I think we are down to two choices, Montclair and VCU. She really really loved Illinois (and they gave her a big dance scholarship) BUT it’s far away and still $$ with the scholarship. And both Illinois and Ohio State have significantly fewer required technique classes (3 modern plus 2 ballet a week), so although she has not officially declined, I think she’s going to.
We visited VCU again last weekend to watch their winter dance performance and observe classes. She loves it, and the classes/teachers really were incredible. A very supportive environment and a good balance of technical and creative training. Faculty seem incredibly nurturing and challenging. The only negatives are (1) fewer musical theatre opportunities (2) doesn’t love the urban campus. Oh, and it’s crazy $$ out of state, and they are SLOW in awarding/communicating about merit aid, so we don’t know if it’s even going to be feasible. I guess our other question is whether it’s the best place to launch her into what comes next.
Looking at scheduling a trip back to Montclair. It checks a lot of boxes, although it’s less clear that it’s a great fit for someone who has such a strong interest in choreography, especially on the weirder end of things. Dd was saying she just wants to go back and do things like a campus tour and get a better feel for the place, and maybe talk to some more faculty. It does seem like a place that gets their dancers employed after graduation.
@threegirlpileup maybe she could do that overnight stay option? That sounded like a nice way to get a feel for residential life. Montclair looks like an amazing opportunity…and super affordable!
@milgymfam I know right? My daughter was thinking of a special education degree, but you still have to major in something else
@massmom72 only in Massachusetts! Ha ha! The VA/CA/SC/MD schools don’t require an education major to double up on anything. I think it’s a weird Massachusetts licensure requirement. It doesn’t seem like it is required for the Interim license though, which I guess give you five years to teach and get a masters somewhere.
@Massmomm yes that’s just what we’re thinking.
And how is it that we live in a world where $30K/year is AFFORDABLE?!? I mean, I don’t disagree, but geez!!
@milgymfam my daughter is getting her BFA at Rutgers. I won’t pretend to know about the 4 plus 1 with ED, but a few of her friends are going that route. What has you concerned? Anything I can try to find out for you?
@amom2girls the 4+1 from Rutgers seems like a pretty great program, actually. It’s just not what my daughter is looking for- it only leads to a certification to teach dance, and my daughter wants to teach kindergarten. That said, they do allow other double majors but don’t seem to encourage it (I guess that’s her feeling). The main problem is they’re the only school that will allow a gap year but require a re-audition. It’s very a scary idea to turn down all your other options and put a non-refundable deposit with the risk of not actually being able to go. Mason Gross should probably just say they don’t offer gap years imo, but it’s not up to me. In any case, it feels like a gamble. We could lose our money and she could end up at the end of a gap year with no school to attend when she thought she was all settled.
@milgymfam Gotcha. I did not realize your were talking about teaching academics! I am not familiar with gap years. I do agree that my daughter can not manage to schedule a double major. She is attempting a minor in communications. she also has to schedule in additional classes for the Honors College requirements. The dance department is very helpful with those classes.
It is definitely difficult to attempt a double major when there is a full schedule of dance/technique classes and rehearsals. You audition at the beginning of the semester for pieces or for visiting choreographers and won’t know your rehearsal schedule until you have those results.
My daughter has most of her communication classes in the evenings.
I have a daughter in the Ohio State BFA Dance Department and we absolutely love the program, the university and the city! She chose Ohio partly for the flexibility to double major or minor and also for the quality of the faculty and facilities. It takes some creative scheduling to double major, but Ohio has online versions for some classes and they are generous with AP credits and testing for credit to ease up the scheduling.
The number of required technique classes is deceiving–there are other dance classes and performance opportunities that fill out the schedule. My daughter was selected for a piece in a faculty show her first semester and the rehearsals were added to her schedule as a course for credit. She also has dance electives each semester so the hours of dance a day is more than you’d think. Second semester students begin choreography classes and the first is taught by one of the most wonderful faculty members.
The dance building and studios are absolutely gorgeous with huge windows with great views of the campus. A far cry from the basement studios at SMU–that visit taught us how much we valued natural light and updated facilities!
Flights in and out of Columbus are affordable and easy (airport is 15 minutes from campus!)
I remember well the stress of not knowing where she’d end up, and I wish you and your dancers well in your decision-making process! I know your dancers will all find that perfect fit where ever they choose to attend.
For us it came down to finding a community that would challenge her as a dancer, support her as a person, and offer academic opportunities in a traditional campus environment. The academic scholarships offered to out of state students brought the cost below our state university, so that was a huge bonus!
If anyone has questions about Ohio State, please feel free to message me.
@calypte thanks for all the information about Ohio State. Let me say that from what we know, I think my dd would love OSU! But as she has tried to get more and more clear about what she wants and needs from a dance program, she is really clear that she wants to include intensive technique training. So she really decided that ballet class only 2x/week is a deal-breaker for her. She basically said that since ballet doesn’t come that naturally to her, that she really needs more class than that to stay on top of her technique, and honestly that she just loves technique class and wants more of it. So she has now cut her list to programs that have ballet and modern both at least 4x/week.
@threegirlpileup Ah, sorry, I just saw this message, so ignore my other one with more info on Ohio!
I will say though that the contemporary classes are ballet focused, so there is really strong technique five days per week, plus electives and rehearsals. If you haven’t visited, you might want to look before you completely take it off the list.
College classes are so different than studio classes–it was hard to understand this fully until she was there. They are much more intense since everyone in the room has such a high level of training.
Best of luck helping your dancer with her decision. My daughter had 9 programs to chose from including some amazing high-ranked (but very expensive!) conservatories. She didn’t decide until April 29th! I was happy her top choice ended up being affordable and one that also gives her an academic background that will expand employment opportunities beyond dance.
@calypte thank you so much for the information. The program sounds amazing! We are keeping fingers crossed for merit aid. Would move to the top of the list if that happens…the honors program and ability to double major are exactly what my D has been looking for. Plus she has been a part of a contemporary/improv company for 4 years and would love to continue the contemporary focus
@calypte…you mentioned your daughter applied to 9 colleges with SMU being one of them. What are the other colleges she apply to? My daughter has applied to 8 and SMU was one of them. We did not apply to OSU. Maybe she should have?
I posted this on another thread too but… DD was notified she was on Marymount’s Waitlist for BFA dance program today. Anyone know what this means/chances of getting in/ when they inform you etc.? thanks
If you are WL for a program, the recommendation from the college is to accept a spot somewhere else before college decision day - May 1st.
When/If a spot opens up , admissions will contact her to offer her a spot. This could come at any time. It could most likely come in May or June even. You just have to be patient if that is the program she really wants.
There is not a numbered waitlist. Rather, they try to fill spots based on what best fits within their incoming class. For example, if someone that declined a spot was an exceptional ballerina, they may pick another dancer strong in ballet to fill that spot. Or it could be based on a dancer’s geography, ethnicity, male, female - you never really know the reasoning.
Ok, for the dancer who isn’t looking at dream schools because they weren’t in the cards, but rather trying to figure out the best they can get…
My daughter is trying to make her final choice. She’s asked about hours of technique training each week (and the style breakdown), are freshman cast in performances, what style of ballet is taught, and lots of questions about the academic side and dorms. Is she missing anything she should absolutely be considering in making her choice?
@milgymfam I asked out the type of preventative care the schools offer. Injuries happen unfortunately. So I always ask about Physical Therapy, like are they available on campus? If so, How often do the kids have access to them? Do they have a set schedule? Things like that. I have found that some schools do a great job with this aspect while others are severely lacking!
@milgymfam Rather than asking questions (where a college that’s admitted you will inevitably try to be reassuring), I would be looking at the list of classes (it’s usually quite prescriptive for dance and studio time blocks are fixed) and trying to figure out what a schedule would look like based on 2019-20 class timings. That will help understand how academic classes will fit around dance and the feasibility of the academic/dance combination you want.
If we’d done that in advance it would have been much easier to understand that there was only one 90-120 min period in the morning to fit in other classes. If the academic classes you want aren’t available in the blocks of time around dance classes, then you are going to have a problem. For example if labs are in the afternoons when rehearsal takes place then you might be faced with a decision not to perform in those semesters when you have to do labs. Or worse, if there are core class sequence conflicts, then you might not be able to do both courses at all.
@Twoin18 thanks for the suggestion. I will have her dig in there a little more. She’s got a fair amount of gen ed credits going in, so I’m hoping that gives her some flexibility.