<p>Hello, I'm Caitlin, I'm from Washington state, and I'll be a senior this fall. I've read so many threads here it's making my head spin. I've read a lot of great advice, but now I'm asking personally for advice.</p>
<p>I want to major in MT (duh)... but I don't want to go to a conservatory, I'd prefer to go to a larger school. Also, I have a 3.4 GPA and an SAT score of just 1160 so I doubt I could get into schools like Carnegie Mellon or U of Michigan.</p>
<p>So here's my question to you: what schools are out there for someone like me? </p>
<p>MORE ON ME: My strongest suit is dance, I've done ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, hip-hop, theater dance, etc. for many many years. But otherwise I've only taken voice lessons for half a year, and been in choir for a couple years. I know enough piano to read music and <em>slowly</em> play the right hand of most music, and I've been in school plays and musicals (I had the lead last spring).</p>
<p>I know the competition to get into schools is extremely fierce, but I want to be an actor (specifically in MT, though I'm willing to do anything relating to acting or dance to gain experience) so bad it hurts.</p>
<p>What schools should I look into/apply to, while being realistic about what I could get into???</p>
<p>I've looked at
Ball State
U of Northern Colorado
Western Michigan U
Kent State
Wichita State</p>
<p>are any of these good choices? Am I missing schools that have great MT programs? Are any of these awful choices? PLEASE HELP!! :) thank you sooo much.</p>
<p>Fosse....
On the first page of the musical theatre major forum, there is a topic called FAQ link or something. Click on it, then the link, and on the left there is another link called "The Big List." This is a list some hardworking CCers compiled of schools that offer MT majors.</p>
<p>Welcome Fosse!
Also at the top of the main MT page is a thread called "For those new to the musical theatre forum" or something like that. It is a great place to start. Some of the schools you have mentioned are not discussed too much on here, but as you accumulate info, it would be great for you to share it.</p>
<p>The only school you mention that we have any experience with in my family is Uni of No Co, where my D applied and was accepted academically. She had an audition scheduled, but when it came to the time to go to the audition, she just didn't want to travel again. We never saw the campus, nor met faculty. It seemed to be a mid-sized school in a beautiful setting.</p>
<p>One other thing I suggest is to use the search feature at the top of the main page. You can type in the individual names of schools and see if there are posts that discuss them.</p>
<p>I don't know how you feel about being in Pittsburgh, PA but Point Park University is a program that is known to be strong in dance, and your grades and SAT scores seem to be in the ballpark for it. It is an audition based BFA program.</p>
<p>If you have not already done so, you might consider taking the SAT again, and really prepare for it. Do continue to work on your vocal training, and good luck this year!</p>
<p>Hey girl welcome to the boards! I posted a message to you on the colleges for musical theatre thread. I'd check out some schools in Ohio and Chicago/Illinois as well. If you go look at the big list of musical theatre schools that some of the other posters on here mentioned, there are alot of great performing arts schools in those two states. I know Ohio you think boring and stuff probably, but there are definitely serveral of them to look at. </p>
<p>I'd definitely take a look at Roosevelt University and Elon University. Those are the two at the top of my list. They are up and coming universities. Also read the threads on the schools and see the ones you like as well. Welcome again!</p>
<p>Welcome! Ditto on Point Park and Elon. Check them out. And please don't automatically write off the conservatories. You might also consider majoring in dance and keep taking voice and acting- there are always needs for Dance Captains and Swings, so those dancers are really needed!</p>
<p>Fosse - Agree on Elon, as we love it. My son will be a freshman MT major there in about one and a half weeks. Write me an e-mail from the pull-down menu if you have questions.</p>
<p>I hope you will look at the list of 30 or so schools at the top of the MT forum. Much good information is written there. I also agree that Point Park might be a great program for you. Both Elon and Point Park will offer dance up to your already advanced level. They are also very competitive to get into from the auditions. Some of the schools, such as Carnegie Mellon, might not challenge you as much in dance.</p>
<p>To address the list you are looking at, use the search function, as I believe most have been mentioned on these threads before. We have heard of people looking at most of those schools before, but I have no personal knowledge. We know some people who looked at Wichita State and loved it. I also believe it does not require an audition for admittance into MT. In addition, there were a number of Northern CO students at BTP this summer. I had the impression that maybe they are a music oriented school.</p>
<p>Dear FosseCait,
I was thinking about you last night after I had written my reply and it occured to me that maybe you are looking in the wrong direction for you. Sure, what I said about Dance Captains or Swings holds true, but let's think about performers like Gwen Verdon or Shirley McClain. Cyd Charise, Leslie Caron or today's Charlotte D'Amboise- they were/are first and formost DANCERS. Sure, they could carry a tune, but it was there awsome dancing that made them memorable! There are very, very few of the so-called "triple threats", mainly there are dancers who sing and singers who dance. It's all a matter of where YOU feel comfortable. Pleae let us know what you decide.</p>
<p>Lulu'sMomma,
thank you so much for all the comments and advice (as well as a thank you to everyone else who replied). The world of theater, especially MT, is huge and competitive and it's nice to know that there are people out there going through the same thing, or people related to people who have gone through the same thing... etc. It's nice to know there are people who care and are willing to help. So THANK YOU. :)</p>
<p>And regarding dance vs. MT, I think I will stick with majoring in MT. Yes, dance is def. my specialty and strength and I owe it to dance for getting me into MT in the first place. Yet I think for someone like me who is very confident in many styles of dance, yet hasn't had much experience with singing or acting, it will be important to develop those two sides. I think it will be more beneficial to me to focus a lot more on improving in voice and acting, and not focus as much on the thing that I am best at. This way I'll be a more well-rounded performer, since most auditions don't even do dance until call-backs.</p>
<p>However, what you said made a lot of sense and before I had planned to really cut down on dance classes and such and focus focus focus on the other aspects of MT. Now I think I will still dance just as much as I have been dancing, because it is what I shine in and will hopefully help me to stand out.</p>
<p>Basically what I'm going to need is a balance- continue to develop in dance but let voice and acting take centerstage in my life for a while.</p>
<p>I'm willing to work and work and keep working... I realize that there are sooo many MT kids out there with much better voices than mine, and there are probably a lot of kids who dance better, too... But MT is my love and passion, and hopefully with a lot of hard work I will be "okay", whatever that may be. :)</p>
<p>Oklahoma City University has an excellent, renowned dance program. As a MT major at OCU, you take dance classes directly from the dance school. You will get the same training that the dance majors receive. On top of that, you get the vocal and drama training from the Bass School of Music.</p>
<p>Has anyone mentioned Florida State? They really take the dance audition very seriously during the MT audition. They are a school that really looks for dancers and there are two different MT programs. Look into the FSU threads. You can go for MT, but show how you can "shine" in your dance audition.</p>
<p>Since you seem to be exploring schools in many geographic areas, I agree with Ericsmom - the 30 school list should be very helpful to you. In Ohio, I would definitely consider Otterbein, where our son will be a freshman. He has already connected with some incoming MT students who will be able to take advantage of the school's strengths in dance. The staff is great and very helpful in getting you the right info on their school regarding auditions, applications, visits, etc. Feel free to pm or email us and we'll give whatever info we can. Also, this world is so much about connections, even at this level. We and many other folks found valuable info through those here who were also investigating the same schools on our list. If you use the search feature for each school you will find certain people posting who will be very helpful. If you pm or email them,they can sometimes go into greater detail for you as well. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Ericsmom,
How time flies! Wishing you and your son a wonderful new school year! I'm sure he'll thrive at Elon. You were a tremendous help to us this past year - we do appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your summer!</p>
<p>Hang in there, FosseCait! You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and know what you want, and that is half of the battle. I certainly wasn't trying to talk you out of majoring in MT, far from it, but merely wanted to point out that there are many terrific MT performers out there who are much better at dance than voice. All the best to you!</p>
<p>Ditto on OTTERBEIN! To add to abparent: They offer a specified major called Musical Theatre w/ Dance concentration, which allows the student within that major to continue developing their, already highly developed, dance abilities. They also offer a substantial amount in scholarship $...</p>
<pre><code>I also 2nd Oklahoma City University -- I would highly suggest you look into it. Their dance dept. is great, and they also offer a 'dance management' degree - which is great if you decide you don't want to go MT. (not to diswaid (sp?) you) But, it's good to have back-up plans. :-)
</code></pre>
<p>Best of luck to you! PM me if you have more q's about Otterbein -- I'll be attending this fall, along w/ abparent's S, for the MT degree. </p>
<p>Hey, abparent - good luck to you and your son, too. I know Otterbein will be wonderful. We know of several people auditioning this upcoming season who have both Otterbein and Elon high on their priority list. I'm glad it's someone else and not us auditioning this year! It really is hard to believe that we met you at auditions 9 or 10 months ago. Wow - time really does fly.</p>
<p>(We'd enjoy the end of summer more if my son wasn't recovering from a tonsillectomy! We're glad he got it done before college, though, as he's had recurring infections.)</p>
<p>To all of you auditioning students and parents - we met so many CC families as we auditioned last year. It makes for a much better day at auditions if you connect with others rather than just sitting there waiting and stressed. It's also ironic how my son is ending up at college with people we met at other school's auditions! Be nice to everyone - you don't know who you'll end up being with!</p>