College Dance Auditions 102: Choosing Colleges

If my last article didn't scare you away from majoring in dance, congratulations! Now you have to choose which colleges to apply to. Based on how you answered my questions in the last article, tt is here that you'll have to put yourself in one of three categories:

1. Dance is the only thing in my life
2. I love dance and it's what I want to do most, but I also want to do other things and/or I have another passion (double major!)
3. I love dance and I want to major (or minor) and finding a good program is important to me, but academics/a good education/another major are more important 

Disclaimer: as I am no expert or practicing professional, I might have gotten some of the college programs mixed up (though I promise these are all great programs), or some of the programs are borderline between two of the above groups. Some colleges are on two lists because of the crossover. Please do your own research on each of the colleges below if you are truly interested in applying. Also keep in mind that I don't know everything! Just because it isn't on my list doesn't mean it's not a great program.

The First Group
If you find yourself nodding to the first category, then you'll be headed for a conservatory-style program. Like I said in the previous post, think Juilliard. Now while Juilliard is considered the best program in the US, it might not be for everyone. Here are some of the best conservatory programs in the country in no particular order:

• Cornish College of the Arts
• SUNY Purchase
• University of the Arts
• Marymount Manhattan College
• California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
• Fordham University/Ailey School
• Dominican University/LINES Ballet
• University of South Florida
• North Carolina School of the Arts
• Butler University
• Mercyhurst College
• Point Park University
• Oklahoma City University
• University of Kansas
• University of Arizona
• Temple University
• University of Utah - Department of Ballet
• University of Utah - Department of Modern Dance (yes, the two are separate)

The Second Group
This is my group. I wanted a college with a good, strong dance program, but with enough academics to back it up. I plan on double majoring in a completely dance-unrelated subject. Dance is my foremost passion, so I took the dance program in most consideration when applying to college, but I did apply to some more academically-heavy colleges (like UCSD). If you want a good balance of dance and something else, these colleges are a good bet (in no particular order):

• University of Iowa 
• Indiana University - be warned on this one! They offer a BS (bachelor of science) in Dance. Dance is part of the Department of Kinesiology.
• Chapman University
• New York University
• University of Kansas
• Ohio State University
• Arizona State University
• CSU Long Beach
• University of Arizona
• Temple University
• UC Irvine
• Texas Christian University
• University of Michigan
• Western Michigan University
• University of Illinois

The Third Group
Dance is important to you, but you want to do other things first (or you're wary of the fact that very few people make it in dance and you want to have a more secure lifestyle). I applied to a few of these colleges too! These are a few schools that, for one reason or another, have great academics, but also have decent dance programs (that you may not have to audition for!), or have access to cities (NYC, LA) that will have more dancing opportunities:

• Barnard College
• Columbia University (the dance program goes through Barnard)
• Washington University in St. Louis (one of the best non-audition programs)
• New York University (keep in mind that you cannot minor in Dance at NYU, but I put it on this list because of the strong academics and access to NYC)
• Sarah Lawrence College (also a non-audition program)
• Vassar College
• UC Los Angeles (strong academics, access to LA, but keep in mind that this program is World Dance, not your traditional ballet-jazz-modern)
• University of Southern California (access to LA, no dance program)

 These are just a few of the colleges where you can get a dance education! I highly suggest you look in the back of every issue of Dance Magazine for the college guide, or order their entire issue college guide. Good luck!