Please forgive me if there is another thread for this or it should be elsewhere. I am trying to navigate the best I can. My daughter wants to pursue MT, but she also wants to stay in the South if possible and have a traditional college experience so to speak. That said, does anyone have insight -positive or negative- on the following programs: university of Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Auburn, Belmont, Vanderbilt, TCU, wake Forest, University of Florida,or the College of Charleston. I know some have programs and others just theater/dance. But can it work? All are beautiful campuses and many have thriving music opportunities in town (Nashville, Athens, Charleston). Sorry so long!
Also check out Middle Tennessee U. I know someone going there in the fall. It’s 30 minutes from Nashville, has impeccable facilities, performance opportunities and students can explore all sorts of interests. AND if the student transfers their drivers license to TN before starting there, he/she pays in state tuition!
I know nothing about the schools on your list, though. Sawry.
Elon has a very well respected (and highly competitive) musical theater program, and a beautiful campus.
There is also a thread specific to TCU in the list of schools at the top of the musical theater forum page - should be good info there!
Of schools on your list, Belmont and TCU have good programs. If we can go outside of your list but stay in the south, also look at U of Miami, Florida State University, Texas State University, and Tulane. And a little farther afield, but a great program, OCU.
Wake Forest has a great theater program although it does not focus on MT. William & Mary. has a good theatre program although again, not a focus on MT. Shenandoah Conservatory is in Virginia and a has a good reputation. James Madison University in Virginia has great academics a wonderful theater program where you can get a lot of MT training. I believe it is also a BA program. Tulane and University of Memphis, Tampa, University of Central Florida, Florida State, Western Carolina, Catawba in NC and Coastal Carolina are other Southern schools you should research if you are wanting to stay in the South.
We have had a few friends attend Belmont. I must say the ones in the theater/MT program all left for various reasons. But other friends who are there for other majors like commercial music seem to really love it.
We also have lots of friends at Alabama Georgia and Ole Miss, not in MT. They love the schools. But I don’t know anything about their MT programs. The one friend at Georgia is involved in some sort of theater group and has been in a number of productions, but I don’t think any have been musicals.
Wake Forest is a terrific school overall, but I don’t think MT is a huge part of their studies. You can get good voice, dance and acting training there. But it would not be the same as being in an actual MT program I don’t think.
We have friends at Vanderbilt who are studying both voice/music education and theater. They love it there. Again, there is not a strong emphasis on MT. You might have to piece together your voice, dance and acting training. And there are a limited number of musical productions.
We do have friends who have gone to College of Charleston. Not as theater majors. They really enjoyed the school though.
D applied and was accepted to TCU. It is a great school. But D felt more of a connection with some other MT programs for herself personal. I do think the TCU program is a good one.
Best of luck to you!
Thank you so much!! Where did your daughter choose to go? Congrats and thank you for the info
Our D is far away from the South and home 
But she could not be happier with her school choice which makes us happy. She is at OCU.
Other “southern” schools to consider:
Samford
Baylor (has a somewhat-hidden MT emphasis)
SMU - MT minor with BFA in Acting, BM in VP, or BFA in Dance
UAB
Oklahoma - very competitive for admission
We visited College of Charleston. We fell in love with the school and city, but found the program would not be specialized enough for our daughter. We met with the director of theater and he was very helpful. The theater department seems to be strong. It was about 4 years ago so I don’t remember the specifics of why it wasn’t a good fit for a MT kid. But we came away sure it didn’t offer her enough training across all three components of MT.
We visited U of Alabama once in advance (and met with the head of the program), and visited again when my D auditioned there. They consider their program to be a hybrid between a BA and BFA based on number of credits required. We saw some shows and were impressed overall. They have good performance opportunities.
We met with the head of the department at Ole Miss, too. They audition after they get there, I want to say at the end of Freshman year, but go to their website to confirm. When asked why they do that, one thing she said was that there are many distractions freshman year and they only want kids who can make it through (paraphrasing). I felt she really looks out for her kids to make sure they are focused. My D felt a little out of place in that setting. When we said we were from NY at the tour, literally everyone turned around to look at us.
All schools are gorgeous and collegiate. Alabama and Ole Miss certainly offer the full rah rah and Greek experience.
COngratulations!
I do not really think of Texas and Oklahoma as being in the South- but if you want to consider schools in the Southwest - certainly University of Texas, Texas State, SMU, TCU, Oklahoma University, OCU and University of Arizona would be ones to consider also.
UT cancelled their MT program.
The MT program at Univ of AL is very good & it’s competitive in the southeast, even though not one that is really talked about here. D didn’t audition there because almost everyone from her school goes to Auburn or Alabama & that wasn’t what she wanted. Auburn has a program, but it’s not audition, and you don’t really hear anything about it. Samford is a good local school, but not a program we hear a lot about. University of Montevallo actually also has a good program & is beautiful (Rebecca Luke’s alma mater) - you audition after you’ve been in the program (don’t know enough about it to know when). We have a friend graduating from Belmont now & she has loved it. UAB has a new program, but the campus is not pretty like the others. Happy to help if you have more questions.
@vvnstar - Texas was a part of the confederacy - so I think that counts as a southern state 
I’ve heard good things about College of Charleston’s theatre program, although CCU is the only BFA in the state. Charleston is an AMAZING city and the facilities at the college are wonderful, although I never had a chance to see a production there.
Thank you all so much!! @shaun0203 where did she end up? Charleston really is so beautiful. All the advice is so helpful and I know she’d be grateful and happy to be anywhere!
I know FSU has a great reputation. How about the program at UF? Is it similar to alabama?
My daughter is a freshman at Western Kentucky University and absolutely loves it. She auditions for the BFA at the end of her 3rd semester. The first 3 semesters she is classified as “seeking admission” to the BFA and takes all MT related classes with a few required gen ed classes. She also wanted the “traditional” college experience. WKU is an hour north of Nashville.
So glad to find another Southern Mama looking for schools in the Southeast. My daughter just decided to go the MT direction and is finishing her Sophomore year…AGH! We have started voice lessons, tap, ballet, etc. and I’m starting THE SEARCH of places to start visiting next year. She wants to stay in the south. I am originally from MI and she has had a few winter visit’s up there and definitely said no to anywhere with snow :). She also had no desire to go to UA or Auburn because she wants to go somewhere out of state. That being said if ANYONE has feedback or can connect me to feedback on southeastern MT BFA program review, PLEEEAAASE do. I have heard great thinks about Belmont and as a Vandy grad, I can tell you Vandy is not an option (sadly) for a true MT kid. However that’s all I know. I’m definitely a newbie!
@brightstaral I’m sure you will get a lot of good information here from many people. Also check out the big list of MT schools and investigate their web sites. My D was the opposite being from MI - I couldn’t get her to look at schools that didn’t have the seasons. She wanted nothing to do with Florida or Texas Schools, nothing too far south.