Hey what about Montclair? 12 miles from Manhattan and they have a BFA Acting and BFA MT. You can apply to both or either. And they do take some in MT every year with no dance background (though will intensely train them in dance once they’re there.) And not far from NH 
Any more final decision background posts to share yet for those who have made early decisions?
Hey thestage603. Another NH native here as well! My MT child is a girl, but I have 3 boys who all played football.
2 for Bishop Guertin and 1 currently at Bedford. Wonder if we have ever crossed paths? Good luck with this process, and we will probably see you at auditions in NYC.
We are in the Conval district! Nice to “meet” you momofnine. We will be there and I would love to see if our paths have ever crossed!
We thought about Montclair for a while Calienne. Perhaps we should revisit it, thank you!!
Wo @thestage603, we were in the Conval district for awhile (years ago). Lived in Dublin with a Peterborough address.
So cool! Stay in touch and we can compare notes at Unifieds!
We over over and done with Unifieds! My daughter is a sophomore at Montclair BFA MT. But good luck to you!
Applied to: Oklahoma City University, Viterbo University, Webster University, Rockford University, Millikin University, and Point Park University.
Prescreens: Viterbo (Was in the process of completing others.)
Accepted to: Viterbo MT & VP—Canceled all other auditions after Viterbo’s offer.
Final Decision: Viterbo University BFA-MT.
Coach: None (Well, my wife and I are both performers so that is not entirely true.)
Summer Programs: Opera Memphis Music Conservatory (2-weeks)
Training: Dance (Private instruction for 4 years—Ballet and tap.)
Voice (6 years)
Piano (7 years)
It became pretty clear by the 8th grade that D wanted to pursue Music Theater seriously. She was already taking piano and voice lessons so we registered her for private dance lessons (ballet and tap).
We first generated our list based on what were the best schools with Music Theater Programs where D could get accepted academically. This is pretty easy to determine by looking at collegedata.com and finding the average ACT score or the mid 50% range for the school. If you aren’t in the mid 50% range or have no hope of getting into the 50% range, there is really no need to waste your time. This eliminated several. Then, we narrowed the list further by what we could afford to pay. For instance, D could academically get into CCPA, but we could not afford it. Geography played a role in that we didn’t want D to attend any school further than a day’s drive from home. These filters rendered: OCU, Millikin, Webster, Viterbo, Rockford, and Point Park. Speaking of filters and ranking options personally, here is another suggestion, especially for parents of daughters going to college. Check out Scoutmyneighborhood.com for the city and vicinity of every school that you are considering for your child–pretty interesting information.
We made our first college visit in the 10th grade to Webster, the closest to home at 4 hours away. We arranged the visit in conjunction with their production of Legally Blonde, something that we duplicated on almost all of our visits. I highly recommended scheduling a visit in conjunction with a show because you will see first hand what each school is capable of artistically, both strengths and weaknesses.
During D’s 11th grade year, we visited OCU, Millikin, Viterbo, and Rockford. We scheduled the OCU visit around their production of 9 to 5, Millikin’s around their production of String, and Viterbo’s around their production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. We weren’t able to see a show at Rockford when we visited.
OCU was D’s dream school since she figured out that Music Theater was what she wanted to do. Our visit there did nothing to change this. OCU is amazing so hoping that D might pursue graduate work there in the future. After we visited Millikin, which was also a good experience, we decided to schedule a visit to Rockford. Since Viterbo was only 3 more hours away from Rockford, we decided to “tag on” Viterbo to the end of our Rockford visit. We honestly wanted to eliminate Viterbo because it was the furthest from our home, but something wouldn’t let me do it without visiting it first. I probably deleted it and re-added it to my spreadsheet 5 times. We call that a “God thing” in my family.
We visited Viterbo and just fell head-over-heels in love with every facet of the university: LaCrosse, WI, the campus, the bluffs of the Mississippi River, the snow, the cheese, the people, etc. etc. While researching schools, the Viterbo BFA MT curriculum was among the strongest of the schools that we were considering. One important factor: 16 hours of applied voice lessons, which means two voice lessons a week for 8 semesters. Not the case at all of the schools that we were considering but similar to OCU. Viterbo also had a strong commitment to Opera like OCU.
After the first round of initial visits, most of which occurred during D’s Junior year, it was becoming a two-horse race between OCU and Viterbo, notwithstanding the audition process. By the way, I also recommend visiting schools before applying and letting the Senior year be dedicated to the audition process. If you can avoid making the initial visit to a school while auditioning, I would do so. The audition process is too stressful to add the pressure of getting to know a university at the same time. However, sometimes it is unavoidable for monetary reasons, and I totally get that.
D’s Senior year, our first audition was Rockford. The audition went great, but since we were so close to Viterbo again, we decided to go for another visit, this time with mom in tow. We experienced much of the same magic on the second visit. Needless to say, the entire family came away from Viterbo with hearts for pupils. Before we left, D was offered a substantial merit scholarship. Now, all she had to do was audition and get accepted into the BFA MT program.
Our next audition was at Viterbo on Dec. 6, 2014. To hedge our bets at Viterbo, D auditioned for MT and VP. The auditions went great but the dance call for MT was unbelievably difficult, even for current MT students who made sure to tell us so to alleviate our stress. Daughter received an e-mail the following week with an offer of early acceptance into the BFA Music Theater Program. My first question to D was, “What would you do if you auditioned at OCU and got in?” She said, “I just can’t imagine leaving Viterbo behind.” So, I told her, “I think you’ve made your decision.” She agreed so we canceled all our other auditions.
I guess if there is anything to learn from our journey it’s that what you think you want can change. Your dream school can change. As the process unfolds, you may find that a drive of 12 hours is not the end of the world when you get to go to school where you are meant to be! Of course, “that school,” is different for everyone so don’t give up and go find it and make those dreams come true! Wishing you the best as you move forward and happy to answer any specific questions about our decisions in a private message so as not to bore or offend anyone on CC.
Congratulations @TNMTDAD!
So happy for you @TNMTDAD !
Thanks, y’all. Wasn’t going to post until further down the road, but it’s a snow day in TN tomorrow. No school.
Congrats! At least this part is over and done! =D>
Congrats @TNMTDAD !!!
@TNMTDAD, we are so excited to have your daughter join us this fall at Viterbo!
Bumping for anyone else who has decided!
Congratulations @TNMTDAD !
Applied to: University of Michigan, University of Oklahoma, Ball State University, Ithaca College, Webster University, Texas State University, Juilliard, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Syracuse University, Pace University, Elon University, Rider, University of Minnesota/Guthrie
Prescreens: Passed his five prescreens - Univ of MI, Ithaca, Pace, Elon, Texas State
Accepted to: Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (walk-in Chicago), Rider, Texas State. Took himself out of running for the others once he got his dream acceptance.
Final Decision: Texas State University. Cancelled callbacks for University of Oklahoma, University of Minnesota - decided not to go through with callbacks.
Coach: Dave Clemons (both of us, his parents, are in the business as well)
Summer Programs: The Performing Arts Project - Company 3
Training:
Dance (13 years tap, ballet, jazz)
Voice (3 years)
Acting (9 years)
He grew up in a family who is in the entertainment business (Director, Choreographer, Playwright). His sister is an actress and singer as well. It was difficult for him to escape but he tried for a short time. He was insistent he would go into the CIA - and we supported him as he explored that path. Now, this was as he continued to be in theatre in school and work professionally (which he has done since he was 9).
In his Junior year, he got bit hard by the bug. He declared his love once again for theatre and we were off!
We sent him to the Performing Arts Project last summer and it was, as most every kid who goes there says, life changing. He met the team from Texas State and worked with some of the kids there and fell in love.
His mother and I also fell in love with Kaitlin’s philosophy and her passion. We share many of the same thoughts when it comes to directing and working professionally.
Not wanting to put all his eggs in one basket, he created a list of schools that he would have been very happy to attend. He wouldn’t put any school on his list that he wasn’t sure he would go to if asked.
Well, the call from Kaitlin came on the same day that Priority Holds were announced. He was thrilled and was done.
He knows both the challenges and rewards of this business having seen us, very fortunately, make our living doing what we love since he was a baby.
I am excited for what’s ahead!!!
Wonderful story, @MTLegacy…congrats!
Excellent! But that CIA idea might be something to keep in the back of his head in case he tires of the wicked stage. Life is long.