<p>I am currently a junior in High School and I am planning (hopefully) on doing a pre-college program at a college/university. I have been singing since I was 6, and I am in an advanced theater class at school. I started dance two years ago so that is my weakest of the three. </p>
<p>I want to immerse myself in musical theater this summer though honestly, I am not good enough to compete with the extremely talented kids who seriously, are ready for Broadway.
So I have come to the conclusion the smartest option would be to apply for a non-audition summer program. </p>
<p>The ones I like the best are Carnegie Mellon and Emerson (or they're the only ones I know of). Do any of you have experience with these summer programs? What are the pros and cons to each program?
Also, do you know any other non-audition summer programs?</p>
<p>I haven’t any experience with either, but I have a few friends who have attended CMU’s pre-college program, and they thought it was an absolutely amazing experience.</p>
<p>Personally, based on the caliber of the Musical Theatre programs at those colleges, I would lean towards CMU.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about musical theater programs, but some of my favorite Broadway actors graduated from CMU, if that’s the kind of environment you may want a taste of.</p>
<p>The benefit of theartsedge is that you are exposed to several of the top schools decision makers. Theartsedge is a business but then again so are the summer programs at these schools.</p>
<p>So do you think that Emerson’s BFA musical theater program is inadequate? (obviously not compared to CMU because Carnegie Mellon is basically impossible to get into)</p>
<p>And then there is the question: Should I do CMU because I know I would never be accepted and therefore take advantage of the audition-less opportunity? Or is it worth doing Emerson because I can meet the musical theater staff and get a feel for a program I might actually attend? </p>
<p>So the big differences I’m finding are that there are about 20 kids in the Emerson one and more than 100 in the CMU.
Also, CMU is so expensive and it’s in Pittsburg while Emerson is about half the price and in Boston! </p>
<p>Can anyone give me further information on the program (particularly from first hand experience) and can anyone tell me about Emerson’s mt program as an undergraduate out of high school?</p>
<p>Thanks! I seriously appreciate all your advice!</p>
<p>No one is going to publicly say something bad about a school for fear of getting bombarded with emails but I am personally not high on the Emerson program. I believe there are much better programs throughout the country. There I said it.</p>