Final Decisions: Class of 2024

College Majors Dance Major
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Thought I’d kick off a decision thread to help future families! And maybe even some of this year’s families still making decisions! I based this template off others I’ve seen. Please share whatever information you feel comfortable with that you think might be helpful to others.

Background/Training: My dd started dancing at 9. She has always loved ballet but never saw a career in it–which is good, because when puberty hit, so did a lot of curves! She has studied at a ballet-based studio with a strong emphasis on modern dance. Her studio does not compete but she has had an amazing time in the studio company, which brings in outside choreographers as well as giving students chances to set pieces. One of her strong areas of interest is choreography, so she was looking for a contemporary program with a strong choreography component. Her other love is musical theatre, so ideally she was looking for a place she could minor in musical theatre and/or participate in musical theatre in some way. She has been homeschooled throughout her education and “graduated” in 2019. She chose to take a gap year because it frankly seemed impossible to balance sanity/sleep, college auditions, and all of her dance committments. It was a great choice for us. She has been able to teach, take dance classes that previously wouldn’t fit into her schedule, and do a number of dance projects while also getting a bit of a breather before heading off to college.

Applied to: Towson, Temple, Montclair State, U of Illinois, Ohio State, UNC-Greensboro, Virginia Commonwealth, Adelphi, and George Mason. Applied academically to Marymount Manhattan but then decided not to do the dance supplement/audition.

Strongly considered applying to: Peabody, Hofstra, Eastern Carolina, Rutgers/Mason Gross.

Accepted academically everywhere she applied. Received merit aid everywhere but U of Illinois. (ACT 32, GPA 3.98/4.38)

Accepted artistically everywhere but George Mason. Received artistic aid from U of Illinois, Adelphi, and VCU.

Will be attending: Montclair State

Reasons for choosing: Ultimately, this seemed like the place that would position her best for a professional career. Strong technical training and strong creative/choreography program. Lots of performing opportunities and opportunities to create and show work. Proximity to arts community in NYC and many faculty who are working artists. Faculty seems to work hard to get students employed, and students are working in NYC and elsewhere. Strong musical theatre program and dance students can audition for musicals/minor in musical theatre. Diverse university and dance program. Beautiful suburban campus with easy access to NYC. Also relatively affordable because BFA Dance students all receive in-state tuition. Go Redhawks!

Close second: My dd loved VCU. Had perhaps the best balance of technical and creative training we saw, and the classes we observed were incredible. Lovely faculty and incredibly supportive community.

Road not travelled: My dd LOVED the University of Illinois. Ultimately it wasn’t what she’s looking for right now, as the program was definitely less intense in terms of technique class. Also very $$ (even with a generous scholarship) and far from home. But she’s already thinking it might be the place she would go back to for an MFA.

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Congrats on your DD accepting Montclair. Where we def declined a few schools, my D still hasn’t committed. We are doing another round to tour and see where she really sees herself. Wish us luck in April!

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Thanks and good luck with your final decision-making!

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Since my daughter applied and was accepted Early Decision in December, her decision process was not as complicated as most of dancers’. But here we go…

Background/Training:

  • Started dancing at 6, and joined a competitive dance team at 9
  • Intensives: KCB summer (twice), Alanzo King Lines summer (twice), NYU summer, Hubbard Street summer, Paul Taylor summer and winter, and various week-long intensives, such as Dance Prix de NY (Spring), chuthis (summer), and others.
  • interested in choreography - she performed one of her solos professionally in a local dance event.
  • lives in a midwest city where the dance community supports young dancers and provides professional opportunities
  • attends a public high school (valedictorian)
  • enjoys school activities: comedy imporv (captain), Scholar bowls, NHS activities, high school plays (acting in and watching - one of her critiques of plays by neighboring high school was published in a local paper), and directed a short play this year

Apply to:
NYU Tisch (ED1 - Accepted),
JHU Peabody, Juilliard, and UMKC conservatory (Withdrew all applications in December due to ED acceptance)

Will be attending to: NYU Tisch Dance BFA

Reasons for Choosing: Faculties (especially Sean Curran) and the mission&goals

Close Second: She was prepared to apply Barnard Dance BA, but did not since she was accepted Early Decision round.

Road not traveled: JHU Peabody

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My D has made her decision and I’m so relieved the process is over!

Background/training: she started dancing in her sophomore year of high school. She started serious ballet training in junior year. Previously she was a competitive gymnast for a few years. She homeschools and fell in love with dance quickly. She especially loves ballet and contemporary and hip hop. She doesn’t love choreographing, but she has taught preschool ballet and creative movement and enjoys teaching littles to dance.

Training: she dances (or did before coronavirus) 18 hours per week at a preprofessional ballet school. She trains at a separate dance studio for hip hop, jazz, and contemporary.

Intensives: she attended the U of WV and the USIB summer intensives, along with two local studio intensives.

Applied: she applied to Dean, Springfield, Rutgers, Adelphi, Point Park, Stockton, Goucher, George Mason, Radford, Shenandoah, Old Dominion, College of Charleston, U of Wyoming, Loyola Marymount, and Dominican of Ca, and the University of Roehampton London.

Rejected: she was not accepted as a dance major to Adelphi, Point Park, George Mason, Shenandoah, or Dominican. She was waitlisted at Loyola.

Accepted: Dean, Springfield, Rutgers, Stockton, Goucher, Radford, Old Dominion, College of Charleston, Wyoming, and the University of Roehampton London.

Attending: Goucher college, double major in dance (performance) and educational studies (4+1 Masters in Teaching) with a $33,000 per year scholarship. She loved that they have multiple levels of pointe and she loved the variety of classes and pretty much everything about the school itself and its location and facilities.

Second place: Dean- she loved their triple emphasis on ballet/modern/jazz and the massive number of performance opportunities. We didn’t get to visit, however, so she just went with her gut based on what we had seen so far.

Third place: Wyoming- they perform full length ballets and were perfect in pretty much every way for her… except for the location. She couldn’t get over the long, harsh winters and isolation.

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Congratulations to you and your daughter, @milgymfam ! My daughter and I visited Goucher when she was applying to schools and from a school point of view, it reminded us very much of her brick and mortar independent school. She liked that aspect of it a lot! She also thought the faculty seemed very friendly and helpful. I hope your daughter loves it!

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@milgymfam congrats to you and your dd! It sounds like a great choice for her!

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@milgymfam CONGRATULATIONS to you and your DD! I have heard nothing but great things about Goucher and I know she will love it there! Glad you stayed on the boards! :wink: :wink:

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@milgymfam I think you had previously talked about deferring for a year. If it isn’t you, i apologize and hope the person i am thinking of can answer;)

I am curious about the process for accepting/and deferring? While the academics can be deferred at many of the schools my D’s auditioned, we were told they would still need to re-audition for dance. Just wondering how that works for the schools you have talked to about the process? Because of this Covid-19 (and a military move), we are considering many options for next year we hadn’t thought of seriously before. Any insight is appreciated!

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@NavigatingMom, yes my D is deferring. So, the process was different at different schools. For some audition schools (LMU, Dean, Springfield, Radford, Shenandoah) she wouldn’t have had to reaudition. Radford, typically requires a reaudition, but they offered an exception due to my D’s age. Shenandoah would have actually required the gap year due to her age. Three schools she applied to (and the one she accepted) are non-audition programs and therefore deferring academically is all that’s needed. She ultimately wasn’t interested in schools that would require a reaudition- to her that defeated the purpose (and assurance) of a gap year. Rutgers assured her that if she was accepted this year and deferred at Mason Gross, they would take her again. That wasn’t good enough for her- it felt like a gamble. Many, many schools do not allow gap years though- most higher level schools would never allow it.

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@milgymfam Thanks for the clarification! I know that all the schools including Ivy’s will allow a defer if you have certain qualifications and have committed to that school. I also thought that as we were asking it was definitely not a guarantee for anything outside of academics and you would also have the same financial aide offerings in scholarships. But dance would require re-audition as well as the risk of not being what they were looking for in the next class, etc.

We are still thinking about it all. Such a crazy time. And many schools are now having June 1 as decision day rather than May 1. That really makes it tough for anyone on waitlists I would think.

A most interesting Senior year in high school (and freshman year in college for my other dancer!)

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My DD got the call today that she has been offered a spot in the commercial dance program off the waitlist! While this was her top choice program all along and shes ecstatic we were supposed to visit over break. She has not been to New York City since she was 13 years old. Anyone who can give us any insight into the university setting, dorms, activity, etc. to help her with her decision would be super helpful! Also if anyone who has committed has heard anything on whether classes will actually start in September. Hope everyone is staying healthy.

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So, DS made it official and will be attending UC Irvine in the fall!

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After what has to be the craziest 2 months ever my D has decided on pace!! It was always her first choice. So when she was accepted we knew that was it. We are both very. excited!!!

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@Momof3girls1273 Congratulations on making the final decision! That is awesome! My DD didn’t audition at Pace. Years ago that was her first pick but then she decided she wanted to double major so she is heading to Towson!

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@Momof3girls1273 Congrats to your DD! Pace is an awesome school! If DS was going to go to an OOS school Pace was his top choice because of the commercial dance program. He was accepted but decided that UCI with it’s BFA in Choreography was what he wanted to pursue. And I couldn’t agree more, the last few months of auditions, then waiting for acceptances and finally making the final decision has been hectic! Again, Congrats to your DD and family!

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@NevrMynd51 Thank you!! Good luck to your DS!!! It’s happy it’s over!!!

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Well after a long process D finally got the call yesterday that she was accepted off the Pace waitlist- it was always her first choice so she’s really excited!

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Do you have to be profecient in Tap to be considered? My D is strong in ballet, jazz, and hiphop. Only took a few tap classes at PPU intensive. She is a beginner tapper but advanced in other genres. She auditions this Friday, 1/28 in NYC.

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How does your daughter like Pace? It’s at the top of my DS list. Anythng we should know? He has other choices so I’m asking if there are any downsides to the school, according to your DD opinion?