Hi, I am a junior finishing up the year and hoping to start this process for next year. I am just so nervous I won’t get into a BFA MT program and am looking for some good advice on schools that might be a good fit for me. I did participate in Penn States summer program last summer and loved it there but I know it is competitive - as is everything it seems. I definitely have the most interest in the BFA in MT but I also have had a lot of choreography experience regionally and in my school so having a strong dance program is important to me. I have done school, community and regional theatre since I was 5 and just had my first professional experience this year. I have danced for over 10 years, done gymnastics and this year choreographed both the middle school shows as well as the high school shows. I am on leadership at my school theatre department, won a Cappie for costuming and have been nominated for many awards regarding theatre. I am a strong dancer, told I am a great actor (?) and have to work really hard at my signing. I have a voice and acting coach for four years. I seem to always be cast in good parts (some leads, some ensemble) in both my school shows and regional theatre. I am going to be a dance captain for a regional production this summer. I take hard classes - will have taken 7 AP classes and 3 dual enrollments by the time I graduate. I have a 4.5 GPA and scored a 1280 on my SAT ( I hate tests!) . I am hoping someone will accept me into a MT program and am going to go to Unifieds this upcoming year. I am looking for any recommendations of schools - both large and small - I am open to anything / anywhere that I can sing and dance!!! If anyone has good advice on schools for me , PLEASE SHARE!!! Thank you in advance!
@DramaLove2020 Congratulations on your strong academic and artistic credentials; those should serve you well. I’ve heard that Boston Conservatory and Point Park are among the MT programs with particularly strong dance components of their offering. As you look at different programs, ask if their dance programs are leveled (i.e., you get paired with students who are at your same level rather than grouped together regardless of current aptitude). Best of fortune in the year ahead.
@DramaLove2020 Your strong academics and leadership skills will definitely help in the scholarship realm especially at private schools. Not knowing you and your likes and dislikes it’s hard to make recommendations. Everyone has different opinions based on their individual background and what would fit you might be different than what would fit the next person. The secret is apply to lots of schools (which Unifieds can help with) and make sure you aren’t focusing on just tippy top programs. There are many good regional programs that may be less competitive or newer programs that haven’t taken off yet. Also try to select at least one non-audition safety where you would be happy attending. A good place to start if you haven’t is a list of must haves for both your college experience (e.g.size of campus, are sports important, urban or suburban) and your MT program (e.g. frequency of voice, dance, levelled dance, etc.). These specifics would help people make suggestions. Best of luck!
Look at Oklahoma City University - Ann Lacy School of Dance. The dance performance major has produced countless numbers of Broadway and regional performers. As a dance performance major you do get some voice and acting, but not to the extent of the MT majors. But the dance is phenomenal - 10 different levels in each discipline. You can also consider both the Acting BFA and the MT degree at OCU. And your stellar academics would give you significant scholarship opportunities there.
University of Utah, Coastal Carolina and Point Park May be good matches for you. Also, maybe consider a BFA Acting where you can take voice lessons.
Thank you ! I would rather go to mid size to larger school. East coast or relatively close. Not Florida! I would like to have a campus feel - sports etc. Prefer not a big city but a small city would be fine. Would love to take dance , acting and vocal lessons daily! I love the working hard part of this the most really! Thanks for any and all suggestions !
@DramaLove2020 There are so many options for you. I would second Coastal Carolina suggestion. It’s just outside of Myrtle Beach, SC, is a medium sized D1 sports school, and is looking to incorporate a dance minor in 2020 (I think it’s 2020). (Of course I’m biased bc my S will be a freshman there next year! Lol)
Here are schools with audition-based MT programs that are (a) mid-size to larger, (b) with DI football programs, © on the East Coast, and (d) not in Florida:
Coastal Carolina University
East Carolina
Elon University (DI/FCS)
James Madison University (DI/FCS)
New Hampshire (DI/FCS)
Pennsylvania State University
SUNY Buffalo
Syracuse University
Temple University (in a big city)
Western Carolina (DI/FCS)
West Virginia
Wagner plays DI/FCS football but it is a small school (and its in a suburb of NY).
If you expand your area of interest to the upper Midwest, these schools meet your criteria:
Ball State University
Central Michigan
Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (in a big city)
University of Illinois (new program in lyric theatre)
Indiana University Bloomington
Kent State
University of Michigan
Northwestern University (extremely difficult academic admission, in a suburb of a big city)
Western Michigan University
Western Illinois
I may have missed a few.
There are, of course, more if you include the South, Southwest, and Western USA.
Thank you that is on the list! The beach is a plus too! I just have heard it is very competitive to get into! I would love to go there though
@DramaLove2020 they are ALL competitive, best to have a large list, maybe re assess the length of the list after you see how pre screens go, some people add or subtract at that point, plus there are often good walk in opportunities at unifieds
Can someone give me a timetable on when would be ideal to be done with your videos to be ready to submit the presceeens ? Early fall ? Late summer ? Late fall?
Late August, early September is the best time to get your pre-screens done and edited. Do multiple cut lengths and slates, and read the pre-screen requirements carefully.
Late Fall is way too late. August is ideal.
@DramaLove2020 I know it is confusing. That is because schools have a variety of prescreen dates and they change from year to year. We are giving you our best guess as to what it will be next year. But there are a couple of schools who take prescreens in August-September. Like Elon and Penn State. But there are many others, like Michigan, who do not begin accepting prescreens until mid October. But most all will continue to look at prescreens until December 1st. Good luck to you!
Thank you so much! I have been reading and doing research but this is so helpful!
Hello all, I am SO thankful for CC and truly appreciate all the words of wisdom and free flowing information here!! We are gearing up for this crazy ride and I am a bit nervous about my daughter balancing the app/audition process with the rigor of several AP courses. My daughter is a good student and handles honors classes well but she does have to work at it. She’s in a small school with little AP opportunity and most are offered senior year for some reason. How important is it to have APs for most of these MT schools? We are targeting schools in Northeast. I have read that auditions are of the utmost importance (except NYU 50/50), and that a strong GPA is important for merit based scholarships. We are leaning towards only 1 AP given the amount of apps, auditions, and juggling the school show. Not to mention the inevitable senior slide… and I would hate for regret and a tanking GPA on top of all this stress! Any words of advice are greatly appreciated!
@themomager cant answer anything factually, but we are forgoing all AP classes with focus on audition prep, essay writing, application, pre screens & lots of travel ( as needed). I dont really see the advantage of taking APs for this path but if people WANT TO TAKE them , certainly more power to them…
Our D decided no AP classes for Senior year, but she was able to take them Sophmore and Junior year. Senior year will consist of the few graduation requirements she has left and the small cluster of music, acting, and theater tech courses offered by her public school. H and I had actually pushed for a few more APs, particularly Lang which would’ve been nice for the essay writing. She just didn’t see the utility and stood her ground. Based on what I’ve seen on CC and elsewhere on the web, it appears she made the right move for this particular path.
@themomager I totally agree with @NYYFanNowMTdad ! I am a rising senior, and I took AP English, and AP Environmental. And I know that next year will be entirely too stressful for several AP’s. Unless your daughter is a genius at time management! I am soo terrible at time management!! So that’s why I decided to take zero AP’s next year!
@themomager Your instincts are correct. With a few notable exceptions (NYU, etc) AP’s are not that important for MT schools. The artistic acceptance is a separate track and the basis upon which students are admitted to these very elite, very small MT programs. As others pointed out, above, the academic record will possibly help on the financial aid side with schools that offer merit aid. I’d suggest a broad list of schools, not just in the northeast, because everyone across the country applies to the same northeast schools! Best of luck to you and to everyone embarking on this journey.