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

[Juliash]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 1:00am

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!

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 2:11am

Yes yes yes yes yes! I applied to a lot of conservatories, about half for MT and half for VP. I only got into one (for VP), and couldn't even go there for reasons beyond my control! Luckily for me, my parents advised me to apply to academic schools, too, of which I got into many! I am very happy where I am (Brandeis U), and am double-majoring in MT and VP and minoring in Education so I have a backup plan if I don't make it as a performer. So, my additional word of advice: don't put all your eggs in one basket. Plenty of "regular" academic non-audition schools have wonderful BA programs in which you will learn just as much as you would in a conservatory- like Juliash said, a program is only as good as the effort you put in.

[dg22894]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 7:08pm

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?

[jamoca5]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 11:32pm

Are there any other public schools that we should put on our target/safety list? So far, the only public schools I have on my overall list are FSU, Penn State, CCM and UMich.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 3/27/10 at 2:54pm

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!

[jamoca5]

Posted: 3/27/10 at 5:54pm

Thanks bwaylvsong, and yes it surprised me that CCM and UMich were public, too.

And dg, I'm not 100% sure about the other schools, but I know that UMich cares A LOT about your academics. In fact, for the MT program (and other performing programs, too, I assume) they don't even let you audition until they've looked over your application and grades and deem you eligible. *Yikes*

Updated On: 3/30/10 at 05:54 PM

[BwayTday]

Posted: 3/27/10 at 6:59pm

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.

[Juliash]

Posted: 3/29/10 at 1:28am

Summer programs are the best way to prepare I think. If you're younger than a junior, I'd say go look for one LIKE (but not necessarily) frenchwoods or stagedoor (just because they have lots of people apply and it can be hard to break in if you're not a repeat camper) where you get the intense experience of putting a show together over a couple of weeks. A lot of regional theatre have similar programs to that of stagedoor.

jamoca- any of the ones on the original list, and I know there are some similar lists around other chat boards. Look into schools near you. Just do your research, also, ask your voice teacher and your school chorus teacher what they recommend. A lot of times they have insight from their own experiences...

BwayTday- Don't be surprised! It's not uncommon! Something I would recommend to everyone is to have other totally unrelated interests! It's just healthy, and I think that a lot of MTs and musicians get so caught up in musicmusicmusic theatretheatretheatre all the time, you just start to become kind of one dimensional. It's good to be well rounded!

[Juliash]

Posted: 3/29/10 at 1:39am

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.

[BwayBaby2000]

Posted: 4/9/10 at 4:45am

I've also heard from lots of friends that having a really strong application with LOTS of theater credits, directing, volunteering for theater companies, etc. built around theater makes you a strong candidate who is well rounded, but shows a strong love and passion for theater.

Posted: 5/5/10 at 4:23pm

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!

[TechGoddess]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 12:32pm

All of this is pretty helpful thanks everyone!!!! Does anyone have any advice for someone wanting to go into set design/production/technical theatre? Any good schools? Any other helpful advice?

[broadwaybaby077]

Posted: 7/5/10 at 5:39pm

Emerson College is really good for theater tech/design.

[TechGoddess]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 6:19pm

Awesome thanks so much