Full disclosure, I work for a theatre program with a Minor in Musical Theatre, and Major in Theatre (and we are a BA program). I’ve been trying to gauge the pros and cons of auditioning for acceptance into a program vs not auditioning.
What is the preference from parents and students on audition vs. non audition schools? Are you more likely to want to attend a school that requires an audition (musical or not) for acceptance?
You’ll probably get better informed responses in the Musical Theater forum:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/
@JonKReynolds I think it depends on what your goal is. On the one hand, I’m sure many people here can cite examples of people who work in musical theater who didn’t get a degree in theater at all. On the other hand, unless your student is a rare triple-threat prodigy, the more/better training, the more prepared he’ll be to work in the field. If that’s his goal, it’s more likely that an audition program will be a program that’s more intensely focused on preparing a student to work. On the other hand, a non-audition program would likely offer more flexibility and the ability to focus on other pursuits as well.
I don’t think the preference comes from whether or not an audition is required. I think for most families who are allowing their children to pursue this degree in college, they want a program that has demonstrated success by its alums. Their main concern is they want to know their kids can get a job when they graduate whether they end up as a performer, in some other part of theater, teaching or something altogether different. They just want to know they’ve earned a college degree and that they are employable.
Having said that, true or not, I think there is a perception that the more difficult it is to gain admission to a program, the better training that program provides. And passing an audition gives the applicant a sense of accomplishment - sort of a badge of honor they’ve earned in the process. So for many, they would consider an auditioned program more prestigious or better than a non-audition program.
Conversely, there are many families seeking a non-audition option as their “safety” school. So while you may not be their top choice (their top choice being an auditioned program) there are many families out there seeking non audition alternatives they can feel good about. So there is a niche out there for non-auditioned programs. Every year people are begging for suggestions of good safety schools. But the key is, that safety still needs to provide the training these students desire. That means skills based classes in acting, dancing and singing.
There also seems to be a perception out there that a BFA degree provides more or better training than a BA degree. There are also some Bachelor of Music degrees (Baldwin Wallace, OCU, etc…) and perception about those vary also. Even though they both continuously produce Broadway talent, there is a perception that the degree is less than there because they are BMs rather than BFAs. I personally always recommend to applicants that they look at the curriculum and not the letters of the degree to see if the school is providing the training they are seeking. So perhaps if you focus on tailoring your curriculum to provide the training these aspiring performers are seeking, that may also appeal to them. Typically BA programs are more theoretical and less skills based and what most of these MT kids want is intensive training in acting, singing and dancing.
All that to say, I think if you position your program as providing the training that people are seeking that will be appealing. You could consider doing what some schools do in having auditions at the end of freshman or sophomore year to get in the MT program. But that can be a deterrent to some also.
Not every program can be the right fit for every applicant. But there will be a number of applicants out there who would be delighted to have a strong non-auditioned option.
What is the preference from parents and students on audition vs. non audition schools? Are you more likely to attend a school that requires a musical theatre audition for acceptance?
In agreement with what @vvnstar says above. Many (most?) families look at the audition process as a way to determine that the talent of other potential future classmates has been vetted–an outside assessment that students will be learning alongside other similarly talented students. The downside of not having an audition process, is that you are far more likely to attract applicants that view your school as a non-audition safety school than a legitimate first choice quality theatre/MT education. It really depends on who you want to attract.
My d attended an audition-based PA High School which was very competitive for entry and featured a BFA-style, conservatory-type environment with a pre-professional curriculum. As a result, she was only interested in audition-based BFA or BM programs focused on professional preparation in a conservatory-type environment. She did not think that non-audition, BA programs would be the best fit for her, given her experience and preferences. This was in no small part based on recommendations from her high school teachers and instructors that were also working professionals who knew her and her focus on becoming a professional actor. I tried to convince her to look into other alternatives, such as BA programs (both audition-based and non-audition), but she was simply not interested. The non-audition programs were definitely the farthest away from her goals for a college program.
This is not to imply anything negative about non-audition, BA programs, nor does it offer any general impression or implication that only audition-based BFA or BM programs offer pre-professional training or the only way to become a professional actor.