<p>Hello- Just starting to look into musical theater programs for my daughter. She has had increasingly better parts in her high school musical and has a very good voice, but she has not had voice lessons or dancing lessons due to family financial constraints.</p>
<p>I see there are also BA programs that do not require auditions often at the same schools that offer BFA programs that do require auditions.</p>
<p>If she applies for the BFA program at a school and auditions and does not get accepted can she still apply for the BA at the same school and get accepted that same year? How does that work?</p>
<p>She would love to get into theater professionally but we realize that that is a longshot since she didn't have the same training and background as others, but she would still love to major in theater even if she doesn't get into the BFA programs.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help! </p>
<p>Most schools that offer a BA and a BFA academically admit separately from the artistic decision - and so it’s absolutely possible to decide to attend a school for a BA in Theater at a school where the BFA audition didn’t go your way. At most schools - you can declare the BA major - just like you would English - or any other major that doesn’t require an application/audition process. One notable exception - if you want to attend the University of Michigan no matter what - you must apply to LS&A AS WELL as applying to the BFA program. The academic/artistic admit is bundled - and if you are rejected from the BFA - if you haven’t also applied and been admitted to LS&A - you can’t easily switch to a BA in Theater.</p>
<p>Another thing to check out at the schools she is looking at is if there BA students can audition for shows or is it limited to the BFA majors. Also how often BA students are cast. </p>
<p>I would investigate school by school. Some BA programs offer amazing training/opportunities - AND the ability to pursue other interests. In the research that we did for my D, those programs tended to be at schools that did NOT have a BFA program. I would recommend looking at liberal arts colleges- there are a number of them with excellent theater programs. Muhlenberg, Denison, and Kenyon were ones that interested my D- but there are lots out there. </p>
<p>She may want to consider non-audition programs at schools that do not also have an auditioned BFA program. Some schools really separate the students in the BA vs BFA programs, not just for casting, but also for which classes she is allowed to take. And, if she is thoroughly determined to make this her career/lifestyle choice, remind her that she will get out of a program what she puts in. There are plenty of successful actors that did not get a BFA! Look at the Big List of MT Programs by Type thread, pinned at the top (skip to the most recent list towards the end of the thread). It breaks down the programs into auditioned vs non-auditioned programs, and BA vs BFA. Maybe there are some local options that she could visit in advance. If she could sit in on some classes and see some performances, she would be able to get an idea where her skill set would fit in.</p>
<p>On the flip side, if performing does not pay the bills, business hiring people will be less likely to ignore a BA than a BFA. If you get a BFA you had better be VERY good at what you do or be interesting in teaching/coaching.</p>
<p>You may also want to take a look at programs that audition for their BFA program during or after the Freshman year such as Columbia College, Western Kentucky, and West Florida. Some of these programs also offer re-audition opportunities if the applicant is not successful on the first try.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies-sounds like the best course of action is to contact the individual schools as it gets closer to time to apply to find out how they each run their programs</p>
<p>West Florida is now an audition before acceptance school.</p>
<p>If you want a Ba or BFA, Consider Columbia college, a safety of mine, you are guarentee a BA but can get into BFA sophmore year! </p>