<p>Hi, all of you theater people!</p>
<p>Anyways, I'm a Freshman in High School. And I really want go to college for a B.F.A in Musical Theater. But since i'm the only one of my family even thinking about college, I'm starting early.</p>
<p>So, here are my details. I'm a 15-year old boy, and my best quality is my singing. My acting is a close 2nd, and my dancing is non-existant. I'm starting to take lessons, yet I have no idea what in (ballet?).</p>
<p>What should I be doing NOW to ensure (raise) my chances of being accepted?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s good that you are starting to plan early. For immediate purposes as a freshman and sophomore, my suggestions would be to take voice lessons, ballet (which is the foundation for all the dance you will do) and jazz. Throw in acting classes/lessons if you can. Audition for school and community theater shows as much as you can and participate in at least 2 shows a school year. Look for summer opportunities for performing if they are available in your area. Also, early in your sophomore year, if in your budget, look for summer intensive MT programs available to rising h.s. juniors. Go to shows, read plays. Read all of the “pegged” threads at the top of the MT forum - they contain a ton of info and advise about the process of preparing, finding schools and auditioning from parents, students and educators. Right now, your goal is to get as much training, experience and exposure to the world of performing as you reasonably can given you h.s. academic responsibilities. Also, keep your grades in h.s. up as high as you can; academics play a huge role in college scholarships, even for MT programs, and at some schools are a very important factor in the admissions process, even for BFA programs.</p>
<p>I’m in pretty much the same situation as you, freshman in high school.
I have to say, look around this website. From all the info, its easy to compile a list of colleges you might be interested in. Also, while the intense programs at colleges are really for rising hs juniors and seniors, there are some summer programs for people our age. Might i suggest interlochen? Also, dance wise, i would suggest tap. It is good for musical theatre, and it’s really fun. (:</p>
<p>Tap IS fun, and for some shows, it is vital. But if you are looking at what will make you most prepared for college auditions, I have to go with the ballet votes. If you have tons of extra time and resources, jazz and tap would be great, but neither will be as helpful in the long run. I would consider ballet & voice the bare minimum. If you have acting classes at school, great - if not, fit in more productions. When you get closer to auditions, I think a monologue coach would be very helpful, but maybe not so much now.</p>
<p>Definitely spend some time perusing this site, everyone on this board is incredibly kind and knows what they’re talking about. I’ve learned SO much from this website.</p>
<p>Practice your art, taking classes, peform, watch, and analyze. See whats good whats bad. Get all the experience you can. But ultimately you either have “it” or you don’t, thats a big factor.</p>