Hey all! I’ve been looking at musical theatre colleges and one of the ones I’m interested in is AMDA. They seem interested in me, and I’m going to their highschool conservatory this summer, however, I’ve seen some mixed (more on the bad side) reviews. I just kinda would like some opinions, why people think it’s so bad, and other options.
Thanks!
If you do a search of this forum, you will find many previous discussions on AMDA. That would be a good place to start. Then, if you have specific questions to pose, do so. Here, I will help you with links to threads discussing AMDA:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1635141-amda-mt.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1611678-amda-audition.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1602926-new-york-film-academy-vs-amda.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1545448-amda.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1522634-amda-nowadays.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1423153-amda.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1396738-amda-weitzenhoffer.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1312564-2-year-program-cap21-or-amda.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1243267-serious-amda-help.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1088858-amda.html
Well, the first link just asks for infor and someone say to search the forum. So the snake is eating its tail.
Sorry, about the first link, but surely I provided a LOT of links where the OP can find starting information before posing specific questions. In any case, often when people like myself take the time to help an OP like this (and it did take me time to post all of those links), the person never returns.
AMDA people seem to be getting work. They are represented in almost all of the casts mentioned in this forum. Isn’t that the objective of going to school for MT? That speaks louder than the critiques on this forum about the school.
For sure, some AMDA graduates are quite successful! I haven’t seen anyone question that actually. There is the issue of what came first, a person’s talent or is their talent a result of the school they attended. Personally, I am more into picking college (and AMDA isn’t even a regular four year college) based on the experience while attending and not based on the success of the graduates. A talented person can succeed no matter where they go to school. But picking a school is about the fit of that program and what the experience will be like for you and what you might gain from it and so forth.
By the way, my daughter performed in what is called Broadway Rising Stars in NYC right after graduating from her BFA in MT program. Performers had to be selected and came from various MT programs. There were quite a few from AMDA and they were quite talented. They obviously were a select group of people from AMDA, and I don’t know the talent level of the majority. But I wouldn’t pick a program based on some talented graduates or working graduates.
@Dradsmom , you should also consider class size when seeing them show up on lists. Some schools (like AMDA) have very large numbers of graduates compared to schools like CMU, CCM, Otterbein, Michigan, etc., and therefore should be showing up in higher numbers. A CC parent took numbers from playbills and normalized them to class size and AMDA was insignificant in their showing then. Even schools like Tisch and BoCo drop significantly when you do it this way. The information is from a couple of years ago, but still worth referring to if that is part of your criteria: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1479281-best-musical-theatre-schools-based-on-broadway-alumni.html
@Dusing2 I always thought that those with high numbers should be showing up in playbills but never wanted to open that huge can of worms…glad you did 
Did anyone see this? People who call it SCAMDA can’t deny some evidence to the contrary:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/they-dreamed-the-dream-how-two-twentysomethings-went-direct-from-college-to-broadways-les-misrables-343319
^^I had seen that. I think there are some talented young women and men in every MT program, AMDA included. That doesn’t mean I would choose this particular school but there is no denying that some talented people attend and graduate from it!
There have always been AMDA grads who have been successful. I know of one who booked her first national tour nine years ago and has worked steadily in NYC since, including two Broadway shows, one of which just recently closed. She recently had some good success at pilot week in L.A. I also know of a grad who has performed, without pay, in one off-off Broadway play in the 13-14 years since he graduated from AMDA. He works full-time for one of the Broadway websites. I think the main problem that AMDA used to have was that they accepted almost everyone who applied, and more of their grads ended up in a situation much closer to my second example than to my first.
@alwaysamom is that an outdated reputation of accepting everyone? A parent asked me for an update on this school recently. I know one grad who is very successful, but would have been successful wherever she attended.
I can’t answer that, I’m afraid. It’s possible that it has changed but I don’t know and I do know that AMDA didn’t used to provide that type of information in the same way that it was available at other schools. It might be worth a call to their admissions people for someone who is interested in attending.
Thank you! I suggested she and her D go visit. I told her from what I’ve heard of the school people have very strong feelings for or against it, but it seems to be a very personal decision. Thank you!