<p>What do you mean by that? What was your safety school?</p>
<p>On this forum, the term “safety school” is generally accepted to mean a non-audition BFA, BA, BS, or BM Music Theatre program for which you meet the minimum academic and other requirements such that you have a very high probability or certainty for admission. It might be a school without an MT program per se, but one with a solid theatre program that does at least one main stage musical per year and offers a voice/dance/acting curriculum in some form that meets the interests and desires of the applicant. It is generally not recommended to count ANY audition-based program as a “safety school.” Every year there are posts from applicants who are very surprised at the audition-based program rejections that they received. Unfortunately, every year some applicants are rejected from every audition-based program to which they applied.</p>
<p>You can find a list of non-audition programs on this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1335445-big-list-mt-colleges-program-type.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1335445-big-list-mt-colleges-program-type.html</a></p>
<p>A safety school is one that you feel confident you will get into academically and artistically. Since auditioned programs are highly competitive, I would not put any auditioned programs on my “safety” list. It would be a school where the theatre programs are open to anyone without an audition. It will also be a school where you can get in based on your high school transcript and standardized test scores. That means your safety will be different from someone else’s. The higher your grades and test scores, the more schools you have to choose from as “safeties.” In addition, your safety should be one you know you can afford to attend.</p>
<p>Some excellent academic schools have MT programs (BA or BFA) that you audition for after you’ve already been admitted into the school and completed some theatre courses. If you have the academic credentials for admission those schools, they might be a “sort of” safety. You in essence defer the “getting in” to their MT program until later and will ultimately only be competing against others that are already attending the school for a spot in the MT program instead of against hundreds/thousands of others. And if you never get in, you are still attending a great academic school.</p>
<p>momoftheatergal - all above info is correct - I’m also happy sharing that my D’s safety schools were Muhlenberg and Drew - as you’ve heard safety schools are dependent on the academic stats. If you would like any more info, please PM me. I found this decision to be especially frustrating. I also felt like auditioning at a good number of BFA audition schools that were slightly less competitive as a sort of safety as well. But, this is individual, and I never would have done that as the only safety. Good luck!</p>