Hey! kids looking for colleges! I have some forreal advice!

Ok guys. I know this is the time of year when highschool juniors start looking at colleges to apply to. 2 years ago I was in the same position, and thinking I would be going into a bfa MT program. Now, I'm typing this from my dorm, where I'm in a BM vocal performance program. In the past two year, I gained a lot of experience that I've just been trying to pass on to everyone I can because I just think knowing it simplifies LIFE. SO...hurr we go kiddos:

1) We all know that there is a perceived top 5 mt schools: ccm, boco, umich, blah blah, whatever. It's not that I don't encourage you to apply to these. But applying to mt, or any kind of music program is the same as applying to college for an academic major, you need one or two reach schools, some target ones you should be able to get into and a few safety schools. These top tier schools are the reaches. If they accept 6 boys 6 girls and 400 audition, no matter how great you are, there is a very small chance you're going to get in. This is your future, and you need to plan for bad auditions. If the only schools you apply to are the ones that accept 6 people, there is a good chance you won't get into college! I saw it happen to about many of my friends, no joke. SO, find the few reaches off the list that you really like. Apply to those.

2) If you're not convinced yet, think about what makes you want to apply to these "top 5" schools. What makes them good for YOU? Is it just that they're "fierce"? Or because you see their kids on youtube and also think they are "fierce"? Slow down there Squanto. A program is only as good as what you put in, and what will actually mesh with your personality.Also, what do you know about the faculty? What makes the faculty good for you? If you went there, what voice teachers could you see yourself studying with?

Another issue with looking at just these top 5 or 10 schools is you miss a lot of lesser known schools where you can get a great education and better financial aid! Also, roles! If you go to a less competitive school, you can also sometimes get more onstage experience BECAUSE it is less competitive! What's better? Being able to say "Oh I went to umich....so I'm fierce...." or saying "I went to Temple or Catholic, or Shenendoah and here's my resume packed with lead and supporting roles"

What's more important to you? Going to a big name musical theatre program, or your development as an artist?

3) GO TO A SUMMER PROGRAM BEFORE COLLEGE AUDITIONS. This is seriously so formative. I know it seems so simple. And I'm not talking like, Stagedoor or Frenchwoods (although they're great) we're talking a COLLEGE program. Umich Mpulse, OCU's summer program, BoCo's summer VCI ( I went to both BoCo and OCU's summer intensive, they're both FABULOUS) UArts has a summer intensive. A summer MT program modeled around a college schedule gives you the experience of college life JUST STUDYING your craft. You can love being the start of a show, but can you also love the day in and day out of just studying voice, and music theory and monologues without the ultimate goal of a show? It sounds easy, but again, I've seen people who enjoy the attention of being "the star" but don't have enough legitimate passion to just STUDY.

I personally, also learned at a summer program that I LOVE opera, which led me to audition for vocal performance instead of musical theatre! It was a shock! But I'm literally so happy with how things have turned out!

4) Learn your music theory. I don't care how high you can belt. If you can't read on a staff how high you need to belt you're screwed.

5) Do you want a BA, BFA, or BM? Don't understand? Do your research!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6) Work stage crew for shows you don't make in college! It's such a valuable experience packed with really cool skills!


FINALLY. SOME SCHOOLS YOU SHOULD APPLY TO....I recommend you choose 5 or 6 of these, and maybe 1 or 2 off the "top 5" list:

Temple(I know a freshmen who was Mark in Rent here this year. True story.)
Shenandoah
Oklahoma City University
Chicago College of Performing Arts
Catholic University of America (AMAZING!I so recommend it!!!)
Baldwin-Wallace
Point Park (their MT with a dance minor is LITERALLY awesome)
Otterbein
Hartt
Umiami,bfa acting with and MT minor that's really awesome!
Ball State
Montclair State

Check them out! Email admissions! Visit! YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT THE CONNECTIONS THESE LESSER KNOWN PROGRAMS HAVE!

If you have any questions, absolutely feel free to send me a message! I am so happy to help! I also have some programs I don't recommend that I didn't put on...

GOOD LUCK! FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS IN A REALISTIC WAY KIDS!

Just a question im a freshman in high school. Anything you would recommend to prepare? I live close to Ann Arbor so for me its a dream to go to Michigan MT. How many kids do they take? How much does your GPA matter when applying for college?

Dg- just take as many classes and get as much experience as you can. And get to know your type. Don't audition using a song from a role you would never play.
I don't know anything about UMich, but the importance of your GPA depends totally on the school- some barely care at all and some will only accept you if you have a high GPA. Check out collegeconfidential.com.

Jamoca, look into some SUNY and CUNY schools. I didn't know UMich and CCM were public, I assumed they were private!

My plan is to become as prepared as possible by taking every class, show and summer progras as possible. While also keeping my grades as high as possible.

I'm not even close to applying to colleges and I am constantly stressing over what I can do to prepare further so I am not overwhelmed when the time does come to start. Any help on what I can do?

Also, UMich says they look for someone who has other interests other than the arts. Which I find kinda strange.

OH also , really important.

It's true that not every school will care about your academics, but more often than not they really really do! And in the same vein of being a well rounded person, it's good to be an intelligent person. So just get good grades! Even as an MT or VP in college you'll have some academic classes that you'll need to do well in, so build good academic habits now!

Also, a lot of smart actors are just really intelligent as people. It's just good to be intellectually curious.

I think this is packed with GREAT information! I would've never thought of half of this stuff on my own - being that I'm not in college yet and looking into different colleges for musical theatre, this really helps!
Thanks plenty!

Emerson College is really good for theater tech/design.