Ok my D wants as few gen Ed requirements as possible…lol …Do we have to pick all BFA conservatory style programs normally? What number of gen Ed credits is considered a small amount?
You can check each schools curriculum and it should lay it all out. But yes a BFA or a conservatory would typically require less Gen Eds.
@theaterwork, I think you said your daughter is a rising HS junior which means she is right on time for sorting out her priorities for the college process. If I were you I’d try to get underneath what your daughter means by “as few gen Ed requirements as possible.” If it’s code for “I don’t want any homework, papers, research etc.” she’ll be sorely disappointed in many (maybe all) conservatory or conservatory-like programs. It is still going to be school and not one big rehearsal.
There are many BFA programs including those with hefty Gen Ed requirements where those requirements can all be fulfilled in classes with the word “theatre” or something related to theater in them somewhere. But yes, there are schools where the academic expectation (number and complexity of papers, depth of research) is present, but the bar is lower and others where it is higher. Is that what she means?
@halflokum she means not very many math science “regular” class types. Lol She’s not afraid of work and loves to write. She just wants very little math science requirements. English is fine and even history would be ok. She does want “theater” to be a lot of her classes . Mainly anything in her MT area. she knows there is homework , she just doesn’t want any STEM stuff! Ha
If she doesn’t want those classes in college, she may want to consider math/science APs in HS. AP stats and AP environmental science fulfilled my D’s math and science requirements at many of her accepted schools (including the one she attends.
@theaterwork if that is the bar, I think virtually all of the MT programs talked about here will be more than fine. Even at NYU that “math class” could instead be a class in social sciences, politics, sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology, natural science, biology, chemistry, geology, physics. And yes, under some of those headings will be a class that has the word “theatre” in it. Or you can do well enough on an AP exam as suggested above by toowonderful and dispense with it before you even set foot on campus.
D’s math class in her BFA program was “Math in the Modern World.” They learned real-world things, including how to buy a car. Of course, she said if she’s living in NYC she won’t need a car!
My D wanted one gen ed class a semester at most and no math (although she would’ve grudgingly done math and more gen eds if she loved a program). So, we scoured program requirements, which are mostly found on programs’ websites. (She had to contact a few programs to get that information, too.) Fortunately, almost all of the programs she really liked met her preferences.
Even if a school only requires minimum gen eds, it might require more papers written (even in dance), etc., so they might be considered more academically intense. We found that out by researching on CC and asking CC parents, faculty, and students. (Personally, my D was fine with this and would’ve embraced it–and would’ve had this at one of her final choices–, but, really, she wanted a more hands-on curriculum. I think/hope she’ll have the balance she wants in the honors program at UArts.)
Another important aspect of curriculum for my D was flexibility. She loved schools that had a wide range of real choices for gen eds and a good number of electives, again with a number of choices. That also varies by school and can be found out by scouring curriculum plans and handbooks.
Yes there are almost no gen eds at CCPA Roosevelt (especially if you come in with AP) but there is a fair amount of writing in the BFA classes.
I copied the following from another one of my posts.
Otterbein is a small liberal arts university, but if you are an MT or an Acting major, you only have one (required) gen ed per term. I seriously can’t imagine taking too many more classes than what is required . . . their days are extremely jam-packed.
Here’s a four-year academic plan from Otterbein. Please note the date on this as things may have changed:
http://www.otterbein.edu/Files/pdf/theatre/Sample%20MTD%202013.pdf