Input on a hard decision?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

Hi everyone! I’m a student who just went through the MT audition process, and I’m now at the point where I have to start trying to make decisions. After receiving a flood of rejections that was heartbreaking to go through, I feel very fortunate to have acceptances to 2 BFA programs, both of which I had actually added to my list at the last minute!

So, right now I’m deciding between a vocal performance major at my top choice school, which I fell in love with both academically and for MT, although I unfortunately did not get into the MT program. However, there is the possibility of re-auditioning for MT freshmen year if I turned out to not be happy with vocal performance, but I don’t even know if I would do that.

I have 2 choices for a BFA MT at schools that were not even originally on my list, and that I’m not too sure about. They’re not bad schools, and they’re solid choices, but I feel like I would regret not going to my 1st choice because I love the school as a whole so much. Then again, I might regret it if I choose the VP major at my 1st choice, and later regret not taking the offer of the BFA MT.

My voice teacher teaches both classical and musical theatre styles, although classical is truly where her area of expertise lies because she started as a classical singer herself. After I didn’t get into school #1’s MT program, and I was telling her about how much I loved the school, she encouraged me to go audition for the VP major, as she thought my voice naturally fit better there, and thought I would have a good chance.

So. I can either go to a school that I am in love with and for my second choice major, or go to a school that I’m not too sure about, where I got accepted as my first choice major. My gut feeling is to go to school #1… but thinking about my long term goals, musical theatre training will be much more helpful. You can see why this is such a hard thing for me to think about! So, any opinions that people could share would be amazingly helpful!

***I’m also still waiting to hear back from 2 MT programs, but I have a hunch that they’ll be no’s.

2

So the first thing I’d say about whether to choose your top choice school is that you say that you can reaudition for MT freshman year. If you don’t get into the MT program, will you be happy to stay there?

Secondly, what I’ve found to be supremely helpful when making a decision is to list every single pro in one column and every single con in another column and look at what you have. It really helps.

So many of the families on this forum have been in shoes just like yours and more often than not, you kids end up blooming where you’re planted!

Good luck!

3

I am ignorant in what the difference is in the two majors. Here’s what I would find out. Can you audition for the musicals as a voice major? Can you supplement whatever the MT degree offers over the summer or in private classes. If the answer is yes, then go for your #1 choice.

4

Agree with @bisouu. Plus often VP majors have some acting and movement classes. You could also look into getting a minor in dance or acting and as @bisouu said you can do some summer intensives.

5

Have you really researched the VP major at your 1st choice? Most of them seem to focus solely on classical music. Would you be happy with that? I would definitely research the program (or call them and ask all the questions). Can you take movement/dance? What about acting? Are you allowed to audition for shows? These are important questions. And would you be happy there if you were never admitted to the MT program? I know of another student who may still be lurking on this board, who was at a top MT school in a VP major. She ended up transferring after her first year to an MT program at another school because VP wasn’t really giving her what she wanted. Not saying your experience would be the same, but find out answers to all the questions/reasons that are important to you and it might make your decision a little easier.

6

So true @stagedoormama , I was assuming, wrongly that it was a VP major that allowed the student to chose their style. But you are right some of the VP Programs are only Classical.

7

Your #1 could change when you are doing what you love.

8

I’v definitely heard stories both about kids who majored in VP and transferred out, and kids who majored in VP as their second choice but turned out loving it!

I know that the program itself is classical, but there may be extra opportunities to pick up voice lessons with different faculty members… not sure how that would fly with the VP teachers though! And I could minor in either theatre or dance, and also audition for the shows… but then if I did reaudition for MT and not get in a second time I would definitely be crushed!

9

These choices are very difficult, but hurray for the fact that you have choices! That’s something to celebrate in this crazy process. My daughter also has trained in both classical and MT music and has a soprano voice that lends itself very well to classical and opera. But the bottom line for her is she just does not enjoy classical music or opera in the same way she loves musical theatre and acting. She thought long and hard about this last year because she originally thought that she would audition for some VP programs. Her choir and voice teachers in particular were encouraging that option. However, when she actually sat down and looked at the VP curriculum she knew she would never be happy. It was ALL classically based with a very large emphasis on learning languages - Italian, French, German. There was little acting and generally no dance or MT. She loves to sing and she has been in a couple of operas and she has sung classical music and it’s not that she hates it, but it is not where her heart is. She wants to be an actress who sings and dances. My guess by reading your comments is that MT is where you really want to be. Don’t get so caught up in the idea of a certain school that you lose track of the training that you actually really want. I read an interview once with Audra McDonald - she revealed that she was so miserable in her VP opera training at Juilliard that she was nearly suicidal at one point and she contemplated leaving more than once. She realized that she did not want to sing opera and even though she got amazing training there, she was constantly pushing her instructors to let her sing and do the thing she loved which was MT. Even a top school like Juilliard has to be the right fit. Life is short - do what you love!!

10

it would be more helpful if you said which schools you got in but it seems like you love musical theatre more than classical singing, I think you should go for MT, just because its not a top school doesn’t mean you won’t get a great education and what ever school you go to you can make your own opportunities

11

It’s awesome that you have choices! There’s a lot of great advice above, but one thing I would definitely do is look at the curriculums themselves, and then get in contact with the school itself to see if there are any ways you could get acting and dance training in the VP program. Could you minor in one of the two? Do they have reputable programs? Even if VP majors can audition for shows, do they actually get cast? If MT is what you want to do, then if I were you (and obviously I am not), I would go to school for that. If someone wanted to be a doctor, they wouldn’t major in English, they would major in biology or be in their schools pre-med track. You seem to love the school where you would be a VP major, but do you love the PROGRAM? At the end of the day that’s what matters. You should at least like the school itself, but the program is what matters.

Another small thing is many opportunities for networking and exposure (workshops, showcases, masterclasses), will not necessarily provide you with exposure to the MT world (although you never know, and training is training). One more thing, that is pretty small, is that MT is going in the pop/rock direction. Even if your voice is more classical, at an MT program you would learn techniques to potentially get a more modern sound, as well as finding your niche as a classical performer in a world where performance opportunities are not as abundant as they once were.

I know that visiting schools is expensive and time consuming, but if possible, try and visit the schools as an accepted student. Particularly if you haven’t visited them yet, it can help you get a really good feel for the school and program. Also, you might want to consider the cost of tuition. If one of the schools is remarkably cheaper, then seriously consider attending there. If it is the school where you would be a VP major, you could perhaps use some of the money you would save on supplemental MT training, but no matter what it would allow you to begin your career as an performer without the burden of significant loans.

Best of luck with your decision:)

12

Ditto on looking at both sets of curriculum. Also look into what choirs/ensembles the VP requires. I know a current VP major whose required choir commitments make it difficult to pursue any other interest that needs an extensive rehearsal/performance schedule. Also, how interested are you in studying Music Theory? For some students that’s area that may break the camel’s back. VP majors generally need at least a few semesters of theory. Many MT programs also require theory, but at some programs it’s quite watered down and/or may only have one semester needed.