Hi All,
I’m a rising senior and I already have schools on my list picked out like Northwestern, USC, BC, and etc. but I need a safety school to round out the list. I’m looking for theatre programs(emphasis in acting) that are primarily non-audition, I looked at some of the other threads but they seemed a bit old so I was looking for any new information.
What area of the country do you want to be?
My daughter attends Drew University in Madison NJ very close to NYC. Non-auditioned BA and is loving it. She turned down a reputable BFA to go there. Message me if you have any questions.
Look at Skidmore, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar. Also check out USC’s BA Theatre program.
I want to preferably be in the west or the northeast to answer your question
Chapman and Loyola Marymount have good programs in California as well. Chapman is audition, but LMU isn’t.
SUNY Purchase has a good non-audition BA program.
Willamette in OR would be a good safety
If you apply to the guthrie/Minnesota BFA and don’t get in, but got into the college of liberal arts (CLA) you can do a BA in theater through CLA at Minnesota. It seems like a good program. Non audition based but can audition for scholarships and alumni often work at the guthrie theater just like many BFA grads do.
I feel like some of the schools mentioned are not really safeties for the vast majority of kids. USC? Vassar? I would also appreciate hearing more non-audition schools with great theater programs. Does anyone have any info on Indiana University’s program?
IU gets a lot of attention on the MT board, but not sure about straight acting. It’s expensive if you’re out of state, though.
That’s the problem with the non-audition BAs. They are almost all very hard to get into academically. Ours were Vassar, George Washington St. Louis, Davidson and Pitt (and NU but knocked out ED there). The boy got into PItt only with SATs just over 2000 and a GPA of 3.7, 4th in class, small rural school, no hooks. He got WL at GW and Davidson.
Agree with @Jkellynh17 that it’s tricky- as many well respected BAs are at competitive LACs- so you lose the challenge of audition, but get an academic challenge instead. My D had strong stats- but I did worry about whether or not things would work. (They did)