I am very serious about theatre and acting, and would seriously consider pursuing a degree/career in the field. I am also passionate about writing and public speaking, and have been interested in studying journalism to work in broadcast journalism.
I would love any insight on colleges that could accommodate both of these interests. I am a freshman in high school so my college knowledge and vocabulary is still growing. Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
Emerson! Their theatre/acting degrees are all demanding BFA programs that would have to be your first priority, but some are designed to be more flexible ( Theatre & Performance BFA, Undergraduate, Emerson College ) and could accommodate a journalism minor and/or prereqs to feed into a journalism MA.
Thank you so much!
What state are you in? Can you give us a guesstimate about how your grades will be? Are you usually a A+ student or more of a A/B student or do you have the occasional C thrown in? Do you have any idea of how much $$ your parents will be able to afford. Emerson is very expensive and I don’t believe they give much aid. We struck it from our list early on because it was so expensive.
We are in NC and UNC is a great school for journalism and also very good for theater. Elon would be another one to consider in NC. NYU would be great, but a reach.
Thank you so much! I will definitely look into UNC and Elon, I have heard great things about both. I am in love with NYU, but agree that it is a reach. I am from Massachusetts.
As for my grades; I am a freshman and currently attend a very academically rigorous school. My average for the Fall Term landed near the higher end of the median range for my school according to their school profile. It was equivalent to a B+/A-.
If I had to guesstimate how my grades will be in the future, I can only see them improving. The school I attend now is very different than what I am used to.
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If you think you might want to double major, you’ll have to see by the college’s catalogs what might fit. Then start out by scheduling only things that count toward the majors or gen eds so you have no wasted credits. Then see how you feel about either major as time goes on. Keep in mind a theatre BFA most places won’t leave much room for journalism extras. But there are BA and BS.
DD’19 wanted to double major in Parks & Rec and Theatre. Recreation was a BS with a lot of credits required but the Theatre BA had few enough credits she could just fit it in since she had at least a semester’s worth of dual enrollment. Freshman fall semester made sure to take only things that counted. During the year decided to drop to a theatre minor. The next year decided to do whatever theatre she wanted and not worry about course requirements for a minor.
Thank you so much for the insight!
Syracuse is another that’s strong in both, but as others have said, strength in both may in fact correlate negatively with ability to combine.
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Thank you! I will look further into Syracuse.
Northwestern University is often ranked at or near the top for both Journalism and for Theater.
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Thank you, I will look further into Northwestern!
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Columbia University and Boston University may also both be worth a look. Are you interested in a big college or a smaller one? Closer to home or far away?
Thank you! To be honest, I really don’t have a size preference as I could see myself loving either experience. While I don’t mind how far I am from home, in an ideal world I would love to be in or close to a city (NYC, LA, or even Boston).
Chicago is a city.
(Northwestern is in Evanston, Illinois which offers easy access to Chicago.)
I am aware, thank you!
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Comment was intended to be humorous. 