<p>Boston Conservatory’s dance program is not notably racially diverse. That being said, they did just get a new director of their Dance Division, so that could change.</p>
<p>The school as a whole is fairly diverse, because the Music Division attracts a large international population, but I’ve heard through the grapevine that many international students in the Music Division are less interested in collaboration with the Dance and Theater Divisions than their American-born classmates. YMMV.</p>
<p>My DD has two friends at SMU. They are both AA and out of a public PA school. They like the program and some of the opportunities it offers but …
They have found not not only is it not very racially diverse, it is also not very economically diverse. This is all second hand information but they are generally both very happy (one is a jr, one a sophmore) so you might want to check it out.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I think of SMU as a primarily white school comprising mostly quite affluent kids. (And when I say “Not that there is anything wrong with that,” I am serious. I am white myself – my beautiful dancing daughter is adopted – and had a pretty comfortable upbringing.) Keepingcalm, thank you for the info on SMU. Maybe we should look at it. Did your D?</p>
<p>NMR- my D did not visit SMU because a) Texas was not on her list of places she wanted to be at school; and b) both of her friends who are there are very religious and wanted a school with a faith background, and that was a bad match for her.</p>
<p>My friend goes to SMU, she’s black and LOVES it. Whenever I ask her about it she can not emphasize how much she loves it there. I have not asked her about the diversity, but if like you said there is not much diversity, than she does not seem to mind.</p>
<p>My D is in the dance program at SMU and truly loves it! I was very unsure about it but she is incredibly happy. Not sure on level of diversity as she never talks about that and focuses on the performances, teachers, quality of training etc. and all that is great. Several opportunities to perform even at Freshman level! I’m sure my D would be able to answer questions if you’d like. Dancers are from Utah, Texas (even locally), Illinois, California etc. so that helps. Friends are at NYU, Point Park and Chapman (Orange County CA) so lots of varied experiences but hard to compare. SMU is very highly thought of and focuses on modern for sure. Gorgeous campus.</p>
<p>By the way, yes there are wealthy kids at SMU (even a Princess from out of the country I’ve heard) but a lot of kids are there on scholarship. The financial differences only seem to make some be considered as snobs but that can be at any financial level!</p>
<p>Hi I have two daughters at university of Iowa. The campus is not very diverse, but the dance department has kids from around the world. My oldest is a junior & was accepted for dance major. Since she is an engineering major she will only be a dance minor. She takes modern every day and rehearses almost every night and weekends. Unfortunately for her ballet has been an issue with engineering class schedules the past sophomore and junior year. It was really the only place she could do dance and engineering. Was told she couldn’t dance and engineer at University of IL, and dance isn’t the first thing that comes to mind at Purdue, Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech. University of Minnesota might have been an option but we weren’t aware at the time and her counselor recommended Iowa since he had friends in both dept. when he attended. Last year, one semester when she couldn’t take dance classes because of schedule, she still danced almost every evening with rehearsals for performances. I’m glad she’s there so she didn’t have to choose. And both daughter’s received merit and fin aid, so it was to good compromise. The only problem is they don’t have the large auditorium (Hancher) since the flood and it won’t be completed before they graduate. They dance in the Space Place theater. The plus is the Gala is now many weekends so lots of performances. Both daughters have strong background in ballet and have taken modern, jazz, etc. over the years. And there is still room for them to grow in the ballet & modern programs. Which didn’t seem true at other academic and dance programs.</p>