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<p>My son has a BFA degree from the BU School of Theatre, and I never heard of a student dropping out of that program because of a problem with the academic workload.</p>
<p>@NJTheatreMOM - sorry, I shouldn’t have generalized, as I am not nearly as familiar with the daily program at BU. My D was accepted there- and we researched, but never got as far as looking at the specifics of the academic load. D however does have a friend from her PA school (would have started BU in 2012) who left BU at end of Freshman year, citing academic concerns- but to be honest, he wasn’t a close friend and idk the full story. That was what he told kids when he came back to visit the PA school. He ended up transferring to Marymount Manhattan, which I believe (REALLY no knowledge here, no research at all- just from what I have seen here on CC) has fewer academic requirements. Again, apologies.</p>
<p>Interesting, toowonderful. The few academic-type classes within BU’s School of Theatre are pretty rigorous. However, the requirements outside the major curriculum are very, very scanty. Nominal, I would say. :)</p>
<p>I know a couple of people with kids at Marymount Manhattan who have had to take a math class…something that would not happen at BU! I think actually MMC has <em>more</em> academic requirements, but their academic courses are not quite as rigorous.</p>
<p>I remember when my daughter was at NYU/Tisch, and she remarked about some friends who really didn’t want to do the academics and she wondered why they applied and enrolled at Tisch. My D liked the academic and writing components. But if you want hardly any academics, nor rigorous ones, NYU is not the place to go. </p>
<p>PS, my D liked the so called dreaded freshmen writing courses!</p>
<p>I think it depends on what you find rigorous and on the particular teacher. For instance at Tisch, my own son loathed the Freshman writing course and it was a large source of his misery the first year, most likely because of the particular adjunct who taught it at the time. NYU wouldn’t let him pass on it even though he’d earned a 7 on the IB English test (very high). Perhaps they’re more flexible now? But as far as other academics, my son found it not hard so much as difficult to juggle with scheduling and balancing assignments (for him, personally). </p>
<p>I think scheduling and, as NJTheatreMom points out, degree requirements, are something people should look into, in all schools. Some BFA programs seem to have simple academics on paper but the course loads are extremely difficult and students can be up until 2 am finishing papers or worrying about passing Math or foreign language. </p>
<p>For instance, my D finds learning a foreign language really really hard, so if a BFA program has a foreign language requirement, that would be torture for her. I’d look very carefully at each school’s curriculum and requirements for the 4 years. I wouldn’t assume that if a school is known to be academically rigorous for non-theatre majors it is therefore academically rigorous for theatre majors, or the reverse, that if the school has simple academics for non-theatre majors, it’s a slam-dunk academically. Again, make sure to look at the BFA/MA acting major requirements. Each program is very different.</p>
<p>@connections- To my knowledge- there is no way out of writing the essay at NYU. D had 5s on AP composition and AP Literature, no dice. Her prof is good- she likes him, so that is a good thing (I have heard from others that it makes or breaks the course- Ds was luck of the draw, but it seems to have worked) and she is getting a good grade- but just doesn’t enjoy the repetitive nature of the class. But it is helping her understand what the expectations will be for the writing in the her other classes. </p>
<p>@connections, I don’t remember the particulars of the academics at NYU for a BFA, but I know one of the reasons my son (who actually had excellent grades and test scores) chose a BFA was because in general, you do NOT have to take math or foreign language as general eds. Most BA’s do. From what I remember. </p>
<p>After she got into NU, my D found out that their BS degree in theatre does not require any foreign language! After suffering through several years of German in high school, she could not be more thrilled. She is the sort that found BC Calc easier than first year of a foreign language–she just doesn’t have the head for it. So having no foreign language requirement for her BS degree at NU is such a godsend for her! Anyway, it’s all individual. This is what I mean–look at each program’s curriculum. Do not assume that just because a school is ‘easy’ that the academics will be easy for your child. If my D had been in an ‘easy’ school but had been required to take 3 years of a foreign language, that would be have been misery for her.</p>