Match Me - Theater/MT, HS Junior

Demographics

  • State/Location of residency: Nevada
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Female, white
  • Other special factors: Athlete, want to be involved in like clubs and stuff

Intended Major(s) MT but if not then Theater

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.971
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.271
  • Class Rank: 8
  • ACT/SAT Scores: N/A, will take but haven’t yet

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s)) AP World Hist, AP Calc AB, got an A in both, highest foreign language is Spanish 2 H.

Awards Honor Roll every year, student of the month, varsity letters in sports

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience) Section Leader in marching band, theater club ofc, varsity quiz, play two instruments, cross country, swim, Junior class committee, choir

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Honestly parents can’t pay for it, relying on scholarships and financial aid

Schools
I don’t really know, that’s why I’m doing this lol, I think I’m looking for more of a BA not a BFA because I want to be able to do band and sports and stuff and I’m not sure the rigor of a BFA program would allow that. I am open to maybe trying a few BFA programs but probably won’t do that.

Hi!

I know you say parents can’t pay, but can they pay anything at all? Have you talked to them about what they think they CAN pay (if any)? It will also be important to run what are called Net Price Calculators (NPCs for short.) These are available on each school’s website. So for example you could Google “Northwestern University + NPC” and it will come up. You will need your parents’ help a little to do this because you have to input some things like their income. But if they will help you do this, it would be super helpful because it will show you what each college would probably charge you.

I wish, but my dad is a teacher and my mom doesn’t work, I have three younger siblings and they really need the money to pay for what they need to stay alive, so I’m going to get a job soon, and that and scholarships is all I’m going to have. I have talked to my parents and they will not be able to pay for any of my college.

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Ok, that is good to know. It will still be important to run the NPCs at a couple of schools. Families below a certain income are not expected to pay anything at certain schools (in other words they get a full scholarship). Maybe your family is one of those. Just as an exercise, run the NPC at 4 different schools: say Yale, Northwestern, UNLV, and Baldwin Wallace. Find out what the calculator spits out for these and get back to us.

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The admission process for MT is intense. There are facebook groups and such for this.

State schools may be most affordable for you. Reno has a theater program.

You may very well qualify for need based aid. Look here to start: https://www.wiche.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/WUE-onesheet-082023.pdf

ETA: Reno has the Nevada Guarantee which gives free tuition for lower income families. Look into this as well.

The U of Wyoming has a very nice theater program… It is non-audition but a BFA and that does take up a lot of credit hours every semester, but the music school is part of the theater-dance-music dept, so you could do your music as well as theater and dance. There is not a separate MT but they do at least one musical per year.

It is part of the Western exchange, but they do that WUE as part of the Brown and Gold scholarships so you’ll be able to figure out what the scholarship will be once you have an ACT score. There is also a theater dept talent scholarship and a few other scholarships.

UWisconsin-Stevens Point has low tuition and a MT major, but it is audition and very competitive.

OP, not to question your choices but what are your plans after graduation? Do you realize that it is very difficult to live as MT artist? Some of them travel and audition non-stop and do not make much money…
Do you consider second major/minor?

Also a lot of these programs require live auditions which could get very expensive for you.

I’m not worried about that, because at my school we have a lot of wraparound services whose goals are to get us to college because I live in a lower income area and they are more than happy to pay for campus tours and auditions and applications and such.

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I am very aware, but I also know that I want to do what I love. If later on in life I decide I need something easier, fine. But for now I’m just going to do the best I can with this. I’ve talked to a lot of people and I have a lot of support and people who believe in me and think I can make it work.

Thank you, I will definitely look into that!

Wow, I didn’t know that, thank you for telling me! That will be really helpful, and I will also look into the calculator thing!

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I think U of Montana has a MT major. It is a WUE participating school.

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Look at Southern Oregon University. They are a WUE school and you will receive auto-merit on top of that due to your GPA. They offer a BFA in Theatre Performance with a certificate in Musical Theatre. It is a safety for admission for you and you enter the BFA program through audition your sophomore year.

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