<p>I have to agree with soozievt. Texas State is competitive but not in comparison to those you listed above. They are going for a class pool of 10-12 MT and 14 Acting, which is small, but they didn’t have as many audition as those “top-tier” ones did. Although, they did have a fairly large number as they went to NYC and Chicago Unifieds this year which led to people who wouldn’t have normally auditioned for Texas State doing so.</p>
<p>Hi Alexa 
-</p>
<p>TSU didn’t go to NYC Unifieds, just Chicago - correcting this info in case juniors are doing planning for next year. I think they plan to stick with that this coming year.</p>
<p>Just for clarity, my earlier comment about Texas State becoming “super-competitive” was not intended to be a comparison to the well known programs like CMU, CCM, UM etc. I’m sure there is a lot of ground to cover before an upstart program could be fairly compared to those schools.</p>
<p>My comment was based more on sheer numbers and potential. I was told recently that Texas State will be auditioning as many as 500 people for their MT program this year, to yield a class of 10 or 12. I don’t know much about MT, but I’m not bad at math. Those are tough odds.</p>
<p>Also, the state of Texas has a huge number of high schools, and produces a lot of talented kids each year. Many of those kids matriculate to the better known schools because there are too few options in Texas. An even larger number of Texas kids choose other majors altogether because they don’t have enough regional options for MT.</p>
<p>When you consider there are more than 1000 high schools in Texas, many of which are huge suburban schools in metropolitan areas like Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, you begin to realize the enormous pool of potential applicants.</p>
<p>I am basically quoting these numbers because as the Dad of an aspiring MT/Acting girl, it is frustrating that there are not more legitimate options to choose from in this huge state.</p>
<p>I am hopeful that Texas State does become elite, and that TCU and the other Texas MT programs continue to thrive. That will hopefully encourage other state and private schools to ramp up their MT programs. The talent base is large. The weather is great. The big city theatre opportunities are vast. Etc., etc.</p>
<p>CoachC- Ooops! Just Chicago Unifieds, then. I was in LA- I have no idea! Thanks for the clarification.</p>
<p>I think Texas State is going to be brilliant and a great option in Texas that may grow to be just as, if not more, competitive as the ones listed. It has a personalized program that is catered to each individual student and the class sizes will be intimate and small. Also, the location is very close to Austin which has a growing and thriving arts community.</p>
<p>I agree that the schools in Texas are limited, but- thankfully- they are growing and the ones available (as listed in this thread) are very respectable. The options in Texas, especially with Kaitlyn Hopkins joining Texas State, can only continue to get better and more plentiful.</p>
<p>What’s hard to sometimes assess when talking about “competitiveness” or “selectivity” when it comes to MT programs is that almost all programs have acceptance rates in the single digits…mucho difficult odds! There is not much difference between a school that takes 4% and one that takes 8%. Where the difference may lie when it comes to building a list of BFA programs that vary in terms of artistic selectivity is hard to define in black and white terms, but some schools draw from a more national pool of talent and some from a more regional pool. Now, a regional pool of talent can also be quite high. But the pools are simply different. Some of the top programs in the US draw the top talent from every region. You get the stand outs from every state so to speak at those auditions and the concentration of that talent may be a little less in a regional pool of talent. I can think of some top talented MT students who applied to top MT programs and got into and attended these programs, and for example, these kids were all removed from the talent pool at the schools that are more known on a regional basis. They were not even applying to those schools. </p>
<p>Is it tough to get into all MT programs? You betcha. 
But I would rate the odds a bit tougher at some programs than others, even if ALL the programs have the same acceptance rate (numbers-wise). For example, (and I know this type of post tends to bother some people), I think the level of artistic selectivity or odds are more difficult at schools like CMU, CCM, UM, Tisch (just to name a few examples) than at Texas State, Ball State, Coastal Carolina, Illinois Wesleyan, Wagner, Point Park, even though ALL have very low admit rates. When building a college list, it is important to balance both the academic odds and the artistic odds of the schools on the entire list. The artistic odds can’t be quantified by the acceptance rates alone for BFA in MT programs. As well, it all is unpredicatable due to difficult odds everywhere and so I have seen cases where someone gets into Tisch but not UArts or gets into Michigan and not Penn State, or Tisch but not Emerson, and many other examples of this sort.</p>
<p>As far as the state of Texas, would you say that TSU is a top-tier program now at least for the state or this region?</p>
<p>I suppose for this region, yes. Or atleast as much as you can guess for a program undergoing such a drastic change. Give it a year or two and see how the new program works and then you can judge.</p>
<p>OU and OCU are also great schools in this “region”. Both of which are hard to get into.</p>
<p>My D’s friend just flew down to audition for the MT program at TSU on a whim- she ended up loving the program. They accepted her on the spot and gave her a great scholarship. Her other auditions were at all of the big names (CCM, BoCo, Mich., etc.) but she is definitely considering this program now.</p>
<p>AlexaMT - If you get a chance to attend Urinetown at SU this weekend, please let us know how it went.</p>
<p>Original501–
If you are truly interested in the vocal performance route in Texas, but still want an active theatre program AND something that’s affordable–UNT is your best bet! It is a top rate music school with excellent voice teachers and a vibrant student body and faculty at the SOM. My daughter’s voice teacher got her BM/MM there and many of her friends got into young artist programs right after their undergraduate studies. We could not get my daughter to apply there since we live 15 miles down the road! The entire music school is great–and the jazz program is definitely one of the best in the country.</p>
<p>I would definitley give that a look if vocal performance is the direction you are leaning. The Shepherd School at Rice is (not so) arguably the best conservatory experience in the south, but it is very competitive and a private school.</p>
<p>Great review of Southwestern University’s production of Urinetown:
[Urinetown</a>, Southwestern University, March 3 - 7](<a href=“http://www.austinlivetheatre.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1020:urinetown-southwestern-university-march-3-7&catid=382:southwestern-university-georgetown&Itemid=135]Urinetown”>http://www.austinlivetheatre.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1020:urinetown-southwestern-university-march-3-7&catid=382:southwestern-university-georgetown&Itemid=135)</p>
<p>Thanks austinmtmom for that link. Did you and/or your daughter get a chance to see the production?</p>
<p>I saw the production and definitely enjoyed it! I have to start by saying I’m biased and am friends with the Bobby, Officer, and Pennywise, so that may influence my judgement of them, but the production overall was really good. It wasn’t great, and not my favorite I’ve seen at Southwestern (their Rocky Horror was BRILLIANT) but the lights were amazing, the choreography was great, and there were some very fun performances.</p>
<p>Thanks Alexa. </p>
<p>I’m curious, how did the Playbill look? Urinetown has a large cast, and SU has such a small group of BFA actors. Is there a much larger contingent of BA kids that get cast, or do they have quite a few non-theatre majors?</p>
<p>I really want my daughter to consider SU next year, but I think her main concern is that the program is too small. Better opportunities to perform, but less peer group to enjoy theatre classes and the college experience with. Are we way off with our initial perception?</p>
<p>The playbill did not have bios/headshots in it, but it is a large cast and I know many of them are BA majors, yes, but lots of the new students coming in are now BFA. If you have specific questions I can pass it on to my sophmore BFA Theatre major friend, who just got accepted to a study abroad theatre program in London for next year!</p>