DD will be applying to BFAs and also BAs (schools that have musical theatre opportunities, like a build-your-own program with voice lessons in the music dept and dance classes in the dance dept). For both types of schools, she insist that they be of some high degree of academic caliber because she still also wants to take other classes beyond her major and wants to be in classes with students who are also academically inclined. So, Northwestern is one of the non-audition programs she is looking into, but she’s also looking at schools like Columbia and Yale, where she can major in Theater/Drama and also take voice and dance (yes, possibly with additional fees, but no where near as much as we are paying now). She is also interesting in directing and playwriting, so some BAs in Drama/Theater give her that flexibility. Half of her list of schools are non-audition schools like the build-your-own and the other half are audition BFA programs.
Her plan is to get as much done as possible over the summer (already meeting with coaches on song/monologue selections now and will be meeting dance coach for choreographer in July). She expects all her prescreen material to be prepared by beginning of August. All her essays (including supplementals) will need to be written by mid-August. This is the agreement we made because she wants to continue to be captain of her color guard section of her marching band --marching band season is intense from mid-August to first week of November. So, she knows it all has to be ready to be submitted prior to the MB season begins. She also agreed that she will likely not be able to do any fall/spring shows. The college courses she is picking now is only for the fall session, so with the exception of the marching band, a rigorous math course could be doable. The courses that she chooses for the spring will not matter as much in terms of rigor (for the academic schools), hopefully, because she will have already submitted her applications by then. She can take it just a little easier on the choices for spring courses, when auditioning takes place.
Not sure if scholarships depend on academic rigor, as @Twoin18 mentioned, but we could definitely use all the help we can get.
I am actually kind of stressed out for her because whether she is applying to the incredibly competitive audition BFAs or the incredibly selective academic schools, it all seems like such a crapshoot in the end. Just trying to find ways to help increase her chances just a little bit, even if it’s looking into the difference between one math or science course and another math or science course.
Oh, I have been doing this for quite some time now. We have shared google calendars, so she doesn’t schedule anything that conflicts with anything I’ved scheduled for her. And she and I have to run things by each other before changing anything. Mostly, she tells people to run it by me to fit on her calendar. I often refer to myself as her unpaid secretary.