Transfering to MT schools

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Hi, I’m new to the boards. I just looked through a lot of the threads and a lot of the situations on here aren’t similar to mine so I thought I’d post this.</p>

<p>So, I’m currently enrolled in a small community college that does one musical production a year. I largely decided to go to this college based on financial reasons and because I was afraid to live away from my family. Well, people are allowed to change their minds…and mine has changed considerably. I decided to use my college experience to give me a more mature look on acting. (Which it has been, definitely a lot different from high school.) I also decided to improve upon my dance and vocal abilities. Which, I hadn’t had much dance training before and now I have a good understanding of the fundamental techniques. I’m continuing to work on them…but I want to be in a better program. </p>

<p>So my question is…what are the larger schools, like Carnegie Mellon or Northwestern, like when it comes to transfer students? Does one have to audition as a freshman and then have to go through their general programs…etc? I’m not really sure where to start. I should mention that I do have one person helping me. One of my theatre directors is being very supportive in helping me find schools. But as for my parents…they would prefer that I stay in the non-acting-supportive state of North Dakota. Which doesn’t help me at all…because in order to be an actor you have to draw upon past experiences to help you. I don’t see how that is possible if I stay here any longer. I want to go out and experience something new. </p>

<p>So for schools I’ve looked at U of Oklahoma, U of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, and Northwestern. For schools closer to this area I’ve looked at U of Nebraska (a friend recommended this to me), Mesula, and U of Minnesota. I’ve also looked at Central Florida…but after reading some posts I’m not sure that the school is the right choice for me. I definitely want to go to a school where there is going to be a showcase of some sort. </p>

<p>Anyway…that’s kind of where I’m at…any thoughts, suggestions, or comments are welcome. I don’t really know what to do other then to keep looking on the board and continue doing searches online. I also know that I’ll need to find audition material and schedule auditions etc…but I’m most interested on the transfer policy.</p>

<p>BTW I’m 19 so I don’t know if age has any effect on their decisions or not…hopefully not so much.</p>

2

<p>Mack, I am sure that there are people here who can help you better than I can, but one thing I do know is that Carnegie Mellon does not let kids transfer into the musical theater program. If you were to audition and get in, you would have to essentially start over. You may try reading the Carnegie Mellon thread, which I believe has some posts about this by the mom of a lovely young woman who is in the program now, but came from another school and had to begin as a freshmen. That is not always financially realistic for everyone. I am pretty sure that there are probably alot of programs that do take transfers, and University of Arizona is one of them. (There was just a discussion on the U of A list above about this. U of Arizona has a cut program, and apparently cut an unusual number of their freshmen and sophomores to take transfers. In fact, you might want to check out the cut programs/policies of the schools you are interested in, so you know what you are getting into up front. But that's good advice for us all.)
Best of luck in your search. I am guessing that you now feel ready to be away from home?</p>

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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=176360&highlight=transfer%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=176360&highlight=transfer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>My d transferred to CMU after one year in an MT program at a state university. (Thank you NotMAmaRose for your compliment to my daughter!) If you are accepted to CMU as a transfer student, you begin as a freshman . . . no exceptions. In fact, there have been several 21 year old MT freshmen who transferred to CMU after spending three years at another school. I can tell you that my d felt it was totally worth it to "start over" as the level of training she received was outstanding. Feel free to PM me if you'd like additional information.</p>

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<p>The compliment was well deserved. Your D's story is inspiring and I think it was brave of you to tell it. But we are all glad that you did. It provides those who may not be as successful as they would wish during college auditions with hope, and proof that -- with determination, and, of course, the right combination of talent! -- things can and do work out. Plus, one can tell your D is a lovely young woman by virtue of the fact that she was willing to come onto the list and share her experiences, both the heartbreaks and the triumphs. I am sure you are very proud. I would be! :)</p>

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<p>Have you looked at Oklahoma City University? OCU has no limit or restrictions on transfers unlike other schools.</p>