<p>My DD wanted both academics and a strong dance program so we looked at schools that had both. Vassar College, Barnard/Columbia & Harvard allow students to make arrangements to take classes. She loved all three colleges but thought that Harvard has the very best ballet classes of the three. These were the only schools that we looked at with high tuition because these schools also offer substantial academic scholarships & grants. She did not apply to colleges such as Tish/NYU or Marymount Manhattan due to the high tuition and very little offering in the way of FA. She did apply and audition for the Alivin Ailey/Fordham BFA and really loved the facilities and the classes but she did not want to focus on modern and she also wanted to be able to take physics and science classes which are not available at the Lincoln Center campus. As it turns out, she did not submit her Fordham application due to problems with the Common App, but she would not have chosen that school anyway.
I read a lot of information on College Confidential that was very helpful, in fact, <a href=“What to do now, after all the rejections? - #16 by sopranomom92 - Dance Major - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/dance-major/685205-what-to-do-now-after-all-the-rejections-p2.html</a> gave us insight to the fact that a a very good dancer could find themselves with no acceptances!! So we made sure to apply to a variety of schools. My DD applied to three in-state schools because they are the most affordable, and she applied to a few out of state, hoping for a decent FA package. This turned out to be a very stressful but successful application/audition process for her as she was accepted to almost all of her colleges and was accepted to her dream school with a very good FA package.
In preparation for this dance audition/application marathon, I would suggest to start early by visiting colleges and taking classes where possible. Also, a very solid ballet background with summer intensives geared to technique over performance would be very helpful. I think auditioning for a wide variety of summer intensives can also help prepare a dance major for the college audition experience. As noted by many here, each college has different requirements for their audition and it’s a good idea to make a list of the dates and the requirements to give yourself an idea of planning and being ready with all materials at the time of audition. Some colleges will require pre-audition materials to even be considered for an audition, such as Alvin Ailey/Fordham and Pace.
Finally, I think a dancer has to know what dance genre they want to focus on, commercial dance, ballet, or modern, as this will help to narrow down the choices.
Good luck to everybody, this has been an unbelievable ride!!!</p>