My son has been accepted in the musical theatre programs at IU as well as Oklahoma City University. He is really struggling making a final decision. Does anyone have any insights in comparing these programs? He has the dream of broadway and is not sure what to do.
Both great programs and great schools but very different. Does he want a big college? IU is big, football, raw raw type of program, OCU is smaller. I would recommend a visit if you can do it – you really get a feel for the program by visiting. As for prestige, I am not sure how I would side on that one.
Yes, he has visited both, he definitely likes the IU campus better, but he is very into music and thinks the OCU program will be more musically intensive. He is getting some input that OCU is more prestigious but not sure whether that is true.
On the prestigious point, I think that will level off sooner than later. Indiana is a real up and coming program, and has a GREAT faculty with terrific experience. They are also pretty selective with a focused, smaller MT class. The staff also promotes mixing with the general population a fair amount and to get a true “college experience”. Indiana is also piping a fair amount of Broadway performers over the last few years.
OCU may have gotten the nod looking at this 5 years ago for prestige, but if you were to assess today, I suspect Indiana has a good chance to pass them by the time your S is a Senior.(you could argue they have already).
Not that you would focus this up front, but in the event your S decided on a different path, Indiana is a better place to be if he were to stay vs transfer.