Hi everyone! So I am a current senior in the process of applying to schools and preparing for audition season. I was thrown a little bit of a curveball when I essentially woke up one day the second week of school and realized: I really want to be able to double major in English.
I’ve always been on the AP track and such, and before getting involved with theatre 100% wanted to be a writer when I grew up. The thought of slamming into a conservatory program with no room for academics and never adventuring and working to grow as a writer as well as a performer seems… wrong. I’m going into this fully aware of the work load it will entail, and that I may have to take summers or an extra semester to make it work.
I had to re-evaluate my whole list, and after a lot of emailing, these are my current schools I want to apply to:
Things are still shifting - still constantly emailing schools, as my list feels a little small. I struggle in that I want a school with reputable academics AND good theatre, so that I know I am getting the most out of each area. With the list I have now, I’m only auditioning for 4 BFA programs and could easily get rejected at all of them. And many of my BAs are at very hard academic admits. My scores are pretty good for Muhlenburg, so I guess that would be my safety, but I feel like I need more options… I just wondered if anyone had any additional suggestions for me to look into/email?
I’m indifferent about location (although not crazy about the south), prefer a school that is in/near to an urban setting or otherwise city where there is somewhat of a theatre scene & could be more performance opportunities, good academics… I could be happy with a BA or BFA, as long as I could still have access to voice lessons and dance classes in some way with a BA program.
I have a 33 ACT, and I believe around a 4.3 GPA weighted, 3.8/3.9 unweighted… Have taken 10 AP Classes so will have some AP credits to assist with the double majoring thing.
I know there have been many threads on this topic, but I just thought I’d throw my hat in the ring for some more current suggestions!
Illinois Wesleyan (2 hours from Chicago, Bloomington/Normal is a pretty cool place and they will probably offer you a really great merit scholarship)
Pepperdine
UCLA
USC
U Washington
James Madison (in the South)
Elon (in the South)
Note: you have Pace on your list, but, with all due respect, it does not seem to fully match up with your academic criteria (“one of these things is not like the others…”).
My D had very similar academic criteria to what you mentioned and several of your schools on her list. I can suggest a couple more- BUT want to add a caveat- D wasn’t looking at double major- so we didn’t do a ton of research there. So these are more suggestions for other strong academic schools with high quality theater
Boston University (BFA)
Syracuse (BFA)
Fordham (auditioned BA)
Kenyon (BA - I know for sure you can double major here)
@EmsDad Pace is one of the ones I’ve gone back and forth on… I did attend a summer program for MT there this summer, and liked the school and loved the location (and would receive a little bonus in scholarship if I ended up attending). They do have an honors college, which might make it a little more tolerable in that respect? But part of me knows I’d choose somewhere known for its intellectual environment over it in the end anyhow… I’m unsure if it will stay on the list, I sort of hope to replace it with something that fits in all respects, but we shall see! Thank you for your suggestions.
I teach at James Madison, and it us possible to double major with Musical Theatre, and English, and also to be in the Honors program if interested. A member of the class of 2015 successfully completed that combination in four years.
Please let me know if you gave any specific questions I can answer. You should be able to email me through CC.
If you’re in to writing and theater, Brown is not a bad place to be. It would be no problem to double concentrate in both the theater and literary arts.
@toowonderful Thank you so much for your suggestions! Where did your daughter end up? @KatMT Ooh good to know that you could throw the Honors program in there too. I will look into James Madison!
@arwarw I’ve heard lots of great things about theatre at Brown - not sure if I’m quite ivy material, but I suppose something to consider.
D is a very happy sophomore at NYU (Stella Adler studio). She has a dear friend who just started at playwrights horizons studio at NYU- I strong recommend checking them out!
Another school I thought of was Bennington in VT. They have a lot of flexibility ton shape your major(s). Btw- when I think of people double majoring in English and theater- I (personally) tend to think straight theater rather than MT, and several of the programs I have mentioned tie those two together.
@toowonderful Ahh lovely. NYU is a fantastic school - so cool for her! & thanks for the heads up on Bennington - I’m loving what I’m seeing as far as flexibility and being able to include everything I’d like.
You should also look at Bard. Bard encourages double majoring, and has a great theatre and a fabulous English program. They do not have a MT major per se, but they do allow students to fashion their own majors, and they have a wonderful VP and music program. I bet they would let you fashion a MT major between theatre and VP (If you really want to be convinced, google "Fisher Center Bard College "to see their performing arts center.) Bard also has two other things going for it: 1.5 hour train ride from NYC (and believe me, the kids use it ALL the time), and they have a non-binding “Immediate Decision” program where you find out if you’re in the first week of November.
Double majoring at Pace might be tough; the MT program is very time-consuming. You will probably like the Pace Honors Concentration, though, as it provides a lot of challenging courses. You could definitely double major at Rider and would probably qualify for very generous scholarship if your stats are good. You may also want to look at a school like Wesleyan or Sarah Lawrence – not BFA schools, but great theatre programs with well-connected alumni and very academic tracks. Feel free to PM me with specific Rider or Pace Qs.
