JMU MT Acceptance?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>I sent KatMT a message, but I’m not sure if she received it, so I’ll post my question here…</p>

<p>I’ve seen on the JMU school website that a resume is a requirement for your audition. Basically my question is, if you don’t have any past experience (or anything to put on your resume as far as being in actual plays, etc.), is it impossible to get into the JMU MT program even if you do well on the audition? </p>

<p>I am about to enter my sophomore year at a VA CC and I am doing the guaranteed admission agreement to transfer to JMU Fall of 2013. So coming in as a Junior, would I even be able to audition? I’ve always loved MT and had a strong interest in it, but was unfortunately never able to pursue it early on because my parents would not allow me to. Hence why I was never able to really participate to build a resume in High School. (They are paying for college so I was never really in any position to go against their wishes). Anyway, they have recently agreed to allow me to pursue what I want if I am accepted into the program. Clearly it’s late for them to be on board now, but I will try anyway if I can.</p>

<p>I’ve started out as an English major. I’ve taken a few Theatre classes in the past, but nothing to sharpen a resume, and I currently take music lessons (piano and voice) but I’m not sure if that makes any difference. Helpful answers are appreciated, thanks.</p>

2

<p>Yes, you will be able to audition for both the Theatre and Musical Theatre programs at the March audition. It would be quite difficult to complete the Musical Theatre program at JMU in two years, so even a junior entering should probably expect to take three years to complete the program. The Theatre program may be a bit easier to complete in just two more years after transferring to JMU depending on course work taken at CC.</p>

<p>You have nothing to loose by auditioning for the Musical and Theatre programs in March. If not admitted to either program you still can transfer to JMU and attend in a different major, declare a theatre minor if you wish, take classes on a space available basis, and audition for productions. </p>

<p>Admissions to both programs is competitive, but Theatre is a larger program that has more areas of focus, so the admit rate is generally higher. </p>

<p>Last audition cycle for Musical Theatre we auditioned approximately 175 potential freshman and transfers and ended up with approximately a 13% admit rate for Musical Theatre to yield a class of 14 freshman and 1 transfer. This is a larger than usual incoming freshman class, so we will likely admit a smaller percentage of applicants next audition cycle. </p>

<p>I am not sure of the exact numbers for the Theatre program… many who audition for Musical Theatre elect to also be considered for the Theatre program, and (of course) there are students who audition/ interview/ portfolio review for the Theatre program and not the Musical Theatre program. I believe the admit rate for the Theatre program is around 33% (this includes students who intend to focus on performance, theatre studies, design and technology, theatre education, and management). </p>

<p>There are currently around 135 students in the Theatre program and 45 students in the Musical Theatre program. </p>

<p>I do not sit in on the Theatre auditions because they occur at the same time as the Musical Theatre auditions, so I am more familiar with the Musical Theatre information.</p>

<p>For Musical Theatre we generally are expecting transfer students to be at the level of the rising sophomore class in terms of artistic skills. Occasionally we have admitted a transfer student who is at incoming freshman level (and goes into the freshman level classes) in terms of certain artistic skills. </p>

<p>Most of the incoming students for Musical Theatre have relatively significant experience in at least two out of three of the performance/ training areas (acting, singing, dancing) prior to being admitted to JMU. However, there have been a few students who have been admitted to the program with more limited experience and background, but loads of potential. We are not particularly concerned with the amount of performing experience on the resume, but students who have been involved and training previously tend to be more competitive at the auditions.</p>

<p>Hope this information is helpful! Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions. :-)</p>

3

<p>Yes, that helps tremendously, thank you!</p>

<p>So if I were to be accepted, would I be able to take classes during the summer to catch up at least somewhat to where I’d need to be? And would it be too difficult for me to double major (continuing the major I’ve already started)?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>Not many (if any) of the required theatre classes are offered in the summer, and since your general education requirements would be completed, the only classes you could really take in the summer are foriegn language and the philosophy class for the BA. </p>

<p>Finishing the MT program in less than three years as a transfer student is highly unlikely. It is a 58 credit major concentration and very few, if any, of your required major classes will transfer in from another institution. Almost all students in the program take many more than the required credits in the major… taking more like 75 - 80+ credits in the major. Regardless, the classes are sequenced, and because of pre-requisits and the voice lesson component we tell all MT transfer applicants that they should expect the program to take 3 years to complete. In this past graduating class there were three students who had transferred from other institutions (one from a VA CC after completing as associates degree). All took the three years to complete the program, one was apart time in his final semester, but had been a music major prior to coming to JMU and we accepted all of his music classes in transfer. </p>

<p>Double majoring is very difficult with the MT concentration regardless of whether a student enters as a transfer or a freshman. Not many students in the program do double major, and for those that do most take at least an extra semester or year. You bring copies of your transcripts to the audition, and if admitted, we are able to give you a sense of what you would still need to take to complete the program, and what major classes, if any, will transfer.</p>

<p>A double major is a little easier to manage with the Theatre program. The program is less credit intensive… 45 instead of 58 (and most of the required MT specific classes are 1 & 2 credit classes, so the 13 credit difference is a lot more than 4 classes). Quite a few of the students in the Theatre program double major.</p>

<p>If you decide to audition, I recommend that you ask to be considered for both the Musical Theatre and Theatre programs. This will raise your chances of admission into the School of Theatre and Dance, and give you the possibility of more options to consider.</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>

5

<p>Okay. Thank you for all of your help, I really appreciate it! I will certainly contact you if I have any further questions.</p>