<p>Thanks for all the suggestions!</p>
<p>Does anyone know how difficult it is for non-majors to get into classes at some of these schools?</p>
<p>Also, at a place like Elon, how many times a week do minors typical take dance class?</p>
<p>I'm not sure if one can maintain technique taking class only twice a week, especially if the class is less than 90 minutes....</p>
<p>My D is minoring in dance at Pomona. Finding a school where she could continue to dance was important for her too. Since Pomona is close to LA, the department is able to attract exciting professors, visiting professors and choreographers. The dance department is also strong because it shares resources and a large pool of dancers with the other four schools in the Claremont Consortium.</p>
<p>Dance is like soccer...no matter where you go you can probably find an outlet. She may have to look off campus or satisfy her need to move through the PE dept. or maybe a theatre production or two that include non-majors. I second the poster who said that a couple of classes a week may be all that she can squeeze in. Good Luck to her! It's hard when something you have been passionate about for so long is moved from the foreground to the background.</p>
<p>You might consider a college in an urban location where private studio classes are available. My d. is at Barnard and students there routinely take classes at the big dance centers like Steps or Broadway dance. I know you said that Barnard was out of reach academically, but there are other alternatives in NY: Fordham, Marymount Manhattan, Pace, etc.</p>
<p>As to the time spent on dance - my d. is in that position -- nonmajor, may minor in dance -- and couldn't fit dance into her schedule at all last spring. She planned to take class in the summer, but couldn't fit that around the hours of her internship. She's taking a modern class at school this semester -2 classes a week. She adjusted -- yes it was a change, but I guess she spent 14 years of her life before college exercising her body, and now she is exercising her mind instead. She stays in good physical shape because she does so much walking in NY. </p>
<p>The other choice for your d. may be to look at large universities -- you just have to make sure they offer a dance minor and that most of their classes are open to non-majors.</p>
<p>The quality of instruction at the college level (outside of BFA programs) in terms of technique is rarely as strong as advanced students have been getting through their studios; even if the instructor is excellent, the ability range of other students limits what can be done in class, except for the most advanced level classes. So that is one more reason it makes sense for some students to simply take evening classes at a studio near their school.</p>
<p>what D needs to REALLY think about is how much she is willing to MISS in college because of hours and hours for dance....</p>
<p>is she in any shows now, and if she doesn't have that, is that okay with her?</p>
<p>how important is it to her to be a ballerina with no audience while missing lots of other things</p>
<p>I guess I would want my D to really think about chosing s school from such a narrow perspective</p>
<p>Say she hurts herself, and that can really happen, she needs to be sure the school is a place she can really see herself if she can never dance like she used to</p>
<p>citygirlsmom, it's likely that my daughter's top criteria for school choice will be location (urban and warm weather) and size (medium to small size).</p>
<p>I am more concerned that she will choose a school with little-to-no dance and then wish she had more opportunities to continue with dance.</p>
<p>She has been much more devoted to dance than academics, I sort of wish she wanted to major in it as she would probably have a stronger application as a dance major than as a non-dance major.</p>
<p>but remember, dance majors have lots of competition for the programs. even that doesnt make for a stronger application, with tryouts and the like</p>
<p>I will second Rollins College in Winter Park (small LAC--Newsweek ranks #1 for Southern Region for "Universities with Masters" (second tier ranking) even though it is a small LAC. USF has a great dance dept with Grethen Ward Warren heading up the ballet, but its rather large. It is warm though.</p>
<p>Sounds like she had the grades for Rollins and it is SAT optional now, unless you want to be considered for merit aid.</p>
<p>hoi, my D has done some modern and some fusion, also dancing in student choreography projects.</p>
<p>re: UC's: the 3.3 for out-of-state is a <em>minimum</em> and it's unlikely that an applicant with a 3.3 and no major compensating factors would be accepted to the top campuses. However, UC Irvine has an <em>excellent</em> dance program and gorgeous facilities...it was one of my D's safeties but she dropped it because it was just too close to home.</p>
<p>And Irvine is warm weather, let me assure you...and she could probably fly in/out of John Wayne airport in Orange County rather than hassling LAX.</p>
<p>
[quote]
what D needs to REALLY think about is how much she is willing to MISS in college because of hours and hours for dance....</p>
<p>is she in any shows now, and if she doesn't have that, is that okay with her?</p>
<p>how important is it to her to be a ballerina with no audience while missing lots of other things</p>
<p>I guess I would want my D to really think about chosing s school from such a narrow perspective</p>
<p>Say she hurts herself, and that can really happen, she needs to be sure the school is a place she can really see herself if she can never dance like she used to
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I disagree with several things you raised. Just because someone is very actively involved in an extracurricular or even a minor in college, doesn't mean they are missing out on the college experience. I have a D who is heavily involved in her EC in a lifelong area of passion that she did not want to give up in college as an EC. I don't feel she is missing out on anything at her college. In fact, her college experience has been enriched by being involved in things other than academics. </p>
<p>As far as choosing a college from a "narrow perspective,".....finding a school that offered her EC was ONE of several criteria she had in picking a school. There are hundreds of colleges out there. She narrowed it down by several criteria and all of the colleges had to have this EC, as well as the other factors she wanted in a college. So, the EC didn't rule the list but the schools had to have it. </p>
<p>She is not missing lots of other things!</p>
<p>If my D hurts herself, which I pray to God she doesn't, and in fact her EC is very dangerous (I know someone she did it with growing up who was paralyzed recently doing this EC at her respective college), her school would still be a school she adores. She loves her school for many many reasons beyond this EC endeavor. However, she also loves this EC activity which has been one significant component, of many, of her time at this school. </p>
<p>If a kid has a passion, I see no need to squelch it when they reach college. Their passion may become their major/career as with one of my kids (not the one I was talking about here) and it may become a serious passion/hobby like my other kid is still doing at her college, but is not a major (couldn't be a major anyway but same idea). It is a sport. </p>
<p>Both my girls grew up dancing a LOT. One of mine IS pursuing a major/career that includes dance....musical theater. I understand injuries but she would not stop going after her passion because she MIGHT get injured. It so happens, my D was severely injured in a car crash immediately following her college auditions. While I would hate to see any kid so injured, it was worse in this case because she is going into musical theater which involves dance as a part of the degree program and the career itself and one of her injuries was a fractured pelvis. She has five metal screws in her hip now. She miraculously recovered from all of her injuries in time for college. Chita Rivera has five metal screws in her hip too. A close friend of my D's in her program is paralyzed from the waist down and is still in the program and in dance classes. She has been quite successful so far. Not even her injuries by a drunk driver has kept her from her passion. </p>
<p>I think if your D really cares about dance and wants to minor in it, double major, or merely take classes and dance in an EC group, she ought to go for it. I can't see giving up one's passion when it is unnecessary to do so to attend college. She can dance at college and even have a wonderful social group in her EC endeavors. My kids' EC passions and endeavors didn't stop when they got to college.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am more concerned that she will choose a school with little-to-no dance and then wish she had more opportunities to continue with dance.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My d did just that - we spent hours finding schools that allowed her to focus on jazz dance, or at least didn't require a lot of modern. She applied to one that didn't have a lot of dance, because it was highly recommended by a lot of people who knew her well. So where is she? You got it. She's now doing dance strictly as an EC - she's in the student-run ballet group in three dances, which is only about 3 or so hours per week. But she loves her school. And she has referrals to several area dance schools.</p>
<p>Of course, she's currently only a freshman, so we'll see what happens.</p>
<p>Chedva....but at least your D is dancing. It would seem to me that the OP may or may not need to find schools with a dance minor, but one thing she could also look for is a school that has dance EC groups. There are many schools that do and some even have lots of performance troupes. She need not totally give up dance, in other words. </p>
<p>I'm glad your D loves her school and has found her place! :D</p>
<p>My daughter is having the same issue. She knows she's not good enough to dance professionally and doesn't really want to major in dance, but she would like to minor or at least take some good (ie, at her level) dance classes. I had suggested Wash U to her because it has a ballet minor, but she has decided not to apply there. I was intrigued to read the prior comment about Stanford's dance program; I was aware of Northwestern's. I would like to second the comment about thinking that you will really have time to go to a lot of dance classes; my daughter has the unrealistic expectation that she could just bop up to San Francisco or Berkeley to take classes. It sounds like the Columbia/Barnard students have a lot more options with classes in NYC.
This is a long way of getting back to the OP--her daughter would probably have a lot more options if she goes to school in a big city.</p>
<p>h.polloi, has your daughter thought about Vanderbilt at all? My middle d is a junior there now. She danced 15 hours a week throughout high school and knows good dance when she sees it :) . She has been very impressed with the dance classes and EC dance opportunities at Vandy. Here's a link:
<a href="http://www.vanderbilt.edu/dance/about.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.vanderbilt.edu/dance/about.html</a></p>
<p>It looks as if an advanced ballet class is offered 3 times per week, as is an intermediate advanced class. Lots of other options, too (belly dancing?). Nashville Ballet is also not far away, and I'm sure your d could find some high-quality private studios in a city the size of Nashville, as well. My d has moved on to other ECs, but she still follows the dance scene. She could not be happier about Vandy, academically and in every other way.</p>
<p>Thanks, soozie, you've articulated better than I could the point I was trying to make - that as long as there is some place to dance, even just as an EC, a dancer may be happy, so don't write off schools that have neither a major nor a minor.</p>
<p>Another school I'd suggest to others in the same situation (which may not work for the OP due to stats), is Vassar. Vassar has a lot of serious dance classes and just built a beautiful performance center just for dance, but no major or minor. My d took a class there while visiting that was taught by a member of ABT.</p>
<p>Kudos to all for your help.</p>
<p>Soozievt, like you we are using availability of this EC as a criterion, add in urban location and medium-small size as well as more of a B+-ish student, and the list is not that long -- Vassar is out, NYC is out, etc. </p>
<p>frazzled1, thanks for the Vandy link -- they actually have 90 minute classes, yeah!!! And urban location! Academically is probably a reach...</p>
<p>Taking class off campus often involves a car, yet another hurdle...</p>
<p>Chedva, glad things are working out for your daughter dance-wise. Did she check out the dance club prior to her acceptance?</p>
<p>No, we only visited the school after acceptance, since it wasn't that high on her list. She met with the dance club folks, saw some videos of performances and decided that this was probably enough for her. And everything else about the school overrode her desire for dance classes. (BTW, I've been told that they're working on adding technique classes to the curriculum, we hope for next year!)</p>
<p>h.polloi....it is hard to make suggestions of schools based just on the dance criteria and size/location because a big big factor is your D's background and qualifications vis a vis the profile of admitted students at each college and the acceptance rate at those colleges. You can share what you like and I'm not asking you to reveal more than you wish to, but without such information, I feel we are making wild guess suggestions. You mentioned in another post that your D would not have at least the 3.3 required at UC. So, I don't know her GPA but will assume it is below 3.3 based on that statement. I do not know the rigor of the classes she took among what was available at her HS, but the GPA doesn't tell me enough without knowing what she took. I don't know either her class rank or what percentile of the class she would fall in. I don't know her SAT or ACT scores. I don't know the strength of her activities and achievements, though do know she has been devoted to ballet her whole life. </p>
<p>I suggested schools initially that were all over the map in terms of selectivity. Once I got an inkling of GPA, I suggested Rollins and Goucher but still had too little to go on.</p>
<p>You are now considering Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt accepts 34% which is quite selective. 84% are from out of state and 46% come from the South. 79% are from top 10% of HS class, 95% from top 25%, and 99% from top 50%. Is your D in the top 10% of her class? If not her chances are much less than the 34% admit rate to Vandy. Is she in the top 25%? If not, she should not apply to Vandy. The mid SATs for admitted students are: CR 640-730, M 660-740, combined 1280-1470 and the mid ACT scores are 29-32. Does your D have at least a 1300? Because with a GPA lower than 3.3 which already will make Vandy a big reach, she would need other factors to override that hopefully and so an SAT score that is also low for Vandy would make the school too far of a reach given their fairly low acceptance rate as well. Those are some things to look at before you look too deeply into their dance offerings. Since I don't know her background or stats, I can't say but this is an example of a basic thing to examine. Goucher and Vandy are not in the same ballpark of colleges. </p>
<p>If you say that Vassar is out and this is similar information for Vassar: accepts 29%, 45% from top 10%, 95% from top quarter, Avg. GPA 3.8 (A-), mid SATs CR 660-740, (715 mean) M 650-720 (698 mean), combined 1310-1460 (mean 1413), mean Writing 705, mid ACT 29-32, mean 31, I don't think Vandy is any easier to get into. </p>
<p>It is harder to help you without taking into account these sorts of things, while only looking at dance opportunities and location/size.</p>
<p>I know that your daughter has concentrated on ballet, but has she thought of trying out for a college drill/dance team (the type that performs at football games)? It would keep her stretched and she would be learning new choregraphy, albeit of a different type.</p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of ballet dancers I know would roll their eyes at sports dance team routines.</p>