I am a high school senior looking for musical theatre programs, but all of the “good” schools seem so expensive! Sometimes it feels like I’m not going to be able to get a good theatre education because I don’t have the money and I don’t have my parents paying for my college. I get good grades and I apply for scholarships constantly, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough. Will I be able to pursue a career in musical theatre if I don’t have the money to go to a big school? I would say I’m pretty good at theatre, but i definitely have room for improvement. I would like to stay in the chicago area but Roosevelt, Northwestern, and Columbia Chicago are so expensive! I really don’t know what to do. Is my only choice to try and make the money with scholarships?
The best advice I can give is to tell you to apply early & hope for merit aid + artistic awards in order to help defray the costs. I don’t know anything about Roosevelt, but understand Northwestern isn’t all that generous (based on info from others we know who have gotten in there - that might not be true across the board). Columbia Chicago, I understand, is very generous if they want you (one of Ds friends was choosing between them and University of Alabama Birmingham, and when she notified Columbia she was going to UAB, they asked if she needed more $, but she declined anyway…she really liked them so it was a tough choice). Keep in mind that many of the “good” public schools offer in-state tuition to MT students - I think there is a thread here somewhere. But I’m not really all that familiar w/schools around Chicago other than the ones you already mentioned. Good luck!
Illinois Wesleyan was generous with my D, even offering her more money than they did in their original generous package when she was deciding which program to attend. (She actually cried when she received that acceptance and the scholarship offer! It’s one of our favorite memories from this process.) She chose another program, but we both loved IWU, too, and it would’ve been an excellent choice, as well!
Roosevelt is not generally known to be generous.
We were told to be careful about spending too much time applying for outside scholarships, as some schools consider them in their packages for you and take the outside scholarship amount away from their aid. Not all schools do this, but enough do that we decided not to spend the time on those and hope for the best with the schools themselves. Others obtain those outside scholarships and are glad they did.
@oliveostrovsky look for programs in state; look and see if any neighboring states offer in state tuition to residents (usually over a certain GPA threshold) of your state; and look for programs that offer in state tuition to all of their BFA MTs. Have at least one “financial stretch” on your list-because you never know. That said, as you research programs on CC and elsewhere, look for schools that are known for more generous aid vs. those that offer little/less. Break a leg!
@oliveostrovsky, we know a girl who transferred from Roosevelt to WIU because of financial issues and is thriving in their BFA MT program. She gets all kinds of casting opportunities and has gone to at least one national theater contest. My son has also been in shows with kids from NIU, who also seem to get good training. the flagship U of I school has a strong relationship with Illinois Shakespeare. These schools are all very reasonable for in-state students. Good luck to you.
Southern Illinois University used to have a decent MT program. You may want to look into it as well. I know they have a summer stock program as well.
We did find the small, private schools tended to give more $ than the public universities. So something to consider.
Also know that you can pursue your dream of an MT career in many different ways. You do not have to have a 4 year BFA degree to pursue theater as a profession. You could:
a. Major in something else at your local CC or university while taking dance, voice and/or acting classes on the side or doing theater gigs, paid and unpaid on the side.
b. You can do a 2 year intensive training program like CAP 21 or AMDA. (Be aware though that while you will get good theater training, you don’t end up with a college degree and they tend not to have great scholarships).
c. You can take a gap year, work and save some $ then apply to collegiate BFA programs down the road.
If you get in to some good programs this year, negotiate, negotiate, negotiate with those schools. They may be able to find more funds that will help with the costs. Don’t give up before you make sure every possibility for scholarship has been explored!
Best wishes to you. I know the costs of college are really frustrating. But you will find a way to make it happen if you keep trying. Just remember your path to your future will be unique to you. There may be detours along the way. But if you keep your eye on your goals and work hard, I am sure you will succeed.
My D almost went to So Illinois University-Carbondale - she has a couple of friends there (one acting, one MT) and they both LOVE it.
Texas State offers in-state tuition for all admitted MT students.
I believe Montclair offers instate tuition as well…
@KelviVan, you’re correct!
You might want to check Missouri State and SEMoState.
Both have good reputations and oos tuition is cheaper than many Big Ten’s In-State.
FSU offers a partial waiver of the out-of-state portion of the fees to anyone admitted to MT or Acting.
West Texas A&M offers in state tuition for out of state students.
@oliveostrovsky, you don’t say whether you qualify for need based aid.
Have your parents filled out the FAFSA?
Need based grants/scholarships are different from merit scholarships.
My own D went to Northwestern for less than our in-state university because Northwestern is very generous with need based grants. Same for my older S and D, who both went to privates for cheaper than our in-state university.
The first thing you need to do is fill out the FAFSA and see what your EFC, or Estimated Family Contribution, is. This is something you can do easily with your parents if they have their tax returns from last year.
Many private schools with large endowments will give sizable grants/scholarships based on need.
@connections, i did fill out the fafsa, and out EFC is somewhere around 11,000. I don’t qualify for any need based aid because of how much my dad makes, but he doesn’t actually make tons of money, and definitely not enough for me to pay for college with mostly his money, but he makes too much for me to qualify for anything.
If your EFC is $11K you would get a ton of need-based aid at NU (if you get in).
^^Yes, seconding @Jkellynh17. You would most likely get a ton of money – But you’d have to fill out the CSS Profile, which is a more detailed financial aid form put out by College Board. Strongly encourage you to check out each college’s NPC (Net Price Calculator) for more detail.
@oliveostrovsky I second Southern Illinois University-Carbondale! They have a great MT BFA program, and it’s an easy train ride down from Chicago. With an 11000 EFC, I’m pretty sure you would get need based financial aid (no CSS profile required). Also, they have good merit scholarships, but you would need to apply soon. And then a little further south and across the river is Southeast Missouri State (SEMO). They are very generous to Illinois students and also have good merit scholarships. They have a beautiful new Performing Arts Campus (2013?), with its own nice new dorms.
Western Carolina also fits into this category.
University of Alabama Birmingham is an up-and-coming program and the tuition is reasonable, especially if you have strong GPA and SAT scores.