I know some acceptances have been sent out, but have any rejections or WLs been sent out for TCU?
I haven’t heard of anything but a few acceptances from TCU.
@afterp89 @NoMTinMD - some things to remember when evaluating numbers of hopefuls vs number of slots:
The schools might be including a variety of circumstances in the numbers considered to be the MT applicant pool - such as thespian conferences, pre-screens. regional events.
Also. there are probably 50-60+ US MT programs that require auditions. and then a plethora of theater programs that are non-audition/BA/ 2 year conservaories/etc options. Just in the audition programs alone, there are ikely close to 1000 slots available. Every kid can only attend 1 school at a time.
The numbers of applicants/auditionees are on a general uptrend, but between the all of the options of places to continue studies post-high school - most kids can land at one as long as they have a balanced list.
@beachymom so the “fit” list based on 10-15% accepted? I think some of the schools listed there are less than 10% so I’m just trying to understand…
When all is said and done, I think less emphasis should be placed on acceptance rates, and more emphasis placed on what alums are doing post graduation. Does it really matter if the college admitted 5% or 15% of its applicants? These programs are all difficult to get in. The quality of instruction is what should matter most. To me, what really matters is what happens after acceptance. Is the training they are providing creating opportunities for the students who attend there to find meaningful work in their field once they graduate?
With BFA in MT programs, I don’t think you can really go by acceptance rate too much because MOST BFA programs accept less than 10%. I don’t think you can gauge the difference in your odds between a school that accepts 9% and a school that accepts 5% because both are long odds. In regular college admissions (not MT), college counselors, like myself, consider colleges with an acceptance rate below 20% to be automatically in the “reach” category due to statistical odds. I consider all BFA in MT programs “reach” odds.
I think what sets apart the odds between some BFA programs isn’t so much the acceptance rate (they all accept very low percents), but lots of other factors. Some schools draw from a regional pool of applicants and some draw from more of a national pool. Often the tippy top applicants are in the pool at certain programs, and are not applying much to other programs. Then, academic odds at each college differ. Plus, as already noted, some programs have a different emphasis. There’s the overall reputation of the program or how renowned it is, or sometimes how long it has been around.
With BFA in MT programs, I look at the academic odds for each and put that aspect into Reach, Match, Safety categories. For the artistic review aspect, they are all Reach odds (thus overall reaches), but generally speaking, very roughly consider certain programs to be more competitive than others. It is far from an exact science and subjective. But I think there are some general viewpoints that many concur with…example: many consider CMU harder to get into than Millikin. Many consider Ithaca harder to get into than Wright State. Many would think of Michigan as more competitive than Montclair. Many consider BOCO more competitive than Molloy. Or NYU seems harder to get into than Roosevelt. Just examples. But even these generalities cannot be relied on. Time and again, I’ve seen results such as kid got into NYU but not UArts. Kid got into Michigan but not Penn State. Kid got into Ithaca but not Emerson. Kid got into CCM, but not Syracuse. When acceptance rates are very low, plus when there is a huge subjective factor in artistic review, and things you can’t control such as type, these schools are truly all reachy, and are not anything else. Still, there are some programs that seem more competitive than others, but not based on acceptance rate itself, but even that is not super reliable in predicting.
I also think part of building a MT college list needs to involve an assessment of one’s artistic skill set to understand if certain schools are at least ones where they stand a chance to compete, even though nobody could predict if they will be accepted. But I do see some applicants applying to schools where they are not that competitive to be considered. I see this on the academic end of those building college lists as well. Being realistic in building an appropriate college list that is well balanced is crucial in landing a couple of options in spring, even if admission to each program is unpredictable. But if truly competitive for the schools on one’s list, one should not be entirely shut out.
I know my D’s audition year, 2016, Point Park said their acceptance rate was between 3 and 4 percent.
@MThopeful2022 - yes, the “fit” category would be schools that had approximate acceptance rates of 10% or higher. My MT son is now a college freshman, so some of my data might be a bit outdated. In all fairness, most of the “reach” programs don’t have acceptance rates over 7-8%, so my numbers are approximate. It would be great it all the data was standardized, but that will never happen. As I said a few posts up, some schools include thespian coferences and received prescreens in their applicant numbers, which in turn skews the acceptance rates.
I’m hoping my post really helps families craft balanced (re probability of artistic admission) and personalized (re the type of focus they want in college) school lists. 
I cross posted with @vvnstar but have similar thoughts!
Also, no school with an acceptance rate of 10-15% is a Match/Target school! That kind of statistical odds puts it into "reach" odds, even if truly a competitive candidate. @mauidad you can check the FSU sub forum. Michele said all letters were mailed the end of last week. I don’t know of anyone that has actually received one yet (accepted, waitlisted, or declined).
@vvnstar For sure! I tell folks that recent alumni success (within past 5 years) is an important consideration when making their final decisions.And I agree with both you and @soozievt - when you are talking about acceptance rates of 10% (shoot even 20%), the odds are tough.
I do think that balance of what you want in a program and college (based on personal goals) plus a variety of competitiveness (from lottery odds of less than 1% to fit odds of over 10%) is helpful when creating the list. My kid isn’t a dancer, so his list did not contain an abundance of dance-heavy programs. If it had, his results would have been much different. So that piece about knowing your strengths and personal fit are crucial.
@MThopeful2022 - more important than the percentages (accpetance rates) mentioned in my intro, are the categories. To have a smart and balanced list, kids need to make sure that they are not heavy in just the lottery/extreme reach category. They also need to make sure that they are picking programs from the right the right focus categories for their goals and the right focus categories for their strengths (in terms of admission to said programs).
As @soozievt states - the odds are tough at all of these schools!
@beachymom - I think your list is an interesting and really valuable way to review and assess different programs. Kudos for you for all your research and work! I totally agree with everything you said - I think that “personal fit” piece is why it is really impossible to have one prevailing ranking of MT schools that all can agree on. One person’s #1 overall school may be different from someone else’s. Both may be fantastic programs. But which one best fits you is what we individually must consider in the end.
For anyone building a college list, the element of “fit” to that student is crucial, not just “odds” of getting in. Too often I see people make a list of “these colleges offer MT” and that is the main criteria and not much more. Or often I see some non-MT kids create a college list based on US News Rankings and that’s it! Both approaches are not so good, in my view.
I’m a proponent of in-depth exploration of each school before it lands on your list and a student should be able to list several specific “pros” as to why it landed on the list. When possible and feasible, I believe in visiting the schools you wish to apply to.
Just because a school is well known or ranked high, doesn’t mean it is a good fit for you, even if you can get accepted. Examples with my own kids: My non-MT D was accepted to Penn (an Ivy League school) as a Ben Franklin Scholar, but when narrowing her acceptances down to the final three, she liked Tufts and Smith more than Penn as better fits. Didn’t care that Penn was ranked higher than those two. In the end, she did choose Brown based on fit, but could care less about rankings. My MT D applied to what many consider top tier BFA in MT programs, but chose NOT to apply to CCM. She felt it was not a good fit for her and had no desire to go there, even though it is highly regarded. In my view, fit is crucial in building a college list, as well as a balance of odds in relation to your individual profile and qualifications.
I thought post some acceptances would get easier. I am just getting more stressed. Anyone else have a kid that has no idea which school to choose. We have very limited weekends to vist with a Spring show in April and multiple schools that require long plane rides!
Does anyone know anything about Missouri State? Is it just a regional program? It seems they have some decent faculty with Joe Price as head of program, and Robert Westenberg on faculty and Lisa M Brescia who has been in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway. The price can’t be beaten! Any thoughts anyone out there!!
I know the waiting can be torture, but I typically give the schools a pass on the way they notify students because I figure they must have hurdles that we don’t know about. BUT I would be very concerned about a school that, as a policy, will call some students and emails others with acceptances. That feels like they are creating two classes of students- which bothers me a lot.
@NoMTinMD - we narrowed it to top 4, visited the first 2 (he loved them both), cancelled the other 2 trips, and he made his choice after negotiating financial aid. Have you done a blind curriculum comparison? Looked at the other important elements - performance opportunities, alumni success, networking, masterclasses, study abroad, general university preferences? Have you finalized FA offers? Has he/she connected with current students? All of that will help narrow down to the top 2-4 programs. Then do visits! Good luck!
@soozievt I agree with you and maybe that’s why using the word “fits” was throwing me. Not every school on that list is a fit for everyone. lol. Anyway, I currently have no skin in this game as my D is a college freshman…I was just curious why there was a list labeled “fit” and what the criteria was…
@mamaboyz - my kids’ school has a policy of only posting on social medial the school you are going to- not all the acceptances you got. There are many students who are heartbroken over a rejection to the school your kid will turn down. It’s not only more companionate to only post the final decision, but as you correctly mention it could get back to other schools who might use that information to reject your kid to resolve what otherwise would have been a tough decision.