High School Parents/Students - Class of 2008

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>Without knowing your D's background, it's hard to offer specific advice. Were you able to get any feedback from the MT programs you auditioned for? This could be most helpful in knowing what your D needs to focus on. If not, it might be worth your while to hire a knowledgable professional to evaluate your D's skills. If you can, try to find a reputable vocal coach or theater director who is familiar with college and/or professional auditioning. The right person should be easily able to pinpoint what areas need improvement. As a vocal coach, I do that every day -- it's part of my job! If possible, try to find someone who is also a performer, as that adds an extra dimension to their experience.</p>

<p>I'd love to know what songs and monologues your D used to audition with. The general rule of thumb is: pick something that shows off what you do best -- not something that stretches your abilities. In addition, you don't want to bore the audition panel by performing a song or monologue that they've heard a million times. Try to choose something a bit unusual that showcases your best.</p>

<p>Finally, in this gap year, your D should try to attend as many auditions as possible to get more comfortable and knowledgable about the process. If she auditions successfully -- even if it's just for community theaters or summer stock -- she'll feel more confident, and the additional performing experience will certainly be helpful as well.</p>

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<p>onstage, yes, dance is important no matter what school a student is applying to. My D is aware of that and has been concentrating on ballet technique this past year, in addition to voice lessons. (She is an acting major at an arts high school, so she gets close to four hours a day of actor training, movement and voice for actors.) As an interesting aside, an older friend of hers (now finishing up her freshmen year at a college BFA program) was accepted into Syracuse's MT program a few years ago with little formal dance training and no real actor training at all. :) Just goes to show that they know what they want when they see it! ;) (And yes, the falls and springs in Syracuse are lovely. But from what I remember, the average winter brought 80+ inches of snow! Glad to hear it wasn't so bad this year. It sure was tough in certain areas of Western New York: I remember reading about snow drifts covering cars and blocking streets for days and days. Of course, back when I lived there, I wasn't old enough to drive so I didn't care. And they seldom cancelled school. Where I live now, if more than three inches fall, schools close and life grinds to a halt.)</p>

183

<p>DisneyDirector, </p>

<pre><code>Now that the deadlines are over and things have settled down, you might be able to get some feed back from some of the schools that your D auditioned for. Is she going to audition in 07/08 or 08/09?
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<p>NMR -- it sounds like your D is already really prepared for her auditions. She's so lucky to be going to an arts high school with a focus on acting. That seems to be one area in which many kids don't get enough training. I'm sure she's going to do very well.</p>

<p>You're right when you say "they know what they want when they see it" -- and sometimes future potential is more important than current ability. When my D did her vocal audition at SU, she made some errors and felt she totally blew it. But they gave her some direction on how to improve her performance, and allowed her to sing again. I guess they felt her ability to follow direction was enough to let them overlook her mistakes.</p>

185

<p>onstage, I am far from an expert, but I think that a student's ability to take direction and make adjustments on material they present is a key factor that colleges look for. Apparently, not every student is able to make those adjustments: some are very nervous and feel "locked into" what they rehearsed, so it speaks well of your D that she was able to do that. Plus, it seems to me that adjudicators who give students instructions are demonstrating their interest in the student, right? Otherwise, they could just politely listen and say "Next." :) (Congrats on your D's success!!!) :)</p>

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<p>SarahsMom42: She wnats to audition in 07/08. She is looking very seriously at taking a gap year now rather than going to the private school she had chosen. How do you think it would be best to approach the schools and ask for feedback?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

187

<p>My son absolutely wants nothing other than musical theater and he would much rather be at a conservatory. We live in upstate New York. He is graduating out of his junior year to move on to things instead of staying around and doing his sr. year as an acting intern. Guidance suggested it would be a great idea for him.. SATs are going to be difficult in June considering he hasn't had his Jr. year courses yet! How much will this really matter? Any suggestions on where to begin looking???</p>

188

<p>Disney,</p>

<pre><code>If you or your D got to know some of the directors on campus visits I'd call them first. Other than that, you can look up phone numbers on the websites, some of the directors post their direct lines. They announced at PSU that they would not give feed back. I would recommend doing the unified auditions if you've already visited schools. Good luck!
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189

<p>Hi Phyllis and welcome! </p>

<pre><code>A good place to start is "the big list" go to the thread "FAQ's and read all of it. The big list will give you a place to start and then you can start reading more specifics on the different web sites. I would also suggest that you go back several pages on this forum and read things that were posted last March, April, May. There is a wealth of information here and we found it very helpful.
Another tip is to have your son start making a list of his preferences about things such as what part of the country he wants to focus on, city or rural, big vs. small school. It sounds like he's interested in the conservatories, but many universities have conservatory style programs for BFA.
Conservatories tend to be less concerned w/ the SATs, but do require them. The schools listed at the top of the main page have their own threads. If you wanted to, you could spend a month reading this forum! Good luck. I found this forum to be both informative and also a very good support system because no one else I knew had a clue what auditioning for MT was like.
</code></pre>

190

<p>You wrote:

[quote]
He is graduating out of his junior year to move on to things instead of staying around and doing his sr. year as an acting intern. Guidance suggested it would be a great idea for him.. SATs are going to be difficult in June considering he hasn't had his Jr. year courses yet! How much will this really matter?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I am assuming that your son will be earning his high school diploma in three years as an early graduate, right? Sounds like he has an exciting gap year planned. In fact, he likely will have more time to devote to applications and audition prep than those in school and extracurriculars full time. </p>

<p>I don't understand, however, your concern with the SATs. You say they will be difficult in June because he hasn't had his Junior year classes yet. First, the SATs do not test achievement or course content. They are reasoning tests. A student doesn't have to cover any subjects/courses to take the SATs. As students get older, usually their scores increase, however. My kids took the SATs in seventh and eighth grades, for instance, and did not need to cover high school in order to take the test. Understandably, their scores went up as they took them again for college. </p>

<p>Anyway, I am also unsure what you mean when you say your son will not have taken his junior year courses yet. Isn't his junior year coming to a close this June? Again, these courses have no bearing on the SATs. </p>

<p>Further, a GREAT many college bound students take the SATs and SAT Subject Tests in their junior year. In fact, I recommend that all applicants take all their tests and get them done in junior year. There is plenty to do in fall of senior year with applications and audition prep (on top of school, ECs, etc.). Senior year test dates can always be a fall back option for retesting, if needed. So, your son taking the SATs this June would be the norm even if he wasn't graduating early, because this is the end of junior year. Further, he CAN take the SATs again in October if he wants to retest. It is not like June is his last chance to take the test. </p>

<p>Even if he takes the SAT Subject Tests, these are usually also taken at the end of junior year. </p>

<p>My oldest child took the SATs twice, in spring of junior year, and was done with those. She took 3 SAT Subject Tests also in spring of junior year. She chose to retake two of those in October of Senior year. </p>

<p>I have another child who is in a BFA in Musical Theater program now and actually she graduated high school in three years, after her junior year, which is what I think your son is doing. She didn't take a gap year, however, like your son. So, she was applying to college in fall of her junior year of high school. So, she did ALL of her testing in spring of sophomore year. She sat twice for the SATs and once for three SAT Subject Tests in spring of tenth grade at age 15 and was done with testing. She could have chosen to take tests in fall of her junior year but tried to get these out of the way and left fall of junior year for apps and audition prep. So, you see, many students take SATs in spring of junior year (ideally they should) and my early graduate took them in spring of sophomore year. Your son will be the norm to take them in spring of his junior year and can opt to retake the fall of his gap year. So, I see no problem with any of the timing of the testing for him.</p>

<p>PS, there is a chance that I misunderstood and maybe this year he is in tenth grade? If that is the case, he'd be doing what my D did....taking the SATs in spring of tenth grade. But your son surely can take them again in fall of junior year if he so desires even if he was applying directly to college. However, even more so, if he is planning a gap year after junior year, he can retake the SATs then too. Perhaps you can clarify which year is which and then I can advise more clearly.</p>

191

<p>Can anyone suggest Musical theatre programs relatively close to NY that are financially reasonable???? Are there merit scholarships in musical theatre out there? Where????? Thinking about Emerson, but the downfall is that its not NY. NYU is toooo expensive!</p>

192

<p>Montclair State University has a relatively new BFA MT program, and as a state university it is more reasonably priced than some. Don't know anything about their scholarship program.</p>

193

<p>Most of the musical theater programs seem to offer varying amounts of merit scholarships. All of the ones my D applied to offered those, as well as need based aid. </p>

<p>Yes, indeed, NYU is expensive. Before ruling out any school, be aware that the bottom line is what the school costs after merit and need based aid offers come through. Sometimes the more expensive school might end up costly less, in fact. I have a child at NYU/Tisch/CAP21 and her largest scholarship offer was from them. </p>

<p>Also, I do not believe the college needs to be in NYC. There are surely plusses (as in any situation) of being in NYC, but I think it is not necessary for the college to be there. Your D will go there following graduation, presumably. My D did not seek out NYC for college. Only one of her schools (NYU) was located in or near NYC. That was not one of her college criteria. Now that she IS there, yes, there have been some beneficial networking and other aspects that have been great. But these and other benefits she has had in NY were never crucial. It is not as if she is auditioning for shows while in NYC because she is a student and wants to stay in her program, let alone there is no time to do the audition circuit. So, that is not a part of the picture. There are benefits, sure. But these were not how she picked a college program. She looked at the best programs that fit her. That is what I suggest. Surely you can include schools in or near NYC if your D cares about that so much, but I would not limit the search to that location because it eliminates far too many wonderful BFA in MT programs. Plus the odds of admission are difficult and you need more schools. Also, FIT is very very important. If you want some schools in or near NYC to look at (as PART of the list)....look at NYU, Marymount Manhattan, Pace, Montclair State, or Wagner and then not too far away...schools like Muhlenberg, UArts, Westminster Choir College, Manhattanville, West Chester U, and so on. Again, the cost of the college is AFTER merit and need based aid is given. That is really the figures you will have to weigh, not the ticket price as much.</p>

194

<p>I agree with soozievt. Be organized and try to stay a step ahead. Probably my d's biggest 'conflict' was when a show she would have liked to perform in fell on a weekend (the actual performance, not rehearsals) that she really needed to be at a college audition. This was necessary just based on the number of colleges she was auditioning at and their schedules - to fit them all in. So instead of auditioning for the community production, she choreographed it and thus could be involved and had a great experience related to MT. As choreographer, it would have been desirable for her to be at the performances, but was not essential, so she was at her college audition instead. But my d did perform in 2 musicals during that senior year, college audition time frame (Sept -April) besides the usual dance classes, voice lessons, acting coaching, piano, sax lessons and school clubs. I guess my point is that there are ways to put the college auditions first, without totally giving up your senior year activities.</p>

195

<p>It's good to get a head start in the summer, as so many have pointed out. My son also chose to audition for colleges and go to dance classes his senior year rather than doing constant shows in theatre as he had done his other years in HS. He knew he couldn't commit to all those shows and get in all the college auditions he had planned. He also wanted to try to catch up in dance, and all previous years, he had always had many theatre conflicts and couldn't regularly make it to dance classes.</p>

<p>It's so great in a college MT program when acting, singing, and dance are part of their regular schedule, and they no longer have to deal with all the conflicts!</p>

196

<p>Can you tell me how a student qualifies for Merit Scholarships? Is it strictly through the SAT scores? What other scholarships are available NOT based on need.</p>

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<p>Every school is somewhat different as to what they look at for merit scholarships. Many look at GPA, SAT or ACT scores, and some also look at extra curricular activities. Some schools require an additional application for merit scholarships. Some do not and use the college application itself to determine merit scholarships. Also NOT based on need are talent scholarships. Many schools offer these usually based on the audition. Most colleges websites will list available scholarships to give you an idea of what is available. They don't always tell you how many of each scholarship they give out, but some do.</p>

<p>Merit scholarships can make a huge difference. As someone previously noted, the merit (or need based) scholarships can make a more expensive school less expensive to you when all is said and done. They did in my d's case.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

198

<p>Soozievt...</p>

<p>what is cap21? we're new at this. NYU is my daughter's dream school and if there is merit aid maybe...it could work. Are the merit scholarships based on grades and sat scores or is there merit money based on auditions???musical theatre talent?</p>

199

<p>I lost my entire post before sending it and so I will try to recreate it. </p>

<p>When you apply to NYU, you must apply to one of the schools. If seeking Musical Theater, you can apply to either Steinhardt for a BM in Musical Theater or to Tisch School of the Arts for either a BFA in Drama or a BFA in Musical Theater (though the MT degree is officially called "Drama"). With Tisch Drama, there are 8 Professional Training Studios. Seven of these are primarily acting studios (with various distinctive approaches and emphasis) and one of these studios is just for Musical Theater. That studio is called Collaborative Arts Project 21 or CAP21 for short. Students attend these training studios for three days per week, all day. Then on the other two days per week, they take their academic classes in Theater Studies and other Liberal Arts subjects. After two years in their primary studios, they have the option of staying in that studio for two more years or auditioning/applying to transfer into another studio to experience a different approach. </p>

<p>If you go to this website, you can read more about the Primary Professional Studios at Tisch:
<a href="http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/dr_primstudios.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/dr_primstudios.html&lt;/a>
When you get there, you can also click on CAP21 (or any studio) on the right hand side and then read all about CAP21's program, curriculum, faculty, etc.<br>
While on the Tisch website, you might wish to explore the various other links about the school. </p>

<p>I'd like to caution you, that while it is perfectly understandable for a student to have favorites on their list of schools, it is preferable to not have a "dream school". I say this because the admit rate at all the BFA in MT programs is quite low and thus the chances at each program are 'chancy' even for those who have the academic and artistic qualifications. So, rather than fall in love with a certain school, it is better to explore many options deeply. A MT student can thrive and be happy at more than one program. It is natural for a student to start with programs she has heard about or always wanted to go to (before she ever really delved too deeply.....which I gather your D has not yet if she is unaware of what "CAP21" is), but have her explore a range of BFA programs thoroughly. Visit if possible. Establish criteria that is important to her in picking a college program and see how each program matches up with her personal preferences. </p>

<p>Also, assess if her academic and artistic qualifications are in range for each school on her list. I have seen far too many students create a "wish list" of BFA programs simply because they like them but with no regard to how well they qualify for the program/college. Just so you know with NYU/Tisch, academics count 50% of the admissions decision and artistic review counts 50%. </p>

<p>As far as merit scholarships go.....the criteria and process at each school is different and you would have to check with each school. At my D's 8 BFA schools on her list, all offered merit scholarships, though at the time we were unaware of that and learned of it as we opened the award letters. For each of her schools, there was no separate application for scholarships. All who applied and were admitted were considered for scholarships automatically. Some schools may require a separate application to be considered for scholarships.</p>

<p>Some schools may base the award on academic merit. Others may base it on artistic talent. Some base it on both. Some might take into account other things like accomplishments/activities, etc. So, you would have to check with each school about each of their scholarships and the criteria and process for each. The scholarship my D has at NYU/Tisch is called a Trustee Scholarship. I don't seem to have any information here about it, but if I recall, I believe that it takes into account both academic and artistic merit. My D ALSO was an applicant for need based finanicial aid which she receives. For those applying for need based aid, who also are awarded a merit scholarship to NYU/Tisch, the amount of the scholarship might be increased due to financial need. Her Trustee Scholarship, therefore, is a combination of her Merit Scholarship and Need based grant rolled into one. It is substantial and for all four years. I believe there are other Merit Scholarships besides this particular named one, that others have gotten. </p>

<p>If you have further questions about Tisch/CAP21, I can try to help as my D goes there and I have advised students who now attend or will attend this coming year.</p>

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<p>I have a friend whose D, though not an MT student, has gotten generous merit awards at Point Park. She does not have huge SAT scores, so I know they give money for other parts of your child's experience....volunteering in the community, etc.</p>