Dream,Fit and Safety Schools for Musical Theatre

Hi im about to start my junior year of high school and I just want some advice on schools that I should be considering for musical theatre. Even though I don’t have that much experience in musical theatre I attended NYU’s Tisch Summer High School Program. I was in New Studio on Broadway Music Theatre. I also got accepted to do a musical theatre program after school for my junior and senior year I’ll have private voice lessons, acting classes and dance classes for the next two years and I have to be in shows so that’ll build my resume up which I’m really happy about. I just want to start my college search/list. I have UMich, CCM, CMU, NYU, Pace and a few others. But I want to have more fit/safety schools on my list. So that’s why I came here to see if anyone could lead me in the right direction. I always try to find some on my own which I have but it’s not the same as looking for big name schools because they have more info and videos about there programs. I’m looking for BFA programs. Please anyone respond even if you don’t know about schools that much but know about the industry and could give me advice or if your a high school student in the same boat as me.:relaxed:

@MuTh2024 if you’re in NYC you’ve got a ton right there in the area. Besides the ones you mentioned, Molloy/CAP21, Marymount Manhattan, Manhattan School of Music, Wagner College (BA Theatre but a lot of MT), Manhattanville College, LIU-Post all offer MT BFA. Some you may not have considered of that have great/growing reputations are Texas State, Shenandoah University and Elon University. There are scores of options out there - look at the list of schools at the top of the Musical Theatre forum and you can get an idea.

@MuTh2024 – because most Musical Theatre programs require an audition for admission it bnb is difficult to identify fit and safety schools.

A safety would be an non-audition school, that your guidance counselor considers an academic safety for you, and that is financially accessible. There are some schools that offer musical theatre that do not require an audition… some that are mentioned on this forum are Muhlenberg, University of Mary Washington, Christopher Newport. I believe Hofstra and Western KY do not require an audition for admission initially, and you audition after already a student. At the top of the forum there is a pinned discussion that lists MT schools by degree and whether/when they require an audition. That may help identify some schools that could be safety schools for you.

Fit schools are difficult to gauge because when a school requires an audition it is selective. Most auditioned programs have an admit rate of 2% - 15% … just because a school has an admit rate on the higher end does not mean it necessarily is a safer bet than a school with an admit rate in the single digits because the process is subjective, and every school is looking for something slightly different.

That being said, there are some schools that could be pull from a more regional group of prospective students, see fewer audition, and accept a higher percentage of applicants. You can build a balanced list by can by including some of those schools, along with schools which pull from a more national pool, and select a smaller percentage of applications, and schools that are academically safeties and do not require an audition.

@afterp89 mentions Wagner, which is a BA. There are some programs that offer focused training which are BA programs… like Wagner, Northern CO, James Madison, among others. There are also programs which offer focused training that are BM programs… like Catholic University, Baldwin Wallace, among others. There are so many different options to explore with terrific training an opportunities. So, as you are looking at programs I suggest that you look at the required curriculum, the opportunities to deepen the curriculum with electives, and overall opportunities.

kudos to you for doing your research and creating a well balanced list. I agree with Molloy/Cap21 and Wagner. I also recommend Western Connecticut University and University of the Arts. They are not “safety” schools by any means, but are less selective than CMU, Michigan etc and offer great training. If you want to be in New York, look into Marymount Manhattan. best of luck!

Hey @MuTh2024 - Just read @KatMT’s response about 20 times until it becomes embedded in your brain! It is important to switch your thinking around for MT applications because the standard high school counseling advice on reach/fit/likely doesn’t work with auditioned programs.

We did a multitiered application approach and only thing I think we did well was make sure my D was really committed to every school we applied to so even after multiple rejections she had good options.

1st Tier - BFA, well-known and competitive programs ← we were top heavy
2nd Tier - BFA, lesser known programs ← only came up with a few of these due to D’s other requirements for a school and her inability to travel for auditions.
3rd Tier - non-audition BA programs where performance training was possible/ and departments were strong.

Our 3rd Tier was BA Theatre applications to Rutgers, Temple and American. My D had really good grades and scores so those schools were academic likelies. They also met all her other criteria. Your own school list will be different - think a bit about college environment, location, size, academic aspect (if any). You want to be happy with your school and not just with your program. If you don’t want any academic aspect to your training then you might consider adding AMDA - it’s a big program with serious training but they aren’t accredited.