second Muhlenberg - it's a true gem. My d loved it - she took an advanced pointe class when she visited and found it well-taught, challenging and fun. Most of the students seemed to be pre-med! </p>
<p>mommafulms, you have some wonderful schools on your list. One of my d's friends, who is hoping for a dance career, has already been accepted at Point Park (BFA program) and Mercyhurst. Purchase is also on her list, as are Fordham (Alvin Ailey program), Butler, Indiana, and NYU.</p>
<p>Here are links to some recent threads on this topic. I think there's a fairly recent one on the "Arts Majors" board, as well.</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/414635-college-near-city-strong-science-good-dance-program.html?highlight=dance%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/414635-college-near-city-strong-science-good-dance-program.html?highlight=dance</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/396602-dancing-college-without-majoring-dance.html?highlight=dance%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/396602-dancing-college-without-majoring-dance.html?highlight=dance</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/332937-dance-college.html?highlight=dance%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/332937-dance-college.html?highlight=dance</a></p>
<p>frazzled1 - you are right on about the pre-med observation. My daughter is a freshman at Muhlenberg, and she jokes that the majority of kids there are either studying theater (as she is), or are pre-med. The theatre and dance departments are one in the same. Daughter's roommate is a pre-med major, who has been dancing since she was 3, and continues to take dance at Muhlenberg.</p>
<p>My D goes to a performing arts high school near Goucher and 3 of the 4 dance teachers at her school teach at Goucher and the other teaches at Towson University. I know the faculty is very well liked and she knows several happy Goucher students. They do require study abroad. </p>
<p>Towson has a good rep in dance too and they have a gorgeous new $53m Center for the Arts that houses the dance department. They dance in luxury.</p>
<p>There are professors at Goucher who also teach at the prestigious Peabody Institute.</p>
<p>yes, we actually did visit Goucher and my d did Love it there, esp how they do really focus on the acedemics in addition to dance
I guess she had heard that not a lot of dancer majors come out of that school working in that field ?
Anyone know anything to the contrary?</p>
<p>Mommafulms, if your daughter is interested in a strong dance program offering both ballet and modern plus strong academics, she should consider Barnard. If you are not familiar with it, it is the Women's college affiliated with Columbia University in NYC. It's the proverbial best of both worlds in that it is a small liberal arts college, provides a unique atmosphere and focus on women while providing its students unlimited access to Columbia's classess and resources (degress are conferred by Columbia University) and there are men in almost all of Barnard's classess. </p>
<p>My d started there considering a dance major. She has since become a neuroscience major but still dances and has even enjoyed success in professional auditions in NYC (but without all the real pressure to get a job because she does not plan to dance forever).</p>
<p>Barnar'd dance program has an excellent reputation with Twyla Tharp probably being the most noted graduate at this point. Check it out and all the best to you and your daughter!</p>
<p>I think they told us at Goucher that their dance students (though serious about dance) wanted to be prepared to do something else too.</p>
<p>If your d is looking to become a professional dancer, then the schools that emphasize academics as well as dance, and which don't require an audition for entry, may not be appropriate. Most of those schools have a philosophy similar to Goucher's. A number of the students who study dance in schools like that do continue in the dance field, as teachers, administrators, etc., but not necessarily as professional dancers.</p>
<p>If she wants to become a professional dancer, she may want to concentrate on BFA programs that require auditions. However, due to the demands of such programs, academics will necessarily take a back seat.</p>
<p>See what's happening between Smith College (ballet) and Mt. Holyoke (Modern).
Both are in a "Five College Consortium" in Western Massachusetts, with open enrollment into any of these 5 schools: Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, UMass at Amherst, Hampshire. You just have to be able to schedule things in, but can take courses from any of the 5. </p>
<p>Smith and Mt. Holyoke are all-women's colleges, and the other 3 are coed.</p>
<p>A free bus shuttle links the five institutions.</p>
<p>The academic expectations at Smith or Mt. Holyoke are higher than for some of your list, so these might be reach schools for your D.</p>
<p>Best of luck with those happy feet.</p>
<p>Dancers who are pursuing the professional tract (ballet, in particular) are doing just that - they are placing their academic studies on hold for the time being while they are getting started on their dance careers, and then perhaps will go on to college after they've danced for a while - in other cases, they've been accepted to college, but defer.</p>