<p>So, I just found out that two people I did theater with as a kid have both strangely landed at the same summer performing job through very different routes. One went to a little conservatory type musical theater program and then moved to NYC and auditioned for nearly a year and one graduated from high school and immediately started doing regional theater and theme parks. Weirdest coincidence ever and really makes you wonder. It's almost like going to college and then working at a fast food restaurant with high school buddies who are now the managers. The one with no training has so much more experience and no debt...and now they both have the same job. I know it's not news but...so interesting.</p>
<p>About six years ago I met a student who went to a state school in Ohio and one from CMU, they were both in their first Broadway show, Hair, in the chorus. CMU had debt, state school, no debt. There are many different ways to achieve in this field.</p>
<p><em>like</em> It’s so true.</p>
<p>In both examples above the compared pairs had different experiences leading up to similar outcomes. It’s a good reminder that one should think twice about picking one school over the other, or no school vs attending school with an expectation of a specific outcome. Pick your path because the experience itself that you’d have there is something you desire. There has already been quite a bit of discussion in both the Drama/Acting and MT forums this year about schools and the outcomes they produce as measured by Broadway or other credentials. I’d give that selection criteria little if any weight but I know the temptation is there to do so and plenty of people disagree on it.</p>
<p>An interesting note: I was at an AP Physics review last year and the man who was teaching us had been in Ragtime on Broadway. That baffled me that he went to college for engineering, ended up on Broadway, and now he’s teaching physics to high school students.</p>
<p>There’s so much pressure to go to brand name schools, and I will say I fell under that pressure for a while, but there’s really no set path in this industry, just that you’ll get out whatever you put in!</p>
<p>My D did a Regional production of Ragtime with an amazing young dancer who was an engineering major. We know another engineering grad. (female) who just finished a run on Broadway. Both graduated from very well known engineering programs. My son also did a couple of Regional shows with a young man (they were probably 11-12 at the time) who finished high school on-line to take the lead in a huge show and is now on Broadway at 18. Actors come from all walks of life!</p>
<p>Great examples. I still think that it’s absolutely fine to pursue MT training at your dream school (brand name, not brand name I just mean dream school and one doesn’t necessarily imply the other) because of the experiences you desire to have there. As long as that is your reason and you can make it happen, go for it. Don’t do it though as a more guaranteed means to an end because it isn’t one.</p>
<p>Agree with halflokum. There are many reasons to attend college besides what job you may get after you graduate.</p>
<p>Amen to both halflokum and Soozie. Your college experience will shape your life in more ways than you can imagine, no matter where life takes you.</p>
<p>Here’s a nice story about following a passion–not a MT story, but . . .</p>
<p>We know a family where both parents are engineer/computer people. They encouraged their kids to be serious scholars and coached groups in robotics competitions and chess clubs and stuff like that.</p>
<p>But one of the kids was really into Pokemon! He was so interested in the game and the cards and everything about them. That led him to learn about manga and anime and everything Japanese, including even learning the language. His parents supported this and helped him pursue these interests, even though they were quite different from their priorities.</p>
<p>Well, the boy ended up at MIT and studying all the things his parents had hoped he would. An opportunity came up to work with someone wonderful on something fascinating . . . but it was in Japan. So, guess who got the job? Right–the student who spoke Japanese because he’d loved Pokemon!</p>
<p>" Pick your path because the experience itself that you’d have there is something you desire."</p>
<p>halflocum, I wish I could like your post! This is EXACTLY how my D ended up making her final decision. I was so proud of her when I heard her thought process for her choice. It’s such a great mom moment when your kid shows that kind of maturity. 
College is just one leg of the journey that will lead to her future. The process needs to be more than a means to an end. In the end, however this turns out for her, she will have had a great learning experience. My only advice to her was to choose with no regret. Make the decision and move forward. No looking back.</p>