@CaliMTdreams - the bedrock of this business is acting - you may be able to sing and dance up a storm, but if you can’t act, you won’t book.
Just the the “no” email from Western Michigan. My daughter is devestated. She never been a quitter and she’s faced rejection for years. Now she’s saying that maybe this was a sign that she shouldn’t do musical theatre. Any advice?
Have her read this thread (& watch the video) 
I’m now looking into colleges for my S (will not be an arts major), and came across a note on Pace’s website…Starting in the Fall 2019, all Pace Performing Arts programs will be subject to a $2,500 per semester program fee for new students. Just passing this along in case anyone considering Pace was not aware…
@CaliMTdreams my daughter is in the same boat - applied for MT and so far has only bfa Acting (not complaining however!) and some BA Theatre options such as Drew, Notre Dame, Oberlin, where there is a chance for minor in Voice. But gosh it is so tough to have singing be your thing and to get no yeses on MT (so far…still a few irons out there). Will be praying it works out for our kids! ?
@CaliMTdreams Certain BFA Acting programs offer lots of crossover, both in training and performance opportunities. MTs and As have very similar curriculum at: Otterbein, Carnegie, Syracuse, and Ithaca. (Student might need to test into dance or supplement private voice)
Schools with relatively similar coursework/opportunities: Coastal carolina, Wright St, OkCU, and Shenandoah. (voice lessons might be taught by non-MT faculty)
Some crossover: James Madison, UArts, Western Michigan, Point Park, Northwestern, Ball St, and Rider (first 1-2 years of training seem consistent)
Just received BM waitlist from OCU and a nice scholarship for the BA Voice major. Any advice from MT parents out there? We haven’t looked at the difference in curriculum yet!
4 angels - congratulations! OCU is a great place to go to school.
I would print out the BA curriculum and see what you think. I have never studied it. But my guess is it is much more academics and theory and not so much performance. Make sure she will be happy taking those courses.
Regarding the waitlist - is your WL for VP or MT? If it is for VP and not MT I would also print out the curriculum for each of those majors and compare. Will she be receiving the training she wants? VPs and MTs are in the same voice studios so there is some crossover. But the two degrees diverge some junior and senior year. I also don’t believe VPs take dance or acting. I may be wrong though so check on that.
@MT2k19mama Has she auditioned for other schools as well? There are still a handful doing auditions, some online and some in person. Is location an issue? Or is a gap year an option? If MT is truly what she wants she may still be able to make it happen.
My son chose a BFA Acting redirect over MT acceptances. He was in more musicals than plays, in supporting and leading role. At first I had the momentary thought of “You don’t like my boy’s singing?”, but son was offered an opportunity to grow and improve, and he did.
@entertainersmom - which school did your son chose for BFA Acting? My son has been accepted into a decent number of MT programs, and one BFA Acting. He is leaning towards the BFA Acting at Syracuse over the MT programs.
Guess who got their Montclair socks in the mail! :neutral: but no artistic results yet, getting kinda nervous.
@CaliMTdreams: You have already received several great responses. First of all, I would not consider being offered a BFA in Acting instead of the BFA in MT at a school as a commentary that your D’s voice and dancing were rejected! I’d see it as there were limited spots in the MT track and they liked her talent and still wanted to offer her a spot in their BFA Acting program! As a personal example, my D auditioned for MT at CMU, but at that school, they consider you for both tracks, MT and Acting. She was offered the Priority Waitlist for Acting. I never once considered that a commentary on her singing and dance skills (actually at the time, they did not do a dance audition, though she was a dancer). Instead, I saw it as an affirmation of her acting, the area she had practically no training in! I know at CMU, not only do the programs overlap, but many MT talented students land in the Acting track. I can think of a young man who was in the Acting track at CMU and gave us the tour, and he has since been in Broadway musicals, and in fact, my D has cast him in her Off Broadway musicals. My D went to NYU/Tisch for MT (all her acceptances were for MT), and I have to tell you that she has many friends who were in the Acting studios who have MT skills and talent, and quite a number of these students have since been in Broadway and Off Broadway musicals, and national tours. Being offered a spot in an acting studio doesn’t imply you don’t have talent in singing or dance necessarily.
As others have said, your D should examine the curriculum in the Acting programs, and inquire about private voice and dance opportunities at that school for Acting majors and about casting in musicals. When my D was at Tisch, many acting students still took private voice. Many were cast in musicals, including as leads. My own D, truly a MT person, who is VERY into music (now has a music career in addition to a theater career), CHOSE to spend her final 3 semester in an acting studio, and get additional acting training, having been in the MT studio for 5 semesters! She still took private voice and still did musicals.
Just because your D does an Acting program, doesn’t mean giving up singing and dance training or pursuing a career in MT. Find out the opportunities for continued training in voice and dance. Remember that in the professional world, they will not care which degree you have, and it is your skill set that carries the way. Many people in the highest levels of musicals, attended BFA Acting or BA Theater programs, and happen to also be great singers, and sometimes dancers. As someone else said, it’s not enough to sing well, because acting matters a great deal in MT. Your D doesn’t have to give up MT. Her acceptances do not mean she is not good enough in singing or dance. Many schools who can’t accommodate a talented MT applicant offer them a spot in their Acting track.
This is so helpful - thank you! @soozievt ?
@CaliMTdreams thank you so much for asking that! We are in the same boat, except no WL. D has 2 BFA Acting offers. She is also feeling defeated and like it is a reflection of a failure in her vocal and dance abilities. I try to encourage her, but it’s not helping.
@soozievt Thank you so much for sharing your comments (and thank you to everyone else). So much wisdom!!! I look forward to sharing this with my D as she moves forward with her program decision making 
Thank you all for your feedback and responses. It’s a great help and a wonderful lesson in perspective. She has great options, so we are VERY thankful. She does have some MT acceptances as well, so she has some big decisions ahead (and I think some socks to receive! lol)
@CaliMTdreams: if your D has some MT acceptances, which I did not realize, then there’s her affirmation that she does have skill at voice and dance. The fact that some schools offered her a spot in Acting, doesn’t mean she can’t sing or dance. That’s where they had a spot for a talented girl like her. When my D got her priority waitlist for acting at CMU, she didn’t doubt her voice or dance, and all her other acceptances were for MT. Voice and dance were the areas she had training in, and acting she did not.
D got the rejection email from WMU. 2 more to go.
@soozievt Thank you! Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Yes, she has some MT acceptances, but more recent decisions have come in Acting, especially her “favorite” school and that’s just kind of thrown her. Thank you again for the perspective and feedback. I really appreciate it.
@CaliMTdreams I would suggest also checking a few specific things. For many kids, I would guess it’s much less about what the degree is called and much more about what training is actually available to them.
If your D is still wanting to take voice/music and dance along with the BFA Acting program, I would ask how available those classes or lessons are for Acting students. For example, who would voice lessons be with? Is there always space available to actually enroll for the class or sign up for the lesson? Same with the dance classes. Just because a class is theoretically available for an Acting student to take doesn’t mean that there will actually be space available, especially if priority is given to other majors first.
I would also check the requirements for Acting degree and whether those requirements would allow for space in schedule to take voice and dance as classes. Sometimes it’s because of number of requirements (both acting & gen ed) and sometimes it’s because classes are held at same times.
Congrats on your D to have so many awesome acceptances in MT and Acting!