<p>So I have a few questions for current students/parents concerning the BFA Acting Major vs. the BA Theatre Performance Major with Minor in MT.</p>
<p>MMC’s website states “The MUSICAL THEATRE minor is comprised of 24 credits and is designed to best complement the BA THEATRE ARTS with a concentration in THEATRE PERFORMANCE, although BFA ACTING students may also pursue the minor.”</p>
<p>Do any of the BFA Acting majors -actually- minor in MT, and is it actually possible?
Do BFA students get different or better training than BA students, or do they take the acting classes together?
Do BA students have more general education requirements than BFA students?</p>
<p>Maybe a current student can answer you better than I can. My daughter will be a Freshman this Fall in the BFA acting program. At the informational meeting for parents before the auditions this Fall we were told the BFA with a Musical Theatre Minor was possible but it would take a little longer to complete. I think the BA is set-up with the minor so that you would graduate on time and I think they are set-up to compliment each other better. The BA students and BFA students are on the same track until Junior year when they split. I believe you will have the same teachers until then. The BFA students follow a specific track from Junior year onwards and the BA students have more flexability in their class choices. You are evaluated from Freshman year on if you are a BFA student and you can switch to the BA or be asked to move to the BA if the faculty thinks that is best for you. I think the general education course load is the same for both. The BFA is just a more ridgid course load and the BA is more flexible. I think it just depends on what you as a student are looking for. We talked to a student who was accepted as a BFA acting major but once he started in the program he realized he wanted a more flexible acting route and so he switched to the BA and took some really interesting classes.<br>
Hopefully someone with MT experience at MMC will be able to tell you more about that part of the program. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Hey there! Okay, I’ll answer this as best as I can, I’ll be a sophomore in the BFA Acting program in the fall :)</p>
<p>First of all, it IS possible to be BFA Acting and minor in MT, it’s just a LOT more work. You’ll still graduate on time and everything, you just need to take more credits and scheduling can be quite tricky, but a few of my BFA friends are also MT.</p>
<p>Secondly, although BFA and BA students are <em>technically</em> in the same track until junior year, they are NOT in the same classes, and they have different teachers as well. BA MTs and non-MT BAs are in the same classes of course, but no BAs and BFAs are in class together. They do study the same techniques and types of material though.</p>
<p>The general education load is NOT the same for BFA and BA either. BFA has many more credits, and because of this, are NOT allowed to double major. BAs can double major and have a minor, but BFAs are only allowed a minor, and even that can be tricky. Also, note that BAs do not take “Acting” classes after sophomore year. This is true for the BA MTs as well. They DO take theatre classes of course, specializing in certain techniques etc, but not actual Acting classes. Also, junior and senior years focus on more classical acting for the BFA students. Junior year focuses on classic theatre such as Ibsen, Shaw etc, and senior year is fully dedicated to Shakespeare.</p>
<p>Hmm, I’m not sure what else to say, but I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, just let me know :)</p>
<p>Thank you both so much for your responses! This helped a lot. I -think- that’s all I wanted to know, but if I think of anything else I’ll let you know. =]</p>
<p>Are BA and BFA students given the same opportunities to perform, or do you find that the BFA students are more favored when it comes to being in shows?</p>
<p>No, we’re all given the same opportunities, except BA students are required to audition for them. BFA students are. But no, there’s no favoritism. If you look at any mainstage program, there’s a great deal of BA students in every single one. It’s just tough, because in reality, I think the BFA kids outnumber the non-musical theatre BA students. But yeah, definitely no favoritism :)</p>