I have a question which may be addressed somewhere but here is my situation. My D is a h school sophomore now, so a junior this fall. We have started a list of schools for MT (some BA, some BFA etc). We are east coast, so no western schools are an option. We are concentrated on Ohio, PA, VA, NC, NY and NJ mainly w/ a few others that are southern) We have WAY too many schools on this list. I do not know where to begin to “narrow them” down, Geography of course, but after that not sure where to begin! We cannot visit a lot of schools and my D does not want to visit a lot really as she says its pointless if they don’t accept her audition and academics. You only get so much info from the websites. Obviously I am reading on here like crazy for advice.Some schools are not on here at all though. Some are lesser known I suppose . I know finances figure in but then everyone keeps telling me you have to apply /audition anyway cause even some expensive schools offer a lot of aid, although i don’t know which ones! Ugh frustrated and need advice as to how to whittle down! I hate to “miss out” on a school…i feel like I am going to.
Whittling down the list of schools can be difficult, but you can look at a few things that may help. You can start by eliminating those schools where she will not get in academically, if any. What kind of school environment does she want? Large student body or small? This will help get the school list down and then you can start looking at the curriculum for the rest, how many the school accepts, pre-screen or not, etc.
I like order. I would start by making a spreadsheet with a column for each attribute you want to compare - distance, cost, minimum scores, size, etc. At least it is a place to start to help you feel more in control. Everyone says to get the Fisk book but I have never used it. Probably worth $20 bucks to you though so maybe swing by the book store and get a copy.
My suggestion: visit whatever colleges and universities you can that are close to you. Not official visits. Just drive through the campuses. Park and walk around a bit. Try to go to a large state university, a small liberal arts school, an urban campus, and a medium size university. Go when school is in session so she can see the students who go there. Don’t worry if they have MT programs. This is simply for D to start figuring out what type of college experience she wants to have. Our D took all schools in big cities like Chicago and NYC off her list after doing this - she realized she didn’t want to be in an urban environment for college. She also realized she wanted opportunities to be in a sorority, maybe go to a sporting event, etc…So this also cut out some schools. After you visit some different types of campuses, have her write down what things she really hopes to have in her college experience. Is she a city girl? Is she interested in Greek life? Does she like a big school or small school? City or rural? There are no right answers except what is right for her. Hopefully by doing this it will help whittle your list down some.
I agree with @vvnstar - when you have the tjme- visit different types of schools and get a feel for what type of campus “speaks” to her. And be prepared for the fact that it may be different from where you see her! My husband and I went to a LAC on an idyllic (rather isolated) campus. Picture postcard stuff- and the kind of school where EVERYTHING revolves around college life. But as we toured various places - it became clear that D wanted a very different experience- and ended up (happily!) on a super urban campus!
we visited a few schools prior to applying but we picked different types, urban, large, small-so she could get a vibe of the style of campus and we could compare the ones she didn’t visit that way. When she was down to 20-30 my D continued to research and look for things she liked and didn’t like about the schools. Then one day she took all the pamphlets and laid them in rows on the living room floor and started eliminating that way. She needed the visual. The last couple she got rid of were strictly location and distance as she liked the program. She did end up doing walkins at those last couple during Unifieds.
i am not sure what schools she will or wont be able to reach academically as she hasnt even taken the SAT yet. She has a 3.8 GPA right now. Is there a thread on here about some academic standards of schools? Is that listed on the college’s website? Like SAT minimum and GPA minimum for admission? She is also going to attend SETC in March of next yr to audition as a junior. Hoping that will help also…
There are a variety of sites that show “average” grades/scores for various schools. (Often kind of a scatter gram plot). Easy to find with Google + college name. And of course academic admission is more than grades/scores- but it at least lets you know if you are in the ballpark
What type of program does she want? A conservatory style program, where virtually all her classes are dance, acting and voice, or a more academic program that has lots of gen eds? That should whittle down your list quite a bit. Does she want a real campus? A college where she can go to football games? Urban? Suburban? Rural? Within striking distance of NYC? Also look at what’s important to her…some schools really concentrate on acting, others on musicality, still others on dance. As you get to know the programs, you will find it is easier to cut some out.
Every school has a “net price calculator” which will predict the aid you would get based on GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and family finances. These NPC’s are generally pretty accurate. It is a great way to eliminate schools which are not particularly generous. Some schools offer zero merit aid, for example. Generally it only takes about 5 to 10 minutes to run the NPC.
@vvnstar gave a great answer. Explore your daughter’s priorities with her. My daughter’s #1 priority was geography and access to a city - and within a few hours max by car/bus/train from NYC. She had danced all her life so wanted a program with leveled dance classes. These were the non-negotiable criteria for her, and these criteria alone really narrowed it down. She initially was open to BA or BFA, but as the process unfolded she realized she preferred the conservatory approach, and wanted MT only. She did not care if it was an urban or “real” campus, she didn’t care about sports or sororities. Where is that wonderful post about giving “points” to what matters most? But I think at this point exploring/talking with your child about what DOES matter most to her could go a long way toward narrowing the list.
Look at the curricula, facilities, and performance seasons very closely for the schools that you are interested in. Compare: acting, voice, dance, music theory, gen ed requirements, hours in the major, production seasons, etc. You will notice the following:
Curricula:
- There is a lot of variance in the number of hours in the major. Some schools require as few as 60 hours in the major with heavy Gen Ed requirements, some require more than 80 hours in the major with limited Gen Ed requirements.
- Some programs have more depth in acting than others: some include Acting I, II, III, IV, Shakespeare, Modern Realism, etc. while others may include only 3 courses in Acting.
- Some programs have musical theatre workshop/studio courses every semester, some have only 2-3 MT workshop courses through all four years.
- Some programs have a wide array of theatre electives, some do not (directing, choreography, acting for film, the business of theatre, auditioning and personal branding, rock/pop musical workshop, etc).
- Some schools require more than 18 or 21 hours of stagecraft and theatre history classes (6-7 courses). Some require only 3-4 courses in stagecraft and history.
- Some schools have as few as two levels of dance courses, i.e., Ballet I and Ballet II, while others have many more (Ballet III, IV, V, etc.). Some programs require 20 or more hours of dance, some as few as 6 or 8.
- Some programs require participation in a music ensemble (choir) every semester. Some students may be very interested in this, others, not so much.
- Some programs require a fairly rigorous curriculum in music classes including multiple classes in music theory and aural skills, a keyboard barrier based on 2 semesters of work, etc. Some do not include any music theory.
- Gen Eds can vary a lot. Some programs require completing a foreign language requirement, many do not. Some require 40 or more Gen Ed hours, some much less. Some programs accept a lot of AP credit with a minimum score of 3 and multiple course credits (6 hours) for 4's and 5's, some offer limited AP credit and require minimum scores of 4 or 5.
Performance Opportunities:
- Some programs only do one musical per year, some do one main stage and one small stage musical, and some do 2 or more main stage musicals with one or more small stage musicals. Some programs do an opera and a musical, with MT students auditioning for the opera.
- Some programs have a wide range of performance venues including large (500+) seat proscenium theatres with large stages and high fly spaces, plus multiple black boxes. Some have relatively limited performance spaces (less than 200 seats with small stages and low flies).
- Some programs produce large production seasons with 4 or more straight plays and 2 or more musicals. Some only do 1-2 straight plays and 1-2 musicals. Some do 4 or more productions in large theatres, some do all their shows in a small theatre or black box.
- Some programs do not let Freshman audition for shows, others do.
- At some schools there is considerable cross-over between performance opportunities in musicals and straight plays while at other schools cross-over may be essentially non-existent. At some schools MT students may be able to appear in annual or bi-annual dance programs.
Something else to consider: academic rigor and admissions standards vary considerably among MT schools. Some students may only be interested in a relatively rigorous academic school with fairly high standards for admission, some may only qualify for admission at somewhat less rigorous schools.
You can find all of this information online, including pictures of performance space interiors - with the exception of NYU. I find their website to be impenetrable (I wish that I was kidding).
None of this may be important to some students, some or all of these factors may be very important to others. Just some ideas to consider to use in narrowing down a list. My D was quite surprised when she actually compared the curricula of various programs.
Here was my process for narrowing down schools (it could get a little tedious, but it was oh so worth it):
I began with a list of every school that offered a BFA in musical theatre. I went through every single school’s website and cut schools from the list. I mostly focused on the MT programs themselves, and didn’t really look at geographic location/campus life/etc… This eventually narrowed my list down to about 20 schools or so. It sounds as if you already have a somewhat narrowed down list, so that will already be a huge time saver. Once I had those 20, I re-vistited the school’s websites, and paid more attention to the whole campus along with the MT program. From this cut, I was left with around 13 schools. This was a far more manageable number, and luckily, all my schools were attending Chicago Unified Auditions (although L.A. would have been preferable seeing as I live in Nevada). Once I auditioned and received acceptances, I went and visited the schools that I was most seriously considering.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to visit campuses. I had so many diverse schools on my list, and honestly didn’t think I’d mind what kind of campus I was on, as long as I was in a great MT program. As soon as I visited schools, I realized I couldn’t have more wrong! I was completely overwhelmed visiting a campus with 30,000 kids. Looking back, I should have realized at Chicago Unifieds that a large city campus wasn’t for me. While it was fun to visit and be in a big city, I wouldn’t want to be a student in that environment. This is a very personal decision for each student, and there is no right or wrong answer. Your D will know what kind of campus feels right! If you can, always visit! Also, obviously finances are a huge factor, but don’t let that stand in your way! If D has a school that is expensive, but that she really feels strongly toward, audition anyways. You never know what can end up happening in terms of financial aid. Just try to get attached to one school. I never had an issue with this, but I can see how someone would. The “dream school” mentality can get a little ugly once the rejection process rolls around, though.
And, because you mentioned schools in Ohio… here is my obligatory plug for Ohio Northern University. It is a small campus in an even smaller town, but it is home to a stellar MT program. It truly is a hidden gem, and I feel so blessed to have found it. The rural setting is not an issue for me - but then again, it might be for your D! I strongly encourage you to audition, and if you’re able to, visit campus. It is such a nurturing, pleasant environment, and everyone is incredibly hospitable. You really do feel right at home. They are also very generous with financial aid, which is a huge bonus. And I know it’s early in the process for you, but before you know it, you’ll be done! If at any point in the process you want some guidance, or if you ever decide to visit ONU, please PM me. This is an insane time, but it will all be worth it in the end.
And if finances will make or break a decision, make that criteria clear to your daughter now. Son knew our budget, but we allowed a couple wild cards with the understanding that the stars would need to align financially as well as artistically for him to be able to attend.
The dream school thing should be avoided at all costs! I didn’t have one until after my auditions were over, and I fought it right until I got the rejection letter. I totally agree with @PrincessFiFi about looking at the whole school! But there are things you can’t know until you audition. One of my schools was exactly what I wanted (smaller school in a big city where they value liberal arts) but I hated the head of the MT department and the feeling seemed pretty mutual! If their philosophy or teaching style doesn’t match yours, you shouldn’t go there and you probably won’t be accepted in the first place! By the way, that compatibility thing is the whole purpose of auditions. 
Here’s that post that @Calliene mentioned. @theaterwork , my response which tells how we approached your question is in this thread, but I’ll elaborate more below (sorry if it’s redundant):
I think it’s terrific that you’re starting this now! It is a time-consuming process. We started by determining if D wanted a BA or BFA. D knew she wanted a BFA with more of a conservatory approach (fewer gen ed requirements, and she looked for dreaded math requirements, lol), so that eliminated a lot of schools. Then, we determined the location D desired. D didn’t know what type of physical environment she wanted and ended up concluding that it didn’t matter to her except that she didn’t want rural and she preferred to be near a city. Also, she could see herself on an urban campus as well as a traditional one. Then, we came up with a list of training details, which is what D cared most: high levels of dance available, many approaches to acting taught with a certain way she prefers as a base, voice lessons taught with a classical base but with other styles taught as well, the opportunity to study and perform Shakespeare/classical theatre and film, professional faculty (yes, we looked at bios of whomever we could find), professional opportunities outside of the school, etc. Study abroad was something included on her list as a strong bonus, but it didn’t necessarily keep a school off of the list if these experiences were not available and the other elements were very strong. My D also cared a lot about the type of environment within the program, which was sometimes hard to ascertain, but we dug as deeply as we could into programs which interested her to try to discover it. On top of all of that, a high possibility for a lot of financial aid/scholarships/grants was important (although we left one or two on just in case the stars aligned, as @entertainersmom said). We just made a basic spreadsheet type document with categories such as “voice,” “acting,” “professional opportunities,” and “environment,” and filled in as much as we could for each school. It is a time-consuming process, and it’s a continuous one (so, if you create some sort of spreadsheet system, keep them until the audition and decision process is over), but it is worth it! I love researching, and I sometimes have a hard time sleeping (it gave me something exciting to do then), so I did a lot of it, but D did, as well. We also got valuable insight and input from D’s local vocal coaches (both her current one and one from a place from which we had moved, both of whom know a lot about programs from personal involvement) and her college coach, Chelsea Diehl, who was absolutely wonderful at ascertaining D’s desires and appropriate programs for D based on D’s personality. (In fact, it was final school selection and monologue choice which led us to panic a bit and seek out Chelsea in August of D’s Junior year.)
We didn’t visit any schools until after auditions (except her on-campus auditions) because my D did not want to fall in love with one and have a dream school. This worked for her. Going into auditions, and even after most, she would say, “I can see myself there,” to every school on her list. There were exceptions to this at a few auditions; she didn’t feel connected to a few then (and I guess the feeling was mutual in these instances except for one which accepted her). One school she had expected to be towards the top of her list dropped down considerably after auditioning and touring; it just didn’t feel right. Another dropped from her list during her first class observation as an accepted student. She was open to all of these feelings and ended up with the lovely conclusion that she was looking for something specific, but that she would be fine at most schools. There are so many great programs out there!
Good luck in your search! Maybe if your D develops a list of criterion, you could let us know, and we could throw out some names.
Lots of great advice here. Also have your D consider what her strengths and weaknesses are - how would she rate her singing, acting, dancing? Which of those are closest to her heart? She might want to look for a program that plays to her strengths. OR she might want one that will challenge her weakness and/or build on an aspect that she finds particularly important. We live in Ohio. S and family decided to limit school choices to less than a day’s drive (great of M & D to get to see shows, deal with “emergency” illnesses, get kid home for decompression or to see hometown shows on weekends, cheap holiday travel, etc.) Very early in process S knew he wanted a BFA, conservatory “style” program with possibility for advanced dance classes. As he went through junior year however, he came to realize that acting was the aspect he felt he needed to work on the most and would bring greatest longevity/flexibility to his career path. His ultimate choice (Wright State - PM if interested) has a heavy emphasis on that. The schedule of freshman/sophomore MT classes is pretty set in stone at most BFA, conservatory type programs. With extra work and advanced planning S is able to create a schedule that addresses his needs/desires on a little more individual basis. That hard work and rehearsal/performance/study schedule has kept him from partaking of much off-campus life. So ultimately the setting outside of campus has very little affect on his school experience and so far he is OK with that. Others find the exact opposite.
There are great suggestions here for helping you D find her priorities. I also agree with idea of visiting different campus types - even if it is not a school you are considering. S was also reluctant to do this, but by driving through or visiting a nearby campus on vacation, S was able to rule out rural/smaller town campuses (though there are CC posters who LOVE Otterbein - another terrific Ohio option). It’s not about falling in love with a school you may never attend, but feeling out the options/community type that might make four years of college more enjoyable for an individual student.
It has been mentioned to look into crossover opportunities with music or other departments. One other aspect to look at might be your D’s interest in doing film or recording work. Not all programs are equal in that regard. At WSU the Film and Motion Pictures is in the Theater Department so the opportunities to act in student films is never-ending. A very well-regarded technical program in sound/recording/videography is housed in CCM at University of Cincinnati, but the “film studies” is in college of Arts and Letters. Shenandoah in Virginia has a wonderful recording studio and faculty there make sure students know how to use their voices effectively in amplified/recording settings.
It IS a lot to think about when you are first starting out. I would argue that it’s not until you start exploring schools, programs, faculty in “live” settings that a student can get a feel for what DOES - and DOESN’T - matter to them. Sometimes after the exploring, the choices - and those that can be ruled out - become much more obvious. Good Luck.
Hi, I was just where you are now 3 years ago. It is very overwhelming at first. Please know that the more you read, things will start to fall into place and make sense. There is a lot of helpful info on CC.
I think youalready have a lot of great advice here. I wanted to add in one other factor. Your daughter will need a mix of competitive levels in the schools she applies to. I am referring to TALENT competition, and not academic level. Some schools are known to be highly competitive (less than 5% get in, maybe as little as 1%), some are mid level, some are fairly easy, some don’t require auditions. Any school that requires an audition is considered to be pretty competitive.
Anyway, you need a mix of these levels. A good resource for you might be Maryann Denard’s book and/or her website.
My daughter and I just made it through this process and she is going to one of her dream schools. 3 years ago, we knew NOTHING about how to do this. So, please just have faith that you will figure it all out. You have lots of time!
I also see lots of good advice here. I’m responding because your geographic parameters and home base match ours. We are in the South Jersey area right across the bridge from Philly. Our kids applied as far as Michigan, upstate NY and North Carolina after initially considering schools from Chicago and eastward. We have three kids all involved in theatre - our youngest will graduate next year from his BFA program. Having Ohio, NC, and NY and everything in between as options will actually make the final decision making process somewhat bearable. Thinking down the line, you know that if you really feel you need to visit, you might have 2 or 3 school visit trips done at one time, long drive trips, but doable.
That being said - we found some starting points such as curriculum (what kind of academic experience does your child want or can they tolerate while studying in their program?) and finances to be critical issues. That whittled down our list. For one of our kids we really didn’t give enough validity to the curriculum aspect. Our list could have been different if we had adhered to the qualifier of “Yes, you can get accepted academically, but can you handle the academic rigors once you are in the program?” Environment probably was the third qualifier, small/large, broad college experience/conservatory, rural/city, etc. Keep in mind it takes some digging to really get a good picture. For example, small town college doesn’t necessarily mean rural.
For the schools on your list which are already mentioned on this forum, I would use the individual school list here on CC and contact folks directly for their honest opinions and info. (I don’t think we even had that school subforum when our oldest was exploring) I found it much easier to speak directly to posters here with very specific questions to get concise, current answers. Those folks will most likely have also considered some other lesser known schools not mentioned so often here, and you might gather info on those schools from veterans of the process. We considered schools rarely mentioned on this forum. We also were fortunate to connect with parents and kids who were kind enough to arrange in-person meetings if we did finally visit a school. I know some people don’t like that approach because it can make it more emotional, but it did help our kids in the long run. We, in turn, have been able to do the same for those coming up after ours as they audition or explore, before they are even accepted and considered a prospect. Our kids are boys and a girl, chose BFA and BA programs, had some disappointment, but overall were very fortunate to have some great choices from Division 1 School programs down to smaller class of 8 programs, conservatory and non. This forum and the folks willing to share their knowledge made it much more manageable. We started this process in 2004, when our oldest was a high school sophomore. Much has changed since then, but some constants remain. Good luck to you and I’d be happy to help with any of your questions if you care to connect!
And try to visit all your acceptances! We ALMOST didn’t visit one, and only did because my daughter didn’t get into her “dream” school. If she had gotten in there, she would have gone without ever seeing the school that, after we finally visted, she chose over her other 5 acceptances! And she eventually said that even if dream school called, she would stick with her choice. Hard to believe we almost didn’t visit the school that turned out to be the best fit of all!