Hey y’all! I was looking to get an opinion from some people what they think the top 10-20 MT schools are and why they think that. It seems the general consensus is that UMich, CMU and CCM are the top 3 in some order, but after that the list becomes much more open to interpretation. Excited to hear what you all think, thanks!
Short answer: the schools that our kids go do are all the best.
Seriously this is a can of worm. The schools at the top of the page are all very good and there are a lot of subtle distinctions between them, but you can start a war trying to put together a list of the “best” whatever that means to you.
^ Totally agree! EVERYONE will have a differing opinion on what is “best” or “top”. And no one person is right. All that matters is what is “best” for a particular student. No one can truly create a list of “top schools” as it is is too individual/personal to each student. Look at the school list and research what will be best for your particular student and then you will have your own “top” list.
There are “highly ranked” schools I wouldn’t have sent my kids to if they were paying ME. Much better to define what you are looking for in a school - (big/small school, urban/rural, conservatory/not, etc) and then find programs hat fit YOUR criteria. Everybody loves to see their kid’s program on a “top X schools” list (I’m certainly guilty as charged, and have posted the list on CC)… but it don’t mean a thing if it don’t fit your swing
MT is more subjective than a lot of other majors where SAT scores might be more important and results are more easily quantifiable. That said, I do think you can quantify schools somewhat by results - percentage of grads working on Broadway, and in MT overall, as well the percentage accepted initially.
And, you can make the same arguments about any major if a big school or small is better, urban vs rural vs suburban, etc as well. However, while an individual accounting or engineering student may blossom in a different environment or at a different school, the top schools for many majors (Ivy League,Duke, Stanford, etc) tend to produce better overall results. The same for MT - while a smaller or different school may be perfect for Joe Musical or Jane Theater, the top schools like UM, CMU, etc tend to produce better overall results and lists of the top colleges can be a good starting point for kids and parents who are interested in MT
@NewJeffCT - valid points. For us, the college itself was an important piece of the puzzle. Our attitude was “if you wouldn’t like this college w/o theater…”. But everyone is different. Our thought was, college itself is a really important/special part of life, and kids DO change their mind (though ours has not). We wanted to find a place where we knew she would be happy OVERALL, as well as within her major. And it happened that we found that at a highly “ranked” theater school- which was great. But the college was just as important as the program to us when choosing. Some schools have clout as institutions and within the dept - CMU and U of M are world class schools. Other schools are different. But I think it is valuable to know what is the tipping point (best school? Best program?) before you begin.
Agree @stagedoormama
@toowonderful agree - the college itself is also very important to me and to my daughter. And, to be honest, while my daughter is an excellent singer, I’m not sure she has the dance chops to be on Broadway or the drive to improve herself enough in dance to get there. Plus, she also loves history, science and literature and has things to fall back on in the future. (And, as she says, she’s good at math, but doesn’t really like it) - Univ of Michigan and CMU are outstanding schools overall, as are schools like Penn State, Syracuse, NYU, BU and others that are also very good outside of just Theater and MT
Just to make my point clearer because I received PMs on this. I don’t know how good some MT programs are at some of these schools (outside of CMU and UM) - I had just meant PSU, SU, NYU and BU as schools that were very good overall and if a student decided MT was not for them, they would still be at an excellent school with good choices for other majors. There are some other schools that may be excellent in MT, but maybe not quite so good in other majors
This topic seems to come up every year. Here are some past threads on the subject:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1694166-top-mt-programs.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1617651-top-programs-p1.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/912438-top-mt-bfa-programs-p1.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/389999-mt-colleges-tiers.html
I would tell people who are delving in to the auditions this fall…don’t get caught up in the school rankings thing…DON’T . As much as
you and your child will focus on this and use it to craft your audition list, Add other schools too. Don’t just include well known schools. You may luck out and your kid may get into a “top tier” program… or they may not. There are a whole lot of kids in the “may not” group. A WHOLE LOT . You will be in one big pickle mess come about Feb/March when decisions come out and the “no’s” roll in and you have no options on the table. You will be in legit panic mode. Your kid will be a train wreck.
That being said…nothing more important then doing your research. You can’t just let your kid choose the schools based on the list they just googled online. It’s early in the game now but get your butt in gear & RESEARCH the schools! This is not a sit on your -ss venture. My child is starting in a BFA program this month at a school that had come on to our radar early and we added in the winter. The process will be ongoing all fall, you may add schools and delete some.
I am a firm believer that yes, a top tier school is wonderful and may lead to some more opportunities and connections that a smaller or lesser known program may not offer BUT it is no guarantee of anything. The most elite programs obviously get the most elite talent hence the numbers they have on Broadway etc. those people were already madly talented to begin with. I have read story after story of people from schools you haven’t even heard of that are on tours etc. just read a story today actually . If you’re what they are looking for and are talented it won’t matter what your school name is.
great post @theaterwork - my daughter was in a performing magnet school last year as a freshman. One girl that was a senior this past year applied to 14 or 15 schools, including several that (IMHO) were a bit of a reach for her. Her first 13 or 14 applications were rejected and she was despondent, until the last school gave her a YES (If I recall, it was Syracuse that said yes.) Pretty good for a girl that was in the ensemble for all of her high school shows.
Playbill has today come out with a “Big 10: The 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadway in the 2017-2018 Season” list. See— http://www.playbill.com/article/big-10-the-10-most-represented-colleges-on-broadway-in-the-2017-2018-season