<p>I am 20 years old, and am currently attending a community college in Berkshire County, MA. (Home of Williamstown Theatre Festival and Barrington Stage CO.) I am looking to transfer to either a BA or BFA program in Musical Theatre. I want a competitive program, but I don't have much professional training, yet. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for schools to apply that take transfers to MT programs. I am willing to start as a freshman. Also, ideally I would like to transfer in the winter of this coming year...any idea if there are programs that take people mid year??
Thanks in advace-
Greeny</p>
<p>Greeny,
In all the reading I've done I can't recall any MT program that takes mid-year transfers. Every program I've read about states that for theater programs you must start in the fall.</p>
<p>however, you could transfer in as an undeclared major and take mt courses, then audition for the next year. of course, the downside would be if you didn't get accepted to the mt program. so, that may or may not be a good idea.</p>
<p>The schools I know about don't allow non-majors to take the MT major classes, so transferring as an undeclared major would probably not be helpful. My suggestion would be to search for the curricula of the schools you're interested in, load up your schedule this year with any non-major courses that look like they would be most likely to transfer, and any training you can get that would be helpful for auditions.</p>
<p>i don't know how many do, but some do, i know. the majors get first choice at the classes, but then other students can take them. but your idea probably is better unless you were pretty sure you could get into the school.</p>
<p>greenorphan, I agree with chrism, I've never heard of any MT programs which will allow you to start in mid-year. However, I think most, if not all, allow transfer applications to their programs, it's just very difficult to transfer into most of them. The reason for this is that it will depend how many openings are available due to attrition in the programs so that's something to keep in mind, as it will likely affect the number of schools you end up applying to. </p>
<p>I also wouldn't count on transferring as an undecided major then attempting to get into MT that way. For a lot of the best MT programs, this isn't possible anyway, and for those which allow internal transfers, people who have already transferred in from another college are often precluded from applying this way. From the programs I'm familiar with, most do not allow non-majors to take classes. So the best advice, is that given by MusThCC, research and find the schools which best suit your needs, have a sufficient number to make the chances realistic, and prepare well for your auditions. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>i don't mean to argue, i just want her to have good info to make an informed decision. there may be only one school in the country that allows non-majors to take the mt course, but i do know of one that does, and that's ocu. i can't speak for the others, and it does make sense that most of them might not. i know you guys have researched these others, just wanted to make sure she knows of this one and if there's one, it's possible there are others. but, i do agree with you all that it's probably best to follow your ideas. just throwing that tidbit out to have all information for all options.</p>
<p>but...i have already earned my associates degree in liberal arts. most of the credits (if not all) that would transfer i have already taken. i applied for next year but i only applied to three schools. the boston conservatory, hartt, and AMDA. i was accepted to hartt and AMDA, and denied at the boston conservatory. i visited hartt and hated it. AMDA didnt give me any money, and i have heard some negative things about their school that i didnt know when i was auditioning or i wouldnt have have bothered. i didnt go because i decided that over 50,000 in debt after 2 years without a degree was not something that i could justify...any other suggestions?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions...keep em coming if you could ;)
OH, and I am a male not a female...haha</p>
<p>what about a non-audition school for next year? then, choose others to audition for?</p>
<p>According to Daughter, Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois accepts transfer students in the middle of the school year. Or at least, last year they had one. However, this gal did not/could not take any MT classes the second semester (the first semester she was there). She will start with her MT classes next fall.</p>
<p>Millikin also allows non-MTs to take MT classes. However, you may have trouble getting into the classes. BFAs have first priority, BAs have second priority, and everyone else has last priority.</p>
<p>I do know that at the Dance program we saw there, one of the choreographers had a Biology major and a Dance minor.</p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>ASU allows non majors to take MT courses. And then you could audition later.</p>
<p>Razorback, I was wondering what you ment when you said that OCU lets non majors take MT classes?</p>
<p>As a current student, the only ones who are allowed to take acting, dance and voice studies (with the full time MT voice teachers) are musical theater majors.</p>
<p>Now, at Oklahoma City University, non majors are allowed to participate in the choirs. And theater majors are allowed to take some MT courses, however the school of theater is run by the music school. I have never had a non major (outside of theater) in any music class. In fact, considering the number of MT students at OCU, I don't see how the music school would allow that. Also, non majors are not allowed to audition for the musical productions whcih keeps the quality very high.</p>
<p>Oklahoma City University does allow transfer students. However, several courses from your other schools (like theory and choir) will not transfer. Please tell me where you received your info from.</p>
<p>ocu, that's certainly not what we've been told. numerous times we've been told everyone can audition for the musicals and all theatrical productions. we've been told also that non majors can take mt classes if they are not full and further that there's always room left for non majors to take them. we were told that you don't take voice with certain professors, that you take with a lesser kind, i'm not sure the term that was used, adjunct, maybe? my child is theatre but mary also told me that often a student will come up as an undeclared major and take mt classes hoping to re-audition and get in. we were even told recently from one of the mt students whom we know that a law student had the lead in a recent musical.</p>
<p>we've also had numerous conversations with deans parker, belcik, and herendeen along these lines. i believe our information is correct.</p>
<p>Sorry...no law student was ever a lead in an OCU musical this year. Every lead and supporting actor was a music school student. I'd love to know their name.</p>
<p>Also, as I said, your child is in the threater department. While it is a different major, it is still under the control of the music school who runs the theater department. So, theater performance majors (which was formally called Triple Threat) do have some slight cross over into MT classes. However, they have required classes they must complete and most of their classes come under the theater department.</p>
<p>i'm well aware of what the theatre degree requires. and yes the degree does cross over. however, you can use your electives and even more if you want, to take any of the voice or dance classes. if you choose to stay in school long enough to take all the classes, you can end up with almost a double major. i didn't say a law student had a lead this year, i said recently and i am confident of that fact. i am also confident of the fact that people in authority have assured us that the classes are open to undeclared majors as long as they are not full. i am also confident of the fact that dr. herendeed told us non-mt majors can audition for all productions. btw, only allowing mt majors to audition would not improve the quality of a show. the director gets to decide and he will pick the best, regardless who happens to audition. just because others audition, does not mean he would have to use them. that just gives him an opportunity to discover talent that might not be an mt major. he controls the quality of the show and no one else. if he determines that his mt majors are the best, he'll use them and if someone else is, he'll use them. but, narrowing your audition pool only narrows your possibilities. also, i think it's a mistake to assume that only mt majors are capable of quality mt. look on broadway at the success stories who don't have a degree in mt. a musical has lots of music, but it's still primarily acting and it's that ability that either makes or breaks a show.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. I think I understand now what you are saying. You initally said non majors couldn't take "musical theater" courses. I believe you ment "music school" classes. There are courses specially under the muscial theater major. For instance, a pre med major could not take Musical Theater Dance. Any qualified student can take a piano class and such. </p>
<p>And there was never an issue with a non MT being abel to succeed in a professional career. I agree 100%.</p>
<p>I wish your child all the best! I know they will have a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>i was at ocu today and made a point of confirming our information. i believe a non major can take any class in the musical theatre program that still has room after mt majors have made their choices. it is my understanding after many conversations with parker, belcik, and herendeen that a pre med major could take musical theatre dance or any other mt class as long as it is not full. i also confirmed that any student can audition for any theatrical production on campus and that indeed, a law student had a key role in a musical, although it was not this year. we were told however, that a couple of theatre majors were in "seussical." i simply want to make this point because others may need this info and i believe it is helpful information. and thanks for your good wishes.</p>
<p>Not to dispute what Razorback is saying....but to clarify...</p>
<p>My D, a junior in MT at OCU, says anyone can take MT (voice, acting, dance) classes...and audition for shows. However, realistically, it doesn't always work out that way. Examples: She leveled into a mid-level ballet class her first year. She registered, paid and attended the first week. At the end of the first week, the 5 MT majors in the class were asked to drop and register for another class or wait to take this particular class in the next semester because they had too many students already in the class....they kept the dance majors; tossed out the MTs. She also wanted to take a particular acting class based on the professor and his style of teaching but could not get in because of his popularity and the policy that upper-division students get first priority.</p>
<p>My point is that while the policy is that anyone can take a class, the reality is that it may not happen. I think it only fair that those thinking of going down this road take that into consideration.</p>