The Penn State paper does sound like a lot of work… but perhaps it is reflective of the work they are planning to do in the actual program? If so, better to know (and set standards) BEFORE rather than after. One of my D’s most talented friends left NYU after freshman year b/c he didn’t enjoy the academic aspects of the training. It wasn’t that he wasn’t capable - but he didn’t want artistic papers etc to be a part of his world. He found a different program where academics are not really integrated into training, and he seems happy there.
Yes that’s the supplement where you request your audition dates.
@owensfolks did she have to write a paper for the MT prescreen as well?
Hi 2021’ers!
As a mom of a sophomore BFA MT student, I wanted to pop in here and say a couple of things …
- Break legs w/ all these upcoming auditions! Yay!!
and …
- One of the things I found REALLY helpful during the crazy audition season was to hear what an audition was like from previous auditioners. It really helped my D to know what "may" happen before she walked in the door.
She’s loving life right now at Nebraska Wesleyan - she adores it there and it could not be a better match for her. (And let me say that she would’ve never thought she’d end up in Nebraska of all places - but sometimes life surprises you and you end up happy at somewhere you never considered!) But she also auditioned on campus at Western Michigan, Ball State, Millikin, Southern Illinois, Western Carolina and Unifieds in Chicago.
If anyone would like the lay of the land on any of those schools, please let me know. You can either send me a private message or I’d be happy to answer publicly in this thread too - just tag me!
Penn State requires you to fill out the total application process before you can pass the prescreen. Which is why we have not heard my D school did not submit her transcript so now we wait a little longer.
I don’t believe so, @marg928. I admit, that sounds like a very stringent requirement-but we loooooove Penn State, so she would pretty much do anything to be considered.
@lincoln56 is she going for MT or straight acting?
Ok so I find that requirement for the 3 pg paper for penn state to be ridiculous. I mean really folks that’s nuts. I don’t care if they need it to weed people out blah blah . No one else is asking for something so involved when they ALREADY prescreen! This stuff drives me crazy. I already heard some things about them that are negative but I attributed that to just things people say but a lot of it was they are just a little too full of themselves etc. I mean I get it in a way since some of these schools are really awesome but come on. We are paying for this right? And it’s not cheap!
@theaterwork YES! That’s how I’m feeling at this point. The weird thing is that their regular application for admission doesn’t even require an essay only a personal statement! So then why make the arts students do academic work that the rest of the candidates aren’t required to do? It makes absolutely no sense. I seriously feel like calling them just to clarify and then saying “are you kidding?” LOL…They won’t know who I am anyway! Plus not coming to Unifieds? Why? The MT department is going so what’s the big deal? It’s just so weird. Ultimately it will be my D’s choice if she wants to do the work or not. She’s been away since 11/3 on a service trip to Ecuador and has gotten some of the supplements done while she’s been there but this one requires a trip to the library. I was hoping for her to go to the 12/3 on campus audition but at this point that’s probably not going to happen.
Just to clarify for others @marg928 - since this is the MT board – I believe you are referring to the fact this is the first year for a BFA Acting degree at Penn State. Penn State has had a strong MFA Acting program that has been there awhile. And a well established MT program. So although the BFA degree in Acting is new, Penn State is definitely not new to the business of training actors.
Also, it is important to understand when Acting and MT programs have separate admission processes. I believe that is the case at Penn State. This is also the case at Michigan, CCM and many others. Which is why you might be able to audition for MT in some places (like Unifieds) that you cannot audition for acting. Be aware when there is a separation in programs such as this that you are auditioning for and sending an application to an entirely different group of people than for the MT program. It is also why supplements to the application may be different for an acting applicant compared to an MT applicant.
When this is the case, it is also important to understand if your instruction during college will be with a different group of people also. Some programs allow crossover between MT and Acting and some don’t. Four years ago we saw a straight show at Penn State (Shakespeare) in which several MTs were cast. So it appeared there was some crossover at that time. But that was 4 years ago. And before there was a BFA Acting program. Make sure you will be getting the training you want with the professors you want. And the opportunities to audition and perform for the types of shows you wish to participate in.
Does anyone know if the supplement paper @marg928 describes is required for MT applicants also? I don’t recall D having to write something that extensive when applying to Penn State’s MT program. It may be specific to the BFA Acting program. But it also may have changed since our D applied. Just didn’t want to worry anyone applying for MT if it is not a requirement for them.
@vvnstar thanks. I asked her coach at MTCA if she should still do it and he thinks she should. We do have to find out a lot more about this program though. If she can get the paper done quickly maybe there’s still a chance to get to the 12/3 audition and at that time we can get everything clarified. But the fact that they are not coming to Unifieds tells me that the people running the show for MT and Acting are completely different. If they’re the same people who are teaching the MFA students then that’s a good thing. I do realize that most of the posts on here are geared towards MT but sadly there is not a good forum for straight acting on CC (at least not that I know of!)
@marg928 Is some of this to do with the new department head? Could be. You might ask your coach about that
Not that I want to start adding school to the already too long list, but does anyone know about Auburn’s MT or Theater programs? I built the list mainly from posts on CC and don’t remember anyone ever mentioning auditioning there so I never looked into it. My friend just visited there with her daughter and loved the campus. I just went on the website expecting to see a BA but they have BFAs in both MT and Theater Performance.
@marg928 have you already been on this forum? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors
@GSOMTMom I have not really found the same sharing on that link. However…I guess thats partially my fault too…I could start commenting. My D is primarily Acting BFA and some MT, and I mostly use the MT forum , like marg928. It’s just really informative. I do drop in weekly to the drama link, but I should start participating…be the change and all, right?
@GSOMTMom I must have because I have the 2016 Theater Acceptances thread starred but I don’t see any recent posts or one similar to this thread for current auditioners. It doesn’t seem to be a very active forum.
Actually the “Final Acceptances Class of 2020” thread is the main one I have been using to make the list but there are lots of MT’s on there as well.
@marg928 Speaking as an acting BFA mom, we’re around as a resource if you need us, but we’re also here a lot of the time. @bfahopeful, @toowonderful, @bisouu @connections are all very knowledgeable about straight acting programs. I don’t think we’ve ever talked about Auburn though, and I don’t know anything about the program myself.
@GSOMTMom you’re right. Maybe one of us should start a similar thread to this one on there…although I’m fine with this one!
@marg928 - I check both the theater board and this one every time I log on to CC. I agree that theater has been a bit quieter of late, but there are lots of us that frequent both. BUT in terms of audition questions etc, you may want to list things there- as you might get more specific answers. I spent got in the habit of being on both during D’s auditions as she was applying to both MT and acting programs… and have hung around ever since 