<p>For those of you currently going through this process or preparing to do so, I'm curious as to how you narrowed down your list of schools. There are so many choices and it is such a competitive process. I'm sure there is a feeling that you need to cast as wide a net as possible, but realistically someow you have to come up with a good list of programs that is best suited to your child. What kind of research did you do? For those who used coaches, what role did the coach play in compiling the list? How did you divide it up between reach, fit and safety schools? Any insight you can offer would be really helpful to those just starting out like myself!</p>
<p>We ended up with one complete academic safety school with a strong arts program and an option to audition for a BFA track after Freshman year. Sent that application in very early and got a quick acceptance. Block checked on knowing she was going to college somewhere. Also applied to Muhlenberg……fantastic program but non-audition based for admittance. Academically…it’s not a given to be accepted. They do have auditions for scholarship only. My daughter did that as her first audition and it was a good way to get some experience in a positive manner before moving into regular auditions. As for the auditioned programs, auditioned at UArts and Catholic early and that was great because they do rolling acceptances. She knew by Dec she was in and it took some of the pressure off of future auditions. The next rounds have been Elon, Pace, Shenadoah,Ithaca, Baldwin-Wallace, Point Park and Carnegie-Mellon thrown in just to say she went for it. Not as many schools as most people audition at and I’ve worried about that but felt like it was an overall good mix. All within driving distance which was nice as daughter did not want to do Unifieds. This alone narrows your options as many of the auditions are happening at the same time and then if you have any kind of school musical going on… No coaching but an excellent voice teacher who could offer some insights. For us, the best thing we did was know there were some good safety schools in place and also do some early auditions with rolling admittance. Good luck sorting it all out. It’s quite a process.</p>
<p>I know nothing about it, but saw an announcement about Playbill.edu. It supposed to help with the college search. Since my D is a freshman, we thankfully don’t need it, but little sis’ may be following in her footsteps… Anyway, not sure about it, but if it’s a good website, that might be an option. For our search, we had a coach, who met with D and helped her make a big list, she researched, talked to friends who are older, and then narrowed down. She applied to 17 schools, but only ended up auditioning for 12. A couple were “safeties,” but she really didn’t want to go that route. She might have taken a gap year, but luckily (and in this business a LOT of luck is involved!) she did not have to do that.<br>
This is my edit: I just looked, and it’s actually PlaybillEDU.com if you want to find it. </p>
<p>We worked with Mary Anna Dennard. She was terrific about giving our D lots of schools to research and consider. We worked to get a list that had reaches, fits and safeties. And we ended up with a list of about 15 schools but ended up not auditioning for all.<br>
A couple of things we did that were really helpful were: starting in her Freshman year, any time we were driving anywhere, if there was a college campus close by, we drove through it. Sometimes we got out and talked to anybody who might be near. But often we just did self guided tours. This was not to learn about MT programs. This was purely to show D the difference between small schools and big schools, city schools and suburban schools, etc… so she could get an idea what type of campus on which she was most comfortable. From this, she learned that she really wanted a campus where if she wanted she had the option to participate in other parts of college life like the Greek system, going to sports events, etc… That was helpful because she ended up taking all of the urban conservatory style schools off of her list. She also realized she did not want to go to school in NYC which she had originally thought she did. So we were able to take all of those schools off her list. So that was very helpful. She also went to summer camps on 2 college campuses of schools in which she was interested. The summer between freshman and sophomore year she went to OCU’s MT summer program and the summer between sophomore and junior year she went to mPulse at the University of Michigan. This gave her a good idea of what those campuses and faculty were like which was also helpful. There are also great summer programs at many different schools including Northwestern, CMU, Boston Conservatory and CCM. So look around and see if there is a summer program in which your child might be interested… Lastly, throughout the audition process, we continued to cut schools from our list as acceptances come in. It was nice to have some early acceptances from schools not at the top of her list as it took some pressure off the rest of the audition season. But as she began to hear from some higher on her list, we were able to cancel a few auditions of schools in which she was not as interested. </p>
<p>Adding to previous post, and reiterating what vnstar said, my daughter did do a summer intensive program and I think it was invaluable in giving her perspective on how much talent was really out there and focused her on the year-long process of college auditions in a positive way. If that is an option, I would suggest taking advantage. As my daughter visited campuses, her list of priorities on what she was looking for really did change quite a bit! </p>
<p>We did it purely by geography, for various long-story reasons, not the least of which is that D wanted to be able to get to NYC really easily in less than 4 hours without a plane ride. And it had to be in a city or very near a city because we live in a rural area, and she really wanted a different experience for college. So with those constraints, we came up with 10 schools that had MT programs. We added 2 others that were a bit further away, one because her dance teacher really wanted her to, and the other because she had worked with 2 of the faculty, loved them, and the school had a stellar reputation (though it would not have been a good fit). P.S. most people don’t do it this way. In the end, she cancelled one audition and was left with 6 options, and chose the one that she felt was the best program and the best fit for her, where she is now very happy: Montclair. 
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<p>Sopranomtmom, where are you located? (CC used to show that under the user name but the software change ended that.) As Calliene says, geography is always a factor.</p>
<p>We asked around a lot, chatting with theatre professionals about schools they hear good things about. We read a lot on CC. The school websites are actually not all that helpful until you get down to the curriculum level, because they’re all pretty much the same.</p>
<p>We ended up with a list of about 30 and noted pluses and minuses. A plus might be the reputation or the location or a particular teacher. A minus might be size or focus.</p>
<p>Remember that when applying to auditioned programs you can’t look at statistics to figure out your chance of getting in. Kids usually have to apply to a LOT of schools. It’s quite a process.</p>
<p>My son’s list evolved very similarly to what everyone else is describing. I’d especially echo the comment above about summer programs–from talking to faculty and kids at two different summer programs, my son got a much clearer sense of what schools might be a good fit for him. We did lots of visiting, including (especially?) the drive-through/walk-around informal visits that vvnstar describes above. Saw productions wherever possible. My son looked at websites as a way of screening programs. Overall school atmosphere was a definite factor for him, which isn’t true for everyone, I know. </p>
<p>He didn’t want to apply to 15-20 schools, and I supported that, so we agreed that he could only have a handful of super-competitive programs on his list. He also had to have 2-3 true safeties (non-auditioned, academically in his range). Interestingly, two of the three auditioned programs that auditioned him were on his “high reach” list, and the ones in the middle were the ones where he was NOT accepted. It is so unpredictable! Be sure to also consider finances, if necessary, as you assemble your list. Good luck. :)</p>
<p>Our D also looked at a lot of YouTube videos. Senior showcases, student performances, etc… She eliminated a couple of programs just from watching these. Some she felt her voice and type would not be a good fit based on the videos she saw. And some she loved after seeing snippets of performances.</p>
<p>Geography was a big factor for us as well. I started with the big list, and figured out what was within a 6 hour drive. Then our MTCA coach helped categorize the list by selectiveness, and suggested she look at a couple more that weren’t too much further away. One school out of our geographical range was added because of faculty she met at a summer program, another because we met a current student. We eliminated some for various reasons, and then as we got close to applications, she sat down and really combed through to eliminate down to our target number distributed as evenly as possible between the levels of selectivity. Our state school has a very good non audition BA in Theater, and we know they are developing an MT certificate, so that was her safety. We were lucky that from an academic standpoint, we were confident that wouldn’t hold her up from admission anywhere. It’s a difficult process!</p>
<p>The most important thing I’d say on the subject of “narrowing” down your list of schools is don’t use anyone else’s criteria… be sure to create your own. And don’t make your list so narrow that there’s no room for a change of heart during the 6-11 months the list is in play.</p>
<p>The advice D was given most often - which turned out to be TERRIBLE advice in her case – was that the first choice she needed to make was if she wanted a conservatory, BFA or BA. Everyone assumed she would choose a BFA, as she had enjoyed her time at MPulse and had been focused on MT since kindergarten. While she quickly ruled out conservatories, it would have been a huge mistake for her to include only BFAs on her list. Between July (when she finalized her list) and November (when ED applications were due) she switched her priorities such that 3 BAs (Northwestern, Yale and Brown) rose to the top of her list, bumping down UMich, CMU and CCM which had previously occupied her top 3 slots. This change happened well before audition season began.</p>
<p>That said, D’s final criteria included world-class MT/Acting training, a very strong and sustained reputation for the school’s degree, talented and smart peers, well-connected faculty, very strong academics, contact with non-theatre peers, traditional college campus, and the realistic ability to double-major in 4 years. </p>
<p>I agree that summer programs (in D’s case MPulse) really helped develop criteria. It was also extremely helpful to get early BFA acceptances (in D’s case through Nebraska Thespian auditions and regional auditions), so no other safeties were needed on the list.</p>
<p>I would strongly caution against using YouTube to eliminate schools unless you really know what you’re seeing. At D’s school (Northwestern) the only YouTube footage is of random student productions (many of the performers aren’t even theatre students, let alone MTs) so you get zero sense of the high caliber of mainstage work, while other schools carefully audit YouTube content such that only their very best work is shown. </p>
<p>Even mainstage work can be a bit misleading, since at D’s school several older students start doing professional work in Chicago while still in school, or take quarters off for Showcase prep, and so may not often be seen on the mainstage.</p>