MT suggestions for fairly conservative mid western girl

elleleegreen · 10-22-2009, 11:38 PM

I'm new to this board and I thank everyone for sharing their invaluable advice and experiences to those of us who've never had the pleasure of trying to send a child off to an MT school. ohmy, I never realized how easy I had it with her two sisters who just applied to a college and got in!

I'm trying to help my youngest d find a MT school that will be a good fit for her. She's friendly to everyone and well liked by peers, a sanguine and social personality. She wants to go to school in a big city, preferably NYC or East Coast. She's strong academically, and a hard worker who likes to volunteer in community and church activities, doesn't drink.

She knows these are long shots, but she's applying at:

Northwestern
Boco
Carnegie Mellon
NYU Tisch
CCM
Webster

From reading these and other forums, I'm worried that she's just not going to 'fit in' some of the schools that she's applying to, especially NYU. She is open to and accepting of everyone, but I still want to help her find a school that will be comfortable for her in terms of being accepted for who she is by her profs and peers, and also having the opportunity to be involved in church and community organizations while at college.

Can anyone suggest schools that might be a better fit, or do all these schools have a good mix of different students? She is NOT at all competitive in her personality and would like to be part of a tight knit, friendly Theatre program. It is impossible for us to individually visit the schools to get a better feel for the campuses, so I'm hoping that some CC posters can relate to me their experiences to help us decide on what other MT programs to look at. thanks so much.

isu_teacher00 · 10-23-2009, 12:12 AM

What about Illinois Wesleyan? It's certainly different from the schools you've listed, but the school is medium-sized, not pretentious, and (I'm only guessing here) probably has a pretty friendly theatre program. Nice college town, close to several other universities, solid midwestern atmosphere, and only 2-2 1/2 hours to Chicago and St. Louis.

srw · 10-23-2009, 12:57 AM

You might want to look into OCU.

famousactress2b_ · 10-23-2009, 10:32 AM

How about Catholic University in Washington DC? I felt very welcomed there when I auditioned as a transfer student last February.
American University is also in Washington DC but I didn't visit there so I don't now first hand but I've heard great things about it.

ttmom · 10-23-2009, 02:20 PM

Some of your listed schools are actually the most highly competitive in nature. What about Pace/Marymount Manhattan/Wagner in NYC area, Millikin in Illinois, Penn State (4 hrs from NYC and express bus every week-end), Muhlenberg(PA), Montclair State(NJ), Shenandoah and James Madison in Virginia, UArts and Temple in Philly, Point Park in Pittsburgh?

elleleegreen · 10-23-2009, 03:03 PM

We're going to check all of these out, thank you! Please keep them coming.

TTmom: thanks, and I guess I didn't word that so clearly. My d has no problem auditioning competitively (our kids couldn't be doing this major otherwise probably!) and she wants to be in a challenging program, where they expect alot. But once she's accepted, she wants a program where the other students are supportive and encouraging of each others talents and successes, and not cutthroat. And maybe most of the programs have a commeraderie like that. This is all new territory for us so we're still learning. I'll just be glad when this senior year of high school is over! Thanks everyone for helping us newbies out.

Montegut · 10-23-2009, 03:37 PM

Second the recommendation for Catholic. In DC, and has a great musical theater department.

Have a friend whose daughter is in musical theater at a school in Oklahoma. Might want to check that one out as well.

There's also Loyola Marymount and Manhattan Marymount, but don't know how conservative those are.

diontechristmas · 10-23-2009, 04:24 PM

Conservative+East coast doesn't really make sense...
She wouldn't be terribly comfortable at most schools on the east coast.

abparent · 10-23-2009, 04:25 PM

Not in a big city, but I would recommend exploring Otterbein, right outside of Columbus. We're from the Philly area, so Columbus seems much quieter to us, but there's still plenty to do. Otterbein has excellent training and a small town feel which lends itself to appealing to some of the more conservative students although kids of all kinds seem to thrive there. They also have an excellent reputation for service. I know of some kids in the program who do not drink at all and have managed to feel very much at home there. Good luck to you in your search!

ajsurfs · 10-23-2009, 04:53 PM

My son is in his second year at The Hartt School MT and loves it. Both staff and students very supportive. He is also on the conservative side as well as shy and had some of the same concerns as your daughter.

*KatMT* · 10-23-2009, 06:01 PM

I can't speak for ttmom "some of your schools are actually some of the most competitive in nature"...

However, many of the schools on your list are some of the toughest admits among MT schools. Northwestern academically, and then to the MT Certificate program at the end of Freshman year... CCM & CMU have very low admit rates.... around 2% I think. The other schools are also VERY competitive admits... 5% - 10% admit rates for the most part... of the schools ttmom and others have listed above some are in the 2% - 10% admit range with a couple in the 10% - 20% admit range.

In addition to the schools mentioned by others you may also want to look at Indiana University Bloomington in IN, and Seton Hill in PA.

quilll · 10-23-2009, 07:20 PM

Second the suggestion of Illinois Wesleyan. Very small, close knit MT program--admission is quite competitive. Nearer Chicago is North Central College, which also has a little jewel of a program.

famousactress2b_ · 10-23-2009, 09:02 PM

Also, I know your daughter wants to be in a bigger city more in the north but if she wants to check out schools more south, I am a sophomore at Jacksonville University (Jacksonville, FL) and I highly recommend you check us out!!! PM me if you want to know more information!

onstage · 10-23-2009, 10:16 PM

My D is a senior at Syracuse, and there is a very good mix of students there. She has one very good friend who started a bible study group, for example. I agree, however, that if your D is somewhat conservative, a MT program in those schools on her list is going to be quite an eye-opener. You might want to look at some programs in smaller schools. I also suggest that you get some safeties on your list that your D would be happy to attend -- as KatMT mentioned, those schools are highly competitive. Every year I see students who have not been accepted at ANY of their auditioned schools; it's wise to prepare for that possibility.

ttmom · 10-24-2009, 12:40 AM

By "competitive" I meant , as Kat put it, tough admits, which is why I thinks the list needs expanding. I also agree with "Conservative+East coast doesn't really make sense..."