<p>I was just wondering if anyone who will be attending next year has heard anything about the size of the freshman class. I heard that something like 46 or 47 students accepted their offer, and I was concerned as to how Hartt was going to handle such a large group of freshmen when their typicial freshmen class in the past has usually been about half that.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the situation, I have heard rumors about the size of the incoming freshman class. I can say that a professor told us that earlier on, when the program was still young, there was a year when they had 50 students accept their offer and they made it work. I think it was said that due to an increased number of applicants/auditionees they accepted more students this year and this probably has something to do with the large number. This is all through the grapevine, so don’t kill the messenger!</p>
<p>Wow! I’m surprised and shocked! When we went to visit the class size was half of that! Now I’m concerned with how much personal attention my D would get, if she will get a chance to perform as often, etc. Is the administration going to address the kids or the parents about this?</p>
<p>nbmom, I feel the same way. Assuming this is true, I’d like to know how they plan on providing the same quality of education and training. This was not the least expensive option on D’s list!</p>
<p>I too am a bit put off by this news. Nothing like keeping parents/students informed. I think this info would have had a big bearing on our decision. It seems that 46 kids is a bit much and more like a cattle call then taking kids with potential and honing their skills. Are they hoping for natural attrition of a class this large, or have they also implemented a cut system or juries to thin things out after the first year. Does anyone know how many seniors they lost this year and how many the MT program has total right now.<br>
How are these kids going to get stage time?</p>
<p>Another thought 46 x 43k = … WOW. I hope this translates to lots of scholarships for MT next year! I will be trying to get some info from the department and let you all know what I hear.</p>
<p>It would seem that many more students have decided to attend Hartt then in past years. Not sure how many they actually accept but in the past It sounds like a lot fewer than 40+ actually end up going. This was surprising even to Hartt.</p>
<p>Alan Rust informed me that they will be adding additional classes to the schedule to keep class size smaller, and expanding hours of vocal coaches to accommodate the larger number.
He mentioned that a few years back they also had a very large class and several of those students went on to be nominated for Tony’s. So it is all about how hard are the kids willing to work.</p>
<p>Still not sure how they will work out equity in regards to casting in shows.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update @notasoccermom. I also called the admissions office, and was told that the class number usually goes down a bit - for example, some of the student who’ve placed a deposit decide to go to other schools (maybe come off of waitlists?), and natural attrition over the years (MT curriculum might be too intense for some and/or kids decide to change majors). Hoping for the best …</p>
<p>I’m a freshman MT this year and the program is great! I don’t feel like it is too big at all. Compared to other programs it’s still quite small. Stage time I don’t think should be a concern considering the amount of shows we do here per semester. Also, they focus on training here rather than performing. We aren’t even allowed to audition for shows as freshman. They want us to focus on our craft and then in later years apply it to the stage. However, I don’t think that it will have any effect with the amount of stage time we get. The competition will be more intense, but still 45 kids doesn’t compare to the thousands of others trying to get stage time in the real world. We all have to get used to it now!</p>