Musical Theatre

<p>knarfydna - NU is just as stringent on Theater applicants as others. Your ACT and GPA are strong, though, and if you have decent ECs, maybe a few APs (not required), and a good essay, you probably have a good shot at it.</p>

<p>Hi, I have just found out that I was accepted into the Medill School of Journalism. I would sitll like to study theater and voice at Northwestern in my undergraduate years. I am considering taking on a dual degree if I attend. Do you know if non-majors have many opportunties to take theater and music classes? Are there many performance opportunities on campus? Can I still receive good training if I choose to major in Journalism?</p>

<p>Catherine, you must be SO excited!!! Medill is incredible and so hard to get into! Congratulations!! As far as dual degrees with Medill, I'm not sure, but my son is double majoring in Theatre (MT) and Cognitive Science, and in his case it's not a dual degree, but a double major. His degree will be in Theatre, with a secondary major of Cog Sci.</p>

<p>There are endless performance opportunities -- roughly 13 per quarter -- and anyone can try out for most of them. Arts Alliance and JTE are the two biggest student theatre groups on campus, and put on very high quality productions. </p>

<p>Good luck -- you can't lose no matter what you decide to do. Theatre is such a passion, you probably feel drawn in that direction even with the Medill acceptance. Just remember that having A degree is what's important -- it doesn't have to be a Theatre degree for you to ultimately go into theatre as a profession, if that's what you decide later on.</p>

<p>One other thing... I don't know if you're into a cappella, but there are numerous groups on campus, and my son is Music Director for a really fun, energetic one that has members from many different majors, including at least one girl from Medill. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you info on how to contact him and his singer friend from Medill. She might be able to answer your questions.</p>

<p>i don't think you can double major in two fields in two specialty schools such as journalism and theater. the theater program is pretty compeititive to get in anyway so i doubt they would just let you in. that said, you can take as many as 48 courses at northwestern even without overloading and you can easily double major in jounalism and a liberal arts field and add a minor (or maybe even two minors) given the large number of courses you can take at northwestern.</p>

<p>Just wondering if the Northwestern theater major is audition-based admittance or if you just need to be admitted to the SoC. if someone knows, let me know please.</p>

<p>The NU theatre program is non-audition. You apply as a theatre major to the School of Communication. If you are interested in Musical Theatre, you can audition into the MT Certificate program after your freshman and/or sophomore years.</p>

<p>With respect to approaches to pursuing the MT certifcate at NU, is it better to start out in the Bienen School of Music vocal performance or in the theatre program?</p>

<p>I’m not an NU student, but my son is. There are MT students from both the Schools of Music and Communications (Theatre). My instinct tells me that if your main interest is MT and not classical or operatic, you would probably be happier in Theatre, but they do take students from both schools.</p>

<p>In my D’s case, she is also quite accomplished as classical soprano and is trying to find a program where she can pursue both, either as a double major or more pragmatically -with one as a minor. That’s why the certificate in MT at NU is appealing to her. We are so new to this, we have no idea if this strategy is doable. But it sounds like it’s worth a try. She’s already been accepted for a live audtion at Bienen School of Music based on her prescreen DVD. She has to get in before she’s faced with a decision on whether or not to take a chance on getting into MT as a sophmore. Thanks edmondsg!!!</p>

<p>It’s definitely doable to be a Vocal Performance major in the Bienen School of Music, and also in the MT certificate program. It’s fairly common, in fact. In your daughter’s case, I’d say she should definitely consider it – it sounds perfect for her! If I can answer any questions (or ask my son who’s a senior Theatre/MT/Cognitive Science major), just let me know.</p>

<p>laladreams… your daughter could audition for entry into MT at the end of freshman year. I noticed your post above mentioned taking a chance as a soph. My son is a theatre/MT junior and like edmondsg would be willing to answer any questions you might have.</p>

<p>Is there any evidence of students from other departments than voice/theater getting admitted to the NU MT certificate program? Northwestern is by far my son’s 1st choice, however, given his ECs, he is more likely to be admitted as a Film Studies/Production major than a Theater major.</p>

<p>Someone will verify this, I’m sure, but I’m almost positive that MT students have to be either Theatre majors in the School of Communications, or Vocal Performance majors in the School of Music.</p>

<p>I think I remember reading at CC that NU is planning to add a full-fledged MT degree soon, as opposed to (or perhaps in addition to) the current Certificate program.</p>

<p>DD has just been accepted ED as a Theatre major and plans to audition for the MT program, so she’s especially curious to learn whatever she can about future plans for the program.</p>

<p>Any updates on the future of the MT program at NU?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>we emailed someone there as we’re visiting in February, no plans for a full program in MT</p>

<p>Not sure what happened to the idea… we were told five years ago it was being seriously considered, but haven’t heard anything since. There have been some leadership changes, so maybe the focus shifted to other goals.</p>

<p>Interesting! Thanks for the update!!</p>

<p>There is currently one big situation that is holding the whole thing up. Plus now they are working fervently on the new building. Anyone want to donate uber money?</p>

<p>I was wondering if some of the people with kids accepted or current students could share some of their academic stats that they applied with (u/w gpa, weighted gpa, sat scores, act scores) just to get an idea of what they are looking for. Thanks!</p>