Hello! So I am currently a senior planning to apply to Northwestern Early Decision as a theatre major, but I do have a few questions/concerns. If I apply to the school as a theatre major, is it possible for me to get into Northwestern as a whole but not the major? Because I know that the major program is INCREDIBLY competitive, and if I do go to Northwestern, I want to make sure I’ll be able to major in theatre, and hopefully gain admittance to the Musical Theatre Certificate Program. Therefore, I’m afraid that if I apply there early decision, which is binding, I may not get into the theatre major but will be stuck at the school anyways. Also, how can I make my application stand out about an interest in theatre without the opportunity to submit a theatre resume or supplements? Thank you!!
I believe that while you are applying to the theatre major, you actually get accepted into the School of Communications. This would lead me to believe that they could let you in without letting you be a theatre major, but because theatre is so selective this may be different.
No worries. First of all, though ED is technically “binding,” you certainly can’t be forced to attend a school that won’t let you major in what you want. That’s not how it works.
Second, if you are accepted into NU, it will be for the major you desire. There are no extra steps for becoming a theater major, no audition or reel requested or anything (tho there are for musical theater certificate). I believe they do try to maintain a cap on the class of theater majors, so that will be a factor that the admissions office will weigh as they consider your application.
Good luck!
You can (in fact are encouraged to) submit a musical theater supplement with your application if you want to be a theatre major and intend to apply for the musical theater certificate program. Here is a link for how to submit the supplement. https://communication.northwestern.edu/programs/certificate_music_theatre/supplement
@eyun2019 How did you determine that the theatre major at NU is “incredibly competitive”? While it is clear that they only accept 100 students into the theatre major each year, I have not seen any statistics on the number of theatre applicants. If you have seen that number published somewhere, would you please share it? Without knowing the number if theatre applicants, it seems there is no way to tell whether applying as a theatre major is more, less, or equally difficult to gain admission at NU than any other major at NU right?
It’s incredibly competitive to be accepted for Theater at NU, although in my opinion, not nearly as competitive as applying/auditioning for spots in a BFA Acting or Musical Theater program.
NU broke my daughter’s heart on 12/15/16, however she is currently extremely happy at Skidmore, planning on earning a BS in Theater and likely double-majoring in Classics. (Something she never in a million years thought she’d be happy about, while auditioning for so many BFA programs after being denied by NU.)
Good luck to you!
I’m sorry it took me so long to respond! NU has an amazing theatre program and is well known for it (Katrina Lenk who is last year’s Best Actress Tony Award recipient is an alum) so I simply assumed. But speaking with an admissions counselor confirmed my suspisions that it is one of the most highly sought after majors at NU. I’m sorry that I don’t have a number, however I can confirm that it is competitive.
Congratulations to your daughter!! That just proves that the universe always works itself out. Thank you!
Thank you so much! I actually did sumbit this supplement so fingers crossed!