In my longtime experience, first as a high school teacher and then as a vocal coach focused more exclusively on helping students prepare for conservatory auditions, there really is NO reliable list. In fact, those books are SO inaccurate I tell my students to stay away from them. Often, they simply reflect programs which have struck some kind of deal with the book publishers - as was just pointed out here, many of them don't even include CMU, for example, and NO ONE would deny that CMU is perpetually a top MT program!
The only thing that has EVER worked, in my experience, as a way of ranking MT schools is to:
1. First and foremost, talk to people who are ALREADY working, preferably at the New York level (and by this I mean Broadway or off - just being "in NYC" doesn't count) or top regional levels. They know whose work they respect and where those people have gone to school. Barring this possibility (and of course it is not possible for everyone), go to playbill.com and read the bios of people currently in shows - you'll see who has listed their schools, indicating that they are proud to claim affiliation, and which schools recur. This is highly significant because you see who is CURRENTLY working - and that doesn't reflect "fads" in the business, it reflects which schools' training is keeping up with hiring TRENDS - which is incredibly important!!!
2. Gather info from students at various schools and from excellent, INFORMED sources like this board to compile a list of what seem to be important factors both overall and for you as a potential student. For example, many places which claim to be "top programs" don't have senior showcases - and I can't imagine anyone from CMU, CCM, UM, or any of the other top schools that do big showcases saying "You're right, showcase is NOT important." Some definitely WILL tell you it didn't pan out - but for those whom it DID pan out, they certainly consider it important! Again, the showcase factor needs to be weighed after talking to people from VARIOUS programs WHO ARE WORKING AT THE TOP LEVEL!!!!
By the same token, many schools claim "impressive master class guests," "visits from working professionals," "many grads hired right out of school or while they are still in school," and "professionally working faculty" as if they are rarieties among programs. No no no! Rather, those should be MINIMUM requirements for a truly "top" program! ALL top programs have these elements - they are NOT rare! Nothing frustrates me more than having a student come back from a college visit espousing the "unique" excellence of a program only to have to be the bad cop and tell the student, "That's not uncommon" or worse "That's simply not true."
3. Know that you can get a GREAT education at a program that is NOT a "top" program. Most important is you need to find the best fit for YOU. However, as MT casting directors and directors see it, the factors indicating what makes a "top program" generally tend to be:
a. a highly developed skill set - this goes without saying - including acting, vocal technique, musicianship, dance or movement
b. audition readiness and excellence - how much a student or grad can come into the room "owning" his material, having made truly appropriate and STRONG choices in both material and the presentation of that material; having music which is prepared ABSOLUTELY correctly (oh, the stories of BFA programs who turn their kids out into the world kind of CLUELESS about such things - NO BFA grad should have to come to a private coach like me to learn about these things!); ability to take adjustments quickly and retain them
c. overall professionalism - knowing HOW to prepare for rehearsal and always BEING prepared, pleasant demeanor, etc.
d. working knowledge of the business of the business
e. the fact that the above three elements are evident ACROSS THE BOARD in a program's students (not simply evident in selected students from any program)
So students and parents, once you start to become familiar with the top schools (the standard list usually includes: CCM, CMU, NYU, UM, NC School of the Arts, BoCo, Northwestern - with MANY "2nd tier" schools such as Wagner, Otterbein, Point Park, etc.), be wary of any school that you haven't heard a lot about that claims to be a "top school." It may be GREAT academically, have great facilities, etc. - but that doesn't mean it is among those regarded as a top school by the people who do the HIRING. Again, people can go to school ANYWHERE and work - or not go to school at all!!! - but I get so frustrated (obviously) by schools which make false claims of "top school-hood" - it makes me think maybe those schools THEMSELVES are clueless about where they stand in the bigger professional picture, or perhaps even worse, that they are selling prospective students a false product. If a school aspires to enter the ranks of top programs and needs to recruit top talent in order to be able to do this, I think that school should be HONEST, just like college sports teams are (ok, in general
) when trying to lure D-I candidates to a D-II or D-III school: "We might not be School X, but we are building our program and we want players like you in order to be able to do so."
On that note, the University of Michigan gives auditionees an EXCELLENT list of "things to look for when choosing a Musical Theatre program" (not the exact title but something like that) - and it is NOT at all designed to favor Michigan. (That's another thing I have found with most truly top schools - they don't need to trumpet that they ARE a top school, because their product, the students and grads, are all of the PR they need.) The extensive list of questions ranges from "Do you want a B.A. or a BFA?" to "Where are grads working?" I always thought it was a shame that students didn't get this UNTIL their Michigan audition - perhaps the School of Music would share it if a parent or student asked for it. I don't feel is it appropriate for me to post the list here since it is truly such a valuable resource developed by UM and I wouldn't want anyone to appropriate it and claim it as their own.
Hope this helps some of you!
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