BFA MT & Honors Colleges

I imagine that it’s possible for a student to be part of an Honors College and get a BFA in MT in four years on some university campuses but not on others.

I will look into this for select universities but have not yet begun my investigation; anyone who knows whether or not an attempt to be part of a Honors College and graduate with a BFA MT program in four years is logistically feasible, I would appreciate learning what you know.

In some instances, I imagine the demands of the BFA in MT program may pose too many requirements and / or schedule conflicts with an Honors College to do both, whereas on other campuses, there is a way to do both and still graduate in four years.

I would think it might be feasible with some “smaller” programs. Western Carolina University was one program that we looked at that had offered our daughter Honors college admission. But the conservatory type programs would probably not be a possibility.

During one of the panel discussions we attended at Syracuse this spring, a professor said that about 50% of the Drama Dept. students who are in the Honors program complete all of the requirements. And I know that at least several CC MT alumni from Coastal Carolina successfully met the Honors College graduation requirements.

Pretty sure it’s doable at Temple. Honestly, I don’t know why it would be an issue anywhere where the two are allowed in combination. My impression of the HCs we looked at is the students got a closer cohort of smart, ambitious freshmen and they got better housing. The actual course work involved in being part of an HC wasn’t overwhelmingly different - just additional research and scholastic opportunities.

I have heard of students doing it at Wright State. It’s definitely possible at Florida Southern, Central Oklahoma, and Ohio Northern. I think all but one or two on my daughter’s list said it was possible. It usually involves just signing up for honors sections of core classes and a few seminars. The schools my daughter looked at that had senior capstone project requirements could tie the project directly into theatre. You definitely can email and ask each BFA program if it’s unclear from their website. Samford in Birmingham had an honors like curriculum, Catalyst, built into their arts program. All students had to take it and it involved a senior capstone. They had a traditional honors program too, but my D was really close to attending there and that program was one of the features she loved.

From what I know, the Honors College just puts the student at a different level of classes - or they have the option to expand their course schedule a bit and not be tied to the core classes. I don’t think there are any extra classes required or more credits issued if enrolled but just a way for the student to have a higher level. I’m basing my knowledge on 3 schools we auditioned that offered it with MT and that is what I noticed but perhaps schools have different ways of doing their honors colleges.

Many MTP’s complete the Honors program at Western Michigan. Unfortunately, there are not many honors courses in the college of Fine Arts so you have to do your honors credits in other Gen Ed courses like math and science. Being in the honors program allows you to register before other students, which is an nice perk in your first two years since some desirable course sections fill up fast. I don’t think that there are many scheduling issues between the Honors Program at WMU and completing the MT program, since most Gen Ed courses offer honors sections.

My d did not do the Honors program because she wanted to take as many electives in acting as possible, and the Honors program would have precluded that, to some extent, as she would have had to take some honors electives outside of the theatre department.

If your child is open to BA or BM Musical Theatre majors, it is possible to be in the Honors College and graduate in 4 years at James Madison University.

In the BA Musical Theatre major (which is close in credit distribution to some BFA MT programs – 62 required credits in the major – and where most students are graduating with 75 - 90 in the major), Honors College students have taken advantage of specific study abroad opportunities, and been awarded Honors College research scholarships, and have graduated in 4-years.

Honors Colege students may take Honors level General Education classes, take Honors Seminars, and take classes in the Musical Theatre major “honors option,” where they complete an additional project, paper, or presentation in addition to the generally required course work.

We have also had Honors College students graduate in 4-years with a double major with Musical Theatre and another major.

Kaitlin Hopkins recommends that all eligible BFA students apply to the honors college after they are accepted to Texas State so it’s not just doable there, it’s actively encouraged.

@Twelfthman, a few additional factors to take into consideration.

  1. From my experience looking at schools, the honors programs varied a lot. Some are integrated with gen eds and go nicely with an MT program, while others are require a lot of extra work that may be outside of an MT major. For example, one school we looked at required all honors students to take Calculus I and II and that was enough to dissuade my D from applying to it (even though she was invited to apply).
  2. Some schools offer both a general honors program and honors within the MT major. It might be helpful to see what your D may want.
  3. Some schools may be academically rigorous enough that combined with an MT program, your D may feel like honors wouldn't be needed.
  4. My D applied to the honors/leadership programs for 4 out of the 12 schools. All of them required extra essays, interviews, etc. So, if you are applying to a large amount of schools, it may be worth it for your D to really research what the program would add.
  5. Pretty sure it's easy to graduate in 4 years with an honors program in most schools.

Check out Arizona State if you are open to a BM in Musical Theatre. They have a well-respected honors college with special dorms and their own dining hall with great food. Funding for thesis projects…there are a lot of perks. Totally doable with MT in four years.

We actively encourage BFA students to apply to the Honors College at Florida State University.
-Michele

Many students at Pace School of Performing Arts (MT, Acting, Directing, stage management etc) are enrolled in the Honors College. There are many benefits (study aboard stipend, scholarship, early registration for classes/housing, special classes, thesis requirement, living learning communities, spring break trips, and social activities).

https://www.pace.edu/honors-college-new/prospective-honors-college-students/benefits

Well more than half of the MTs at Texas State are in the Honors College (maybe close to 75%). It is strongly encouraged if you qualify to enter the Honors College. This allows the students to take much more interesting and challenging classes for their Gen Eds.

My S graduated MT BFA from Wright State in 2018. As a freshman, he - and several others - were entered as Honors College students (as occurs with most entering classes). The expectation was to take approx. one honors or other “advanced” class per semester. In reality that proved very difficult, as required studio classes take up such huge chunks of the schedule every semester. He was unable to fit in even one honors class. He says approximately two Acting/MT students per year graduate with honors, but it’s usually “Departmental Honors” - meaning they fulfilled special honors requirements for the Theater Department. He knows of a couple of students who fulfilled the University Honors College requirements, but it generally took five years to complete. My S was able to graduate on time with departmental honors by writing an original musical for his senior project. Others do similar self-initiated senior projects.

My daughter is a 2017 graduate of Ball State. She did both her BFA-MT and honors college , and in fact her honor’s college thesis was a one woman show she wrote and performed. She had no problem taking the honors level gen ed classes while doing the BFA.

Probably the ultimate answer is to contact the individual department, as all are different. Both of my D’s schools are already mentioned - Wright State & Texas State. D1 at WSU also started out in the Honors program, but by sophomore year realized that she was going to have a very hard time scheduling all of the Honors classes she needed due to her required MT classes. A guy a year ahead of her was able to do it, so it’s not impossible. D2 (Acting) at TXST, as mentioned above, was highly encouraged by the department to enter the Honors college - for more interesting & smaller classes as well as to be able to register before other students.

AN IMPORTANT POINT: at Wright State, BFA students get to register before all other students in the school, so although the Honors classes conflicted with her MT classes, D1 was able to pick classes that she was interested in and that would keep her on track to get all classes/credits necessary to graduate. The department admin made sure this happened & that she was able to take the classes she wanted/needed. At TXST, D2 (only experience is freshman year & Acting - this could be different for other years/MT), was more on her own to figure out class scheduling. She had an advisor, but there wasn’t anyone in the department specifically to help with actually choosing classes/scheduling. Next spring, if it’s important to your kids, be sure to check with the programs for details, be it Honors classes or scheduling in general. Something we never thought to ask about!

My DS is doing Honors College and BFA MT at Otterbein - No problems and the Honors dorm is across the street from the theatre ( big plus when it snows )