High School Senior Looking to Speak with Current BFA or BA Acting Students

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>Hi there! My name is Josh and I am a high school senior. My dream is to get a BFA in Theater from one of the top theater programs in the country. I have compiled a preliminary list of schools with strong theater programs based on the criteria of prestige, reputation, testimonials, and recommendations from trusted sources. As I continue my research, I am finding it difficult to really learn about the BFA programs at these schools. Visiting their websites gives me little helpful or detailed information and reading about the faculty leads me nowhere. I took a look at the curriculums of some of the BFA programs and it seems to me that similar classes are required no matter where I go. I became frustrated due to the dearth of detailed information on BFA Theater programs available to me via the web. And that's when my mother imparted to me a nugget of wisdom. </p>

<p>"If you want to get a sense of a school's BFA Theater program, why don't you talk to one of the current students or alumni?" </p>

<p>So I took my quest for knowledge to College Confidential's Theater/Drama Majors forums. I had heard about College Confidential and the wealth of collective information and experience its users possessed. I created an account, using a moniker a friend coined for me while watching "Jay Jay the Jet Plane" in the 2nd grade, and typed up my story with the hope that the College Confidential community wouldn't let me down. </p>

<p>Here is my preliminary list of schools:</p>

<p>UCLA
USC
Chapman
Pepperdine
Occidental
Loyola Marymount University
Southern Oregon
NYU - Tisch
Fordham
SUNY Purchase
Juilliard
Marymount Manhattan
Pace University
Carnegie Mellon
Rutgers
Emerson
Boston University
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
DePaul
UNCSA
University of Miami
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
CSU Fullerton
Santa Monica City College</p>

<p>Does anyone know anyone who has attended or is currently enrolled in the BFA Theater program or equivalent* at any of these schools who would be willing to talk with me via email, Facebook, phone, or Skype? </p>

<p>*UCLA for example does not offer a BFA in Theater, however their BA is structured similarly to a BFA. </p>

<p>Here is a list of questions that I hope can be answered by talking to someone who has attended or is currently attending the any of the above theater programs:</p>

<p>What classes are you taking in the BFA?</p>

<p>What are you learning in those classes? </p>

<p>Do you enjoy those classes?</p>

<p>How are the teachers?</p>

<p>Are they knowledgeable and well informed? </p>

<p>Are there certain teachers that students don't get along with?</p>

<p>Are your classmates talented?</p>

<p>Are there opportunities to perform? </p>

<p>How much time do you spend doing things directly related to your major?</p>

<p>How is the school setting you up with agents and managers and what not? </p>

<p>Do you have a life outside of the BFA program?</p>

<p>Are the academic classes difficult? </p>

<p>Does the school have a reputation for having good, bad, or average academics? Does this seem to be true based on your personal experience?</p>

<p>What's the campus like?</p>

<p>What's the city/town like?</p>

<p>What is your general impression of the students there?</p>

<p>How do you spend your free time?</p>

<p>Perhaps people could email these questions to any current students or alumni that they know and post their responses in the thread so that everyone can see. </p>

<p>Any correspondence is appreciated. A phone number, an email address, a name, everything is helpful. </p>

<p>If anyone thinks that there are better ways to learn about BFA Theater programs then please point me in the right direction. Any advice, tips, or guidance is welcome. </p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Hi, Josh:</p>

<p>Some students do stay on the forum after starting college but no one writes in any detail nor do they use the board for criticism. And, of course, BFA students don’t have much time.</p>

<p>If I were you, I’d scan the forum for students and professors who write often, then email or private message them directly. Do it now because school is just starting.</p>

<p>(By the way, the theater school curriculum at UCLA resembles a BFA program but two years of gen ed requirements are part of the degree as well. It may be more accurate to think of it as a hybrid.)</p>

<p>Best.</p>

3

<p>Josh - You might want to venture over to the Musical Theatre forum and look through the schools list at the top of that forum. Some of your school have their own sub forums there. and while it is the MT forum, you can see which students are currently posting and contact them about putting you in touch with an Acting major at their school.</p>

4

<p>Hi Josh. My son is a junior at UMich (BFA Theatre). He would be happy to talk with you.
I sent you a PM.</p>

5

<p>message me about umn.
and i know plenty of other people at other schools that i can connect you to via fb.</p>

6

<p>Just lettin you know now-it might be a good idea to take SOU off your list.
I do not attend there and cannot speak from personal experience, but I know several people who attend there and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. They have a phenomenal tech program with great connections to OSF (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) but their acting program is sub-par. Great location, GREAT cost, but probably not the best education if you’re looking to have a lot of acting career opportunities after you graduate.</p>

7

<p>Thank you for your insight.</p>

8

<p>Jazay95, I pm’d you before I saw your note. Your list is huge so you probably want to whittle it down by asking yourself these questions:</p>

<p>1.) Am I more interested in stage or screen? Connections and opportunities are greater on the West Coast for screen
2.) What size program do I want? NYU is large; NCSA smaller for example
3.) You don’t mention your GPA/Test scores–this factors in greatly as some schools (also your need for $$)
4.) You mention performance opportunities–how important is this to you–many schools don’t let you publicly perform until after freshman year.
5.) What type of theater education do you want (most use a combo of techniques but a few are specific–like Meisner at Rutgers) but also do you want training in the classics? Improv? stage combat? circus skills? Voice (music vs. speech)
6.) Do you absolutely want city life or is a suburban or small town okay? Remember that if you are used to living in a big city, you might be miserable stuck in the middle of nowhere or if you are from a small town, NY might be overwhelming regardless of how good the program is </p>

<p>You are beginning the most exciting and stressful period of your life–Good luck! (And remember, most of the time, students wind up exactly where they are supposed to be)</p>

9

<p>Jayzay, before you start interviewing students you may wish to cull your list a bit. I agree it is difficult to “know” a program based on their website, but there is a lot to learn just by reading through the forum and just “Googling” for information. </p>

<p>Have you visited any of the schools? If you can afford the time/money, that would be the best place to start. Once you’ve checked out a couple of different types of campuses, you will have a clearer idea of what you are looking for. </p>

<p>Also, how important are academics? Are you looking for a stand-alone conservatory setting or do you want to be surrounded by people studying a variety of majors?</p>

<p>Finally, do you want the hustle and bustle of an urban environment or do you prefer a more “typical” campus? </p>

<p>Only you can answer questions such as those and those answers will reduce your list to a more manageable number.</p>