Rural MTer’s are few and far between! My MT girl grew up dancing in Brattleboro and is now at Michigan. My younger daughter trains at NECCA. Any Vermont parents can PM with questions or happy to meet up for coffee! Enjoy the process - I miss it so much!
@singoutlouise You write that you miss the process so much. My D is a bit older and a working professional at this point, but you can do like I did…move to NYC and never miss a thing of hers! 
@soozievt I just might do that! Although she absolutely loves her program…I am counting the days until she is in the city and I can just take the train down. Ann Arbor is just too far away.
@singoutlouise, so nice to talk to someone else in our area. We are looking into the NEYT for a summer program, but wondering if we should do a conservatory instead or one of the college programs. We have contacted a couple vocal coaches, but are very fortunate to have an amazing new choir director that has industry experience. He has helped prior to being the new choir director with our musicals so he is very familiar with our schools talent and how to get excellent work from them. NECCA is amazing. We’ve know a few students that have come through there. We are in BF.
@jayamylee, welcome!! So happy to hear we are not alone with starting now. Our S is a strong singer and a very good actor, he learned the part of George Banks for last years musical in 3 weeks… What dancing he has is from what he’s learned through productions, we have not had the opportunity for formal training due to sports and all of his band and choir commitments. Best of luck to you and can not wait to hear more about your journey.
@jayamylee We are in the same boat! It is intimidating but I have seen that this site and everyone here is very helpful!
Re: PM - I do not have enough replies to message as well, but the other person can message you and then you can respond.
@Sonnie323 Since your S is musically inclined, don’t forget to take a look at some of the BMs that have MT. My S went through the process last year and he had some voice lessons (not regimented or consistent), and dance was mostly in productions. He did fine throughout the process last year, with several offers & is now flourishing at Coastal Carolina U. BAL to you!
Thank you everyone for all of your feedback and input that you have provided so far.
I had a great conversation with my S tonight and he truly wants a BFA in MT but will look at all options in the beginning. His goal is to act and be on stage and has researched and has noted that BFA is not necessarily the only way to go, but his prefered way. We are looking for some input on some schools. Montclair, (loving the instate tuition for MTs) Marymount Manhattan, Wells, Wesleyan, Arcadia, Elon, Rider, Manhattanville, Swarthmore, Dean, Emmanuel, U Hartt and Western Conn. These are all smaller schools, some are auditions, some are not, some are BA and some are BFA.
We are also wondering about Conservatory vs. College/University.
Any info folks are willing to share would be great.
Hi @Sonnie323 - of the ones on your list Dean is the only one my S has visited and auditioned for so far. We went to the campus right when he finished school in June and made a weekend of it, adding in a visit to BoCo and Emerson. We knew nothing of Dean prior to his MT advisor telling us about it based on what my son thought he was looking for (something in the NYC or Boston area that was going to allow him to take advantage of outside auditioning opportunities). We have been impressed with them since Day 1. We pulled into the parking lot to a personalized parking space they designated with his name on it! Our tour was an individual one with a Performing Arts major (dance) and since the dance majors work so closely with the Acting and MT majors she was a wealth of information. They seem to take personal interest in all the students - during our tour we just “happen” to run into the director outside the locked theater so he was able to open it and show us all around while telling us about the program. They clearly had read the sign up info for the tour, because the director even knew our younger son’s name and age…lol. We loved that they have a physical therapist designated just for the performing art majors. The areas in the theater field to minor in are pretty extensive and the internship partners they have are pretty impressive. it’s definitely a smaller school, only about 1200 students, but 1/3 of the school is performing arts (they have 4 different specialties). And because the school is smaller, their financial packages are very generous
My S auditioned the 1st weekend in Dec and it was his first, which I am glad about because it was very laid back so it was a nice way to ease into the process. He applied to their acting program (not MT) and the 2 groups are separated at checkin…he did his 1st monologue for one professor, went back to the waiting area, and then was called into a separate room to do his 2nd monologue for the professor and the director. They talked to him a lot and then when they saw all the MT experience my S had on his resume asked if he would sing - only the MT applicants were taken to warm up for songs, so he was worried he didn’t get that but he said OK. the director gave him his card and invited him to a show in the Spring. Then all MT and Acting applicants were taken to learn a movement piece. He got such great feedback that a few days after his audition he emailed the director and asked if it was possible to be considered for MT, the director said he would be happy to do that.
Sorry for the length of the post, just trying to convey info I know I would have wanted to know searching for schools I knew nothing about this time last year!!! My S auditions for Marymount Sat so if no one else chimes in by the weekend I’ll be happy to give you what info we get about that program - we have not visited the school yet.
@theaterkidmom, Thank you so much for all the info. That sounds like an amazing way to recruit students. Can not wait to hear more about your sons Marymount audition. This whole journey seems nerve wracking, but exciting. He has heard to have a short list of a minimum of 15 schools because it’s all about the numbers.
You may wish to postpone school visits until your S goes for auditions (at which time you can also usually take a tour or at least a look around campus and surrounding areas). We received this advice and for us it is working fairly well. We took a few tours when D was a junior, just for her to get a sense of urban vs. rural, small vs. large campuses. We were not able to learn anything of substance about the MT programs during those tours, so we stopped those tours pretty quickly in favor of visiting during auditions (if at all…she is doing 9 of her auditions at Unifieds). In our situation (and everyone is different, for sure) our D applied to 24 schools and we could not have afforded to visit them all multiple times. We will definitely be returning to visit the schools where my D is accepted, to take a deeper look and hopefully sit in on some classes and see a dorm room. If you are looking for a wonderful coaching service, we have found My College Audition (based in Boston, they do in-person and Skype coaching a la carte) to be incredibly helpful. They saved us so much time and anguish. Best of luck to you and your S!
My S also blossomed musically in high school, after being in band and chorus in middle school.
He found that he enjoyed singing in the musicals and participated in chorus festivals.
He decided to become a music teacher, with voice as his instrument.
@Sonnie323 , my daughter is a sophomore at Hartt. She’s BFA Acting, not MT, but the Acting and MT kids are all friends and they take a lot of classes together. The training is excellent, and the MT program is particular has a lot of successful working alumni.
They perform a lot: each class works as an ensemble and does 2 to 4 shows per year with guaranteed casting. So it’s not a program where only certain people get cast - you’re guaranteed to be in at least 8 shows during your time at Hartt.
The MT seniors also get cast in Goodspeed’s annual Festival of New Musicals. Goodspeed is a prestigious Equity theater, so they’re guaranteed a solid professional credit on their resume by the time they graduate. They also have the opportunity to audition for other shows at Goodspeed, Hartford Stage, Capitol Classics, and other local theaters.
Feel free to ask me any questions!
@Sonnie323 yes, the MT advisor we have been working with, and most everyone I talked to about this process, said to have 20 on the application list - but that was not of any interest to my S. He wants to be on stage, not in a classroom so I was going to count myself lucky if I got him to make a list of 15!! Visiting the schools was essential in our case because he is not a researcher so being on campus and hearing about programs was the only thing that got him interested enough to eventually get his list up to 12. We didn’t visit all of the schools, figuring some would be scheduled if he got an audition, or if he gets accepted, but visiting a sampling of some with a "traditional"campus vs in the middle of Times Square, and some with BFA programs vs BA programs helped him rule out some completely before ever applying, and others he dropped off the app list just because ones he was more interested in gave him an audition before he submitted the app to other schools that were on the list “just because”. In the end he applied to 3 schools requiring prescreens, 1 school as his safety (ie - non audition) and 8 where he scheduled an audition at the same time as submitting the app - it yielded him 9 total auditions. I did have some freak out moments reading on here about the 20-25 schools others applied to, and questioned daily during prescreen season if he did the right thing, but I came to realize every one has their own journey to get where they are going; so as long as each student stays true to what they are looking for, eventually they will find it!
Thank you @BoogieMa, @theatrekidmom, @mommdc, and @actorparent1
All of this information is so very helpful. I agree with you @theatrekidmom, my S is not necessarily researching either, his idea of research is talking to others and hearing what they have done or will do. We are thinking that we will visit a few just to get the “lay of the land” and see what it’s like to be at a small school, large school, and city school, see what BFA, BA and BM will do for him before he starts to to send in his prescreens.
Our D is an education major and we looked at schools with her prior to applying and it was a great thing, her two dream schools that she talked about for years ended up not to her liking, she felt they were too big and not personable enough for her, the smaller schools she felt homey in. In the end we ended up looking predominately at small schools and she only applied to 6 and they were all similar in style.
We want to make sure that he is not applying and auditioning to schools that he would not be comfortable attending should he be accepted. We are thinking initially we will visit just 4 or 5 this spring and summer. We are reading and absorbing everything folks are sharing with us here and you 've all opened up more potential schools for us to look at. We are so excited and nervous for this journey and grateful we found somewhere to learn more.
One other advantage about Montclair State (similar to NYC schools I’m guessing) is that my son flew back early last week to wait in line to audition for the Hadestown National Tour. He doesn’t expect to get a part, but the fact that he was able to take a 15 mintue train ride into town and audition as a EMC candidate was exciting for him.
@Sonnie323 - if your S really wants a BFA MT I would personally say take Wesleyan and Swarthmore off your list. They are academic admits (very tough to get into) and they are primarily academic schools. They both offer strong arts programs but I can’t see how they are a good fit for someone who wants to focus on pre-professional training. (Full disclosure, I know happy kids at both schools and I’m a Swat alum; I’m not criticizing either school and yes, I’m quite aware that LMM went to Wes) There are BA programs that include pre-professional training and MT-specific programs: American, Catholic, Temple, Muhlenberg, Wagner and I think a couple of the other ones on your list (I’m not familiar with them all). The right balance between academics and arts is really a critical piece of finding the right “fit” schools.
Another question-I have read on here, and now I can not find the thread, that a few folks recommended not applying to the school until you’ve heard back about the prescreen, however every school that my son is looking at requires you to apply first then you can submit the prescreen. It also requires an application prior to scheduling auditions for those that don’t have prescreen. So I get the feeling you don’t have a choice but to apply to all the colleges.
I think that’s true for most of the ones my son applied to last year. However, at unifieds, you will be allowed to audition to schools you had not previously considered. Some will ask you to complete the app and submit the fee on the spot. Others won’t.
@Sonnie323 my recollection is only Syracuse and Otterbein allowed you to submit prescreen-wait for results THEN file the regular application