<p>My husband works at a small, Catholic college about 30-40 minutes from our home. My daughter, a senior this year, could attend there for free. Unfortunately she's been attending a small Catholic high school and is ready for something bigger and definitely more liberal. In addition to that, they don't have her desired major, musical theater. In fact, their theater club doesn't perform musicals or even comedies, just these dark, avante-garde, depressing plays. It's frustrating because while I totally understand where she is coming from, we would still love for her to go there. There is a good community theater just a few miles away that she could participate in, as well as cheerleading and dance team, which she loves as well. She's not sure what type of career she's interested in for the future, so it's hard to try to get her excited about a different major or program. Musical theater is her first love, and while she is talented, we really couldn't afford the tuition at one of the bigger MT schools. She would like to go to the local state university (SUNY New Paltz), which does have a decent theater program and is about the same distance away. She would probably live on campus at either school (at least for the first year), so the difference in price would probably be about $7,000 per year tuition. We're just not sure if we should make her go to the free tuition school (some of my husband's co-workers do this) or let her go to the state school (assuming she gets in!). We are lucky that (as of now) she wants to stay close to home. Thoughts anyone?</p>
<p>You check the curriculum she would need to complete at the Suny school and see if she could do some of those basic prereqs eg English, math, psych etc at your husband’ school for the first year so you would get that year at no cost then transfer.</p>
<p>I wonder why the Catholic college theater club doesn’t do musical theater? Maybe they would be open to trying other theater forms if they had a student who was willing and eager to lead the way? What a terrific leaning experience that would be for your daughter. Perhaps she could find out if the college/club would be willing to try it. Seems to me that the experience of organizing and producing something new and different on a college campus would be as valuable as a major in musical theater.</p>
<p>Musicals have more components to stage than straight plays…the orchestra, music, dancing, and acting. Many schools don’t do them. The royalties are more expensive too.</p>
<p>To the OP, I gather your husbands Catholic college does not participate in tuition exchange?</p>
<p>The tuition exchange program is complicated and not guaranteed. I hate to get my daughter excited and set on a different school when we may not get the money. However, we will be applying to one of the schools on the list, Mahattanville, but New Paltz is probably her first choice. She still wants to stay relatively close to home as well, which is a factor. They have a student-run group which puts on concert versions of musicals, like Hairspray, but she’s looking forward to big, splashy productions, and I feel so bad that we have to deprive her of that experience because we can’t afford it. Plus, my husband isn’t sure she should be a theater major, so there’s that too. Thank you everyone for your input.</p>
<p>We are in the same boat. My oldest does attend college at my employer, and it’s great. Room, board, and fees are very doable. My youngest, also a rising senior, will not be able to attend because the major she wants is not offered. And tuition exchange is not guaranteed. In fact, in our group, a host institution has to take three new students a year. No more. There are always more than three applications, and you can imagine, professor’s kids seems to be a pretty bright bunch so competition is steep. Our plan is to cast a wide net and apply to many schools where d’s stats are in the top quarter of admitted students. We also have a safety, a state school we can pay for without the exchange. </p>
<p>Good luck. I understand the pressure you’re under.</p>
<p>You might want to post on the musical theater major section of this forum and ask.</p>
<p>Just as tuition exchange is not a “given” neither is acceptance into MT programs, which usually require an audition.</p>
<p>Both University of Hartford and American University have MT as a major and participate in tuition exchange. Both require an audition for acceptance into the MT program.</p>
<p>You may not like my answer. I understand both sides very well. What my parents said to the kids was “we will pay for room and board at any school but if you want to go to another school other than ----, you need to make up the difference in tuition”. I guess in your daughter’s case, that would be the $7000. </p>
<p>Is getting a degree the only or best way to break into MT? I guess I’m questioning the need to be at a college with a MT major, if there are good community theaters (and larger?) around.</p>
<p>If it were me and I could afford the $7000, which seems like nothing in comparison to most college tuitions - I would make up the difference happily. But I have no idea what your financial position is. Our kids could attend a university free, but it’s one neither kid had any interest in so it was never on the table. We do get a small tuition reimbursement at the universities our kids attend/attended.</p>
<p>Our kids could attend the DH’s employer college tuition free, but there’s a room/board requirement for the first two years. Plus, very few classes related to what the Ds were interested in.</p>
<p>One question re MT is just what chances freshmen and sophs actually get to meaningfully compete for roles. She could spend the first two years paying her dues, painting backdrops.</p>
<p>As a back-up, instead of looking specifically for UG drama or MT majors, many I know looked for the quality of singing, choral, dance or improv classes/groups/options at colleges. Ie, skills needed to move forth, later, if the interest continued.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar enough with SUNY New Paltz to comment definitively, but is it a BFA program? If so, she’ll have to audition to get in and all BFA programs are selective as they are almost all very small programs. If it’s a BA program and she doesn’t have to audition (not all require an audition), that’s different. I’m not a proponent of parents “making” their children attend a particular college, but I also understand the financial aspect of this. Having said that, $7000/yr for a college degree is what most people would be very happy finding a way to pay for their children. </p>
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<p>Research this carefully. Many theatre programs will make you start in the first year of their program as a transfer. Transfer admission is also usually more selective.</p>
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<p>Although a valuable experience, it would be nothing like majoring in MT for four years and the training that that would entail. The other issue is that if a school does not do MT, there may be too few students talented enough to put on a musical; too few musicians to play in the pit; no appropriate facilities or equipment for a musical, etc.</p>
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<p>Certainly not the only, but the training received, the experience, the contacts made, etc., are definitely a better way than attending a school that has no training available. A community theatre experience isn’t going to train a student for a career in MT. Of course, there are kids who graduate with a degree in something other than MT, but those kids either already have years of training or are getting that training outside of the college experience.</p>
<p>I think it’s foolish, and verging on cruel, to force your daughter to attend a school that doesn’t have her desired major–and that she doesn’t want to attend at all–when all you’re talking about is $7000/yr. If you don’t have the money or don’t want to spend that amount on her education, she can borrow most of it and earn the rest during the summer. That path should be one SHE chooses or declines. I have a feeling the real issue her is dad’s objection to her major.</p>
<p>I agree that participating in community theater productions in no way compensates for not having the rigorous training of a college MT program.</p>
<p>I don’t know…the finances are up to you, but here’s a contrary view… if I had a child that was interested in theater I’d want to spend little to none on college.</p>
<p>I have known several people who majored in something then never worked in the major. They immediately made a 40+ year career out of something else. There are plenty of jobs/careers that require a college degree but not a specific major.</p>
<p>I think it is a good idea for parents to discuss with their student what the job/career prospects are for particular majors that are of interest to the student, though ultimately it needs to be left to the student to decide what to major in.</p>
<p>And, parents should make it very clear what they are willing and able to pay as far as college costs, and then leave it up to the student to choose which college to attend and to figure out how to pay for it.</p>
<p>There is the potential for just too much resentment and family trouble if the parents try to dictate a child’s life (ie tell them what to major in or not major in or where to spend that 4 years or so of their life).</p>
<p>The student is theoretically an adult and should be able to have the chance to make decisions and mistakes and learn from them.</p>
<p>There is an active MT forum here on CC, you might stop in there if you haven’t yet:</p>
<p>[Musical</a> Theater Major - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/]Musical”>Musical Theater Major - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>According to a post in that forum New Paltz’s program is a BA.</p>
<p>I was working at a public U when my son began college. I didn’t even consider making him go there (it would have been half-off tuition). If I couldn’t have afforded to send him elsewhere, I would have made him attend the school where I worked … but since I could pay for another school, I saw no reason to make him attend a school that did not suit him.</p>
<p>if I had a child that was interested in theater I’d want to spend little to none on college.</p>
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<p>Sorry, I don’t agree. Many actors/actresses make a good living - they don’t all wait tables as they wait for the “big break.” There is plenty of work that is not “the movies” or “Broadway.”</p>
<p>Wow! Thank you so much everyone for the thoughtful responses! All the opinions spoken here were all words I have heard in my own head, but it’s interesting to see so many other people put them in print here! I am surprised to see the amount of support in letting her go ahead with the MT degree at a small state school. Most of the people we talk to assume she will go to my husband’s college as though it’s a given, regardless of anything else. She was excited about it for a long time, but has changed her mind in the past year. Thank you again and I will try and post an update in the future. :)</p>
<p>“Plus, my husband isn’t sure she should be a theater major” - I actually see his point. But that still doesn’t mean the right answer is to attend small. limited college w/o any MT opportunities. It seems like SUNY New Paltz would have a variety of other majors/minors too.</p>