<p>I am a US citizen living abroad. I just graduated from high school and this following year I'll be taking a gap mainly in order to prepare for my US University applications. Throughout my entire high school life, I have been learning under the British curriculum and will soon be finding out my A-level results. I understand I will have to take the SAT's and I am prepared to do so and I'm hoping to use my A-level grades as AP courses or something to that affect. </p>
<p>I have always had a passion for acting and I've been acting on stage since the age of 8 as my mother is a drama teacher and has her own workshop. I have not only participated in the workshop shows but I've had lead roles in school plays and local productions. After doing a lot of research on the web I have decided that I definitely want to do a BFA in acting (as well as a minor in English Lit) and I've come up with the following list of schools with good programs :</p>
<p>NYU
Boston University
Fordham
Syracuse
Rutgers (New Brunswick) </p>
<p>I am also considering as back ups (mainly because of the costs)</p>
<p>University of Minnesota
FSU
Depaul</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone out there could give their opinions on which of these schools have the better acting programs and perhaps some tips on the auditions process for these schools. I understand there is a difference in academics between a school like NYU and Depaul but I decided to consider these other schools because of the price of my TOP 5 and because I'm not too sure how great the financial aid would be in any of these schools. Does anyone know if schools like Boston and NYU give good financial aid? Lastly I was wondering if anyone knew how many students these schools accept into their BFA programs per year? </p>
<p>Any replies are very very much appreciated!! :) :) Thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>If you want to do BFA you’re unlikely able to minor in anything. Fordham is known for having a BA program, not a BFA. However their program is well respected and a good choice if you decide to consider BA too. NYU is known to give awful financial aid. They state clearly on their website that they won’t meet student’s financial need. Not sure about the others sorry!</p>
<p>There are some BFA programs where you could minor in a subject. I believe at NYU-Tisch you could minor in English because in that program you have two days a week where you can take academic classes – studio is only 3 days a week. However, my understanding of BU, Minnesota (Guthrie) and Rutgers (Mason Gross) is that the schools are more conservatory based where you are almost in the studio all the time which would make it not possible to minor in another subject. </p>
<p>Minnesota and Rutgers are small – 20 or so. I think BU is the same. Its on my list of next school to take a closer look at. NYU takes considerably more – well over a 100 but then they are broken up into separate studios. There is probably more info on Tisch in this forum than any other school so if you just search on Tisch you will get lost of info on Tisch.</p>
<p>Rutgers/Mason Gross is a public university; like most state universities, it is affordable, but awards very little financial aid to non-residents. DePaul University might not have the same prestige as NYU or BU, but the acting program is first-rate. I can’t help but suspect that, being British, you’ll have a powerful advantage in auditions: most schools explicitly advise Yanks not to use dialects in their monologues, whereas you can deliver yours with a British accent.</p>
<p>For their BFA, FSU told us they audition 1800 and take 12 MT and 12 straight theater. In any given audition year, they may take more boys or more girls depending on what complement of students they have already (maybe even casting type–not sure). There is no cut program, though, like DePaul. Their BA program is supposed to be very good too and BA students are cast in productions as much as BFA’s so that might give you a good opportunity to minor in something else too. FSU is very, very inexpensive compared to almost any other school and has a good reputation.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for all of your replies! They have all been very helpful </p>
<p>I am quite worried about the small number of students each school accept into their BFA programs and whilst I am very confident in my acting skills, you never really know what exactly they’re all looking for. I think I will still audition and at the very least try my luck but I’m not too sure what to expect and I’m not going to get my hopes up nor set my heart on a particular school/program. </p>
<p>I really do hope that I’ll be able to minor in English literature in some way. I have a passion for writing and analyzing novels/poems/plays and I don’t want to have to sacrifice it for acting especially since the odds of actually making it as an actor (in terms of it being a real career) are always slim for everyone. I understand that BA’s do incorporate a lot more theory and writing than a BFA acting program, my only problem is that I’ve been doing my Drama GCSE and A-levels for the past four years and it has been a great deal of theory. As a result I now really just want to focus on the acting. I did really well on my Drama GCSE and A-levels, in fact I got the highest grade in the country, and now I really want to work on my acting which is my true passion and thus I’ve decided that a BFA is more suited for me. However, if I can’t minor in English Lit I really don’t know what I’ll do </p>
<p>Does anyone know if the number of students that get accepted into these programs is a set number? For instance, does BU know they’ll only accept 20 students or do they decide the number after they’ve seen all the auditions? </p>
<p>Also, does anyone know anything about the Syracuse BFA program? Their course sounds pretty good for what I’m looking for but any extra info would really help! </p>
<p>Finally, I was wondering if anyone knew how many of these schools actually accept video/DVD auditions as opposed to an in-person audition. Given my location it would be very hard (financially) to audition live at all these schools and so I’m hoping some will accept a video. </p>
<p>You can pursue a minor in the Guthrie program at Minnesota. And with some serious work and summer classes even a double major. But many students pursue minors without much difficulty.</p>
<p>ETA: Pursuing an english minor would be even easier than most because I assume many requirements overlap.</p>
<p>JME1992, you asked if anyone had any information on Syracuse’s drama program. My S is a rising Sophomore in the BFA acting program at Syracuse. He very much likes the University generally and the drama program specifically. He really likes his teachers. The new head of the Drama Department (last year was his first year) came from Juilliard. I believe the program aims to have 20 or so acting students and an equivalent number of MT students. The program appears to foster a close working relationship among the incoming students and the upperclass drama students, which is a feature my S especially likes. First year students do not perform (they can audition in April for productions during the Fall semester of their Sophomore year) and focus on learning acting skills. They also have crew assignments. As in all BFA programs, there are mandatory core courses (they are noted on the Drama Department section of the Syracuse U website) and so students must fill in electives during times when they don’t have core courses or are not “in studio.” The drama student’s advisor assists in making sure that a student’s schedule works. There seems to be a wide assortment of electives and so I am sure there are a number of English courses that are offered. The SU course catalogue is on the website, but I do recall that incoming drama students were provided a booklet of electives that would fit into their schedules as Freshmen. This coming semester my S will be taking a course in Russian literature and in playwriting, in addition to his drama courses. The one aspect of Syracuse that he didn’t realize until he arrived there is that Syracuse has its share of creative kids aside from drama students and he seems to thrive in that kind of environment. The drama students are part of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, which is one of the original Syracuse U colleges and has students majoring in a wide range of fields, including acting, music, art, fashion design and industrial design. Syracuse U also has the Newhouse School of Public Communications, one of the leading journalism schools in the U.S. Regarding financial aid, Syracuse offers scholarships based on academic merit, i.e., grades, test scores, etc. There is scholarship info on the Syracuse U website under financial aid. Also, a number of acting students attend Syracuse’s London program at the Globe Theater during the Fall semester of their Junior year and the Tepper Semester in New York City in the Spring semester of their Senior year. The most commonly cited negative aspect of Syracuse is the weather – the city sits right below one of the Great Lakes and so it receives quite a bit of “lake effect” snow in the winter. However, my S doesn’t seem to mind the weather too much.</p>
<p>Fordham is indeed a BA program and since it was on your list to begin with, I would hope that you would look further into the program and not reject it simply because it is not a BFA. You would most certainly be able to minor or even double major with careful academic planning in English lit. My S is in his 2nd year and is a Performance/Playwriting major with a strong interest in English lit as well…he at one point even considered that as his 2nd major. </p>
<p>While there certainly are writing assignments, the Performance major at Fordham is primarily practical in training with required vocal and movement labs in addition to the acting classes. Fordham does have a large core curriculum though so not only would you be taking classes in Theatre and English lit but you would be taking a foreign language and classes in Philosophy, Theology and other subjects as well. And while my S loves that about Fordham (minus the math/science requirement, of course) that is definitely not for everybody. </p>
<p>I have written a number of posts on Fordham and from what I gather, I am the only person here with someone in the program. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the program or life at Lincoln Center.</p>
<p>BTW, you asked about the specific programs on your list but I would hope that your final list also included some non audition/financial safety options! Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Thank you so much nansan and sandkmom!! Your information about Syracuse and Fordham was extremely helpful :D</p>
<p>I had a long talk with my parents and they simply can’t afford to send me around the country (especially since we don’t live in America in the first place) to all these different auditions. As a result they made me narrow down my choices to only a few BFA’s (or in Fordham’s case BA’s) and so I’ve decided that I’m still going to apply to Boston U, Syracuse, Fordham and Depaul (I had to cross out NYU because the price was simply just far too expensive even with good financial aid). I have also decided to apply to Temple University in Philadelphia as it is a good back-up BA program with an emphasis on performance. </p>
<p>I have also decided that I will be sending video auditions to Fordham and Syracuse and I will audition live for Boston and Depaul. I know sending videos will hurt my chances of getting in but due to financial and location difficulties, I really have no choice </p>
<p>I am currently looking for more BFA programs that accept DVD auditions as well as more BA programs that have an emphasis on performance. If anyone on this thread knows of any, please give me your suggestions :)</p>
<p>I have two questions for anyone that can answer them. First of all I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the BFA program at University of Arizona? Secondly, I realized that Sandkmom mentioned something about having to do a foreign language course and I think that’s probably true to most universities and not just Fordham. I am fluent in Greek (as I am half Greek) and I have completed my GCSE and A-level in Greek getting an A on both and I was wondering if this could by any chance satisfy the foreign language requirements? </p>
<p>This whole board has been EXTREMELY helpful and all your replies have been much appreciated :)! Thank you all very much</p>
<p>Here is the info on Fordham’s core curriculum. The only course that is automatically waived for Theatre majors is the Fine Arts requirement. Some courses do count for more than one requirement though so with good academic planning it is definitely possible to double major and still graduate timely. And from my reading of this, it seems like you might be able to get the foreign language requirement waived. </p>
<p>You crossed off NYU from your list bc of finances so keep in mind though that Fordham is expensive, too. I don’t know your stats but they do offer merit money if you have an impressive academic record.</p>
<p>You might want to confirm with colleges about what language credit they offer. My d’s roommate is fluent in Italian but Italian did not count toward her major and she is not starting with basic Spanish.</p>
<p>Hello everyone. I was accepted into the BFA Acting program at SU and am entering next month in August for Fall 2013! I’m very excited. I know SU has great opportunities such as studying abroad in London and performing at the Shakespeare Globe theatre, and also the Tepper Semester in NYC, but other than those two, do SU performers get good exposure to professionals in the business?</p>
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