BA University of Minnesota

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>I have been reading this site for a while, but just joined today. My son, a senior, is auditioning for the following BFA theater programs:</p>

<p>UNCSA
Rutgers
SMU
Boston U.
Purchase
U-Minn</p>

<p>We are going to unified auditions in New York. He just found out today that he did get accepted into the BA program at U-Minnesota. He knows that all the schools he is auditioning for are very competitive. We live in Corpus Christi, TX so his performance opportunities have been in community theater as well as school based productions. He did attend UNCSA's summer intensive, and is currently in a dance company. </p>

<p>A couple of questions: are there members here who attend or attended University of Minnesota for a BA in theater? He is also now wondering about the possibility of doing a dance minor and theater major? He began dance late so technically he wasn't anywhere ready to audition for a dance program, but does have a lot of natural dance ability. </p>

<p>From the research we've done, it looks like even if he doesn't make it into the BFA at Minnesota, the city itself has a lot of performance opportunities...would love to hear from someone who actually lives or lived there. Since we are so far away, the only campus he will be visiting is SMU (in Dallas). All his other auditions will be in New York.</p>

<p>Any input is much appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Hello and welcome!</p>

<p>The University of Minnestota has a great BA in theatre, and the Twin Cities are a fantastic place to enjoy and participate in every kind of theatre you can imagine. The number of theatre seats in that area is second nationally only to NYC.</p>

<p>We have a good friend who just finished a BA in theatre at UMinn, and my D strongly considered it as one of her top 2-3 options. The opportunities for training and performance are rich and valuable and the faculty are terrific. While the BFA program is quite set apart, there is some collaboration, too (we saw several BA students cast in a BFA production, albeit in smaller parts - and they were excellent, by the way). </p>

<p>What made my D decide against the program was that she was accepted into a BFA, in a structured, more intimate program. She realized that in UMinn’s BA she would have to take a lot of personal initiative to pull from their enormous resources exactly what she would want to take, how she would want to study, etc., and she decided an established BFA program would be better for her. Also, her program is near NYC, which of course was a huge draw. Yet she was very aware that extremely exciting things happen in Minn/St. Paul, and it took a city like NYC to draw her away.</p>

<p>The only other comment I’d make is that any student at a large state flagship should be really comfortable finding his way among the huge numbers of students, a perhaps overwhelming bureaucracy, the sheer physical size, etc. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but it does take some chutzpah and patience as things fall into place. I recommend putting in the tiny housing deposit right away, and to request the arts dorm. The UMinn campus is really nice, one of the nicest big city campuses I’ve ever seen, and well-organized. The arts buildings are all on one side of the river, so it does help to live near them and among like-minded students. The housing deposit was so small last year that we thought it was well worth losing it to have some assurance that she could live in that dorm.</p>

<p>Good luck to your son, and I hope he has great audition success. I do believe that the BA at Minnesota can be at least as valuable an experience as any other theatre degree. This is a school where I would have no qualms being in a BA alongside a BFA - there is a separate department, separate faculty, a lot of opportunities and attention, and a wonderful theatre community to explore.</p>

3

<p>EmmyBet is right on. I don’t have direct experience with the theater program … I got my engineering degree from the U in 1987 (although I considered switching to the music dept as a sophomore). DD is a freshman this year in the biology school (CBS).</p>

<p>The comments about the physical size, bureaucracy, etc. are certainly true, but I think learning to navigate through that type of stuff is valuable in itself.</p>

<p>If there is any chance that he might choose the U, definitely put in your housing deposit. Don’t wait … housing is in short supply and is assigned based on the date that you pay the $25 application fee. He should probably select Middlebrook as his first choice, but don’t get bogged down in that … you have until May 15th to change your preferences. Just get the application in now!</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much for the feedback. My son is pretty independent, did have the experience of the summer at UNCSA, but it is hard to know…I grew up in New York and went to the University of Michigan so I think I have a pretty good idea of what a large college would be like. </p>

<p>He wants the structure/focus of the BFA, but it is very nice to have a fall back plan, both in terms of acceptance into a school and financing.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the advice about the dorm…It is such an overwhelming process. I feel like this has become a second job and there is still so much to learn. He is my oldest of three, so I am hoping it will get a bit easier.</p>

5

<p>Good luck to your son! It does seem like he’s set his sights pretty high in BFA programs, and I hope his dreams come true. I do think he’ll have a great option with the BA at Minn if the BFAs (or the financial plans) don’t work out. And yes, your Michigan experience is a good reference point. </p>

<p>I was fortunate that my theatre applicant was my second, so the “regular” college stuff was at least familiar to me. Ask all of the questions you want. Soon you’ll be a wise old admissions veteran!</p>

6

<p>We went ahead and did the $25 housing deposit and chose the arts’ dorm—so glad to have that information…wouldn’t have thought we could do that until we officially decided to attend and sent in the acceptance $250…</p>

<p>Now, on to those monologues…My son is struggling with the University of Minnesota one that asks to prepare a part that you wouldn’t be cast in but would like to play. and of course, any suggestions I make are automatically disregarded because mom suggests them. Fortunately, he has a ton of plays and does actually read them…We have a private coach as well as the department chair of Texas A & M Corpus (a regional state college her in Corpus Christi) working with him (he took Acting I at the University this past semester which did give him opportunities to work on monologues/scenes and a 10 minute play) so I am surrendering the monologue prep. stuff to him.</p>

<p>Thanks again for your advice and I probably will have more questions as time goes on…</p>

7

<p>hi! i’m a BFA student at the U…so i can’t speak of my own personal experience with the BA program but i have friends in the program so i do know a bit about it. unlike my program which is grounded in classical acting, the BA program is focused more on creating a theater artist. there is much more emphasis on creating devised work and experimental theater it seems. the man who is head of the BA program is an amazing actor and from the guy in my company who was a BA student before transferring into the BFA, he is a wonderful teacher. I’ve heard some wonderful things about the other faculty members as well.</p>

<p>They have begun a BA mentoring program so the BA students could establish connections and relationships with working professionals in the city as well.</p>

<p>I will also echo that as a BA student you definitely do have to have much more personal initiative to get the training and education you do want as it is much less structured than the BFA program. </p>

<p>And YES he can do a dance minor in addition to a theater major. I know of one theater/dance double major and on theater/vocal performance major here at the U. </p>

<p>don’t sweat it about the 3rd piece. they just want to see something the student is passionate about and that the passion shows through in the piece…i think it’s the faculty’s way of seeing something that a student has picked because he loved it rather than what he thought would fit his type/what he thought auditors want to see him do. as a program that loves to give its students the ability to stretch, they love seeing kids who aren’t afraid of going into unfamiliar territory. there was a girl who got in my year but opted to go to Juillard who did a piece from glengarry glen ross. my friend was the bag lady from search for signs of intelligent life in the universe. but also don’t be afraid to be simple in the choice. my 3rd piece was basically my 2nd contemporary piece I used with other schools that required 2 contemporary pieces, but it was my favorite of all three, so it showed. as long as it’s something your son has fun with in some way, anything will be good!</p>

<p>and just be forewarned if you didn’t know. they ask everyone to sing something. whether you’re a singer or not, everyone i knew who auditioned was asked to sing at their initial audition and many of us sang at callbacks. i myself am a singer, but was not expecting it at the first audition so i was kinda thrown off since i wasn’t expecting to sing as it’s not an audition requirement. i can’t imagine what it was like for the non-singers in my company who are shy about singing in public…so it definitely is good to know ahead of time, so it doesn’t get thrown at him unexpectedly. the ability to sing is not important however!</p>

8

<p>That’s interesting - my D found that 3rd Minn monologue the most exciting thing she did at auditions! She was Hornbeck from Inherit the Wind - we wished we could find a young woman’s part that would have been as perfect for her for her other auditions! And it’s been said before that the “singing” can definitely be something as simple as “Happy Birthday.” </p>

<p>CCer - your description of the BA is very much in line with what our current grad friend experienced and loved about the program. I’m really glad you’re having such a good experience, and that you’re finding the relationship between the two programs is so healthy.</p>

9

<p>i wouldn’t venture to say there is an amazing relationship between the BFA and the BA program. we currently are very separate and there is little chance to collaborate, although there is occasionally some…usually during the student produced work and the Minnesota Centennial Show Boat in the summer. and the occasional opportunities when the BA faculty may work with us on our BFA projects.</p>

<p>I remember upon first entering the program I thought there was an unspoken animosity between the two programs (slight but present), but I think it is getting better. I spoke to one o my friends in the BA and he’s heard from a lot of others that it is true…that way before we both entered school the faculty of both programs did not even really speak to each other. The lines of communication are finally beginning to open up however.</p>

<p>o and also another thing about the BFA program should any individuals be interested. If you come to school with enough liberal ed credits already, there is a huge possibility to minor or in some cases double major. I am personally minoring in music–although with a plan to stay after for a semester or two to get everything done…I could do it in 4 years, but I opted to do two conservatory programs and don’t want to go to the credit maximum and overwork myself which is why i’ve made the decision to extend my undergraduate education longer than 4 years. there are kids in my class who are minoring or double majoring who even have time to have jobs too…they of course are the individuals who are extremely good time managers and multi-taskers.</p>

10

<p>Thank you for being honest, CCer. I used the word “healthy” because I think it’s OK that the two programs are separate, different and maybe even have a few barriers. They have very different foci, and being at the same university probably shouldn’t be too intermingled (because of competition and all that). My impression was that there was a bit of “us vs. them,” which is understandable, but that in general the relationship is moving forward. The Guthrie program, after all, is still very new. </p>

<p>The fact that UMinn has low tuition for MN/WI residents and pretty low OOS costs make it very attractive for both the BFA and the BA. It gives students the freedom to consider an extra semester or year, something that’s really out of the question at many of the private universities. The Minn BA was very high on my D’s list until the very end of her decision process. Both programs really are excellent.</p>

11

<p>CCer,</p>

<p>Thanks for the information…perfect timing, as we get ready next weekend to go to New York for his auditions (including UMinn). He is prepared with songs since several of his other auditions require them. He has been in choir, but singing is definitely the area that he is least confident in. In acting and dance, he has never held back at all, but for some reason, when on stage, he tends to hold back vocally. Anyway, I like your suggestion about the second contemporary piece. I will most definitely share it with him. I appreciate you taking your time to share.</p>

12

<p>He is planning on doing the environmental monologue from Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. His other contemporary piece is from a play called Walking the Dead…It is a black comedy. Anyway, he feels more passionate about the Chekhov but was wanting input.</p>

13

<p>i would recommend he do the uncle vanya piece as he likes it more…but keep the other one in his back pocket. ken and judy like to ask students they’re interested in to do extra stuff a lot of times. i didn’t have a lot on my resume and what i did have was mostly musical theatre, so they didn’t try to have me do any other pieces…but i remember talking to a kid during callbacks who ken asked to do something on his resume…it was a role he had performed in middle school. i’m not saying your son should try to review every role he’s ever played, but to be prepared to possibly be asked to do other things.</p>