Catawba College, Salisbury, NC. Opportunity for full tuition scholarship. Lovely, engaged, connected, committed faculty. Facilities are meh; but I would classify it as a hidden gem. They train their kids to find work, post grad.
I actually stumbled across Catawba last month. It really does seem like a hidden gem! It’s been added to our list because of the full scholarship and the proximity to home.
My daughter is a freshman at West Texas A&M. It is a phenomenal program. She absolutely loves it there!
Western Connecticut is getting a lot of favorable buzz here in New England.
Thank you all for the input thus far! Any suggestions for ‘hidden gems’ within a 5-6 hour radius of Connecticut? (WesConn is practically in our backyard, so S doesn’t really want to consider it.)
And does anyone know if there are any schools in RI that offer a MT BFA (or BA)? I didn’t see any on the schools by State, other than a MT concentration/minor, but thought with so many new programs emerging, that maybe there’s something new out there?
Or schools near/in Boston other than BoCo or Emerson?
University of Southern Maine has a BM in MT. Son was awarded a hefty talent award, along with merit. We live in Maine, and son had out of state acceptances he wanted to pursue, so he did not attend.
@lithpool
Rhode Island College offers a BA, a friend’s son just graduated theater and journalism dual major; played Beast in their spring production. This was a kid with a lot of local and regional experience, so clearly RIC has a lot to offer.
You may also want to look at University of New Hampshire, although i didn’t research, I think I’ve seen discussed.
In Boston, you might check Suffolk University, possibly Northeastern ( not sure)?
We auditioned at these hidden gems:
Arcadia University BFA, Acting/MT con. - got excellent talent award scholarship.
Rowan University BA, Theatre Perf/MT con. - theatre majors get NJ in-state tuition.
Both are just outside of Philadelphia.
On Long Island, I would look at (didn’t apply) LIU and (applied) Molloy/CAP21, both BFA MT, although they’re not really hidden, lol!
SUNY at Buffalo BFA MT, is truly a hidden gem…however Buffalo is academically competitive, so review the stats.
(My S was offered the program, and finally got accepted, but…)
Not so close to home, but was in the final running: Illinois Wesleyan University, BFA MT - we both loved this school, students, program, facilities, and received an award to rival NY in-state tuition. Made it a tough choice for my S.
Didn’t audition, but have heard about:
SUNY Cortland, is a BA, but going to a BFA, I think after 1 more year - so they are already training like a BFA.
SUNY Geneseo, is a BA, but I believe going to a BFA in the near future.
SUNY Fredonia. My son is a tech BFA there and the productions I have seen have been first rate.
Oh @lithpool also Dean College, in Franklin MA.
@lithpool also look at Plymouth State University in NH. Hofstra has a MT minor.
When looking at programs… some schools may call the MT program a Concentration or an Emphasis, but it is like a major…
… just like some BA or BM programs are very similar to some BFA programs… some programs offer solid musical theater training which is like a Musical Theatre major in intensity and focus, with the major being Theatre, Drama, etc… (like NYU)…
…check the required curriculum at each school, and the additional available curriculum, and ask questions of the schools. You may find some hidden gem schools that meet the training criteria your D has that do not offer a major in Musical Theatre.