<p>Hey everyone, I'm a lurker/first time poster. I've been accepted into Missouri State, Belmont, and SUNY Buffalo for this year. I'm waiting on a response from Webster, and if I'm accepted there, I'll have a super easy decision on my hands.</p>
<p>HOWEVER</p>
<p>it's very possible that I'll be deciding between MSU, SUNY and Belmont. As far as I can tell, they're all about the same caliber of school, but I admittedly enjoy Nashville more than the other two locales. My only gripe with Belmont, as I understand it, is that it's a BM program, whereas the other two are BFA MT. Belmont is Voice with an emphasis in theatre. I want to know, is a BM looked down upon at all by my potential future employers? I'm not sure if BFA maybe connotes a more rigorous or experienced program. On the flip side though, Belmont (locationally and training wise) might be the better choice for me, because I am definitely more of a singer than an actor or a dancer. Also, I kind of have a hunch that I'll end up doing a lot of voice work/voiceovers in my career, so if I want to branch off into that, a BM might not be such a terrible thing to have.</p>
<p>This is a decision I hopefully will not have to make, but incase I do, can I get any expertise on the difference between a BM and a BFA? Thanks everybody, your help is much appreciated!</p>
<p>We will probably also be looking very closely at Belmont. In fact, my son's voice instructor highly recommended it (and we are not that far from it). Like you, he is much more strong musically, with dance being his weakest element. Other than show choir, he has had no dance instruction, and we feel this will be his biggest block in getting into a program. He works privately with voice and acting instructors, but with his advanced classes there just aren't enough hours in the day for dance, too.</p>
<p>From what we've found out, Belmont gets a lot of support from the Nashville community, and since the program is small the students get a lot of personal attention. But wherever he goes, he hopes to pursue a BM rather than BFA, which will allow him to focus on the music of musical theatre, and less on the tech end.</p>
<p>S has also been accepted at Belmont; he auditioned mid-February. I'd be very interested in comparing notes. There don't seem to be a lot of people on here that are looking at Belmont. We went into the process with it looking like a reasonably strong contender (we also have some ties to Nashville, which helped) but at this point he's really trying to choose between OCU & Elon where he was also accepted.</p>
<p>I'm afraid I can't help you much, but I wanted to say welcome to CC and if you get into Webster than I can help quite a bit! So I'll keep fingers crossed for you.</p>
<p>As far as the other schools go I really don't know except to say visit if you can, take a class or two and then follow your heart.
Good-luck!</p>
<p>You could also look at the curriculums. These can differ from school to school, even bfa to bfa school alot. Most websites have required courses listed etc or you may have been given that info at the auditions (SUNY Buffalo did last year). Some bfa's may emphasize acting, some music, some will have stronger dance components than others. It may help give you a sense of where you'd be happiest.</p>
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I want to know, is a BM looked down upon at all by my potential future employers? I'm not sure if BFA maybe connotes a more rigorous or experienced program.
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<p>I don't think this is an issue at all -- in some of the schools, it is merely a matter of where the program fits into the academic structure. Several, if not all, of the MT programs where it is a BM grew out of an already existing music conservatory - thus the degree. Some BM's match almost exactly with some BFA's in terms of how classes are divided between voice, dance, and acting.</p>
<p>I would think that the questions I would ask would be,
What are your career goals? Can you get accepted to both types of programs?
Do the programs I have consider have both?
What kind of Univsity experience do I want?
What have graduates gone on to do in their careers?
Do I respect the staff that I have met?
Do I have the previous training that get accepted at a program that auditions?
Would I consider transferring if I'm unhappy?
I'm sure others can add to these questions. What you don't want to do is flip a coin...they are different and may help you in different ways.
MTGRADDAD</p>
<p>I agree with the posters above... compare the curriculums at each of the schools... think about which school you think will be the fit with what you want out of a entire college experience, location, campus environment, training.</p>
<p>As far as what future employers might think... for the most part they will not care what degree letters are attached to your degree. You are hired based on your audition. Go to the school that you like the best.</p>
<p>I know that in the music business (at least here in NYC), a BM goes pretty far compared with how far a BFA does in the Musical Theatre business. Furthermore, down the road, it may be easier to get into a graduate music program with a BM degree than a BFA. You never know what you may desire down the road.</p>
<p>Yes... I thought that you were saying that you want to pursue a career in MT. If you think that you might want to go to graduate school for vocal performance in the future or perform classical repertory/ opera professionally... the BM is probably the better degree. Not that a BFA (or a BA for that matter... I know many BA music students who have gone on to study at very good vocal performance MM programs) couldn't work if you take the required undergraduate music course work required for many classical MM programs.</p>
<p>Oh no, I absolutely am pursuing a career in musical theatre. As far as vocal work I'm going to think about that way way down the line, but for now I'm just going for musical theatre. That's where the degrees come into play. So more or less I'm getting the feeling that professionally, it wouldn't particularly make a difference if I had a BM or a BFA? Thanks for making my decision even HARDER. :D If anyone has anything to sway me one way or another from MSU, Belmont or SUNY Buffalo, please feel free, 'cause right now I'm more or less workin with a blank slate. Thanks again, everybody!</p>