ATTENTION - Current BA/BFA Theater/Acting/Drama Students

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>Hi there! My name is Josh and I am a high school senior. My dream is to get a BFA in Theater from one of the top theater programs in the country. I have compiled a preliminary list of schools with strong theater programs based on the criteria of prestige, reputation, testimonials, and recommendations from trusted sources. As I continue my research, I am finding it difficult to really learn about the BFA programs at these schools. Visiting their websites gives me little helpful or detailed information and reading about the faculty leads me nowhere. I took a look at the curriculums of some of the BFA programs and it seems to me that similar classes are required no matter where I go. I became frustrated due to the dearth of detailed information on BFA Theater programs available to me via the web. And that's when my mother imparted to me a nugget of wisdom.</p>

<p>"If you want to get a sense of a school's BFA Theater program, why don't you talk to one of the current students or alumni?"</p>

<p>So I took my quest for knowledge to College Confidential's Theater/Drama Majors forums. I had heard about College Confidential and the wealth of collective information and experience its users possessed. I created an account, using a moniker a friend coined for me while watching "Jay Jay the Jet Plane" in the 2nd grade, and typed up my story with the hope that the College Confidential community wouldn't let me down.</p>

<p>Here is my preliminary list of schools:</p>

<p>UCLA
USC
Chapman
Pepperdine
Occidental
Loyola Marymount University
Southern Oregon
NYU - Tisch
Fordham
SUNY Purchase
Juilliard
Marymount Manhattan
Pace University
Carnegie Mellon
Rutgers
Emerson
Boston University
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
DePaul
UNCSA
University of Miami
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
CSU Fullerton
Santa Monica City College</p>

<p>Does anyone know anyone who has attended or is currently enrolled in the BFA Theater program or equivalent* at any of these schools who would be willing to talk with me via email, Facebook, phone, or Skype?</p>

<p>*UCLA for example does not offer a BFA in Theater, however their BA is structured similarly to a BFA.</p>

<p>Here is a list of questions that I hope can be answered by talking to someone who has attended or is currently attending the any of the above theater programs:</p>

<p>How did you pick this school?</p>

<p>What other schools did you apply to?</p>

<p>Where did you get in? </p>

<p>What classes are you taking in the BFA?</p>

<p>What are you learning in those classes?</p>

<p>Do you enjoy those classes?</p>

<p>How are the teachers?</p>

<p>Are they knowledgeable and well informed?</p>

<p>Are there certain teachers that students don't get along with?</p>

<p>Are your classmates talented?</p>

<p>Are there opportunities to perform?</p>

<p>How much time do you spend doing things directly related to your major?</p>

<p>How is the school setting you up with agents and managers and what not?</p>

<p>Do you have a life outside of the BFA program?</p>

<p>Are people able to minor or double major in something else?</p>

<p>Are the academic classes difficult?</p>

<p>Does the school have a reputation for having good, bad, or average academics? Does this seem to be true based on your personal experience?</p>

<p>Do you know anyone doing a double major or minor in the BFA program? </p>

<p>What's the campus like?</p>

<p>What's the city/town like?</p>

<p>What is your general impression of the students there?</p>

<p>How do you spend your free time?</p>

<p>Perhaps people could email these questions to any current students or alumni that they know and post their responses in the thread so that everyone can see.</p>

<p>Any correspondence is appreciated. A phone number, an email address, a name, everything is helpful.</p>

<p>If anyone thinks that there are better ways to learn about BFA Theater programs then please point me in the right direction. Any advice, tips, or guidance is welcome.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>A couple of thoughts on your post. </p>

<p>First, unfortunately there are not many current students who are hanging out at CC. The forum is very fortunate to have several parents who continue to post here after their kids are off to school. But as to the kids themselves, life of a BFA is likely a bit too time consuming to spend much time on CC. </p>

<p>Second, quite a few of your questions are addressed here or can be found in other sources. Someone may correct me on this but I don’t see how a double major is in the cards anywhere if you really are interested in pursuing a BFA. If you really want a double major, you should be pursuing a BA. There was just a post here recently discussing some of the few schools where you could do a minor.</p>

<p>Third, your list has all sorts of schools with very different characteristics. You might be able to pare your list down to something more reasonable to investigate by thinking harder about what it is you are looking for.</p>

<p>Fourth, everyone struggles with how to investigate the number of schools you have to apply to when seeking a BFA. Most have come to a compromise similar to what we have of visiting some schools that are nearby and applying to others in which we may not have perfect information. Hopefully, my daughter will have choices at the end of this process so we can do further investigation. </p>

<p>Good luck with your search.</p>

3

<p>Fifth, it would be a huge amount of work to answer your survey.And you are also asking for phone numbers, email addresses… I doubt anyone would do this for a stranger.</p>

4

<p>As already mentioned, there are not a lot of current college students on CC. </p>

<p>But talking to current students IS a very good idea. But there are other ways to go about that. One is to do campus visits and meet up with current students. Another is to call theater departments and ask if there are any current students willing to answer some questions or to talk with a prospective student. Also, you may have friends (or friends of friends) attending these programs and so network and ask around if anyone knows anyone on campus to get in touch with. Some programs or colleges may have Facebook sites for current students in the programs and you can ask some questions there too.</p>

5

<p>Hey! I’m a current freshman at NYU Tisch in the Strasberg studio- i’ll try to answer these quickly because I know when I was applying this would’ve helped out a lot. </p>

<p>How did you pick this school?
NYU was my dream school- I applied early decision. I did a lot of research, and I loved everything about the school. I wanted a school that focused on academics as well as training, but in a conservatory setting, because I think that the more you know about life in general, the more it will help you develop yourself as an actor. Also, with NYU’s unbelievable alumni list, how could it not be on the top of your list?</p>

<p>What other schools did you apply to?
I was planning to apply to many schools, but withdrew or cancelled my apps once I was accepted to NYU. The few schools that I actually submitted applications to/auditioned for before NYU, I was accepted to.</p>

<p>Where did you get in?
CCM, Milikin, Indiana University, Coastal Carolina University</p>

<p>What classes are you taking in the BFA?
Vocal Production, Ballet, Tai Chi, Speech, Method Acting, Improv, & Stainslovsky to Strasberg (basically a history of acting class)</p>

<p>-these classes of course differ by studio</p>

<p>What are you learning in those classes?
everything… , sense memory, international phonetic alphabet, speaking on voice, improv… but a lot of basics too. It gets more complicated as your time goes on.</p>

<p>Do you enjoy those classes?
Yes, very much so. As a freshman, some of the aspects of being a freshman and having to do very basic work can be really frustrating, but overall I’m loving it. </p>

<p>How are the teachers?
The teachers are absolutely fantastic. They are geniuses. They’ve all pretty much been on Broadway and have amazing stories and life experiences to tell us about. One of my acting teachers was Alec Baldwin’s acting teacher… and just the little golden pieces of knowledge they will drop on you is so brilliant you can’t even fathom it. </p>

<p>Are they knowledgeable and well informed?
^see above</p>

<p>Are there certain teachers that students don’t get along with?
No</p>

<p>Are your classmates talented?
Extremely. I’m blown away every time my friends perform.</p>

<p>Are there opportunities to perform?
As a freshman, you aren’t allowed to perform in the shows, but you can do student run productions and such. </p>

<p>How much time do you spend doing things directly related to your major?
Well we have studio for 9 hours 3 times a week… so a lot haha</p>

<p>How is the school setting you up with agents and managers and what not?
They aren’t concerned with that right now, I’m a freshman, so I’m not really sure.</p>

<p>Do you have a life outside of the BFA program?
Yes, very much so. I’ve become so close with people in my studio, because it is so small, and living in New York City is such an incredible experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world. </p>

<p>Are people able to minor or double major in something else?
Yes, it’s quite common at NYU actually</p>

<p>Are the academic classes difficult?
Yes, but in a good way.</p>

<p>Does the school have a reputation for having good, bad, or average academics? Does this seem to be true based on your personal experience?
Good, and yes.</p>

<p>Do you know anyone doing a double major or minor in the BFA program?
Yes I do, and I’m actually considering double majoring in psychology. </p>

<p>What’s the campus like?
There’s not a typical “campus” and while this is a turn off for a lot of people, it’s actually one of my favorite things about NYU. You get to explore the city and it’s in the best part of the city- the village. It’s so beautiful and so wonderful. Everyday I wake up here and can’t believe this is actually my life. </p>

<p>What’s the city/town like?
Amazing. Like i said. Amazing amazing amazing.</p>

<p>What is your general impression of the students there?
There are some weirdos. There are some nerds. There are just a wide wide variety of people at NYU. But there’s 22,000 people here, you will definitely be able to find normal people; especially if you go into drama, since you’ll be with such a small community. </p>

<p>How do you spend your free time?
We go see shows, we walk around new york, we shop, people go to bars and clubs… theres a million things to do.</p>

6

<p>Alex,</p>

<p>Thanks for posting. I’m interested in knowing if you think applying ED to Tish decreased your merit and financial aid they gave you. In other words do you think RD kids get more money from NYU then the ED kids. I know the word is that NYU does not give good aid but people here have seen that they do give some.</p>

7

<p>Hey Alex,</p>

<p>Message me and I can give you info on the BFA at The University of Michigan. I’m a current BFA student there.</p>

8

If you are a prospective theatre major, there is a Facebook group made every year to provide info, support, etc. Last year it was The Ensemble and this year it’s The Troupe… there are about 1500 people- mostly high school seniors, a few juniors, and many college students. I have learned so much about schools from this page. I am the only person applying to BFA theatre programs in my city but haven’t felt completely alone thanks to The Troupe. The best part about the page is that you can meet current students at the schools you are accepted to and message them with questions. So while BFA students tend to not spend as much time on CC, they surely will help you out on FB!

9

This is a four year old thread.

10

I wonder where Jazay ended up going. I wonder if Jazay got to talk to students from all those schools…the world may never know.