<p>I’m a Middlebury alum and have heard wonderful things about their program; they’re also affiliated with the Potomac Theater Project, so there’s a way to be involved with a professional company. Bright, interesting student body, superb academics, and beautiful surroundings (if you like cold weather); certainly worth checking out. Amanda Plummer is a Middlebury grad; it’s of course very possible to graduate from a program like this and have an interesting career in the theater, especially if your goal is not necessarily to be on Broadway or television. </p>
<p>I’ve never heard anything about Haverford having a strong theater program, although its suburban Philadelphia location could be an asset and they do cross-register with Bryn Mawr (and Swarthmore too? I forget).</p>
<p>Both JMU and UVA have strong IA/ IR programs as far as I know. A former student of mine at JMU was a double major with IA, and was able to travel to study abroad multiple times.</p>
<p>UVA has strong need based aid, but not a lot of merit. JMU has competitive merit and talent scholarships, but the awards vary in size. JMU does not promise to meet full need, but depending on EFC could still be much less expensive than a schools that are more expensive and do not offer merit aid. It really just depends on your circumstances.</p>
<p>The theatre program at JMU is an auditioned program. UVA is open to all majors, seems to have quite a few double majors.</p>
<p>For NYU: are you auditioning for Tisch or would you apply for CAS (Arts & Sciences)? If you are not interested in a BFA, then I suggest you research the available theater opportunities at the school. You can do so by going to the Tisch website, clicking on Special programs and getting to the Open Arts curriculum for non-majors. </p>
<p>You can also look up club opportunities on the NYU website to see what performance opportunities there would be as a BA student – you would not be able to audition for department / studio shows, but there might be enough student-run shows to satisfy you. It looks like there is a club called “Tisch New Theatre” which gives preference to non-majors. [Clubs</a> at Tisch: Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“Student Affairs”>Student Affairs)</p>
<p>There may be more clubs on the NYU or CAS website as well. It is probably listed under “Student Life” or something similar.</p>
<p>Just another heads-up on NYU / Tisch. If you do decide to audition for Tisch and double major in IR, then I would first check out the requirements for the IR major – if it has a foreign language requirement, then note that Studio meets three days a week (M, W and F), and the foreign languages meet for more than two days a week – so you would have a conflict there (unless the languages are offered after studio hours, which might be a possibility, but that would also make for an utterly exhausting day!). </p>
<p>Tisch requires only a minimum of six semesters of professional training for the BFA degree (and allows a maximum of eight), so you would have two semesters in which you do not need to be in the studio of you so choose. There is also flexibility to take academic courses and professional training in the summer (including study abroad) and January terms. During those terms, you do not need to take a full credit load (study abroad will likely have a minimum credit load though).</p>
<p>I would also check out the days for the IR courses you think might be of interest to see whether you can take them during the semesters you are in Studio. Studio days are M, W and F (except freshman year, but you can’t take classes outside of Tisch that year really). Chances are you will find enough courses of interest on T, Th, but I would check this out first before deciding about how and whether to attend NYU.</p>
<p>Those are good points that I hadn’t really thought of SDonn… With Tisch I had just been planning on going BFA because I’ve been told of how much theatre is not available to non-BFAs. I will definitely research scheduling ability right now!!</p>
<p>Kind of off topic, but how many reach, fit, and backup schools do you guys think is a good number? I’m happy with my schools but I’m just worried about getting rejected to reaches and not getting good financial aid…</p>
<p>My opinion about making a list is that you should have at least one school that is a safety for admissions and cost. If you don’t like the idea that you might not have a choice in the end, have two safeties. 2-3 matches will give you a few more acceptances to choose from. Apply to as many reaches as you want and can afford the fees for. </p>
<p>An admissions officer at Tufts gave us great advice: Only apply to schools you want to go to, and then you will never be disappointed.</p>
<p>I still think you should check out Tufts. It has some good theater and is particularly well known for international relations! I’ll admit that I am an alum.</p>
<p>My D1 went to Tufts (I guess we really liked that Admissions guy ). She is no expert, but her impression is that most of the theatre there is student-run. That can point to a less training-focused department. This may or may not appeal to a given person. I’m just saying definitely to do your research.</p>
<p>KatMT who posts here often (she is faculty at JMU in Virginia) recommends Boston College if you’d like to be in that area. At some point you might need to give us some more criteria for helping you; for example, I for one don’t see a student being strongly interested in both Brandeis and Boston College - they are schools with very different vibes.</p>
<p>Well, for one thing while I love Boston, I want to get away from home, and Boston is just too close… And I really want a school in an urban setting. Its killing me because I view Yale and Northwestern as my perfect fits-good size, urban factor, opportunities, amazing academics, theatre, global affairs… But… the obvious problemo…</p>
<p>Two excellent LACs that are in larger cities are Macalester, in St. Paul, MN, and Goucher College in Baltimore. I’d recommend looking at their websites. Goucher is likely to be a likely if not safety for someone who might get into Northwestern. Macalester is more of a match.</p>
<p>Now, if your idea of a city is New Haven, CT, there are lots of small cities all over the US with colleges that might interest you. Again, give us a few more ideas. Great academics just doesn’t quite cut it. Is a public U OK? What kind of atmosphere and kind of student is the perfect fit?</p>
<p>Pbunny, when my D applied, many moons ago, Bucknell’s theatre offerings were very good. I don’t know what they are currently. My D visited and decided not to apply because of a few different factors, none of which were theatre-related. If you want an urban location, Bucknell won’t work. Lewisburg is a small town that is in central PA, not that close to anything else.</p>
<p>Pbunny, if you see Northwestern as a “perfect-fit,” you’re absolutely sure you want to go there, and your stats and ECs are in their ballpark, I would strongly encourage you to consider applying ED. Northwestern has been taking an increasing percentage of their incoming class from the ED pool. </p>
). She is no expert, but her impression is that most of the theatre there is student-run. That can point to a less training-focused department. This may or may not appeal to a given person. I’m just saying definitely to do your research.</p>