inm

Can anyone tell me just how important GPA is in getting into some of the top MT programs? My D was told by CMU that their decision is based almost entirely on audition, but what about some of the others?

srw

I think in general the audition is "the" thing. Although in most cases you still need to
get accepted into the school just like all students applying, so of course GPA will be taken in to consideration.

srw

Also, if you look below this thread you will see one titled "Academics, MT and more Oh My!"
there will be a lot of discussion regarding this very question.

mtfamily

GPA is very important. In most cases you need to be accepted on your academic merits as much as the audition and will also limit which schools you can put on your list to apply to. Somewhere on this site someone said that if there are two applicants with equal ability/auditions/resumes, etc. and one has better SAT/ACT and GPA, the deciding factor will be the higher scores. Getting into one of these programs is so competitive that you want to build as strong a profile as possible.

racmom

mtfamily - I agree with you. If you go to unifieds, you see that all the kids are incredibly talented and so you need to put everything you have into the process -- including great grades and SAT's.

MichaelNKat

It very much depends on the school. It is critically important to understand the admission process at each MT school to which you apply. There are material differences between many schools. For example, at CMU, not only are the academic standards for admission to the MT program relaxed as compared to other areas of study, but also the audition is given at least 80% of the weight in the admissions decision. At UMich, in contrast, you can't even get an audition until your application is given an initial academic screening. At NYU and Emerson, academics are 50% of the admissions decision and you must meet the same academic criteria as any other student. Then there are "top" MT programs where the academic standards for admission are not greatly demanding but the MT programs are top notch, such as UArts and BOCO.These are just examples. It is important to look at each school individually and ask specific questions to determine how academics are treated as part of the admissions process. That being said, even at schools where the academic standards for admission are not demanding, there are many applicants with stellar academic records; the extremely competitive nature of the audition process and the priority often given to excellence in the performance program over and above any concern about the caliber of the academic program often results in academically superior students applying to schools which they would not consider if applying to an academic program. Those students may very well have an edge over students with lesser academics when it comes to scholarships and "close calls" in making talent based decisions.

PATheaterMom

Also, academic scholorships usually are larger than talent scholorships-another benefit of keeping us those high school grades if you can

inm

Thank you. MKat-Your response was very helpful and pretty much on target with what we've been able to find out about those particular schools you mentioned. What would you consider to be the strongest MT programs with the least emphasis on GPA(other than CMU)?

KatMT

Others that pop into my head where academics may not come as much into play in the decision making are Boston Conservatory, Shenandoah Conservatory, Amda (2 year and 4 year BFA), Circle in the Square (2 year), PCPA (2 year). There are other 4 year programs that may be less academically selective, but it would be easier to suggest programs to look at with more information about stats.

MichaelNKat

inm, using the list of MT schools at the top of the MT page as a guide (recognizing that this is not an exhaustive list) and without getting into a discussion about the relative strengths of their MT programs, some additional schools that I would consider to be less demanding academically (academic thresholds, weight given or both) are as follows. Keep in mind, however, that in terms of the academic requirements, each student's own academic record will determine whether a school is academically demanding or not: CCM, Pace, Marymount Manhattan, Montclair, Hartt, Point Park, Roosevelt.

Again, there are probably others I am missing and it may be that some of the schools I've mentioned do not fit the profile based on a student's academic record. Nothing beats, however, taking a couple of hours and perusing the school websites and CC sub-forums for additional information. There's loads of information about admissions standards on school websites - both theatre department pages, admissions pages, and freshman profile statistics - and from students and parents familiar with particular schools on the CC sub-forums.

racmom

I also think Cap21 (not NYU) will have their own two year program which I would think is almost completely talent based -- but again, you should check their site.

inm

Thanks again everyone! I guess what I was looking for was looking for was a little insider info. We have extensive information on most of these schools based on what we've received from the schools directly-I just wondered if by reputation, there were some that tended to be more lax than others about a "recommended GPA of 3.0" I'll keep perusing this site as well. I'm looking for that post that shouts out-if she's good enough, she's going to get in, even if she pretty much bombed every math and science class she's ever taken!

MichaelNKat

Keep in mind that you are talking so far about programs within a college or university setting. To some extent, because of that, academics are going to play at least some degree of a role in the admissions process. How much, depends on the school. If you provide some specific info about your daughter's gpa, course load and SAT scores, you could probably get some more specific responses suggesting schools that are a "shoo-in" in terms of the academic requirements. If you are looking for programs where academics are not a factor at all, then you probably need to look at studio programs that do not confer college degrees. Is that what you are interested in?

arrdad

inm's comment about "bombing math and science classes" makes me question the admission policies of some colleges.

Many Liberal Arts degrees require very few math and science credits in college. Most of them require 3 to 6 hours of lower level math, and 4 to 8 hours of lower level science. So a total of 7 to 14 hours of those courses apply to most BA or BFA degrees, that require about 130 total hours to earn a degree.

Quick math shows that only 5% or less of the college curriculum for BA and BFA candidates is made up of math and science classes. Yet, the SAT and ACT both have a large math and/or science component. So do high school GPA's.

In other words, the current standardized testing processes and high school course requirements don't accurately reflect college curriculums for many majors within Liberal Arts colleges.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that well rounded students will handle college work better than most. But the weighting for science and math does seem too heavy for the typical MT applicant.