Hi there… I’m very new to this but thought I might get some good feedback… does anyone know if there is a person/organization/company who can point us in the right direction on how to use my daughter’s many years of
dancing to get her recruited or looked at by any colleges? She is not sure if she wants to major in dance (if so, she would need to do a double major academic) or if she wants to audition for a dance team… not sure how to possibly know where to begin. Any suggestions would be so appreciated. Thanks!
What kind of dance?
You should be able to get some good advice in the Dance Majors Forum. You can find it by going to the main page where all of the forums are listed, and then scrolling down to the College Majors Forum. Here is a direct link: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/dance-major/
You can post in the dance forum and also here, since your daughter may want an academic major.
One of mine is a dancer and it was a big help with college admissions. I will PM you,
One of my daughter’s friends is an extremely gifted dancer. She went to Goucher and when we spoke to her, she loved it.
If she is a ballet dancer, I would take a look at the ballet talk for dancers board. Bt4d. For a contemporary/jazz look at Dance Magazine’s college guide. Some places to think about would be SMU, TCU,iu Bloomington, university of Arizona, point park university, university of Oklahoma, USC, etc. I’m always looking for suggestions so if you come up with new ones, let me know.
Are you looking for financial help for dancing? If so, then she probably would need to major in dance. Dance teams at college usually don’t have much or any aid to give.
If she doesn’t major in dance, does she want to be a part of a dance team that performs at athletic events?
What kind of dance? jazz? ballet?
If ballet, has she participated in any of the auditions for ABT summer intensive?
How much are you willing to spend each year on college?
What are your D’s academic stats? GPA and test scores?
When my niece was looking for colleges where she would be able to continue her ballet, Columbia and Duke stood out as having strong programs. Butler U, U of Cincinnati and U of Utah are also known to have strong ballet programs. U of Michigan has strong dance, leans more to modern than ballet.
she does all kinds of dance, but her strengths are jazz, contemporary, hip hop and tap. She takes ballet and technique but she is not a ballerina. Schools that require mostly ballet will not be for her.
more than financial help (though that would be nice) I am looking into something similar to when a lacrosse player gets scouted to come to a school to play on a team and commits to a school, often one that is better than they would’ve gotten into based on only academics. I keep thinking there has to be an avenue like this for serious dancers. She’s just not sure this early in the game if she wants to major in dance or possibly try out for a dance team. It would have to be a very strong team though as she is on an incredible team now and gets intense training. We don’t have test scores yet, as she is only in 10th grade. She is a straight A honor student with several AP credits.
ASU has an amazing dance program who has been very successful in recent years. They also have a great honors college.
If she wants an auditioned BFA program within a liberal arts college, look very seriously at Fordham-Lincoln Center. With strong academic credentials, she might qualify for a generous merit award. Their Dance BFA is affiliated with the Alvin Ailey Company. If she doesn’t want a BFA, look at Barnard, also.
It doesn’t matter whether she wants to major in dance. She can submit an arts supplement with videos, dance resume, and recommendations from teachers, and that can help her application at some schools. Noone will recruit her for a dance team, that I know of, but I could be wrong. Neverheless, every college is looking for a good mix of talents on campus and so this adds to her appeal, and also shows dedication and commitment.
Some dance programs will look down on dance teams and competitions. Just a heads up. People on the dance forum sometimes do, too. This depends on whether someone sees dance as an art or a sport. Professional performances will do more for her with admissions, perhaps.
Point Park is a good suggestion, Dean College, Skidmore maybe, state university dance programs. If she wants to branch out to choreography she could look at Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Goucher (ballet and choreography)… BU does have some sort of dance organization, maybe a team-?
In fact, many colleges will have dance extracurriculars. Harvard has always had dance as an extracurricular but recently added it as part of the new major, dance, drama and media I think it is called.
We don’t know anything about her academic interests or talents so that would help with specific schools, but the main message is yes, you can use a dance/art supplement to the common application to help with admissions.