<p>Most transfer students enter the UNIVERSITY as a junior (60 or more units required before you may transfer in, per governor's mandate), but the DEPARTMENT as a sophomore because they don’t have the required course work to audition for a BFA program. In fact, many who do have the required course work feel that they have a better chance of being chosen for a B.F.A. program if they first prepare here for one year. From the nearly 100 sophomores who audition, only 10 Musical Theatre and 12 Acting students will be advanced to the junior level (BFA program admittance) each year.</p>
<p>The following course work must be completed (or nearly completed) before auditioning for either BFA:</p>
<p>Theatre 200: Play Analysis (or equivalent) with a grade of C or better – 3 units:
• Study of scripts with emphasis on dramatic analysis and cultural significance.</p>
<p>Theatre 141A/B: Voice/Movement for the Stage (or equivalent) with a grade of B- or better – 6 units:
• Intensive training in the integral use of the voice and body for the actor; developing skills for vocal and physical relaxation, flexibility, and strength. Study of the International Phonetic Alphabet, speech articulation and vocal anatomy required. </p>
<p>Theatre 240 A/B (“263A/B” in previous catalogs): Acting II (or equivalent) with a grade of B- or better – 6 units:
• Improvisations, exercises and techniques of acting for the stage. Motivation and behavior in characterization.</p>
<p>Additional course work STRONGLY recommended for Musical Theatre candidates: Ballet II (212); Jazz II (232); Tap II (242); Fundamentals of Musical Theatre Performance (236A/B); Music Theory (MUS 101); and Basic Music Reading and Sight Singing (181).</p>
<p>All students auditioning for either B.F.A. program must be interviewed for voice and movement proficiency assessment – this occurs on the date of the BFA acting audition. If it is determined that student hasn't mastered adequate skill level (in IPA transcription and application, articulation with non-regionality present, and comprehensive knowledge of vocal anatomy), they cannot be considered for BFA program admission (this is late in the game to realize that the junior college hasn't yet prepared them adequately).</p>
<p>Students auditioning for the Musical Theatre BFA must also prove piano proficiency and rudimentary sight singing skills - this, on the date of either their vocal or dance audition.</p>
<p>The problem arises when the student receives an A.A. degree at a junior college, and believes that is enough to prepare them for the BFA auditions. It is typically not. </p>
<p>In my experience, the training at a university level will be MUCH more advanced in all areas than that which the junior college (with more limited resources and different student goals) can usually offer. One prime example, many J.C. programs don't offer the prerequisite Voice & Movement for the Actor (requiring speaking, not singing or forensics; and physical characterization in terms of range, freedom and efficiency, not dance); OR they offer a voice and/or movement class, but without the IPA or anatomy knowledge required to audition. Another example, the level II dance classes at a JC are not nearly as advanced as those at the unversity level, so the JC transfer is floundering at an audition their peers are well prepared for (after investing the same amount of time in dance classes). Finally, the acting style that we are looking for is very specific, and not often offered (or embraced) at many JCs. We are looking for honesty, simplicity, a full emotional life, compelling objectives, variety and novelty in the pursuit of intentions/tactics, and a strong sense of relationship. Often, junior colleges aren't able to achieve the level of craft that we require at the end of the sophomore year, again due to limited resources and the experience and goals of the majority of their students (the good kids are often left to their own devices, because the teachers are so busy with heavily enrolled classes of both majors and non-majors who think it would be "fun" to take an acting class but have zero talent or experience).</p>
<p>Every year, we have students who are not advanced into the program who immediately go off to land roles in international touring companies, cruise lines, theme parks, movies, etc. These are not bad actors, by any means - but they are NOT THE TOP IN THEIR CLASS. And some of our students return to the JC to study (aka, "do plays so they can get cast in the leads, but not pursuing any educational/degree goal")...where, I am told, their training at CSUF qualifies them as "genius" in comparison to their peers.</p>
<p>So you see the caliber of student that we are grooming from the moment they enter as a freshman - this is what your daughter is up against. And were she to not train at the same level as her peers, she will not remain competitive with them. We are not looking for the "trainability" factor at our BFA audition - we are looking for a certain level of mastery; one which, in my experience, the junior college is not able to prepare the student for.</p>
<p>So the time and money spent at CSU is valuable when you consider the savings in terms of repetition of coursework and "marketable years" lost.</p>
<p>ONE OPTION would be to take ONE YEAR of classes as a JC, then transfer in as a sophomore and take one year here before jurying (several BFA students came in this way). The trick here is that the student must exhaust ALL the THEATRE classes that the JC offers that CSUF will accept as transferrable (2 semester of Acting, 2 semesters of Voice & Movement [if it covers complete IPA and vocal anatomy], and 1 semester each of Script Analysis, Intro to Costumes and Make-up). In that situation, the student may apply as a transfer student before achieving 60 units (essentially circumventing the governor's mandate). WARNING: There are four GEs that MUST also be taken in preparation for this approach (or admission will likely be denied): English composition, speech/forensics, math (college algebra or higher) and a critical thinking course (one that the university will accept). If you would like to check that the G.E. courses your daughter plans to take at the JC will transfer, I suggest you explore this website: <a href="http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html</a></p>
<p>As for the classes that the Theatre department will accept for the program and jury requirements, as long as the class is truly equivalent (as outlined above in units and content), we accept them; but if the student doesn't pass their jury, and decides to repeat their sophomore year here before jurying again, then we advise that they REPEAT the performance--acting and V&M--here.</p>
<p>ANOTHER OPTION: find a program local to you that will train her as well as possible, rather than coming to CSUF. The expenses saved will almost certainly not offset the lack in "high level" training, but can give her less debt to start her career with (however, she may not be prepared for a successful career if she only attends a JC).</p>
<p>YET ANOTHER OPTION: find a CSU closer to home - again, we are the top-rated CSU school in theatre, so the quality will not be the same. But if expense is a factor, this is an option you should explore.</p>
<p>LAST OPTION: take out student (and possibly parent) loans, come to CSUF, take all the courses required in the order required, and jury as well prepared as you can possibly be. And if you don't pass the jury, there are other theatre degree options here (most of which require LESS time than the BFA would; in fact, all the jury preparatory classes except dance count toward the BA in General Theatre Studies degree).</p>
<p>Remember, the $26 (tops) per unit that a J.C. charges for in-state students equates to from $520 $624 per semester for 20-24 units (the average load our students take each semester). For those same 20-24 units, our students are paying $1,500 (this is the tuition for full-time students, regardless of the number of units they take). You are saving money at a local JC, both in fees and in housing. But if that money is not useful to getting the student's educational objectives, in essence forcing them to repeat coursework here, then the "savings" in the short term must be considered against the bigger picture of the total cost of attendance over the four years (or five, if a two-year transfer doesn't pass their juries straight out of a JC) and the time lost to career-potential in a "young person's" business.</p>
<p>Hope this is helpful,</p>
<p>eve</p>