My son (high school junior) wants to go for MT BFA. At this point, he has not narrowed the school list down beyond that.
Going into taking standardized tests this year, our original plan was to take an ACT, then take an SAT, see which works better for him then retake to try to improve score. But first shot taking the ACT he got a score higher than expected, a composite score of 35, including 36 for reading/English and 33 for math/science (which is odd considering math is his best subject).
Our thinking now is that score of 35 is good enough that there is no need to continue taking these tests, that his time would be better spent doing other things (such as vocal and dance lessons). But before finalizing that decision, some questions I am hoping someone can answer:
Are there any musical theater BFA programs out there at all that would reject someone with a score of 35 but accept them with 36?
Are there any musical theater BFA programs out there at all that would require a Math/Science score more than 33?
Are there any musical theater BFA programs out there al all that would want to see an SAT score instead?
If the answers to the above are all “no”, then there really is no reason to go any further with these tests. But if any schools might result in a “yes” answer to any of these, would want to investigate further.
One related question - do any of the BFA programs require SAT2 scores? If so, which schools / what scores?
That should be fine for even schools like Tisch and Northwestern, assuming his GPA is comparable and he passes the audition. Most of the other schools are more concerned with the talent portion.
@junior72 That is an excellent score for ANY college in the country, regardless of major. Congrats to him on being one and done. If he might want to apply to Northwestern, Yale, or similar schools (which are not BFA programs but appeal to some academically strong MT applicants), then he should consider taking 2 SAT II tests. It does not matter which subjects. There are no BFA MT schools that require the SAT II.
I have a friend who’s son was being looked at for football at Princeton and Columbia. He was told that the minimum ACT was 31. Pretty sure you’re good to go at any school he’s interested in. Best of luck to him!
Agree with all the above. He is good and does not need to do anything else (except if he is taking AP courses, then the AP exams of course). My son got a 33 or 34 composite as I recall. This and his GPA allowed him to get an audition at Wagner, get merit scholarships at several schools, get into the honors programs at any school that offered one, and was frequently a conversation starter during the very brief audition interviews. Focus on dance and vocal classes for sure. Select original monologues and songs. Get a resume together (long ones for NYU and UMich, shorter ones for everywhere else).