<p>I'm a high school junior looking to narrow down my choices for where to audition next year, and I was wondering if anyone knew the best programs that offered full 4 year BFA programs. Thanks!</p>
<p>These seem to be the ones that a) everyone applies to and b) yield the most working graduates:</p>
<p>Cincinnati’s CCM
University of Michigan
NYU
Carnegie Mellon U
Boston Conservatory
Syracuse University
University of Hartford
University of Oklahoma
University of the Arts</p>
<p>There are still MANY MANY more where those came from, but those are the ones you hear about most often. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>I thought that there weren’t that many schools that offered a masters in MT. One more to add I Oklahoma City University.</p>
<p>There is a lot of controversy regarding which are the “top” programs and I really don’t think there will ever be a consensus. There are a lot of very good programs that you can find on the IMPORTANT: Big List of MT Colleges, Post # 2 thread. Look at them all to find what interests you. Keep in mind that the list posted here in posts 1 & 2 only accepts a few kids out of all of the applicants- usually 10 or 12 per program. You would not be doing yourself any favors if you only applied to these schools as the chances of admission are very slim. Good luck!</p>
<p>As a transfer into an MT program, I’ve been researching on this site (and others) as well as speaking to many people who are current MT students or graduates about the best MT programs in the country and the consensus seems to be that the top 3 (in no order) are:
- CCM (Cincinnati Conservatory of Music)
- University of Michigan
- Carnegie Mellon University</p>
<p>Now this is what I have gathered from about two years of research and asking around and looking into who has gone where and where they are working now. However, when looking at playbill bios I was amazed at how many people were graduates of:
NYU
Northwestern
Boston Conservatory
so those I would place up there as well. </p>
<p>I also found that Elon, Point Park, Syracuse, Otterbein, Baldwin-Wallace, Ithaca, Emerson, The Hartt School, and Oklahoma City University were held in high regard for their programs.</p>
<p>Just to give a little disclaimer, this is my own opinion after the amount of research I did and by no means an exhaustive list. Also most of the schools I looked at were primarily on the East Coast, so there may be a bit of a blindspot as to schools on the West Coast. </p>
<p>However, I hope my post was helpful to you. Finding the right school/program can be daunting and it really comes down to what YOU are looking for.</p>
<p>My goodness! Penn State has NUMEROUS current working actors on tours, on Broadway, Off Broadway, regional theaters and summer stock. It is definitely one of the top programs out there with great success rates after school.</p>
<p>I don’t know why I answered as I did above, for some reason I thought we were talking about masters programs. At the top of the main page of this MT forum there is a listing called The Big List. It list almost all of the MT programs in the country and whether they are BFA, FA or BM. It also gives an idea of how selective each program is. One thing you will see over and over on this forum is careful selection of schools. Look for a good matche and ALWAYS have a safety school on your audition list. We who have been around for a while have seen many a student not get in anywhere and it is heartbreaking. And we have seen a student visit a “top” program only to hate it. You will see people coming from all types of schools, even people with other types of degrees that have great MT careers. So it is most important to find the best fit for yourself. So I would not recommend to anyone to scope out the “top” schools audition there only and hope for the best. Good Luck.</p>
<p>oops ttmom, my apologies, Penn State should be on my list too.</p>
<p>Do we have to have this conversation every year - obviously, yes, as new people approach these boards each year. aemason and others, please do a search and check the volumes that have been written on this same subject. theatrenerd - you are brave, and probably have reasons for your opinions - but I disagree on at least one, maybe two of your choices. I will say however that not EVERYBODY applies to the programs you mention. I have to question what statistical methods you used to assert that those programs have the highest rate of successful alumni? Your list is conspicuous by the absence of schools (not that I could mention all the great schools - but here are a few) like OCU, Elon, Fullerton, FSU, PSU, Ithaca, etc… </p>
<p>To those of you looking, again please look at what has previously been written, and please assess for yourself what you want to be a part of for your college career - conservatory or university, big or small program, how well mentored you will be , who offers the best triple-threat training or do you want to concentrate in one area, what is the culture of the department you will be involved with, and so on.</p>
<p>Well said, mtdog71.</p>
<p>mtdog71, I too would dearly love to see the empirical that proves that those programs have the “most working grads.” Amen to the rest of the post as well. </p>
<p>Go find a program that fits you, and that will be the best one.</p>
<p>This subject has certainly been beaten to death on this Board. I fully agree with the comments of mtdog71 and kjgc. There are many, many highly competent programs out there. The key is to find those that are the right match for what you want in your college experience. When my daughter was searching and applying 4 years ago, she had on her list a school considered by many to be a “top” school. After visiting, she took it off her list and didn’t even apply because she concluded that the culture of the department was not a good match for her. She ultimately selected to attend a school (from several acceptances she had, including other “top schools”) that was viewed at the time as a regional school. It was the perfect choice for her. Today, some 3 years or so later, her school has a national reputation and draws students from all over the country. Same faculty, same program. The only thing that changed was public perception which is hardly the basis on which to select a school.</p>
<p>hi - my daughter is interested in a BFA MT program - she has a contemporary (like Sutton Foster) voice - not a classical voice. It seems that many of the MT programs favor classical voices - can anyone advise of a program that embraces contemporary voices?</p>
<p>I believe that many Musical Theatre programs will embrace more contemporary voices as long as the singing is healthy and the student shows the potential for growth and development in a variety of vocal styles. </p>
<p>Many musical theatre programs will require students to work on some classical or more legit musical theatre repertory in their voice lessons, but this does not necessarily mean that they would not embrace voices that are more on the contemporary MT side.</p>
<p>I teach at James Madison, and while students are working on classical and more legit material in their voice lessons and performance classes, they are also working on and being coached in more contemporary musical theatre and pop styles. </p>
<p>I believe at Shenandoah Conservatory seniors focus on more contemporary singing styles in the senior year. I think a faculty member from Shenandoah posts here, so they can speak specifically about this.</p>
<p>As Kat says, schools all want healthy singing; girls will always work on legit technique as part of their training to keep their voices flexible and balanced (as Sutton Foster does, too - she spoke about that in a recent NYTimes interview!) But there are at least a few schools known for really embracing a contemporary sensibility: Pace, Baldwin-Wallace, and Northern Colorado come to mind. Each of these schools also has girls who are great legit singers, but they do love the beltresses (and mixtresses). :)<br>
Schools that generally want to hear both legit and belt (meaning they ask for it at auditions, either in their requirements or during the actual audition) include Penn State and Syracuse. And there are MANY schools that would like both BUT do take girls who are strong in one but not the other. However, those girls are generally EXCEPTIONAL at their strength. Those girls play to their strengths in auditions, using a mixy piece as their second piece, so it shows SOME vocal difference but doesn’t try to cross too far over into the land in which they don’t live comfortably. If your daughter is a senior, I suggest that she use this guiding idea in choosing rep. But if she’s a junior, she should start working on her legit voice in earnest now - she has time to really develop it, and that opens up more school options for her!</p>
<p>@aemason14</p>
<p>I am a HS senior this year and just finished narrowing down my list this past August. I attend a Performing Arts HS and this is what my counselor recommended to us: If you are a female auditioning for a BFA/BA program in Acting or MT, audition for at least 10 programs. Males can get away with a few less. He also said you should have a mix of reaches (dream schools) fits (places you have a decent chance of getting into) and one or two safeties. I’ve heard people talk on this thread about reaches and safeties but the fits are important, too. There are many notable schools not mentioned above that could be great fits and provide the education/training that would allow you to go on to an industry career.</p>
<p>Also, my MT instructor said NOT to only go by what people say even on sites like this where people have lots of experience…look at the faculty and their credentials. That says a lot. Where did they go to college? What have they accomplished? Did they work in the industry before teaching? Do they continue that now? Who are their graduates and what are they doing? Is there a showcase/placement program to assist seniors? Also other things like how many shows are performed during the year and what are they? Are there students in a Master’s program that would be cast in the same shows (less performance opportunities)? What is the curriculum like? </p>
<p>Additional things to consider that don’t really have a bearing on the merit of a college - just personal preference: Is there flexibility in the classes you take or are they a set format? Is it a conservatory style or do you have to take lots of gen eds to complete your degree? Can you minor or double major or is that not allowed? </p>
<p>I am afraid you will need to do a lot of research. I honestly haven’t stopped to count, but I am guessing that just from my senior class (24 students) there are at least 150 colleges we are auditioning for between us. That’s a lot more programs than listed above. True, some are safeties, but the majority are fits and reaches.</p>
<p>I have been talking to recent graduates and researching since my sophomore year. If I look at my list then and now there are very few schools that are the same. It’s just that as I have researched, I have found some schools do not offer the type of program I want and once they were off my list I had to find replacements. This all takes time, so stay with it and do your homework. After looking at a few colleges, you will get a sense of what you want (or don’t want) and can start making “The List”. Good luck. Glad I am done with that part!</p>
<p>AZMTMom: Shenandoah Conservatory embraces contemporary voices. ShenCo is home to the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute, a teacher training program that helps voice teachers from around the world learn how to teach non-classical styles. The faculty are engaged in research on non-classical vocal styles, they are the only school in the United States with a masters degree in teaching contemporary vocal styles, and all seniors in the musical theatre program spend their senior year in a voice studio where the focus is on learning to sing pop/rock/country/R&B. Belters are encouraged to apply and students can sing pop/rock songs for their audition as long as the also sing one golden age piece.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>There’s a lot of great info in your post, luvzthe8r! However, I disagree strongly with one point: faculty credentials don’t tell you much. Being a great, working artist (actor, director, etc.) doesn’t make you a great TEACHER. Some of the most respected faculty people didn’t ever work in the industry or didn’t do so for very long at all, but they are great teachers in top programs. I think the draw of “working professionals” can be deceptively appealing to a student - esp. when those working professionals leave to work and their classes are taken over by others - that’s not always done smoothly. So, like you say, it’s all about the research!</p>
<p>@CoachC</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your opinion on faculty credentials. I had not considered some of the points you make and can totally agree that teaching is a separate gift from talent and/or knowledge…and students do not benefit from a great instructor who is not there in the classroom… I was going by what my MT instructor suggested. </p>
<p>So, how would you suggest researching the faculty then…to know how well they relate to students and also to know they have solid foundations themselves? I would assume campus visits and sitting in on classes is the best way, but if a college visit is not feasible? What then? Just curious.</p>
<p>That’s a great question! What I have my students do is connect with my former students who are now enrolled in the college programs - ideally with at least a few students from each program, to get varied perspective. In all my years of coaching, I have always found that “the horse’s mouth” - aka upperclass students currently in the program (juniors and seniors) and very recent alumni - provide the most accurate assessment of all aspects of a program, including faculty. If you go to an arts h.s., you probably have a network of friends and friends-of-friends who can hook you up with people to contact at your various schools - Facebook messages usually work well, and you’ll find BFA students LOVE to answer questions and will be HONEST. They will often offer to hang out with you before or after your auditions, too - where you can pick their brains more. There are students who post here, like Alexa MT, who can share student insight into their programs, too. Our CC parents are wonderful resources, but I know my students (and their parents) benefit most from hearing directly from students in the programs.</p>