<p>That makes sense… for kids looking at more traditional liberal arts majors, or who may be undecided in terms of major the extra-curriculars, location, etc… become more significant deciding factors. I agree that when looking for a MT or Theatre program the program itself is the primary factor in school selection. This may not be exclusive to BFA program selection. I do not know about other BA or BM MT programs, but I know that program was a primary decision making factor for the students at the two BA/BM MT programs in which I have taught. As you said, MT programs are intense and often the kids have very little time for football games and Greek life.</p>
<p>KatMT, I also think the BA and BM in MT programs where you teach would be a primary factor in selecting JMU as well because those programs are BY AUDITION which means a level of COMMITMENT to the program and in fact, is likely why a majority of the applicants to that program picked JMU in the first place. I have suggested JMU to many students who want theater or MT and have two students applying this year in fact. JMU is a great university in itself but the primary reason this school was on my suggested list was due to these students seeking theater or MT. </p>
<p>For a MT applicant especially, there are not a LOT of schools that offer this and you sort of have to go where the programs are. And the BA by audition programs are commitments to enter a specific major like a BFA is like in that regard. Thus the search for colleges, when committing ahead of time to a major, involves a primary focus on finding schools that are good in that major, which is not quite as primary for a regular college applicant who is either not sure of a major before entering (“undecided” is the most popular major for freshmen in the US) or may change their major several times. Even for my BA liberal arts kid, she did seek colleges that at least offer a BA in Architectural Studies (many schools don’t have that major) since she thought she MIGHT major in that and wanted it to be available (she did end up majoring in it) but how good that program was, was NOT a primary selection criteria. In fact, Brown University, where she went (and LOVED) is not particularly strong in that area but it was good enough as she was going onto grad school for Architecture and she supplemented things at Brown in that area by doing an abroad program in her field through Syracuse, taking courses at RISD next door to Brown (Brown students can do this and get credit), and doing a summer intensive at Harvard. But selecting the strength of her major in college selection was a secondary factor and not the primary one in her college selection. For my D who did a BFA in MT, the selection of the program in her major that she was committing to was the primary selection factor and then other things like location, academic strength of the university, etc. were secondary factors (she luckily got those preferences met in her final choice of college too).</p>
<p>Hopefully most of the students in these forums who are auditioning for BFA programs in MT and/or Acting will end up being accepted into more than one program and will have a choice to make.</p>
<p>At some point during the process of choosing which schools to apply to, or which schools to attend, I think it is important to try to get a sense of what the experience of any given program is like for students in it.</p>
<p>The best way to do that is to communicate directly with students or the parents of students. It’s not necessarily the easiest thing to find people to talk to, but contacts can be made through this forum, or more ideally by visiting schools and making it a very high priority to talk with students.</p>
<p>When my son was applying to Acting BFA programs, we were under the impression that ALL such BFA programs are “all theatre, all the time, 7 days a week, right from the beginning of freshman year.” (Actually, that was just fine with him, because of the level of his passion for theatre and because of the fact that during most of high school he had been constantly rehearsing and/or performing while keeping up with other activities as well.) </p>
<p>However, as we learned more about the schools he was interested in, we found out that there are some differences we wouldn’t have expected.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In one top Acting BFA program, the work is so demanding that it is sometimes described as “theatre boot camp.” However, because students are not cast in shows during freshman year, they have enough time to go on fun excursions into a nearby city on weekends.</p></li>
<li><p>Another program where freshmen are not cast in shows had a different “vibe.” Based on a visit, and lengthy conversations with one current and one former student, my son got the impression of a certain level of stress and tension in addition to the raves about the quality of the program and the excitement of the environment.</p></li>
<li><p>When my son auditioned for yet another school with quite selective admissions, he really liked the warm, friendly and casual atmosphere of the audition in New York during Unifieds. On the other hand, a few people were put off by the experience because the audition was in a somewhat shabby building in a room with a noisy radiator, and there was only a single individual running the auditions. Later, we discovered that the theatre facilities at this school are not new and glittering, but could rather be described as comfortable and rather modest. Perhaps most importantly, another discovery my son made was that the students in the program seemed unreservedly happy and enthusiastic.</p></li>
<li><p>At school #4, my son had perhaps his best audition experience, because the auditioner talked to him in such an insightful and helpful way about certain choices he had made regarding one of his monologues. When talking to students at that school, my son heard raves about the program but also a certain amount of grumbling about the number of general education credits required by the university.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My son was fortunate enough to be admitted to schools #2, #3 and #4, and is currently a very satisfied freshman at school #3.</p>
<p>Of course, with MT BFA programs, as opposed to Acting BFA programs, there are many more factors…very critical factors…involved in evaluating the appropriateness of the program itself, as soozievt has so eloquently pointed out. </p>
<p>I just wanted to write this to support the idea of paying attention to the “intangibles” as well as the nuts and bolts of what various programs offer.</p>
<p>Meeting with current students is very important in my opinion, in order to get information and vibes that are not in published materials. That said, it is important to not rely on what ONE student’s experience is like because it may not be your own and so it really helps to garner feedback from several students to get a good sense. An example, you mention students grumbling about liberal arts requirements. I can say that my kid has said she has friends who did that, yet she didn’t because she was happy to have those courses and even wondered why those kids had chosen that school if they did not want much liberal arts at all. That is but one example. Also, be wary of what some students at one program say about another program that they don’t attend. This happened when my kid visited one particular great program and the students there were lambasting one of the programs my D liked and intended to apply to, when they asked her where else she was applying. I have had students of mine tell me that faculty at a certain school even put down certain other programs to them and the information that was told to them (some of it factual type information and not opinions) was actually false information. Talk to many people about a program, not just one person.</p>
<p>Yes, one should only talk to students about their own school, not other schools!! A parent told me that at a couple of auditions he heard students who were helping with the auditions dissing other schools. My son was appalled by this. If he helps with auditions at his school this spring he is going to warn the other students to be very polite and not to let themselves be heard criticizing other schools.</p>
<p>Nobody grumbled about liberal arts requirements per se at the school I referred to. It was a state university in our home state that did not have a great reputation for academics and also had a lot of general education requirements…some of which did not look very impressive according to the course descriptions in the catalog.</p>
<p>There was an honors program but we were not sure whether the times of the seminars would have jibed with a BFA Acting student’s schedule. </p>
<p>My son would have gone to that school happily because the theatre program is quite solid and well respected…but the gen ed thing was a consideration.</p>
<p>P.S. Re “griping.” I think sometimes there is a tradeoff. Students attend schools that are the best fit possible, but still…</p>
<p>e.g. a good theatre program at a state school with very affordable tuition but so-so academics; a “dream school” MT program right in NYC, but with more liberal arts courses than some students really want; a top acting program that isn’t actually in New York City (just near it), so students envy their friends in the city…</p>
<p>The lucky ones get into a number of programs and choose one that is pretty near perfect. That’s certainly not possible for everybody.</p>
<p>The opportunity to attend Brown, go abroad with Syracuse, and take classes at RISD must have been amazing… 
What a terrific way to build the kind of undergraduate experience she was looking for! </p>
<p>She is in her MArch program now, right? I hope that she is loving it!</p>
<p>Kat…off topic…but yes, she wanted a liberal arts type of undergrad degree and even though Brown was not strong in architectural studies, she was able to major in that but piece together additional things to give her more background…independent study with a Brown art teacher in drawing, the Pre-Arch semester in Florence with Syracuse program in Arch, the RISD arch classes, the summer “Career Discovery” arch intensive program at Harvard Grad School of Design, summer after frosh year in college. To get into Arch School, she had to have a portfolio and so these other experiences helped to build that, whereas the Brown courses were not studio in nature (except any art classes). It also allowed her to come to a decision to go into this field and commit to it, which she wasn’t ready to do at age 17, because unlike her sister who was in MT since age four, she never studied architecture until college and didn’t want to enter an undergrad BArch program (kinda like a BFA but it is five years). Thus, to become an architect, she had to enter a graduate Architecture school which is 3 1/2 years. She is now in her second year of that at MIT. </p>
<p>Back to our regularly scheduled program, LOL.</p>
<p>(PS…in keeping with a theater forum…this D did MT growing up and dance for years…and one thing at Brown is that they have an open curriculum and so she took some classes in the theater dept. like Tech Theater, History of Musical Theater (may not have been title but that was the topic), Persuasive Communication, and also took African Dance.)</p>