<p>I did a search of this topic but didn't really find what I was looking for so I'm just going to ask it myself :)</p>
<p>One thing that I'm really looking for in a MT program is the opportunity to study performing abroad (Australia, London, Paris, Germany, etc.). I realize that BFA MT majors have jam packed schedules so a lot of schools don't let you leave for a semester because you'll fall behind. But I think it's a great opportunity to learn theatre in a different way so that is something that is on my list of criteria for college. Does anyone have any suggestions for colleges that allow this?</p>
<p>NYU Steinhardt Vocal Performance Musical Theater has a semester where you can study in Prague or Florence. NYU also has lots of available summer programs for study. My daughter didn’t want to remove herself from auditions for a semester, so she will go to Paris next summer and get her 2 semesters of required language credits out of the way in 6 weeks, having fun doing it!</p>
<p>University of Northern Colorado acting/MT has an exchange with The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, Australia. My husband is from Perth and he has family/friends that my D could stay with. She is still thinking about it but has the same issue as Christie2’s D about taking herself out of the audition pool for a semester (and possibly a summer). There is also the issue of their semesters running at slightly different times than ours (Feb - June and July - Nov). Lots to think about but a nice option to have.
[UNC</a> School of Theatre and Dance](<a href=“http://www.arts.unco.edu/theatredance/studyabroad.html]UNC”>http://www.arts.unco.edu/theatredance/studyabroad.html)</p>
<p>Northwestern University offers a wide variety of study abroad programs for Theatre majors. D has MT friends at NU who have studied in locations all over the globe.</p>
<p>MomCares - really? As far as I know traveling abroad is greatly looked down upon for MT kids at NU. Two straight theatre kids (not MT) traveled abroad but they needed special permission and missed a lot in their major for the foreign experience. If NU is a possibility for anyone and traveling is important I would speak with the department as there’s two separate bits of info here.</p>
<p>Ithaca has a school in London which provides an excellent MT experience.</p>
<p>@amtc - Unless I’m mistaken, the girl who played Wendla in Spring Awakening just returned from a quarter abroad and D has at least one MT friend leaving next quarter for Paris, two MT kids in her a cappella group are doing study abroad this summer (I think at BADA tho I don’t remember for certain) plus D has spoken about several other MT kids who have already done a quarter overseas. </p>
<p>I know D and many of her friends entered NU with MANY credits from AP classes. Maybe that enables some kids to do a quarter abroad?</p>
<p>@amtc - Our D’s seem to have many differing experiences at Northwestern, which may in part illustrate that it’s a school that’s flexible enough to be very different things to different people. </p>
<p>In any case, I completely agree that it’s always a great idea to check things that are important to you directly with the school administration.</p>
<p>MomCares - Just confirmed my thoughts with my daughter last night when we were visiting to see her in a show in Chicago - 2 Junior MT students went abroad this past year (it was actually 3 but one dropped out of MT upon returning). Both missed straight theatre classes and MT classes unless they went during Winter term when there is no direct, required MT class so they just missed straight Theatre required classes . Summer is no problem and that is when many kids who really desire to go abroad go. AP credits have no relevance for travel as a MT or straight Theatre kid as it’s the required MT or Theatre classes that are problematic. </p>
<p>I can only say what happens in my daughters’ class who will be Seniors in September and that number is 2.</p>
<p>Our daughters have not had many different experiences at NU, the difference is that my daughter has 3 years experience and yours has one and I see negatives as well as positives to the program, your enthusiasm allows you to see only positives. Do I think NU is a great program and is absolutely the best for my daughter? Absolutely! Does that mean I see no negatives, absolutely not! There are negatives to this program as there are, I’m sure, to most (if not all) colleges.</p>
<p>@amtc - It’s certainly true that your family has more time at NU than ours and I value your perspective! It’s certainly not true that I see no negatives in the program, but we know kids in every top MT program and are aware of equally significant negatives in those programs as well, so the negatives don’t deter our enthusiasm as we were aware of most of them going in.</p>
<p>Apparently our D knows all the kids who study abroad. ;-D Still, if only 2 out of the ~20 (?) juniors in your D’s MT class went abroad, 10% is a higher ratio than my engineering class had so it’s not bad. And the list of location choices we saw when D applied were more impressive than other schools she considered.</p>
<p>There are about 30 kids in the MT program and yes, she does know all those who studied abroad as it’s a big deal to do as a Theatre major. But to keep this thread on topic, I have sent you a PM.</p>
<p>Tisch offers several performance-based study abroad programs, but these are acting and movement oriented, not MT. </p>
<p>However, if you were in NSB (or another studio at Tisch), you could do seven semesters of study in NYC, and take one semester of training abroad (in the fall, spring or summer; summer programs count for the full 8 credits of studio because you go every day). </p>
<p>Some of the study abroad programs require audition and can be quite competitive to get in. </p>
<p>If there is a study abroad program that looks appealing, but doesn’t offer the kind of acting training you’re looking for, you also can do that instead of studio for a semester. Tisch requires a minimum of six semesters of training and allows a maximum of eight. The first four have to be consecutive and done in the primary studio you’re placed in when you apply. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to the Study Abroad programs offered by Tisch. </p>
<p>NYU has a wide variety of programs that Tisch students can do as well. Some of these have an arts focus, and have some performance opportunities as well, (eg, Paris).</p>
<p>Umich has some wonderful study abroad opportunities and several in my daughters class took advantage of this. London and Russia were two of the main locations, and I think there are other locations available for summer study.</p>
<p>The only down side that we have encountered is that my daughter so wanted to study in Russia in the fall of her Junior year. She has a wonderful academic scholarship along with two generous Departmental scholarships and in taking a closer look to the study abroad possibility we found that she would lose her academic scholarship by leaving. She could have tried to reapply for it upon return, but financially we could not risk this. Apparently this has not happened to anyone in the department before and may be very specific to her scholarship, but something to check on when accepting scholarship awards.</p>
<p>I have an MT friend at Elon and he studied in Florence, Italy for a semester last fall. I have heard that Carnegie Mellon allows Actor’s/MT’s to study abroad first semester of senior year and Ithaca and NYU offer Study Abroad opportunities, too. Always ask the department, though, because policies can change and what you see online might not be what actually happens. </p>
<p>I know some students pursue BA’s vs BFA’s in order to make it easier to leave/return without too many academic consequences. </p>
<p>To my knowledge, all U.K. MT/Theatre programs only offer BA’s, so that made it easy…a BA in MT for me.</p>
<p>So wonderful to hear all of this! Ithaca, Emerson, Elon, University of Northern Colorado (my home state!), Syracuse and CMU are all on my list, so I’m glad to have even more reasons to like them.
So excited that my time has finally come to start auditioning/applying; woot woot! Thank you so much everyone for your answers :)</p>
<p>Spring semester of junior year at Catholic University, musical theatre majors can study in London at the London Dramatic Academy run by Fordham. During that semester, there is no musical training, but there is a lot of acting training and you get movement in with stage combat and such even though there is no dance. You also have to take some sort of speech class over there, so while it isn’t voice, apparently many of the students come back better singers because of what they were taught in that class. You also get to see a lot of theatre in the city. I believe it is something similar to what Ithaca does in London.
The only thing is, depending on how you place into your music theory classes freshman year, you may have to take a class or two over the summer in order to be eligible to go. They want to make sure you have all your theory, ear training, and sight singing before you go.</p>