Is this possible?
Are there any schools with very good departments in both math and theatre?
If a student takes at least 4-5 AP tests for which they can get college credit does it make it easier to fulfill the requirements for a double major?
Yes, there are many that offer this possibility. U of Mich, CMU, JHU are some of the top schools but very difficult to get into. There are many others. AP class acceptance will depend on the school but would only make a small dent in the credits needed for a double major from 2 different schools within the same college.
Good friend of ours just did it at Mulenburg
For math and theater majors, AP credit for the major would likely be at most calculus BC for calculus 1 and 2. Other AP credit may or may not be usable in general education requirements, depending on the college’s policies.
To see how doable such a double major can be at any given college, add up the courses and credits for both majors and any general education not covered by the majors, deduct courses that can be covered by AP credit, and compare to the total courses and credits that the student can take in eight semesters.
Probably won’t be able to do a BFA in Theatre, those pretty much fill the schedule. A BA would be the easiest to fit in. My DD is attempting a double major- BS in Parks & Rec, BA in Theatre. BS 62 credits + BA 39 credits + gen eds (I forget #)- 24 dual enrollment credits makes it just possible. It would be a relief if she would drop the theatre to a minor, or I wish the BS was a few less credits but we’ll see how it goes.
Every college will be different in how many credits for each major. You’ll have to do a lot of research.
You can certainly do it at many colleges, but there’s no synergy, or even a connection, between the two. Unless you want math to be a backup option if theater career doesn’t pan out, or vice versa, it’s hard to see any reason to do both. Both will be time consuming and you may end up not doing well in either. Doing one of them as a minor makes more sense.
Look into Hamilton, which appears in a Princeton Review sampling, “Great Schools for Mathematics Majors,” and which recently built a theatre and studio arts building in the center of its campus. Hamilton’s flexible curriculum makes it relatively simple for students to double major.
Thx. Just looked into JHU’s theatre program it looked interesting. I sent them a message asking about this and apparently they offer a minor in theatre but not a major.
The theatre minor requires 7 courses and the math major requires minimum 9 and for honors 15. Plus general course requirements, still seems quite doable assuming 35-40 courses in 4 years.
I still wondered, could one do a minor in Theatre and go on to an MFA program? I asked them and they replied:
“Typically, if one were to minor in theatre while attaining their bachelors degree they would be able to go on to get an MFA.”
Utah has a BFA in theater and a strong math department. In particular many of the math sequence courses are offered in the summer, which would help significantly with fitting everything in because you are looking at a minimum of 150-160 credits (80-90 for BFA and 50+ for a second major) even after AP credits get you out of most gen eds. Most performance based programs require a lot of studio time which makes it very hard to keep to a required course sequence in a second major which may not be offered each semester or only scheduled at a conflicting time. My D is going through a similar situation with a BFA in ballet and a double major.
I would look closely at whether colleges offer a full range of summer courses if you are trying to figure out whether to take on this challenge, otherwise doing it in 4 years will probably be infeasible (you’d need 20+ credits every semester even without the conflict problem). Most BFA programs will eventually tell you to expect 5 years for a double major, even if they imply during admission that lots of students are doing a second major. But two summers makes it doable if you can fit the courses in then.
But note that summer course offerings are often biased toward more common lower level courses, so using summers to get ahead on requirements is more likely to be doable in prefrosh (if allowed) and frosh-soph summers than later.
Also, summer attendance is an extra half semester of tuition and other costs, plus reduction in hours available to work for pay and/or experience.
“Also, summer attendance is an extra half semester of tuition and other costs, plus reduction in hours available to work for pay and/or experience.”
Definitely an extra cost, but note that most state schools don’t charge an OOS supplement during the summer. And if you have to live off campus, you may be paying for an apartment for 12 months. So two summers is usually going to be considerably cheaper than spending an extra year in college. I agree its best to do this early on, both because the sequence courses (for math typically Calc 1, 2, 3, Linear Alg, DE, analysis) are usually pre-requisites for the higher level courses, and because after junior year you probably want to be doing an internship with a view to securing a job after graduation.
Two summer sessions typically has schedule space equivalent to one regular semester, not a whole academic year.
You certainly need to look carefully at what is on offer in the summer. Some colleges may only offer the majority of their courses in a single 8 week summer session (eg Berkeley), so you only get half a semester’s worth, while others may offer them over a 12 week session (eg Utah), allowing you to take on essentially a full semester’s course load. And quarter based systems (eg UCLA) may only allow you to do the equivalent of another quarter of classes.
Also different schools may have different policies with respect to financial aid, especially private schools. And some charge by the unit, others have a fixed fee no matter how many courses you take. That is all an important consideration if you want to do more than 120 units, whether you are thinking about extra summers or a fifth year.
@ShamrockLotus, you might look at Williams: An outstanding math department and very strong theater offerings. Williams doesn’t have minors, but double majoring is very common, even between disparate disciplines.
From Williams website:
Williams’ theater department is small but vibrant with dedicated faculty and stunning facilities. It’s the home of the Williamstown Theater Festival which is one of the foremost summer stock companies in the north east. Although the college doesn’t administer the theater festival, its influence rubs off in opportunities for networking and summer internships
If you are a very strong student, check out this program at Brown University. See https://www.brown.edu/academics/undergraduate/open-curriculum
@ShamrockLotus To answer your question about whether one can minor in theater and apply for an MFA in acting—the answer is yes. For MFA acting programs you need a Bachelor’s degree but you don’t need to major in theater. The number one factor is how well you do in your audition.
I’d say a BA in Theatre and not a BFA would be more doable. There is just not much time with the BFA due to studio time as others have said. I see this with my D who is doing a BFA in a conservatory. You can do MFA no matter your undergrad degree, what matters is your talent and experience.
What is your interest in theater? Acting? Something else? There are lots of applications for math in tech/design. Check out UN-LV’s entertainment engineering program for some ideas. Also take a look at Vectorworks.
While JHU only has a theater minor, there certainly are scads of theater opportunities in Baltimore. (Check out ArtsCentric, Single Carrot, Submersive Productions, Iron Crow, and Cohesion, as well as Everyman) You also should investigate the possibility to take selected theater coursework at one of the other Baltimore area colleges and universities. There are exchange programs in effect, and buses run regularly between them, but the programs aren’t well advertised.
These colleges with few distribution requirements reduce the planning needed for a double major:
https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/study-what-you-love/open-curriculum
https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/open-curriculum
I agree with @momrath. Pick a school with a great Math program and a great Theater program and have at it. I don’t see the problem. Maybe, take a closer look at the top LACs since it will be less like you’re applying to different schools on opposite ends of a vast campus. Four AP credits sounds like it would be pushing it at a place like Wesleyan or Williams (I think two would be more likely), but these days it’s fairly easy to fill your schedule with nothing but Math and Theater, if that’s what you want to do.