MT ?s to ask during college visit

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>I'm taking D to visit our state public school that offers MT during Easter break. This will be her first college visit as she is only a freshman. The plan at the moment is for her to apply to MT schools in the southeast, within driving distance from New Orleans. Over the next 3 years we'd like to visit those during school holidays and summers so that she can then decide if she wants to actually apply to those schools in her senior year. I know things can change at schools/programs in 3 years, but wanted to at least start.</p>

<p>Also, I want her to know while she is going through the angst of high school, not to get bogged down in temporary issues.... that there is a bigger picture after graduation! And if she finds she LOVES an OOS program (which will have more competition and for which she would need a major scholarship to swing financially), to make sure over the next 3 years she works hard to maintain GPA, participate in ECs (and do leadership roles), prep for PSAT/SAT for sure to qualify for NM (she was close to our state's cutoff as a freshman w/no prep...).. (As Stephen Covey says, "Begin with the end in mind.")</p>

<p>So, I've been thinking of questions to ask not only the regular admissions folks, but specifically what questions do we need answered regarding MT. Here are a few that I thought of.... but based on all of your expertise what else should we learn before applying? So please add to this list..... Some are obvious and can be found on most schools websites, but here goes:</p>

<p>--BA or BFA? (Liberal arts type or conservatory? D still not sure if she wants BFA or BA..)
--Is the program open or by audition only?
--If audition, how many kids typically apply and how many do you typically take every year?
--What do students have to do to stay in program, i.e. is there a review every year?
--How are plays cast, i.e. open to all students, preference given for BFAs if BA also offered?
--How many students are in your program?
--What performance opportunities do students have? on campus and off?
--How many musicals in a given year?
--Do you have a MT performance troup? If so, open to all theatre majors whether BA or BFA?
--Do you have a dance performance troup? If so, open to non-dance majors, such as MTs or dance minors?
--Can prospective students meet with current students to talk about the program?
--How late do rehearsals usually last during week nights?
--Do you have summer performance opportunities for students?
--Do you offer theatre scholarships?
--Do your students typically participate (or have any of your students participated) in the Disney College Program or work summers performing at Disney parks? (this is specific to my D because that is her dream to work there after college. I should probably change my username to something like Disneydreamermom or something!!)</p>

<p>Anyway....what else is important to know before applying????</p>

<p>Thanks!!!</p>

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<p>In our early visits to colleges D did not hvae veyr many specific questions, but really needed to walk around a variety of them to find out what was different between a very small liberal arts college, a small college, a conservatory, and a big public. Early on she/ we was much more concerned with the feel of the college, how close the community of students felt, she loved Otterbein because after she took a dance class she later saw some of the students at lunch and they said hello and chatted a little with her. The great majority of her questions were similar to many of yours were answered on the website or in meeting the faculty. Plus she had no real context to understand what the answers meant.
Now she is a senior and she we has quite different questions- do many of the MT/dance students smoke? What is the pressure for maintianing weight? (D is a dancer) How easy is it to eat healthy meals in busy schedules? To me these are things that she had no idea would matter to her, but as she has seen firends off they are things that she now sees many of them struggle with.
It’s hard to know what information kids need at what time, so I feel liek we spent a lot of time with her getting to know what her life might look like at different places.</p>