For dancers hoping to enter the profession, MDT provides a full counseling program and maintains strong relationships with dance companies and universities around the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Students are professionally photographed and video taped in preparation for auditions. Further arrangements are made for private or company class auditions with such notable companies as American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, the Royal Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Ballet West and Merce Cunningham among others. Students wishing to enter University Performing Arts Degree programs are guided to universities with the strongest dance departments and assisted with their applications.

Margaret Swarthout has an exceptional record of placing dancers into the profession. Over seventy graduates from her training program can be found in the ranks of ballet and contemporary companies throughout the U.S. Since Marin Dance Theatre's beginning in 1996, the school has placed 16 of her students directly into major American companies. The following are some of her former students: