Should I transfer to pursue dance?

Transfer Students
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Little background: I have been dancing since I was 5 and when I was applying to colleges, dance was an aspect I wanted to have at the college I went to. Unfortunately, the one college I really fell in love with and ended up going to doesn’t have a dance major/minor. It only has a recreational club. At the time I thought that it would still be fine but having been there my freshman year I didn’t feel fulfilled enough. I wanted more instruction, technique classes, etc.

I am also studying as a Marketing major and this is where it gets complicated. The plan was to transfer so I could study both marketing and dance as a double major. However the school I would transfer to is public, less prestigious, I would live at home since its 10 mins away and I’m afraid of having fomo, but its WAY cheaper. My current school is private and I really love the marketing program at my current school, I love living on campus, and range of opportunities/networking, but its so expensive and I don’t feel fulfilled enough with the dance.

The transfer school’s marketing program isn’t as good but its still pretty decent and they have a really good dance program. I feel torn because I know I would be giving up so much just for this one thing that I dont know if it will be worth it. I feel like my instincts are telling me to pursue the dance, but logically staying may be more beneficial to me career wise. I dont know what I want to do for a career. I know I want to do something with marketing though, but what if there is also something with dance.

Transferring would give me both marketing and dance, but I dont know if every other aspect of going to this college will make me as fulfilled as it did at my current school. I’ve tried a pros/con list and weighted it but it hasn’t been much help. is it stupid to give up so much for one thing that I have no idea if I can make a career out of. I dont want to have regrets of not trying though. I hope this made sense. Any advice?

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As you’ve discovered there is no provably “right” answer. One thing I noticed, though, is you mention money a few times. If your parents can afford to send you to your current school and you’re taking out little or no loans that’s one thing, but if your parents are taking out loans and you’re maxing out on your student loans then I’d say you should transfer. If money isn’t a deciding factor then it’s harder to say but I think you should transfer. It sounds like dance is really important to you and this gives you a chance to continue to pursue it.

If you transfer maybe you’ll end up in a dance career, maybe in marketing for dance companies, maybe in marketing for organizations involved in the arts, maybe in marketing in something completely different. And yet even then life can have funny twists. Years back there was a poster on the forum, @molliebatmit, who in one post talked about how her achievements in science had been helped by her love of cheerleading. Among several ways she credits it as helping was as an EC that stood out when she applied to MIT, and later after she applied for an internship they brought her in to meet because the interviewer was curious what a MIT cheerleader would be like. So you never know how dance might lead to a connection!

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I do not think that anyone can answer this question for you. We might be able to just point out a few things that you could think about.

“Prestige” is overrated. In most cases it just does not matter. As one example, when you are looking for a job down the road, quite a few hiring managers will have graduated from the local public university and will be very comfortable hiring from there. Different hiring managers might have different preferences, but mostly prestige does not matter for most jobs.

Fit is however important. Students often do better if they are attending a university where they are comfortable.

“Way cheaper” is a big plus. Is it possible that you might want to attend a graduate program, such as to get an MBA? If so, can you use the money that you save to help to pay for a graduate degree?

Are you taking on debt to attend your current school? If so, then can be is a big issue. First jobs do not always pay well enough to make it comfortable to both pay living expenses and pay off debt, and graduating without debt can open up options that otherwise would be harder to afford.

I have limited experience with dance (I have a niece who was a dance major and who makes a living in dance, but that is about it). I have worked in high tech for my entire career and know multiple high tech people who are also musicians. I have multiple times been out somewhere and had someone I know from high tech unexpectedly get up on stage and play – and in most cases play very well. I have myself gotten up on stage multiple times with a guitar and without embarrassing myself. Having this “other skill” that is outside of your career is a blessing. However, it is very hard to keep up skills in music, and I would assume also in dance, while also having a career in a different area. One daughter right now is neglecting her music in order to focus on getting a degree (a DVM in her case – something that requires a lot of focus and energy). It is pretty much a permanent challenge in terms of how much energy you want to expend in continuing this “other skill”.

I find myself wondering whether there is a need for marketing in the world of dance. However, dance is already not an easy way to make a living.

To me saving money seems like a plus. This might be sad to say, but the next three years might be your last chance to put significant effort into dance. I can see two good reasons to transfer. On the other hand, as @badgolfer has said, you never know. Different skills can be combined in a wide range of ways as we each figure out what career makes sense for us.

However, you also say that you are happy where you are, and like the marketing program there. Also, staying where you are allows you to continue to get to know professors where you are, which might help for things like internships.

I can see how this is not an easy choice to make.

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  1. If you wanted to study dance, why did you go to a school without - not that it matters.

  2. Marketing is a fluff major in the business school world and with few exceptions, will the where matter.

If studying dance is that important to you and you’re willing to start over socially and maybe lose some credits, then yes you should transfer - and the state school would be great!!

Prestige is overrated and frankly, who cares - because you can’t study what you want at the prestigious school.

It doesn’t seem complicated to me at all. Now should you choose the close to home public or another - might be a different question but the general question of transfer seems a no brainer - and if they have both majors you want, it’d be a fine school. Get an internship - and you’ll be fine. Frankly, to work in marketing, you don’t even need a marketing degree.

Good luck.

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I am the parent of a dancer. Are there satisfying dance classes where you are, in the community? Are you near a city? What kind of dance do you do?

The dancers I know (Boston) tend to have day jobs. It is pretty tough to make a living dancing. My daughter’s professional company danced in great venues but the director sometimes paid them out of her own pocket (we later found out). Most of the dancers I knew ten years ago have stopped, often around age 30, though of course it is possible to continue.

If you want to dance, seriously, you probably need a BFA program. Otherwise I would keep it as a hobby and take classes, and even participate in performances, but not count on your current school. You can also do choreography where you are.

If finances are tight and you have loans, that would be the main reason to transfer, in my mind.

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Every dance company I know of (and we are well connected with the world of ballet in particular) has someone doing marketing.

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Or you need to be a very talented dancer who shows a lot of promise. The career dancers we know…only one had a BFA in dance. But they were very talented and sought after by companies even during high school.

I say…transfer because you love dance and you miss it. Happy kids do better in college, and this sounds like it brings you a lot of joy. That is important, even if you do it as a hobby after college.

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One thing to keep in mind is that the college experience can be much different than living on campus, especially as a transfer. One of my 20 year olds transferred from a residential college to a college 10 minutes away, his experiences are very different than his siblings, especially his twin who is at a very fun university. He comes home in between classes, played club soccer and worked at the rec center, but otherwise he’s not involved.

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As stated unless your extremely talented and sought after dance is most likely a hobby. But combining the two is interesting since you will know different aspects of the performance art and have different insight. There are small local dance companies all over the United States that could use your expertise to gain clients. There are local and regional theaters that could use your talent and so on. Do what makes you happy. Forget the rest. You will get more out of life and your college years this way. No regrets. Do you. Bet on yourself.

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Absolutely, but I would just like to impart to the OP that arts administration jobs are often significantly less connected to the artistic process than many arts administrators would like (and I say that as someone with a BFA in Musical Theatre, a BFA in Arts Administration, and as someone who maintains a healthy career as a professional actor while arts administration is my full-time day job). I’ve seen many artists turned administrators become bitter because they wish they could be working on the other side of the footlights. OP, if you’d like to talk to someone about what the day to day of working in professional arts administration is like (I am no longer in arts marketing - I’m a fundraiser and an arts accessibility specialist, but I was a marketing coordinator at the beginning of my career), please PM me.

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College is not about fulfillment. It’s about obtaining marketable job skills. There’s lots of ways to be fulfilled in dancing without spending tens of thousands of dollars for a dance degree. Right now, you have a pathway to supporting yourself. I would go with that. :slight_smile:

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My initial recation is much the same as @compmom. Can you scratch this itch outside school?

At both my UG and grad schools, I took classes at studios off campus because they fit into my schedule better and were a bit more “professional”. Both had performance opportunities as well. Particularly at the studio I attended as an UG, there were lots of students from schools all over the area, so I was not alone in my approach.

Since it sounds like everything else in your current situation is right, I’d vote for fixing the piece that’s not.

But I also encourage you to be honest with yourself and ask whether this isn’t a greater unhappiness. Do you really, perhaps, want to leave/go home and have you been searching for a reason to do so?

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Neither dance nor marketing lead to well paid positions so go with the cheaper (SUNY?) College.
How much does the current private college cost? Did your parents take loans?
How much would COA/cost of attendance be at the public college?

If you don’t want to live at home, could you share an apartment near the public college? I bet it’d still be cheaper than your private college.
And beside that one public college near your home, all other public colleges in the state should be in play when you’re considering transfer.

SUNYs are well respected in NYS and should not hold you back.
What’s your current GPA?

Btw you don’t have to limit yourself to just one SUNY, you can apply to several SUNYs and see which ones would admit you. Purchase is known for its arts programs so if you apply for a business major/dance minor you’d get excellent instruction for instance.

Do you have an internship lined up for this summer (hopefully, paid)? If not, it’s quite late to be looking, but go to the career center immediately and make your expensive private college alumni network work for you one last time. :muscle: Go on Handshake, etc.

Someone upthread mentioned that the next 2-3 years may be the last time you can actively pursue your passion for dance.

You could pursue dance as a minor at a SUNY and make sure you strengthen your major (marketing currently has very low ROI so you need to add to it so that you make good money with it to pay back your federal loans - hoping you didn’t take more than the 5.5k federal loans - AND have money on the side to continue dance on weekends.)

To make your marketing major work for you, you’ll need solid statistics&data science classes (to highlight on your resume under “relevant courses” since you won’t have a minor). Others will chime in as to other ways to make your Marketing major stronger.
Or you could switch out of Marketing - Supply Chain is always hiring&in need of good candidates.

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Just want to add that I agree with this

I’ve seen many artists turned administrators become bitter because they wish they could be working on the other side of the footlights.

Some comments here, such as @thumper1, may pertain to ballet.

My kid danced in an adult dance company during the last two years of high school, and rejected the idea of a BFA program. They were not a traditional ballet dancer, more balletic modern (no pointe).

In the local well-known city company, dancers are encouraged to take college classes so that when they stop dancing, they have a career to go to. The director also feels dancers should be educated.

If you want to dance during college years, the choices are usually BFA (which can include choreography), classes and performance outside of school (possibly a company) and extrracurricular dance at school, through the dance or PE department.

For a talented dancer, a BFA may not be needed but it does provide 4 years of serious dance and can be a source of joy. A BFA can certainly lead to wider career options than just dance or arts adminisration, though the job market does seem increasingly siloed. Still, it brings access to jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree.

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