<p>General questions:
-Comparing acting conservatories and full, 4 year college programs, what are the general benefits/disadvantages?</p>
<p>-Do film makers usually want to see a proper degree, instead of just a conservatory certificate?</p>
<p>Specific to me:
-I'm probably going to go major in something else after a few years of training in stage and film acting, so I don't feel I need the rest of the general education that's bundled with college programs; I'll get that when I go to medical college. I prefer conservatories because they focus just on drama, but am I missing out on anything major by not going for a college degree in acting?</p>
<p>Personally, I consider “the entire college experience” to be a fairly major thing, but I guess everyone has their preferences…</p>
<p>Wow. This would require a major essay to answer completely that I don’t feel like writing right now, but I’ll hit on a few points … </p>
<p>First off, you need to realize that there are profound differences in the amount of training you receive in the various four year college programs. At schools like Juilliard, NCSA, CMU, Rutgers and Purchase, you can pretty much count on spending your every waking moment immersed in training for four years with a few gen eds thrown in for good measure. We’re talking like 80+ hour weeks as an upperclassman devoted almost exclusively to acting which is a hell of a lot more than you’ll get at the non-scholastic places where you typically just train a few hours a week. Then there are other BFAs with a bit more of a general education component and they also vary a great deal in the way they balance things out. It’s actually possible to double major or declare a minor in some of those. Then there are BA programs that also vary in the amount of training offered with some actually offering as much as a mid-intensity BFA if you take advantage of everything, so it’s hard to make global statements.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that medical school takes place on the graduate level and you need not major in pre-med to do it. If you’re willing to work yourself to death, you can take all the needed science courses to get into med school while also majoring in theatre although it might take you an extra year to finish. You can definitely do this at a lot of BA programs and some lower-intensity BFAs. </p>
<p>As for film, it doesn’t matter a hill of beans where you study as long as you have some modicum of talent although it can matter a great deal for theatre if you’re talking about doing it on a high level. Film is primarily a director’s art and, as an actor, you’re basically just another color in the director’s pallet. If you can effectively play yourself, you’re generally fine because that’s all you’ll do until you’ve earned the right to do otherwise. I’m still laughing about a previous thread where someone pointed out that we’re thought of as “the talking meat.” </p>
<p>In high-end straight theatre, however, you’re expected show a lot more artistic independence and you’d damned well be able to do more than just “that one thing” - , especially starting out where you might be asked to understudy multiple roles. You also don’t get the benefit of multiple takes but rather need to be able to bring it up to eight times a week in a situation where you only have one chance to get it right and the roles are typically much more difficult than anything you’ll find in film. While you can always find some exceptions, most of the people who are able to be successful at that have undergone the type of intensive training you’ll get in a top-quality BFA, MFA or UK training academy.</p>
<p>Well you’ve given a fairly major essay anyway, fishbowl. ;D You rock.</p>
<p>Okay, that’s something I didn’t see before. I didn’t realize what a drastic difference there was between the number of hours in conservatory and college programs. Now that you’ve pointed it out, suddenly conservatories don’t sound as appealing. I suppose they’re more for people who are already working, or in college or smth, and want some supplementary training, huh?</p>
<p>Nervousashell, I agree. Right now I’m thinking that I’ll go study medicine after I’ve done some acting, and so that’s where I’ll get the “full college experience”.
I am thinking of going to Singapore to study med because I don’t have to do pre-med there. But yeah, I suppose it’s possible to simultaneously major (major?) in acting and do pre-med, and then later major in medicine on the graduate level. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) It’s just that I think I’d rather focus on them separately, but I’ll keep this in mind as an option.
What colleges have both really good (and I do mean REALLY good, I’m looking for the best) acting and medical programs? Or, well, I could always change college for the medical graduate program.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know stage is very different from film. I’ve been in a few pretty big plays at school (and we’re going to do The Miracle Worker when term starts :)), and I really appreciate stage acting. So, again, what are the colleges that’ll give me that intensive training, where I “can pretty much count on spending my every waking moment immersed in training for four years with a few gen eds thrown in for good measure. We’re talking like 80+ hour weeks…”?</p>