<p>bbgate~ read read read as the “right” answer is different for each individual family. : ) I suggest starting with “Suggestions For Those New To The Musical Theater Forum” pinned at the top of the MT page and read through the other threads pinned at the top. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>@bbgate: As mentioned by logosmo, a good place to start is this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/477658-preparing-apply-information-h-s-juniors-seniors.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/477658-preparing-apply-information-h-s-juniors-seniors.html</a></p>
<p>You may also want to click on “more featured discussions” at the bottom of “Featured Discussions” at the top of the page to read some of the more popular threads from the past on this forum:</p>
<p>[Musical</a> Theater Major Library](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/featuredthreads.php?forumid=501]Musical”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/featuredthreads.php?forumid=501)</p>
<p>Another good thread to get started with is this one, which is listed in the threads at the top of this forum:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/102726-books-other-resources-mt-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/102726-books-other-resources-mt-students.html</a></p>
<p>You might also just want to take a Saturday afternoon and just start reading back through the threads. Here are some that might help:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/912438-top-mt-bfa-programs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/912438-top-mt-bfa-programs.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/80600-audition-songs-monologues.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/80600-audition-songs-monologues.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/866128-mt-rejections.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/866128-mt-rejections.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/101147-unified-auditions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/101147-unified-auditions.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/59074-reflection-i-wish-i-would-have-known-when-i-started-process.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/59074-reflection-i-wish-i-would-have-known-when-i-started-process.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1344179-mt-parents-students-hs-class-2013-college-process-sharing-discussion.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1344179-mt-parents-students-hs-class-2013-college-process-sharing-discussion.html</a></p>
<p>A trick I always recommend is to sort the threads by popularity by clicking on the “Views” column header, this will sort the threads in descending order of the number of views over the past year. If you scroll to the bottom of the MT Forum page, you can use the “Display Options” controls:</p>
<p>“Sorted By” = “Number of Views”
“Sort Order” = “Descending”
“From the” = “Beginning”</p>
<p>to see threads sorted by popularity going all the way back to the dark ages. This way you can see the all-time most popular MT threads.</p>
<p>@bbgate I think the most important choose a list of schools first, narrow it down, then decide. Some schools don’t actually go to unifieds so that means you have to go to their campus to audition. I personally auditioned at Chicago Unifieds because it was just too expensive to travel everywhere. It’s a great experience as well because you can do walk-ins for some schools and you may find schools that interest you/you have never heard of before! I strongly recommend auditioning at Unifieds. If you have any more questions feel free to message me :)</p>
<p>jsachs, I would choose CCM over BoCo. CCM is more selective but I auditioned for them and I had a great experience. And CCM only takes around 20 but BoCo I have heard takes 60+. I have also heard that Elon’s program is amazing, as my friend goes there and if you want to talk to her I can give you her contact.
I go to Point Park as a BA Musical Theatre and we can choose to audition for a BFA when we’re sophomores. You should definitely consider Point Park as the application/audition fees are free! </p>
<p>Anyway, this is your list of schools I think you should narrow down to (based on your list):</p>
<ol>
<li>CAP21 - I attended their summer program and loved it. They offer amazing training even though they don’t provide any degrees!</li>
<li>CCM</li>
<li>CMU </li>
<li>Syracuse</li>
<li>Coast Carolina</li>
<li>Penn State</li>
<li>Elon</li>
<li>Otterbein</li>
<li>Coastal Carolina</li>
<li>UArts</li>
</ol>
<p>When people ask me if they should do Tisch, I usually tell them no, not because they’re not amazing (they are) but because of their studio policy which gets complicated. They only have one MT studio and the rest are acting. Some of my friends who auditioned were disappointed when they got an acting studio instead of the MT, and others who went for acting anyway didn’t like it. But if you don’t mind all that you should definitely go for it as they have a strong program :)</p>
<p>I hope I helped. I’m always here if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Jsachs:</p>
<p>If the cost of the application is a concern, you may want to eliminate several on the list above as the tuition, room and board is well north of $40K/yr.</p>