<p>VERY hard decision trying to decide between JMU, Montclair and BOCO. My D really wants BOCO but she will graduate with a $40,000ish debt, whereas with the other two colleges she would not. The dilemna is…will the BOCO network and training pan out in the end and make the debt worth the price. My background is in classical theater and I know from professional experience that network coupled with good training mean EVERYTHING. I am not as familiar with the workings of the music industry. I know that JMU has a great opera/classical department but is there a strong connection to the professional world?..and the full saturation to music that Boston offers…then again she can always try BOCO for graduate school. If she chooses Virginia,the question lingers will next year pose a “what if” scenario. AAHHH, the dilemna.
Similar situation last year with my other daughter…she was accepted in Syracuse for a BFA in acting and Muhlenberg for a BA in theater/music. We stayed up until the early hours on April 30th weighing the pros and cons. She chose Muhlenberg because she did not want to steer away from music and general education courses. She LOVES where she is and it has proven to be a great choice. I hope April 30th of this year brings as good of luck.
Speaking to recent graduated students, they thought that $50,000 was not that bad a number!!! What a statement that makes. Education is only affordable to the very wealthy or the poor. The middle class, as usual carries the torch.
Any personal imput on BOCO would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Dear Jersey Babe:</p>
<p>My daughter is going to graduate Boco with about $30,000 in debt and I will be about $128,000 in debt. I am also solid middle class and will be paying the loan off for many years. So in my opinion, yes it is worth it. I think it would benefit both you and your daughter to visit each campus, spend the night, observe the classes and other students. My D was accepted to 10 schools, narrowed it down to 5, visited all 5 and her her/our decision became an easy one. The primary reason she chose BOCO was the caliber of the training and the overall quality of the attending student body. I don’t regret our decision for one second. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Your heart needs to be in this decision ,Our daughter had a connection and we knew BoCo had a good reputation.We have seen a huge growth and maturing in acting,
voice and dance with tons of opportunities for performance.Your student will be developed and challenged no doubt.
To be honest if something is beyond your budget and leaves you uncomfortable then don’t go there. For us we are comfortable and really love our choice and there have been fantastic contacts made already.
Ariel in Little Mermaid on Broadway will be played by a BoCo MT graduate now there is some great PR for the program.</p>
<p>We are taking on debt and my D will bear some of it herself but am I getting my money’s worth? YOU BETCHA. She had the option of going to a lesser school where she would not only graduate with no debt but she’d have had a car and a semester abroad, the works…but we both felt the BoCo connection and she is thriving there. I know we’d have had the “what if” questions, too, had we not gone with BoCo. This isn’t exactly scientific, but we have for years scoured Playbills looking for school mentions in the bios, and BoCo turned up quite a bit…of course they take more kids than CMU and Michigan, so it stands to reason that there are more grads out there.</p>
<p>My D is just finishing up her first year…I know she’d tell me if she didn’t think it was worth my money.</p>
<p>PS: SCADS of crazy talented kids in my daughter’s vocal studio.</p>
<p>Funny… for several years I kept track of Playbills in NYC, tours and even went as far as collecting information from regional theatres online just to see which schools were well represented. BoCo certainly figures in the top. If your D likes the school and you can make it work financially its really a no-brainer!</p>
<p>Based on what my D has told me about her 1st year in school there and what I’ve seen in recitals, shows etc… if you asked me to rate the school from 1 to 10 it would most def be an 11! and I’m not paid to make this statement :)</p>
<p>As Skwidjymom says, amazing voices in those studios and I noticed the acting growth in my D during her last recital… so if your D can be part of such a program and be surrounded with such talent she will grow tremendously!</p>
<p>Here is a 2007 list of alumni and where they were performing
[Boston</a> Conservatory Alumni Report](<a href=“http://www.tbcshowcase.net/alumni.html]Boston”>http://www.tbcshowcase.net/alumni.html)</p>
<p>Actually there are about 7 more kids in the last two years that are either on Broadway or National Tours. I also might have overlooked from your lost Constantine from American Idol fame who currently has the lead in “Rock of Ages”.</p>
<p>Jersey Babe – I think your D is planning on going for a BM in vocal performance? If that is the case a MM degree is most likely in her future. I do not know about the Montclair program. But teach in the Musical Theatre/ Theatre program at JMU, and used to teach at a college in the northeast where quite a few graduates went to BOCO and other Boston schools for graduate school in VP. </p>
<p>Ultimately you D needs to decide the amount of debt she wants to take on in undergraduate school, particularly since graduate school is most likely in her future. </p>
<p>I know VP students from JMU who have been accepted by graduate programs such as Indiana U., MMM, BOCO, Boston U., and NEC. I have been lucky enough to work with VP students in acting classes, mt performance classes, and productions. It seems to me that they are getting very strong undergraduate training, and the coaching needed for admittance to strong graduate programs.</p>
<p>One questions you D needs to ask herself is how she feels about taking a relatively large LA Core. All JMU students take the same 41 credit General Education curriculum. I do not believe the requirements at BOCO are as large. Not sure about Montclair. </p>
<p>Finally, was she able to take sample lessons at the schools? This may help her with her final decision. Great choices… 
Good Luck to her!</p>