So from what I’ve read on CC and what I heard at my audition, BU accepts about 90-or-so students to try to fill about 40 spots. On their website, it says that underclassmen class size averages 12-19 people, and that upperclassmen class size averages 8-14 people. Where do those numbers come from? At my audition, the auditor said something about that big group of 40 being divided up somehow (but honestly I was so nervous at the time that I can’t really remember what she said specifically). Does that mean the actual BFA acting class ends up really large? Do people break off as other majors? I’m just not totally sure how it all breaks down.
The numbers you were told are what my D was told last year. They would take that class of 40 and split them into smaller groups. And then you have to chose your focus Performance or …dang, can’t remember…theater arts? So that makes groups smaller. And of course you are going to get attrition in a BFA program- it’s a tough, intense world, and some people will realize it’s not for them as they go along. (Which is why I always say it is smart to choose a college that you would want to go to without theater) and leave the program- so groups could get smaller that way too.
Send a PM to NJTheatreMom. Her son is a grad.
The 40 students are split into two groups. For my son’s class (2017) they had 50 kids accept, so they split that group into 3 smaller groups. This is for freshman year, as the students go through freshman core courses. At the end of freshman year the kids choose their major - acting or theatre arts. The sophomore acting kids were split into two groups (not sure if the theatre arts kids get split down also, as my S is an acting major). I just heard yesterday that this year’s freshman class was a lot smaller as BU got more selective after my son’s class was so large - and out of that smaller freshman class, they have already lost 5 kids with another one waffling. Two kids were pressured by their parents to go into other majors, one kid didn’t like the program (which has an ensemble approach freshman year and he was used to leads in high school, etc.), and two others just didn’t have any idea of the intensity of the program. Of course, I think it was the 8ft of snow . . .
@marbleheader so there isn’t really one specific BFA acting class?
Not sure what you mean? My son’s a sophomore, and in his BFA acting class (meaning Class of 2017), the kids were broken up into two groups Section A and Section B. There are 15 kids in each section (again, his class was large so this number would normally be about 10-12 kids in each section, and they had more kids pick the acting track over the theatre arts track). So Section A takes their classes together (stage combat, drama lit, scene study, etc.) and Section B takes their classes together, but the whole group worked on the sophomore class production.
Just to clarify - that is to say the sophomore acting majors worked on a sophomore class production (so 30 kids) for fall semester, and the theatre arts majors (about 20 kids) worked on their own class production for fall semester. Students don’t go into the casting pool until spring semester sophomore year, but both acting majors and theatre arts majors have equal opportunity to get cast. I will say that the acting curriculum in set, and if you choose the acting track, you are guaranteed the acting courses. If you choose theatre arts you need to go through course registration for those acting classes, so no guarantee of getting them.
@marbleheader Sorry! I was sort of thinking about how at some other schools, there’s one specific BFA acting class for each year that takes all of their theatre classes together. I was confused because it sounded like BU had two per year going, and I wasn’t sure how or if they overlapped.
@decomfortable - I think you will find that schools that take more than 10-20 kids (Like BU, NYU, BOCO, Marymount etc) will break the kids up into smaller sections. I personally have never read about a BFA program whose acting classes have more than 20 people in the daily classes (though I freely admit I have not researched every program in the world!) Most BFA classes (scene study, voice and speech, movement etc) are under 15 per class.
At my kid’s school, and within her studio, they split the freshman class into groups of 12. Those kids take all their BFA classes together 3 days a week (and are mixed with other Tisch kids for their 2 required academic classes on M/W). At the semester, they mixed the groups, so she is working with some of the same people, and some new people. The same thing will happen again next year. I like the slightly deeper pool- my kid went to a PA high school where there was a small group of kids who were in classes and shows together constantly- sometimes drama (in life as opposed to onstage) got the better of them. One of the things my kid was specifically looking for in college was a broader experience. But as with all other things, it’s personal choice!