Schools that are not solely for the purpose of performing arts tho (Emerson, New School). Schools that have lots of other options and are fairly difficult to get into. Any/All feedback is appreciated!
Northwestern comes to mind immediately.
p.s. You’ll probably find much more helpful information in the Musical Theater/Theater/Acting threads.
Moving thread to Musical Theater forum.
Are you asking about the difficulty of the program (in which case places like CMU and U Mich jump to mind), or difficulty of the school (northwestern, suggested above is probably toughest). BFA admissions are very different from “regular college”- what are you looking for? Btw- all auditioned programs are hard to get into…
The list of schools posted at the top of this forum are a good place to start looking, they are all difficult for artistic admission (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-schools/). The ones listed as “Very Difficult” for academic admission by collegedata.com include:
American University
University of California - Irvine
University of California - Los Angeles
Carnegie Mellon University
Florida State University
Illinois Wesleyan
James Madison University
University of Miami - Florida
University of Michigan
Muhlenberg College
Northwestern University
NYU/Steinhardt
NYU/Tisch
Pennsylvania State University
University of Southern California
Syracuse University
Texas Christian University
Some of them, most notably Carnegie Mellon, may admit artistically-talented students for their Acting/Musical Theatre programs that have an academic profile below their typical standards.
I thought I’d pass on advice I received from my daughters music teacher in HS. She is a vocal music major in a performing arts high school. Surprisingly, her teacher advised NOT applying to straight musical theater programs as it is a relatively new major and is highly selective, more so than the other Perf arts majors. Instead, he advised applying as a the theater major or vocal major, which will open up more chances for admission and still allow one to try out for the musicals.
@transitmom - that totally depends on the individual school. Yes, some schools are adding “new” MT majors as we speak, but others have been around for decades (“new” when compared to classical voice/theater majors that have been around for close to a century, I guess) and have a high rate of success for their students. Almost all the schools listed at the top of this forum are very selective when it comes to accepting students in the MT/Acting majors, but the same can be said for VP majors at many schools. It all depends on the school, the major, whether you’re talking BFA/BM vs. BA, audition vs. non-audition. And yes, if you are going for a Theater or Vocal major with an “Education” component, then it is probably less selective.
@transitmom, also be careful assuming that a VP major or theater major can audition for (and get roles in) the musicals. SOME schools only allow the BFA MT majors to audition; others allow non-majors to audition, but rarely/never cast them. (there are some that do cast non-majors…I’m just saying you cannot assume that they all will.)
@monkey13 how do you find out which schools give more leverage to the MT students?
@joyfulmama - I found you need to ask the schools directly and if they say anyone can audition you can usually find students that go there and check with them if that is the case. Many schools say anyone can audition but casting them is a different story.
Sometimes schools have bios online- we found at a number of them we could find out about casts. Since D was auditioning at many schools for both straight drama and mt I wanted to see if there was crossover.
Also remember that most VP majors will be studying classical voice primarily. A MT major will have a repetoire that is primarily MT. Depending on the school, the MT repertoire might be geared to a more modern/ pop sound. The voice is developed differently for opera vs. rock or r & b, for example. While some singers can go between both genres, it is not the usual route to take and the emphasis of voice lessons will be very different. Plus there will be less of a focus on acting and dancing in most VP programs. NYU Steinhardt offers a VP degree with a MT concentration. But even that program does not promote belting until senior year (if that.)
As others have mentioned, your best bet is to ask the schools directly. At my D’s school, Ithaca requires all acting and MT BFA students to audition for ALL the plays and musicals; they can, but do not have to, audition for the opera. For the dance shows, all acting, and MT students must audition; dance minors and VP majors can also audition for the dance shows, and they do get cast in those. But I have never seen a VP major get cast in an Ithaca play or musical. Other schools don’t let the MT students audition for plays, or the acting students audition for musicals. It is different everywhere. I would suggest calling or emailing each program and asking…
At OCU, any performance major can audition for any show. MTs must audition for all musicals and operas. And students from all majors can and do get cast. You will see acting majors in a choreo show. MTs in operas. VPs in musicals. MTs in straight shows. So you have an opportunity in all types of shows if you want.
I do agree this is not true of all schools. But there are some. I know at Penn State there was a Shakespeare piece the weekend we were there and there were acting majors, BAs, Masters students and MTs in the cast. It seemed Coastal is another where different majors could be found in all types of shows. But really investigate. As has been alluded to - there is a big difference in being told you can audition and how frequently they actually cast someone outside of the MT group in a musical or outside of the Acting major in a straight show. So find out how frequently they are cast rather than if they are allowed to audition.