<p>On another thread someone mentioned that Cornell had a good theater program.</p>
<p>I recall reading on CC, maybe a year ago, that Cornell's theater program currently was not so great, in that person's estimation. This was someone who was an alum.</p>
<p>Anybody look into the program there recently? This is of particular interest since I am an alum but my daughter has pretty much dismissed the place. Just wondering if she's maybe overlooked something.</p>
<p>I have no personal knowledge about Cornell, but it seems that I recall that Theatermom graduated with a degree in theatre from Cornell and currently has a S at the school (but not in theatre). She may be able to help you. You might try sending her an e-mail or private message if she doesn't see your post.</p>
<p>I have a lot of info on the GREAT Cornell Theater program (IMO, its gotta be one of the best B.A.s in the country) as I did a very very thorough visit for 3 days and my mom is close friends with the former drama department head who is now retired from that post but still works there as an acting professor (interestingly, he was her acting T.A. at Michigan, that's how she knows him) Theatermom , who is probably the alum you speak of, missed the construction of the Schwartz center for the arts in 1986- i'm sure only by a few years ;) I have to study for my physics quarterly (blech) but will be back to report later. Did you see my abridged overview in, I think, theater/drama college thread? More later, Danielle</p>
<p>P.S. monydad- what colleges is your daughter interested in as of now? Kellster and I seem to be the lone B.A. explorers on this thread, and more input would be great!!!</p>
<p>She hasn't really started seriously; it's this summer's project.</p>
<p>The names I've heard are: Wesleyan, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon,Oberlin,U Rochester, Yale, Columbia, Brown, NYU.</p>
<p>I found the prior CC posts I recalled seeing. They were from May 9, 2003. The post I best recalled was, in fact, from Theatermom.</p>
<p>For anyone interesed they are in the Archives in part 2 of the Musical Theater thread :
<a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/messages/4/11124.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/messages/4/11124.html</a></p>
<p>monydad</p>
<p>To clarify a few things... Theatermom said there was an M.F.A. program when she was there-- that was abandoned in 1986 I think to strengthen the undergraduate program. Also, the course offerings in any B.A. will not be as abundant as in a B.F.A.-- but I do think that Cornell has great offerings within a liberal arts distribution. Also remember Theatermom's D was looking for a musical theater program, and they do not have that at Cornell so perhaps that was why Theatermom was not impressed.
Here's some things I noted in another thread:
1. The Schwartz center for the performing arts (build in 1986) is a space shared between the film, dance, and theater majors-- and it's gorgeous. I toured the facility and was just amazed- the dance studios, multiple black box and large scale theaters, film editing spaces- all really really great. I visited Ithaca college, it's neighbor, and the contrast was surprising, as Ithaca's spaces are in need of renovation.
2. The theater classes are open to anyone, they are part of the arts and sciences course offerings at cornell. For theater majors, however, of which there are only about 80 (in a school of 15,000+) there are requirements and I was told that the intro level classes often have a lot of non-actors just interested in taking the class, but as you move up the levels, it becomes more and more just theater majors. So while Acting I and II may be mixed with a lot of other majors just doing it for fun, Acting III and IV are usually for those actors with a serious interest and (usually) talent.
3. Cornell puts on around 5 or 6 shows a year- including 1 musical. It doesn't offer a musical theater program, as theatermom mentioned, but you are able to sign up for private voice and dance classes (Cornell offers mostly modern), or you can register for some MT/dance classes at Ithaca college which is well known for its MT program
4. Cornell has a program where they hold auditions in NYC for what they call "resident actors". These professional actors come to Cornell for 1-3 years and teach the intro to acting classes (they all have teaching backgrounds) and also perform alongside the students in the productions. My first reaction was that that meant they didn't have enough talent to fill the roles and were also taking leads away from student actors. But as my mom's friend (the former head of the theater dept) told it- this system was implemented to "raise the bar" per se- because when you have acting programs where there are no auditions to get into the major, you need to have a way of making sure there is something regulating the level of talent. I saw a show with RPTAs and student actors and it was clear that the RPTAs brought a level of professionalism to the show that was transferred to the student actors and also the casting had been selective because they weren't struggling to find kids to fill ALL the roles. Also, this system differentiates the shows from really well done high school performances. You don't have 18 year olds playing 50 year olds. The older parts go to the resident actors. Not only does this make it so the 20-year-old girl with the slightly lower voice doesn't play middle aged women for all of her college years.
Another kick of this program is that it makes cornell shows technically regional theater equity shows, meaning you can count it towards points to your equity card and graduate with an equity card, or (what the theater head suggests) is with ALMOST enough points to get your card, but not with the actual card because it will ban you out of non-equity roles which may mean you lose a job because of your card.
5. Some actors at Cornell are going for MFAs, others have supplemented their training in the summers and are planning to go straight to NYC. All of them feel Cornell has prepared them for this life.
7. It isn't hard to double major if that is something you want. As I mentioned- things in Arts and Sciences are easiest, so you wont have to go across schools- although I did meet a theater/engineering major! English and theater is probably the easiest because courses are cross listed..</p>
<p>Overall impression was that it was preprofessional, serious training, but was simply within a liberal arts curriculum which many students feel is something that they are able to bring to their acting work, not to mention it teaches them some skills that may be valuable as survival skills. </p>
<p>My one irk with the school was that it has "course requirements"- which bug me. I like the flexibility of being able to study whatever you want. But, many people think course requirements are a positive and its something for me to research further.</p>
<p>I'm visiting Wesleyan tomorrow with a friend, though it isn't high on my list right now. I've never heard it highly recommended, but who knows. Northwestern is one of my top choices (I still have to visit it, and that could change everything), the only issue I know of is that they have something like 300-500 theater majors, which means its just a less individualized program. I'm thinking that that's their way of "regulating talent" just as Cornell has the RPTA program. They gotta have some good ones if they're pulling out of that big a pool. I know one reallllly talented MT actor who's going there next year. It seems to be a hot spot for those looking for great fine arts and great academics. But who knows, that's all on paper and from people I've spoken to, still have to visit. I'm interested in your D's pick of Carnegie Mellon. Its a great school, and mannnn in all the college books it sounds perfect for me, but the fact is that they have a B.F.A. program that pulls in really really top actors and thats where all the focus would be. I was told that when looking for a B.A. program, its best to look for a school without an M.F.A. or B.F.A. What are her thoughts on this? Yale and Brown are on my "to go" list. I know that Yale doesn't really have an acting program, it's more a "study of theater" rather than performance. But there are an abundance of performance opportunities outside of the classroom, and it's just an amazing school. NYU-- is she looking at Tisch? Columbia-- is she thinking of doing the Julliard cross-registration thingy that I've heard mentioned? Because Columbia itself doesn't have a drama program, I don't think- only Barnard does. </p>
<p>Can you tell I'm a little obsessed?</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your info, and good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Danielle</p>