BFA vs BA- and Interesing School of Thought

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>A BFA is what everyone wants. A BFA is the coveted degree. </p>

<p>Well, I'm not getting a BFA- yet. I was devastated by this fact- until one conversation totally made me realize- so what?</p>

<p>I'm in the middle of a beautiful campus, in a place I automatically felt right at home. It has beautiful facilities, wonderful people- yet no BFA. Only a BA.</p>

<p>In my mind, a year ago, I would have crossed said university off my list because of that sole fact. But I didn't have that choice, anymore.</p>

<p>So I went to talk with the man who might be my academic advisor. And he explained to me why a BA might just be a better path.</p>

<p>In a conservatory- you learn to act.
In a BA- you learn to be.</p>

<p>The whole talk we had was a simple as that. A BFA is strict acting, dancing, and singing training, with no real time for anything else. In the BA at said university, I could take all the classes BFAs would, study voice with people from their music school, which happens to be rated equal to Julliard, and then get other training in other areas.</p>

<p>Psychology- You an learn about the little idiosyncrasies of characters, learn to understand them in a way you couldn't without taking this sort of course.</p>

<p>Sociology- Learn to view yet another facet of your character, how everyone else see's him/her.</p>

<p>Philosophy- What is the MEANING behind the whole thing? Why does it happen? Why did the author even write this play? </p>

<p>I can audition for shows as a freshman; I can have a social life and go to basketball games with everyone else. 6 shows a year, including two musicals, a fully staged opera every weekend, about 5 touring companies come to campus every year.</p>

<p>I walked away from that meeting refreshed, excited, and inspired. A BFA wouldn't have given me the opportunity I now have.</p>

<p>I walked away from that meeting, and walked to the admissions office of Indiana University. I handed them a check, and told them I'd see them next year.</p>

<p>The whole meaning? Don't throw away a school because they don’t have an 'F' nestled in the middle of the 'B' and 'A'. I would have if I was given the chance. I'm sorta glad I wasn't, now.</p>

2

<p>ThespianDreams,</p>

<p>Here is the critical sentence in your post:</p>

<p>"In the BA at said university, I could take all the classes BFAs would, study voice with people from their music school, which happens to be rated equal to Julliard, and then get other training in other areas."</p>

<p>In many schools, as a BA you could NOT take the BFA classes, or study voice with voice faculty (you might have to take voice outside the school or with a grad student). </p>

<p>In my view, students considering a BA should ask careful questions (as you did!) about exactly what is open to them as a BA student. </p>

<p>Chris</p>

3

<p>This is an important topic, which I'm sure has been addressed in other threads as well as the FAQ section.
However, to add some more perspective after this grueling admissions year--
my daughter, I realize now in hindsight, really was not sure what she wanted when we began this process. It was very difficult for her to verbalize what was important to her in the search process. So I tried to glean what I could, and we looked at mostly BFA programs.
As it turned out, she didn't get into the BFA programs--the schools, but not the programs. And she is going to a BA program in a wonderful university which had been pretty far down on the list initially.
After we visited the university, clarity started to come. She has realized that a BFA program is probably too focused for her and cuts out too many other interests. She wants to have a "real" college life, attend football games, play, and not necessarily be in rehearsals 5 nights a week. She wants to explore other subjects like psychology and English literature.<br>
Although I wish these things had come out earlier, I truly think she just DIDN'T KNOW in the beginning. If she had, I would have advised a different spread of schools. However, going through the BFA audition process was also a very good thing for her to have experienced. She did very well and has not (to my relief) taken the non-acceptances to mean that she's not qualified to go for it. And I agree with her that the BA is better for her.<br>
Again, some of these issues are dealt with in the FAQs on this forum, but I think it is extremely important, especially with the admissions process being so competitive not just in MT, but across the board this year and probably for the next several years to come, that students not rule out other paths than the BFA.</p>

4

<p>I agree that sometimes students don't know what they want until they are pretty far down the path. Like anything else, they have to get their feet wet to know if that's the lake they want to buy or not. (I must be on something to come up with that....)!!!</p>

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<p>If you are in fact interested in being strong in all disciplines, you could double minor in music and dance. I'm doing that with a BA major in theatre performance. So you could in fact take dance with the dance vaculty, and do voice with the music faculty if you wanted to go down that road. It would be tough, and you may have to take a couple classes over the summer to graduate on time, but it could be worth it for you if you really want to. It really isnt the DEGREE that matters, but the training you get. If you can get intensive training from a BA program, go for it. And theres always your masters!</p>

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<p>Getting a B.A. can certainly be just as <em>good</em>, just as satisfying, and just as useful as getting a B.F.A. No need to feel devastated if you don't get into a B.F.A. program. :)</p>

<p>Contrary to popular belief, however, there are B.F.A. programs where you can explore other subjects, where you can have a social life, where you can learn to <em>be</em>. They are not necessarily ALL acting, singing, and dancing. </p>

<p>Lastly, chrism makes an excellent point that at many schools, only majors can take the B.F.A. classes.</p>