<p>Classical or "art" songs are often in Italian, German or French, although some are in English. They are usually (but not always) older songs, i.e. 17 - early 20th century. Some Italian composers you might look at are Scarlatti, Monteverdi, Caccini. Some schools require classical songs to provide a contrast with musical theater, and some of these same schools teach a classical rather than a modern vocal technique. If the school you are auditioning for requires this, and you are not familiar with classical singing, you might want to re-consider whether it is really what you are looking for.</p>
<p>Good news! As her parents, you ARE still in control -- unless your daughter is planning to support herself throughout her college years. Yes, you can be supportive and allow her to apply to MT programs, but you should definitely insist that she also apply to other schools, or to have a second choice of major. This is what we did several years ago with our daughter. For example, she applied to the BFA MT program at Penn State. She was accepted academically, but did not pass the audition. So she still could have attended PSU if she had not been accepted into another program. (And yes, she was accepted into several MT programs, and ended up at Syracuse, which she loves.)</p>
<p>Of course, there are many schools where she can major in theater without ever auditioning for the program. Some are excellent academically -- Vassar and Sarah Lawrence, to name just a few.</p>
<p>LA mom, Look at the FAQ's on page one of this discussion for "The Big List". </p>
<p>Applying to both the school and the MT department: Our D applied to all of her schools as "undecided/MT". This way she had the option of attending schools academically even if she was not admitted into the MT program. Luckily she was accepted into some MT programs, but if she had not, she would have options. Fortunately, most of the schools that offer BFA MT are also fine academic institutions, and whether you are looking for a big state school or a small private one, they offer a broad range of related degrees from theatre studies, music/theatre education, to communications and broadcast journalism.</p>
<p>Wow! I just finished reading much of the rejection letter thread. This is going to be so tough. You just feel for your kids more than anything. They all will go to the auditions with dreams of glory...most will not get into their top choices.</p>
<p>This is especially hard because most of these kids are incredibly talented and used to success.</p>
<p>But, on this journey I shall go with my daughter. Good luck to all.</p>
<p>Just kidding of course, but I've been researching schools where dance is less of an obstacle to entrance. My daughter is good - not great and really pressures herself to the point of distraction on dance.</p>
<p>She is a wonderful singer and willing to sing anything, anytime in front of anyone. Same with acting, but dancing on the spot, with no rehearsal time is to her like asking Shaq to make a living shooting free throws.</p>
<p>So far, I've seemed to find OCU and Santa Fe as schools who are less concerned about dance level going in. Others, like Point Park have basically been non-starters because of their very high dance qualifications.</p>
<p>She will attend OCU pre-college MT this summer - acceptance arrived a few weeks back. Hoping the experience will help her and give them an idea of what she can do.</p>
<p>Welcome NODad! </p>
<p>This is surely a challenging journey for these kids. It helps if one defines success in a less narrow way by widening their net in their college search and not focusing only on their ideal schools. There is a school for everyone. There are many ways to achieving one's goals. It helps to broaden the nature of the goal. When one is too focused on a narrow list of schools that all have difficult odds of admissions, it can be a greater set up for disappointment. If one broadens the college list and the definition of the goal, the greater chance of a successful next step in life and in education. Focusing on "top choices" CAN be a recipe for disappointment. It is good to dream but it is better to dream a bit realistically and to plan accordingly and to explore a variety of schools. A person can be happy and can succeed in a variety of educational settings and there really is no "one" best school or one "best" way to their goals. I caution those going into this to not have their heart set on one or two schools. </p>
<p>Enjoy the ride! It's an adventure. Learn as much as you can about the process and plan accordingly and realistically and ultimately, achieving your goal is possible. There are lots of ways of reaching a goal!</p>
<p>NODad, it seems common that a lot of MT kids are good at two of the skill areas but not as much in the third one. In my view, it is time to strengthen the skill in that third area (in your D's case, Dance) and to gain more confidence in it. The chances of success in BFA admissions increase when one is good at all three skills sets, even though some do get admitted who are mostly strong in two areas. Since there are not THAT many BFA programs, even if you were to seek ones where dance is not as critical in the BFA audition process, it does count at many others and so the better odds will happen to keep training in dance to at least build confidence and also familiarity with having to perform a combination on the spot after it is taught. Experience with that helps. Obviously, so does technique. But an audition will require learning a combo on the spot and the more you practice doing that, the better you are used to it and can do it.</p>
<p>Obviously we are trying to work on her dance, which her teacher says is not as weak as she or we think it is.</p>
<p>However, it's the 'on the spot' stuff that is tough for her.</p>
<p>It will be a hurdle we'll have to overcome. We are hoping to get her some one on one lessons this summer.</p>
<p>NOdad,</p>
<pre><code>I can totally relate to how your D feels. I occasionally audition/perform in a local community theatre and because I don't have a dance background, the moment they say "5,6,7,8" I break out in a cold sweat! I'm forever explaining that I really am an ok dancer, it's just that it takes some slower break down. Once I get it down, I can relax and have fun, but that original take is always a killer for me!
</code></pre>
<p>Hi everyone! I am new to posting, but have been reading posts on the site for a while. This site rocks!!
My D loves MT, but we are from Northern California where there isn't much offered for MT lovers. She has been involved in MT since she was five and did ballet for 12 years. She hasn't danced for two years and I am a little nervous about the audition process for her. She is unable to take any pre college this summer. Smack in the middle of summer we are going to Italy for a few weeks.
We would love for her to attend a college in CA (financially it makes sense), but the better choices for MT seem to be outside of our state. Does anyone know if there are any colleges that offer scholarships to students outside CA not based on the parents income?</p>
<p>Welcome to the College Confidential MT list, NCMTMom! It's great to have you here, and I feel sure that you will find this list to be as invaluable as have I. (Honestly, I almost shudder to think of how ignorant my kid and I would have been about the whole college admissions process for MT had I not stumbled across this, not to mention the amazingly nice friends I have made here. But I digress ... :)) To answer your question, I feel sure that there are schools that offer merit/talent scholarships that are not dependent upon parents' income, and I also feel sure that others who know more than me will step forward soon to answer this question for you. (We're at the end of this year's tiring audition season, so people are just taking some time to breathe out. Then the cycle can begin again for our kids in the fall. Yee ha.) When you have time, you may want to browse through the big list of MT schools at the top of this list and then go to individual school's web sites and search for talent/merit scholarship info. Keep posting. :)</p>
<p>NCMTMom, I just want to welcome you as well and I'm glad you finally decided to post and join in, particularly as you are about to enter the "fun" admissions process with your daughter :D. I agree with NMR, that you can check with each school regarding talent/merit scholarships. Based on my own child's experience, as well as having read of others' experiences about MT Colleges for almost five years here, I think many of the colleges that offer BFA in MT programs have talent/merit scholarships (amounts vary!). While my own child was an applicant ALSO applying for need based financial aid, all her BFA schools ALSO offered, in part, a talent/merit type scholarship. So, I think many schools will have this. There are not a lot of BFA programs in MT in your state. Until you get the scholarship offers, it is hard to compare the total ticket price at colleges because sometimes a more expensive college may come out to be less if the scholarship is significant.</p>
<p>NCMTmom, </p>
<pre><code>Welcome! We found that most of the schools on the "Big List" offered some kind of non-income based merit/talent scholarships. Anywhere from $3,000- $18,000 in our case. If I were you, I'd call the schools directly (no need to give your name.) and ask them how much money the school awards in non-income based merit and talent scholarships. At some schools the individual departments have their own "pool". Ask! It's an important part of paring your list down. If there is no way that you can afford a school w/o this kind of scholarship, why waste the time, money and emotion auditioning there? In my opinion, and I don't speak for anyone else, NO SCHOOL for MT is worth going into big time debt for. Gettting work in this field is difficult, paying student loans could end up being a terrible burden and take decades to repay. There are so many student loan sharks out there that make it look like you can go to any school that you want to. They are literally loan sharks. You have to be really careful and do your homework. Most kids have NO concept of how interest rates change when they graduate, how "0" percent credit cards often turn into 24% after a short time or if you are late w/ one payment etc. We as parents need to sit them down and explain it before they get emotionally attached to the idea of going to a place like NYU, SU, or CMU. All of us should read the fine print on the "0"percent credit cards with our kids and show them just how dangerous this system is. Did anyone see that report on 60 minutes about how students and the unemployed get sucked into these deals and find themselves in big trouble FAST? Anyway... ASK!! You'll be glad you did.
</code></pre>
<p>I haven't been reading this thread, but just caught this page. I agree with Susan...if at all possbile work on the lesser of your talents. My guys were good in tap but not so hot in jazz and ballet. Their dance skills have now improved immensely due to determination and thankfully to teachers who encouraged the idea to become triple threats if possible. Don't shy away from your weaknesses...make them into attributes instead.</p>
<p>Hi from S. Cali. In addition to looking at scholarships, you might find it helpful to cruise through some of the financial aid threads here on CC. It was there that I learned much more about the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) and how that amount may affect your financial aid package. </p>
<p>Many of the private colleges will "meet the demonstrated need," meaning that they'll come up with a package to bridge the difference between your EFC and the cost of attendance. So, figuring out which MT schools have that committment to "meet the need" would be helpful. Also, I didn't have a clue what my family's EFC would be when my oldest was accepted to college. It wasn't until I filled out the entire FAFSA that I got my EFC number. I hear there are EFC calculators somewhere out there in cyberspace, so you might try to run the numbers based on your tax information from this year. That would give you a better sense of the financials. </p>
<p>In our case, my kids are able to attend private universities (one inside Cali, one outside) with a cost of attendance of $31-39K for what it would cost to send them to a UC school. Public out-of-state universities probably wouldn't be as advantagous financially since my kids aren't in running for academic merit, but we did nicely with the private schools.</p>
<p>hi I am a newbie and sent in a post last night but I don't see it or any replies (?). My D is a JR and MT enthusiast. She has done summer programs at our colleges in MD, but none of the MT programs at the top schools.
She spends her summer on a community theatre group that she founded that has expanded. Many school age children now participate.
HOw important are these programs? Her grades are top notch and she is currently in an IB programme with Latin as her language. SHe loves history and worked on a political campaign this year. She also did a Hopkins program on LAW and loved trial law. She plans to go on to law school unless the MT thing really takes hold.
Any school suggestions??
Thanks so much</p>
<p>Spotlightmom, I posted this under another thread, where you originally posted this ?. :) I am cutting and pasting it in here, so you can respond:</p>
<p>Welcome to the board, spotlightmom! Your D sounds like an amazing kid and it's clear you are very proud of her, and with good reason. As to your question: if she truly envisions herself eventually pursuing a law degree, she may (after exploring a lot of college program) find herself wanting to steer away from studying MT in a conservatory or conservatory-esque (just made that up and like the sound of it! ) college environment. In other words, she may end up preferring to and benefitting most from a college program that allows/encourages/requires her to take a good dose of liberal arts classes. I am told that at NYU, for instance, MT students have their theater/dance/voice classes on (I hope I have this right; if I don't, I trust soozievt to correct me!) Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and liberal arts classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or something similar. In other words, liberal arts classes are an integral and substantial part of the degree, whereas at Carnegie Mellon, an MT student does not have the time to take many liberal arts courses that are not related to her or his major. Ask about that when you visit next week and I am sure that they can give you a more complete picture than can I. I am guessing that there are many excellent colleges where your daughter could do musical theater and acting and major in history or English, etc., yet have many performing opportunities, as well as take a plethora of acting, MT, dance and music classes, or where she could double major in musical theater/acting and something else, such as history. (As an aside, if she is really interested in history, Johns Hopkins is an <em>excellent</em> school to consider, and there are plenty of performing opportunities and acting, etc. classes there, too. John Astin, the actor who played Gomez Addams in the TV series, "The Addams Family," teaches acting and theater there and runs a very highly respected student theater group. If you want to know more, PM me.) Again, I am far from an expert, but it seems to me there is a way for your D to pursue all of her interests and passions in college at the same time. I am equally sure that others here who know more than me will chime in with some excellent suggestions. This is a most helpful community!
NMR</p>
<p>to briefly add to what notmammarose said, don't forget that for musical theater, the Peabody, with its fabulous vocal training classes, is part of Hopkins.</p>
<p>Thanks for putting me in the right place! I really don't understand all this "threading" stuff, and am having a hard time navigating this site!
Anyway, I am proud of my D and all her accomplishments.
SHe has been doing MT since age 4 and it really is her passion! On the other hand, she is realistic about her chances on "the big stage", and does not see herself pounding the pavements and eating ramen noodles waiting for the big break. I would like for her to attend a good liberal arts school that has lots of MT as well. It seems hard to find this type of compromise?
She has nixed NYU, and didn't like Hopkins but is open to all else..
SHe was very interested in at CMU program about humanities/fine arts program. BUT unfortunately the MT major is not included in this program.
She really likes the city life but wants either a small city or a short commute outside of a big one. CMU seemed just right, and not too far from home.
Yet, when I read these posts it seems like a few of the schools are so COMPETITVE and almost cut-throat.
She would love to do MT almost as a social thing at school, and academics.
Spend time bringing and including MT in the communities while in school. Then law school? Does anyone have suggestions on some schools that fit this description?? Thanks!</p>
<p>You guys, does Indiana University -- with its fabulous music school and its new MT major -- sound like it might be worth a look from spotlightmom's D? Plus, spotlightmom, I would think that many, many selective colleges and universities offer theater minors and plenty of opportunities to perform to students who major in something else. (A few that come to mind are Kenyon, Oberlin, Swarthmore, Skidmore, etc.) Your D sounds very talented, and it's great she started that program for kids. But the experts tell us that the only kids who should try to pursue a BFA in MT are those who cannot -- in their wildest dreams -- imagine doing anything else. They say that because admissions to the most selective BFA programs is extremely, extremely competitive (I am not sure if "cut throat" is the right term or not, as my D has yet to go through the process! :)) and the job market is even more so. (We all have heard that, at any one time, 99% of actors are unemployed.) Plus, I hear that many of the top BFA programs leave kids little to no time to be, well, well rounded; they are busy from morning to night. In fact, I don't know what the statistics are, but some kids who get into BFA programs find it is too intense and either leave the school or drop the major. Spotlightmom, I am sure others will chime in. :)</p>