<p>My daughter and I are confused. I've heard so many things about this. What specifically is a conservatory? What is conservatory "style"? How are they different? How do you know which school is which? Thanks so much for any help.</p>
<p>Here are a couple of threads where this is discussed. You might start with these and then post back more questions if you have them. Good luck!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/945837-university-vs-conservatory.html?highlight=conservatory[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/945837-university-vs-conservatory.html?highlight=conservatory</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/463259-conservatory-vs-not.html?highlight=conservatory[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/463259-conservatory-vs-not.html?highlight=conservatory</a></p>
<p>Simple answers: The norm is to call it a “conservatory” if the student takes no core/general education/etc. classes. That is to say, no math, science or english - just theatre and music and dance. (Likely there will be plenty of theatre history, literature and criticism woven into the program.) </p>
<p>Conservatory style offers the vast majority of classes from theatre and music, but require core/general education classes.</p>
<p>That having been said, it means nothing. Each school takes a different approach. Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, a well regarded program with the word “conservatory” in its name, requires classes in general ed. And they aren’t alone. </p>
<p>Don’t get caught up in the name. Everyone on these boards has some opinion on what constitutes quality training. Every student is different, each student has to find a correct fit. Whether or not the program calls itself a conservatory, a professional training program, or anything else doesn’t matter. After all “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”</p>
<p>Thanks but I still am hoping for more clarification. Maybe I’m just dense! haha My daughter wants intense training but she doesn’t want a conservatory. Does that mean she should just stick to a BA? Because it looks like the very nature of a BFA means conservatory. But most BFAs also let you take other courses…I’m still confused. I wish there was a list somewhere instead of having to call each school to find out. Can anybody give us some names of real bona fide conservatories? That way we could just avoid those. (Cincinnati Conservatory sounds perfect but we would have never chosen it because of the name).</p>
<p>How many “other courses” does your D want to take? How much MT vs. general education does she want? How academically challenging does she want the gen ed courses to be? I think if you can be more specific you may get a few more “concrete” answers from the group.</p>
<p>You can look at each school on line (w/o making phone calls) and see the details for each program for the MT degree. See what classes are required by semester. It’s important to do this as there is so much variety. Some have sight reading, some don’t, some have hours of dance, some don’t, some have math, some don’t, some have class voice, some have private vocal instruction, and they really doesn’t fit a nice pattern by degree type, sorry to say for those of us trying to figure this out.</p>
<p>Yes, this will take a lot of time! My girl will audition for all types of schools, as so many of them have great things to offer and we will see what happens. In some cases, if the class we really want to see isn’t part of the standard program, there is probably a way to get it in the mix. Some schools and some locations will be easier to “adjust” than others. The costumer in me says “we can MAKE this fit!” The bad side to this attitude is that we’re having a time narrowing the list down to something workable.</p>
<p>All BM/BFA/BA degree schools I’ve seen have liberal arts requirements. The only schools I’ve seen w/o any liberal arts are the less than 4 year programs, such as Circle in the Square in NYC. If I’m wrong, somebody will correct me! 
Even Julliard, the queen of conservatories, has an 18 hour liberal arts requirement for drama majors if I read the chart correctly.</p>
<p>classicalbk is right. Even the degree doesn’t necessarily indicate amount of credits in the individual departments. I’m sorry, but there are “rules of thumb” but no real rules. If a school is accredited by NAST (National Association of School of Theatre) there are percentage guidelines. But to be perfectly honest, even those can be fudged. </p>
<p>As an example, our former BA in Musical Theatre required 73 credits (120 to graduate) in Music, Theatre and Dance. When we changed to a BFA program we added less than 10 more credits. </p>
<p>And to be even more obtuse the “liberal arts” portion of a degree can mean that the student has a list of theatre classes to choose from. I think as you begin to look at the curricula you will see many more similarities than differences. I wish I could be of more help.</p>
<p>Another factor to weigh is that among schools that offer general ed requirements as part of, say, a BFA program, there is a huge variation in how “challenging” those GE classes are. The degree of difficulty is all over the place. So now you have to look at not only how many GE courses are available and can fit in to the schedule, but the level of difficulty of those classes. That being said, there is something for everyone out there; it just takes a lot of research to determine which programs fit for which students. Some kids may be more interested in concentrating in performing arts, and do not enjoy the academics as much; in that case there are some BFA programs that require very little in the way of academics, and are often times in a pure conservatory setting. On the other hand, there are BFA programs that require a certain number of GE units and if it on a university campus where there are a wide variety of classes and levels, the student can determine what level of academics they want to take. I know… just one more confusing thing to include in your search for the perfect school…</p>
<p>This is why one of the most important pieces of research that needs to be done in this process, is a close examination of the curriculum available for all four years of the degree.</p>
<p>Making sure to clarify what students may take beyond the required courses is also important. This may take a combination of looking at online course catalogues for the course descriptions, combined with asking questions of the schools.</p>
<p>For example, the BA MT program in which I teach requires 58 credits in Music, Theatre & Dance. However, most MT students graduate with 10 - 18 additional credits in Music, Theatre, and Dance. Some do this on top of the full liberal arts core, but many are able to test out of lower levels of foreign language, and/ or have AP, IB or Dual Enrollement credit that counts for some general education classes. </p>
<p>Each school is soooo different, and no two programs will look exactly alike. The degree “letters” (BA/ BM/ BFA) give a guidline, but programs with the same degree may be quite different.</p>
<p>Also, OP, does your d want to study something else in college (ie double major/minor)? A good friend of mine went to a school known for great academics, but couldn’t keep up performance requirements and her double major. Granted, that was music and not MT, but some schools make it easier than others. </p>
<p>Also, coming from a teen, I agree with the suggestion to look at the difficulty of courses. One of the schools I was looking at has a great arts curriculum, but the liberal arts courses don’t seem much more difficult than my hs courses. So, imo, it’s definitely worth checking the academic rigor of classes if that matters to your d.</p>
<p>And just to throw more into the mix, if academic rigor is important, don’t forget to take a look at the honors programs at the schools. It may not be the easiest scheduling with honors and MT, especially in any type of BFA program, but check to see if it is doable. So many things to consider!</p>
<p>Haha, I can see how all of this could be really daunting. Especially because I think the OP was a little overwhelmed already. </p>
<p>I think the main questions to look for on school’s websites are:
- How much gen. ed is there?
- What are the gen. ed options?
- How difficult are the classes?
- What other academic opportunities are available to BFA/BM students?
[At least, that’s what I looked for.]</p>
<p>Also, if you have specific questions about the schools listed on the top of the forum page, you can probably find someone to answer them by posting on those pages.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for your information. Wow. It’s a lot. One final question. Does anyone know where there is a list of conservatories?</p>
<p>classicalbk - to answer your question - Carnegie Melon has no general ed requirements for their BFA/MT except for one course to learn how to use their specific computer system. My daughter did their overnight program and not only was this noted during our tour but the girls she was staying with emphasized the exclusion of any non-theatre courses. It was not for her, she canceled her audition date.</p>
<p>"This is why one of the most important pieces of research that needs to be done in this process, is a close examination of the curriculum available for all four years of the degree. "</p>
<p>That was one of the first things I realized when we started this search process. In the Big Binder Of Doom, (not to be confused with the Spreadsheets of Shock and Awe and The World’s Largest Calendar) we downloaded the pages with the curriculum and course descriptions and degree requirements off of the school’s web pages, printed them out and put them in each school’s individual section. Quite a range - I’ve glanced at it, D hasn’t really had time to look at them much, but as acceptances come in she’ll be pouring over those to help her narrow down her options.</p>
<p>I could be wrong but when I checked the web site for CMU MT/BFA tonight, there were a few English and Humanities/social sciences credits listed over the course of the 4 year program. The first semester the schedule did show just that one class about the computer system. So while there aren’t a lot of required non-drama classes, there are some, if I’m reading this correctly.</p>
<p>I am hoping that the mom of the CMU student that I know will chime in here - but I am pretty sure that there are no academic requirements outside of the theatre dept at CMU. I wonder if some of their theatre classes fulfill the English and Humanities credit requirements that you mentioned above?</p>
<p>CMU has always had a requirement for the same English/writing class as all admits take, plus a “gen ed” critical history of the arts and the computer class already mentioned–all not within the Drama school. As of this fall, many of the required Foundation of Drama/History of Drama courses also required can now be met by a wide ranging list of humanities and social sciences classes. As a parent of an MT '11, I’ve listened to the various comments that would make it sound like CMU kids live in a bubble. Many may choose to try to live exclusively in Purnell (the Drama School building) but the university is increasingly encouraging even those kids to make sure they experience more of the challenging academic options beyond its walls. BTW, the courses Drama has traditionally offered to fulfill these required “academic” portions of the major are not lightweight, either!</p>
<p>kedstuff - I’m assuming you’re correct since your child went through the program but they should change their firm statements on their tours and info sessions then. It was a total turn-off for my daughter who walked away from her overnight with the impression from admin, staff, and students that CMU is basically a trade school - one of the best in the country for whatever trade you choose, but still, a trade school with little to no cross-pollination between trades.</p>