Hi I’m a freshmen here who currently attend to U.S. boarding school. After trying a lot of new things, I found that acting is my thing, so I aim to major theater (musical maybe?) in college. However, my parents want me to keep studying for science, and wants me to major biology also. They had approved the idea to double major biology & theater. Which schools would be appropriate to do double major in these fields and what schools would be excellent for both majors?
- It is way too early to think about colleges as a freshman.
- When the time comes, your first source of advice should be the guidance counselor at your boarding school.
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I don’t think freshman year is too early to start thinking about college. We have a thread for parents who are thinking about college for their freshmen students. I admire that a student is trying to research which colleges have different programs.
@pookie2026 are you an international student?
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yes I am! Yeah I started researching about double majors since I want to think about and plan what to do for ecs and portfolios for both majors.
I’ll play a little bit, simply because a school came to mind as I read the thread title. @happy1 is right that this is very early in the process, and with respect to any chancing information, your boarding school’s guidance counselor will be tops.
That said, I started thinking about my own college possibilities well before I entered high school, and I think it’s important for students to think of options that are likely admits for them. Musical theater is EXTRAORDINARILY competitive, as a field and to get into BFA programs. It can be hard to find a sure thing admit for MT (check out the forum Musical Theater Major - College Confidential Forums).
There is a school that accepts the majority of its applicants, that’s mid-sized with about 4700 undergrads (a very popular but not super common size of school), and offers a quality education (it’s a Jesuit institution, which is highly respected in educational circles). The school? Xavier University in Cincinnati, which would also allow lots of opportunities for shadowing and clinical experiences, if that’s part of the bio path you have in mind.
It offers majors in biology, biochemistry, biological sciences for business, biomedical sciences, biophysics, genetics, and microbiology. So it’s got the science part down, but what about MT? It also offers a BA in MT that does not appear to require an audition: Musical Theatre Major | Xavier University.
Additionally, many (most?) MT programs are BFA, meaning Bachelor of Fine Arts. BFAs usually require very extensive coursework, frequently taking up 75% of all the courses one might take in college, leaving little extra space beyond fulfilling distribution requirements for the college, much less double majoring. But the program at Xavier is a BA (so perhaps more like 1/3 of your classes) which leaves much more room for a double major while still graduating in the same amount of time.
But right now just focus on living your best life, which includes your studies and ECs, but also your friendships and own mental and emotional health.
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A couple of years ago I had an international student do an internship in my office. She came to the US at 13 years old for boarding school and had to navigate everything herself. While her parents had their impression (from afar) of what they wanted her to do in life, she was the one that had to research and evaluate potential programs and present them to her parents. She loved and respected her parents, but their relationship (via Facetime) was more transactional than a traditional parent/child relationship.
Maybe I am misreading your post. Were you asking for chances at certain schools or are you just researching which schools offer the type of double major that you think you might be interested in?
It isn’t bad for you to be looking at college websites and learning what different schools offer. Just make sure that you don’t try to become what you think they might want. Be yourself and, when applying, look for schools who will want you for who you are.
As @AustenNut mentioned, musical theater is extremely competitive. It is also very time consuming and it might be difficult to balance along with the course load needed for a science major - many science courses have a lab component which can be several hours a week. What happens if you have labs scheduled during rehearsals?
My advice would be to pursue your passions. In two years, you’ll know better if you are still interested in majoring in theater or if you want a school where you can major in something else and participate in theater. Or… maybe your interests change completely.
I’d take some time this summer and create a spread sheet that you update from time to time. First add colleges with MT majors. Cross reference if they have bio majors. Then note if it is an additional admittance for MT, where they are located and any other things that interest you like size, clubs, etc. You have plenty of time and can add schools as you hear about them. This will be useful when you begin meeting with your college counselor. You may totally update this list or scrap it and start another one if/as your interests change, but it is a good exercise in researching colleges and what they have to offer.
Things we had on our list were distance from an airport, acceptance rate, guaranteed housing (and how many years), etc. I also made my son add two additional majors he would be interested in if he decided to switch out of his first choice at some point.
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As a former international student who was also a MT major and who double majored, let me say that freshman year is absolutely not too early to be thinking about college if your desired major is musical theatre or acting. In fact, you’ll ideally want to have your school list locked by the end of your junior year so that you can spend the summer before senior year prepping your audition package - so it is important now to start identifying what kinds of schools you’re interested in (and a double major will limit this) AND bolstering your performance skills. I know you’re at boarding school - does your school provide dance classes? Do you have a background in dance? If not, is it possible to take dance class in the town where you go to school? Getting into dance class (jazz and ballet to start) is just about the best thing you can do to improve your chances of getting into audition-based MT programs. Are you taking voice lessons?
Very few guidance counselors will have good advice about schools that are strong for musical theatre, since many schools that are considered top schools for MT fall outside what is considered a “top” school (for instance, some of the strongest schools in recent years for MT have included Baldwin-Wallace, Texas State, and the University of Cincinnati). You will want to discuss with your parents if double majoring in biology is sufficient, or if they want you to attend a school that is also strong in bio - this may further limit your options MT-wise, in addition to the double major already limiting your options (not all MT programs will let a student double major, as MT is already effectively a triple major between music, dance, and acting).
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You can also add a place on your spread sheet for what audition/portfolio items are needed.
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