Possibility of Minoring in Musical TheatreAnswered
I am struggling greatly with choosing whether or not to pursue musical theatre/music in general. Musical theatre has been in my life for as long as I can remember and it is what I have focused on the most throughout my life; I have worked so hard to build up my skills. However, I am considering pursuing a career in journalism or creative writing as I enjoy writing essays, reports, and stories with my primary compositional interest being in poems and songs. I love music as well as theatre and dance, but I am someone who craves stability and that is one of the main reasons I am looking at other career choices. Is there a chance I could major in writing/communications and minor in musical theatre so that I wouldn't have to give it up completely? Is there any universities that would allow this? What would the audition process look like if I was only shooting for a minor? Is this a completely crazy suggestion overall? I would love some advice as I am very conflicted. Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this. Edit: I will be a transfer student as I am currently a freshman at a community college and planning to apply for fall 2024. Not sure if that changes anything.
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I think it best to do both and pick a college that has both a good theatre program and a good English/journalism department. I think it's a mistake to extinguish that artistic part of your life to pursue a major that you may or may not like. But you will always love music and the theatre.
After visiting dozens of colleges around the country, I think the best bet for you would be a private liberal arts college. On the East Coast, there are literally dozens and dozens of them that have amazing theatre departments and great writing classes.
At the apex level, you will find what you are looking for at Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Colby, Pomona, and Middlebury. And if you are female, then Wellesley or Barnard are top drawers.
In the next drawer down you will find 25 schools like Vassar, Hamilton, Colgate, CMC, Scripps, Bates, Trinity College, Connecticut College, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Washington & Lee, Davidson, U of Richmond, Wake Forest,
Less competitive but equally amazing are schools like Mount Holyoke, Bennington, Hobart & William Smith, Muhlenberg, Franklin & Marshall, Marist, Bard on Annandale, St. Lawrence,
All these schools encourage their students to be active in the arts and sports and continue doing what they love to do for their 4 year undergraduate experience. During your 3rd year, you can decide whether you love journalism enough to apply to grad school like Columbia University's School of Journalism.
This would be my recommendation.
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Thank you for your suggestions! I have not looked into any liberal arts schools yet; I will now.