Hi everyone! My son will be a BFA acting major in the fall so most of my experience is from the CC acting threads. My son has a friend from high school that will be a senior. She is an amazing singer, great actor, average dancer with a GPA around 3.0 and an SAT around 1200. She is a blond, average height, soprano. Singing is definitely her strongest area. She wants to major in MT anywhere on the east coast where vocal instruction is very strong. Any suggestions for colleges for her to consider would be appreciated!! Thanks much!
Just adding my D to this thread for similar reasons so we can see other’s opinions, although she’s also looking at schools in the Midwest. Her coach thinks some of the schools that have the MT program in the school of Music rather than Theatre may be a good option because of their focus on vocals.
@afterp89 a good midwest school where the program is strong in vocals and housed in the school of music is Baldwin Wallace.
For an east coast school Manhattan School of Music is a good one. Also Rider University in New Jersey and NYU has a musical theatre vocal performance major at Steinhardt which is seperate from their musical theatre program at Tisch
Neither program at NYU would work very well because academics are considered at 50% of the admission decision. It sounds like she’s a good candidate for Conservatory program where talent and training are paramount rather than a university setting where academics are important. I don’t know much about those because my kid wanted at University program and not a conservatory but other schools that come to mind on the East coast would be Boston Conservatory, CCM, and if she has a really amazing voice maybe Carnegie Mellon?
Also have her look at Temple! It’s a university setting but I believe the vocal program is strong, the academic bar isn’t quite as high as NYU and we loved the vibe of their MT program.
some other east coast suggestions: Shenandoah, Florida State, Coastal Carolina, Hart
Not sure about the vocal instruction but others to look into: University of the Arts, Point Park,
I think someone wrote that George Mason just outside of DC has started an MT program. May be one to look into.
Samford is someplace not discussed much here but it has a strong music/vocal program - but not an MT degree.
@griffen there are many many musical theatre programs on the east coast, so she is lucky that is where she is looking!
Her GPA is on the low side for James Madison University, but the audition is taken into account for admissions decisions so it could help her academic application. There is both an auditioned BA in musical theatre and a BM with an emphasis in Music Theatre as options. She may want to look into auditioning for both programs if James Madison is of interest to her.
Other schools to look at in VA that have not been mentioned are Christopher Newport, University of Mary Washington, and Emory and Henry. Mary Washington does not have a major, but solid opportunities and training.
Other schools to look at off the top of my head are Catholoc University, Syracuse, Cap21/Molloy College, Rowan, Arcadia, Ohio Northern…
Most programs will have solid vocal training the question is how much of her training she wants to be around music and musicianship, and how much around acting and dancing. The balance of training will vary from program to program.
It will be important that she cast a wide net in terms of selectivity of program. There are some terrific programs that pull from a more regional application pool, and admit a higher percentage of those who audition. She also should remember that no school that requires an audition for the program can be considered a safety school.
@vvnstar - Samford does offer a BFA in MT:
https://www.samford.edu/arts/theatre-and-dance/musical-theatre-major
Thanks @EmsDad – I didn’t know that! We have had friends who have attended there in the voice program and have loved it. But didn’t know they had an actual MT degree.
I’d look at a BA at a small liberal arts college like maybe DeSales. I think NYU and Syracuse would be too academically competitive. AMDA might be a program to look into.
Thanks everyone for the great information!! I appreciate it and will pass it on.
Look at Wagner College, as well
Have her check out Belmont in Nashville TN!
Thanks, @NYKaren and @beachymom ! I will let her know.
Hofstra also
I just want to say in response to @vvnstar’s question about vocal training at Point Park, my daughter is going into her junior year there, and while she went in as a strong singer (singer was her number one strength, like your son’s friend), her voice has grown leaps and bounds in her time there, as has her acting. Dancing is, of course, a strength there. It is a true triple threat program.
@Ducky312 we went up to Syracuse earlier this summer and liked the campus and the tour quite a bit, but it does not seem to be at the same level as an NYU in terms of SAT scores and academics - NYU average was over 1400 for the SAT, while the admissions presentation mentioned 1200+ for Syracuse and (I think) 1290 for the Honors program there. I was kind of surprised by that because my alma mater UConn has 1300 for the SAT now and I had considered it previously to be a step below Syracuse.
Since the OP mentioned NY to Florida, it seems like they’re excluding New England. The Hartt School at the University of Hartford is a good option and maybe Emerson in Boston as well.
Ithaca is a great MT school and is SAT optional.
Western Connecticut State University offers a BFA in MT, and it has brand new state of the art (phenomenal I’ve heard) facilities. It’s about an hour train ride to NYC. It would be on my S list, but it’s too close to home for him.
If there is any interest in VA, you should research UMW Theatre at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. An hour from either Richmond or Washington, DC, we take our students to professional theatre productions in DC and even New York from time to time. We have two alums on Broadway right now.
We provide placement assistance in summer continuing education opportunities and audition prep. UMW is perfect if you want a quality theatre education in a smaller university setting. We don’t offer a MT major, but do offer a theatre major and a MT minor.