academics for accepted MT students

blaneyboy
Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:12:14 +0000

Think Jacksdad has received lot of good advice here. My take on it:


Different schools emphasize different things. I gather NYU is 50%-50% (academics/talent), and that CMU is 20-80.
UCLA told us during campus visit that it was nearly 100% talent evaluation by the theatre department, provided that the student had completed a college prep program and taken required SAT or ACT exams. That surprised me, but was clearly the message we received. UC Irvine, by contrast, reported the theatre department had no role in selection – all up to the admissions office.
Try to get SAT scores up. Take a review course (KAPPAN or what have you). OR
Think seriously about the ACT - my understanding is that many students score higher on ACT, not because it’s easier but because it assesses a different set of skills in a different way.
Find a coach or coaches to work with Jack on his audition and his songs. The majority of other applicants will have this advantage; don’t put Jack at a disadvantage. If he’s scrambling around two weeks before the audition trying to select a monologue or decide on his music, he’s in trouble.
Don’t focus on one facet of your son’s resume at the expense of everything else. All else being equal, grades and course of study in high school are more important than SATs. Of necessity we are considering talent in musical theatre, so a brilliant audition or a lot of experience on stage, including a couple of leads in high school and community plays, can overcome a lot of questions about academic preparation. The whole admissions decision is a balancing act that takes a lot of factors into account.
I don’t think the NYU admissions experience in the 1980s can be compared with what’s happening today. I tend to discount “oh, I couldn’t get into my alma mater today” arguments, but if they’re true anywhere, they’re true at NYU. NYU pulled off a remarkable transformation in the last 20-odd years, going from a reputation as a regional commuter school to acknowledgment as a premier US university.
I can’t emphasize this enough: the further away you live from the colleges Jack is interested in, the more interested they will be in your boy. NYU and CMU have their pick of students from New Jersey, but applicants from the Southwest and Pacific Northwest are another story. UCLA, Santa Cruz, and USC, by contrast, can pick and choose among applicants from the West and are likely to be interested in people from the East. (Many of the UC campuses, btw, actively encourage out of state students – perhaps not UCLA or Berkeley, but certainly fine campuses like Santa Cruz and Irvine). At the NYU orientation in April, the first thing the Tisch dean bragged about was the academic quality of this year’s entering class; then she focused on the fact that the Tisch class represented 42 different states. Geographic diversity is a huge marketing advantage for today’s universities.
Apply to a lot of places. This is a big decision. While $50 and $100 application fees can’t be laughed off, the fees are chicken feed compared to the costs of attendance. Make the investment to expand Jack’s options and he’ll wind up happy. Talk with his school counselors. Encourage him to pick some places you’re sure he’ll get into; pick some that you think he can get into, perhaps with a bit of a reach; and pick a few that are a huge stretch. Then wait for the options to sort themselves out. People used to apply to perhaps three colleges; nine or more applications don’t seem unusual for today’s musical theatre majors. (Do the math: Imagine that each campus enrolls 20 male freshmen annually. If Jack applies to three campuses, he’s competing for one of 60 available slots; if he applies to ten, he’s got a shot at one of 200 slots.)
It can be nerve wracking, particularly in February and March, but have fun. You and Jack will learn a lot from this experience.