<p>Hi! I've never posted here before, but I have browsed the forums and found the advice to be extremely helpful. I was wondering if anyone had experience transferring into a school for musical theatre...do you normally have to start over as a freshman? I am taking classes at community college right now (I graduated from high school a year early and am working to save up money), and my gen eds will soon be done. I know that most BFA programs do not require many gen ed classes, but how would they go about placing you? I am doing as much as I can to prepare for auditions, and basically devote as much time as possible to musical theatre--its what I love and can't imagine doing anything else. :-) Schools I am looking into are Boston Conservatory, Elon University, Western Michigan, (possibly) CCM, Webster, and a few others. I know transferring in is difficult...but any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>CSU Fullerton (in So.Cal.) is "transfer friendly" - meaning that you would only need to have taken two semesters of acting, two semesters of voice & movement, and one semester of a script analysis class to audition for the BFA (incoming as a junior). The auditions take place every May, and you must pass all three areas (dance, voice, and acting) in order to be considered for the BFA program.</p>
<p>And the tuition, even out-of-state, is much less than at many of the top schools.</p>
<p>If interested, email me: <a href="mailto:ehimmelheber@fullerton.edu">ehimmelheber@fullerton.edu</a></p>
<p>Hi Carissa,
I'm in a similar situation, so maybe I can share some insight that I've found. Another thing too, is that I spent my freshman year at Western Michigan University, so I could definitely answer questions you may have about that school. (I was an undecided major though...) I know the voice dept very well, and as much about MT as I could not being in it.</p>
<p>But with transferring anyway, whether you start over as a freshman or not is very much dependent on each individual school. Your credits will most likely all transfer, but even though you may transfer in with a sophomore standing (credit-wise) you might have to take 8 semesters of acting class (for example) which can't be condensed.. (you can't take acting 2 before acting 1! or even at the same time usually..)</p>
<p>The route I took, was to transfer to the school I'm at now (Dean College) which is a non-audition AA (2 year program) that is helping me prep to audition for bigger BFA schools. I would have gone into the audition circuit, but I decided during my summer after WMU that I wanted to do MT. I can go into more detail if you'd like, just let me know. I'm starting to get longwinded here!</p>
<p>So good luck, and I'll be glad to post with you more about this if you'd like!</p>
<p>Based on what happened with d's class, albeit several years ago, CCM may be shopping for transfers at the sophomore level which may make them a transfer target.... but only for someone who truly wants to go there. Keep in mind the reason there are transfer openings is not because they seek additional students, but because a number of freshman choose or are asked not to return. If I remember correctly d's class lost about a third of the freshman which left openings for transfers. No transfers were considered at the 3rd & 4th year levels.</p>
<p>mtdad:</p>
<p>Do you know if CCM releases students at the end of the sophomore year as well? And if so, are the numbers similar (1/3)?</p>
<p>Keep in mind this is based on observation of only one CCM class, and that was several years ago. With that caveat, I observed that (a) on the order of a third of the freshman class did not return for the sophomore year, although none were formally cut from the program .... they either decided to go elsewhere or took jobs in the MT industry (remember, most of these kids are saleable commodities before seeking additional training), (b) two kids were cut during the sophomore year, one for lack of progress and one for attitude, and (c) nobody was cut during the junior or senior years. Based solely on that less than scientific evaluation, I'd say that a CCM kid who is still around for the 3rd year will most likely graduate.</p>
<p>Keep in mind this is based on observation of only one CCM class, and that was several years ago. With that caveat, I observed that (a) on the order of a third of the freshman class did not return for the sophomore year, although none were formally cut from the program .... they either decided to go elsewhere or took jobs in the MT industry (remember, most of these kids are saleable commodities before seeking additional training), (b) two kids were cut during the sophomore year, one for lack of progress and one for attitude, and (c) nobody was cut during the junior or senior years. Based solely on that less than scientific evaluation, I'd say that a CCM kid who is still around for the 3rd year will most likely graduate.</p>