CCM BFA vs USC Theatre BA

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

Hi!

Our daughter is transferring after having done her freshman year in liberal arts at Univ of Michigan Ann Arbor. She is pursuing her theater goals and has been accepted at two schools that we think are pretty dissimilar. Need advice!

Michigan is no longer an option (she was not accepted to transfer into theatre from the liberal arts program).

Options:
Option 1. Cincinnati CCM BFA in acting.

Pro: She loves this school - conservatory training in a small community, dedicated to acting. Loved the people, loves the campus.
Con: Cincinnati is in the Midwest (she’s from Minneapolis) and is less connected to the professional world than Los Angeles. As a transfer student, she would have to do 4 years, so her one year of hard work at Michigan counts for little (except the great experience for that year in Ann Arbor!)

Option 2. USC BA in Theatre (NOT the BFA in acting).
Pro: LOVES Los Angeles, has goal of moving there. Connections in LA. Climate - not a small factor for someone who has spent 20 years shivering in the frozen tundra of Minnesota). Her one year of academic credits from Michigan would likely all transfer, meaning she could likely get a BA in 3 years.
Con: Not a BFA program. Not the close-knit community of CCM. Would there be enough acting/performance training?

USC now has an “Acting Emphasis” in the BA program which is only about 25 credits fewer in acting than the BFA, I’m told, so that is something if true. Our daughter is not in need of a “college experience” - she had her year in the dorm and is ready to live more independently in the city, whereever that may be.

The reason for transferring is to pursue acting, period. She always envisioned this to be a BFA program so it is difficult to decide to go to a non-BFA program. She took a whole gap year off this year to prepare, and now she is struggling with this decision.

Any personal experience with CCM BFA or USC BA to guide her - biggest question is will the USC BA give her adequate acting training.

Thanks for reading this and thanks for replying if you can!

2

Hello,

I am a current student at CCM and your D knows me (we did BUSTI together), so have her contact me if she has any further questions.

Obviously I’m going to be leaning in the CCM direction for her. But I think, in my opinion it comes down to this question:

Does she want to spend four years focusing all her energies on learning technique and really developing as a performer and artist? Or does she want to be in a place where she can work in TV/Film NOW?

CCM has many advantages that I think are good for her:
The small class sizes and the attention each student gets
Our many film opportunities (Yearly 48 Hour Film Festival, Yearly Departmental Film, About 10-20 Student Films from the E-Media Department are made every year and we are the prime casting pool.)
We have master classes with many industry professionals who come to Cincinnati (Making LA and NYC Connections while in School)
Connections for Summer Internships/Training Opportunities (Most of our students do AWESOME things during the summer. I just got a job as Lin Manuel Miranda’s personal assistant as well as a production assistant for Hamilton on Broadway for the summer. We have people in various internships in LA right now, some casting, some performing.)
We have an awesome tight knit community of like minded people but have the access to the university if she wants to get out of the “bubble” at any point.
Our aesthetic (grounded, truthful, and specific acting) lends itself to film and many of our Alumni (as you can see from the website) find success in film and television.

The only person I know from the USC BA program just transferred to UNCSA’s BFA, so the little I know about it is biased but from her perspective: The reason she left was that she just wasn’t getting as much acting training or attention as she wanted. The way her schedule worked out, she was only in acting classes twice a week and found the other students to be not as dedicated as her.

THAT SAID, while she was there for the year, she was able to work in and act in a movie as well as do an ark on an NBC TV show. So she was able to work and stay in school. But the reason she left was because she wanted to develop craft. And that takes time and training.

Overall, I gave a very opinionated response, but that is what I believe. I think USC’s curriculum would be very similar to what she got at Michigan with some acting involved and the opportunity to work in the field (if she has good connections and gets lucky). But CCM would provide her with 4 years of solid, intense, and valuable acting training and experience in the business of the business that would be more valuable in the pursuit of a long term career.

3

Just chiming in to say that I am so happy that you love CCM, Josh703! (You helped me in the past, for which I am very grateful). MinnesotaMoline, I know little about these two programs, but I think the difference between a BFA and a BA program is probably the major point to consider. And whether your daughter wants to focus on getting work now, or getting training now. Good luck to you!

4

Me, too, glad to hear you’re doing so well Josh. Maybe you can get me Hamilton tix…otherwise impossible to obtain? (JK)

5

My D who is a friend/classmate of Josh’s would I am sure second everything Josh’s says about CCM. She loves it there. This summer she is ASMing at an Equity Theatre for EMC points/salary, then travelling to the U.K. to work in a Summer Rep. CCM didn’t have anything to do with her getting those jobs, but they did provide the kind of environment and support to encourage her to go for the jobs.

6

First of all CONGRATULATIONS to your daughter! I will speak to the USC end of things. My daughter is a USC School of Dramatic Arts BA with an Acting Emphasis.
Both the BA and the BFA programs are difficult to get into in this school. Some very talented acting students will choose a BA because they may choose to go on for an MFA or they want a more well-rounded education in addition to their theatre training. My daughter has taken information that she has learned in her GE classes and applied it to her work in her theatre classes. So there are super talented BFA and BA actors at the school :slight_smile:

BFA students have a designated progression of classes. BA students have requirements but have flexibility in choosing other acting classes. Students may take up to 18 units per semester so there are plenty of acting classes that a BA student can add in. So that gap of 25 units you computed could actually be smaller when you consider that. If you want to chart out things look on the BA requirement list for School of Dramatic Arts. Once you speak to a counselor to see what credits transfer and what your daughter needs in the way of GE classes then you can chart out what she needs to graduate. You can check the Schedule of Classes under School of Dramatic Arts to see what classes are offered. Classes like On Camera Performance, Voice-Over, Acting for Commercials, Shakespeare, Comedy of Manners, Musical Theatre Audition, Stage make-up, Dialects, Improv, Sketch Comedy are usually offered as well as many more. Contact a counselor in SDA if you have any questions.

There are plenty of acting opportunities. The department puts on several productions a semester. Some are BA only, some are BFA only and some are open to both. There are productions that are open to anyone on campus as well. USC also has several groups that are managed and run by students. They put on ISP’s (Independent Student Productions) every semester. The first week of school all clubs and organizations will set up tables and your daughter can visit all the theatre groups and sign up. Look into Musical Theatre Repertory for musical theatre and Aeneid Theatre Company for straight plays. My daughter has done shows with both groups. There are probably others as well and maybe someone else can chime in with information about them. The School of Dramatic Arts (SDA) sends out a memo a couple weeks before school begins called something like The Great Audition Memo. It gives information about all auditions for the semester. Sign up sheets for auditions are available on the bulletin boards in the hallway of the SDA office.

USC has a top-notch film school. Film students are always looking for actors! As I recall, in the beginning of the year, there us usually an email sent to acting students to come audition at the film school. There is also word-of-mouth recommendations. My daughter was recommended to someone who got in contact with her to act in her 2-person, 6 minute film. Someone else asked her because they knew her. Those things happen as well.

BA students can work professionally. I do not believe the BFA students are allowed to do this.

The BA students and BFA students all know one another. They are in some classes with one another, in shows with one another, go to parties with one another.

Over the course of two years my daughter has been in 5 musicals, two straight plays and been asked to be in two film projects. She loves musical theatre so she leans toward that but the opportunities are there for straight shows, musicals and film acting opportunities.

My daughter has a teacher that is directing a play this summer in LA. He let her sit in on audition day so she could see what it was like from the other side. Her MT audition teacher brought in Christine Ebersole to sub and my daughter sang for her, another teacher got free tickets to see the David Mamet play with Rebecca Pigeon and Felicity Huffman, SDA sometimes has some low priced LA theatre tickets, students see SDA shows for $5. There is also the Visions and Voices program which brings in directors, dancers, poets, musicians, you name it. You can probably see their offerings with an internet search.

Sorry, I got carried away here but as you can see there is a lot available!!!