@homerdog My kid’s ECs were dance, art, and activism (no academic ECs after middle school - too bad, since she was doing well in robotics, but time constraints are real), and it worked out for her, but she went a different route in her application process, so I do not know how her ECs would have played out in a regular application situation. Good luck with your D’s ballet. Of all dancing styles, that is the toughest route for girls. I assume that your D’s in one of the Chicagoland schools, and those are pretty tough (my D went through her ballet training in a Chicago school, and is still taking her dance lessons in a Chicago school, so we’re pretty familiar with the scene). I agree with you that cheerleaders aren’t dancers.
Well, there’s your answer. One of the best sports programs in the country does offer dancers the most dance majors. And it’s not Cal (Berkeley), who can’t seem to compete in most sports. :))
The important difference in getting admitted as a dancer and athlete, an athlete doesn’t need to major in their sport, they can major in Engineering, a Dancer can not, it is part of an academic curriculum. And there are competitive Dance Sport Teams that consider themselves athletes, not an art form. But that is not recognized by the NCAA. Neither are sports like Snowboarding, Karate, Badminton, or Surfing. Because of the money, ESports will probably be an NCAA sport before any of those other sports will be added.
While being a dancer is a major, and not a recruited athlete, the uniqueness of the major may help in holisitc admissions at certain schools, like the 6 mentioned above. Michigan has a strong SMTD program. They allotted 200 spots in their Class of 2022 for their MTD program.
Harvard was mentioned earlier in the thread. ~5000 applicants in the sample listed dance as one of their “primary” ECs. I assume none of those ~5000 planned to major in Dance since Harvard didn’t offer any dance related major/minors during the years of the sample. Some of the admitted dancers likely majored in engineering. Assuming a similar portion of applicants list dance among their top ECs at other selective colleges, hardly any of them are majoring in dance at colleges that do offer a dance major. Majoring in dance may be expected among a very slim minority of recruited athlete level dancers, but it is by no means expected for the more typical dancer applicant, with impressive dance ECs.
Were you originally talking about super competitive dance teams?
More like athletics. The ones you can see on ESPN or Irish step or the were they are doing gymnastics flips - and I don’t mean cheerleaders with the pyramid. Judges and all that?
If this is about ballet, contemporary or jazz dancers like the bfa kind it will never be a sport or a “hook” except at Juilliard or vassar perhaps.
If I was missing this, I apologize for the title IX diversion.
@privatebanker I was talking about dancing in general, so your comment was in place. Julliard definitely gives preference to dancers because dance is one of the performing arts that earns you a place at Julliard. There are other colleges at which dancing is a major major*, like NYU or USC. There is also the Ailey/Fordham program.
Overall, any post which is on the topic of the way that dance and sport are treated differently at colleges is welcome - whether it is in support or opposition, an explanation or anything else. So, again, your comment was appropriate.
*Catch 22!!! I think that I have waited my entire life to be able to write this Thank you.
I am pretty sure dancers get a big hook at Point Park in Pittsburgh and Marymount in Manhattan. Mil is a prof at point park and neice just graduated Marymount She’s a Broadway performing hopeful and thought her dance chops almost cost her spot at first. A vocalist primarily.
And point park mil is acting. But they go for the triple threats in a big way.
“Overall, any post which is on the topic of the way that dance and sport are treated differently at colleges is welcome - whether it is in support or opposition, an explanation or anything else.”
Now that I have your permission I can add that sports in these “tippy-top” or whatever colleges existed for a very long time and the teams have their athletic history and traditions (think stuffed bulldogs and things). A lot of very expensive infrastructure and rich and powerful alumni supporting their teams. Endowed coaching positions and international team trips supported by alumni associations. Nothing like that exists for dance. Dudes of the past were not into dancing I assume.
“Harvard was mentioned earlier in the thread. ~5000 applicants in the sample listed dance as one of their “primary” ECs.”
And what proportion of those dancers were boys? It’s a lot easier for a boy to stand out with dance as an EC compared to a girl (it works the same in BFA programs too).
A talented female dancer is often much better off applying to a dance program and having strong academics than applying to a strong academic program and having dance as an EC.
Thank you.