<p>When seeking admission to a grad school theatre program (in Acting or Directing), is any weight put on the undergrad institution of the student? I assumed not, because they would decide on talent. I ask this because I can't afford to go to top theatre schools like CMU or NYU, but I still want networking in grad school. So say I'm seeking admission to a grad program at NYU or Yale. Would it matter that I went to just an average theatre school?</p>
<p>cmarshall, that’s a complex question. A good grad school theatre program is extremely competitive. It’s certainly about talent, but it’s also about your experience, your interviews, and your letters of recommendation. Many people do not go straight from undergrad to grad, so in that sense it matters less what undergrad you went to. If you apply to grad school in your mid-late 20s, for instance, and have a great working resume with some professional theatres, it will matter much less what undergrad you went to than if you apply at 22 with little professional experience and no strong letters of recommendations. A strong undergrad program will also position you to gain those connections for the recommendations, as well as position you better (hopefully) for landing roles.</p>
<p>The other issue here is that you say you can’t afford to go to top schools. Leaving aside that top schools offer merit/need scholarships, there are also top schools, like Purchase, that are less expensive. There are other threads that discuss less expensive options in good BFA programs.</p>
<p>Another issue is that you seem to be going by external ranking (‘the top’) rather than by what you need. What training do you believe you need? What school would be a match for you? An ‘average’ theatre school (whatever that means) can be excellent and position you to get the training you personally need. There are also always influential people in pretty much any theatre program since the position itself - professor at a university - is so competitive. If you seek out mentors, in any field, you put yourself in a better position.</p>
<p>Also, don’t ignore internships, study abroad and summerstock. You can go to an ‘average’ school but during the summer go to ‘top’ programs or during the year go to top study abroad programs. That would enhance your resume.</p>
<p>The biggest thing is that most people do not go straight from BFA to MFA. So really it would be best to focus on what you need right now. If you do end up going to an ‘average’ school for whatever reason, you can enhance your experience by connecting with mentors, learning as much as you can, and making the most of internships and summerstock opportunities.</p>
<p>In Directing particularly, but I would assume also in Acting, it isn’t normal to go right on to graduate school after undergrad. Most folks who are applying for grad school in theatre are folks who have gotten some “real world” theatre experience. This is I think what you need to be focusing on instead of which undergraduate school you went to.</p>
<p>I went to a not-very-presitigious undergraduate school, but what is impressing grad schools are the projects I directed as an undergrad, and then (what was very important) the fact that I kept directing plays even after I graduated. And I have been careful to direct a lot of “serious” plays (Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Harold Pinter, etc) so that folks can see I have a serious interest in theatre.</p>
Please Note: Depending on what you want, an MA can suffice. But most teaching (a guy’s gotta live), regional and national level jobs come with the MFA requirement.
And YES your gpa matters! You are not only applying to a major, you are also applying to a graduate program at a university. It has happened that people are accepted into a program, but rejected by the graduate school committee.
Often grad schools (especially those gold standard programs out of the country LIR, RADA) have very high admission requirements; and unfortunately being a “special little snowflake” isn’t enough.
School does NOT matter….my friend’s daughter went to a small unnamed state school and is now in her second year at YALE drama full tuition paid!
Ooops Old post it will be locked might want to ask your question again in a new thread…