<p>I have heard very mixed messages about this school. Can anyone currently going there tell me about it as a school, and then about the mt program?</p>
<p>My D was just accepted for BFA Acting and it is one of her top choices. The negative everyone talks about is the cuts. They cut at the end of sophomore year, taking both BFA Acting and MT down from 22-24 to 16-18 students. Those that are cut are moved into the BA Theatre Studies programs. If you search you will see posts about it, most recently in the thread about what to expect at auditions. But everyone we have ever met at the college is amazing.... the kids, the faculty, the admissions people, everyone. Positive, friendly, amazing people who are super enthusiastic about what they do. The campus is great, but it is not a traditional campus, so if you want a traditional campus, you won't like it. You have to go there and see it to understand it. Take a tour. But another plus is that this is a school that will give you a solid liberal arts education. That was important to my D. She is trying to pick schools that will do that for her, for the most part.</p>
<p>My son is now a junior at Emerson. He loves it both for the quality/style of instruction in his major as well as the city, the classes outside his major and the absolutely wonderful study option he took first semester sophomore year at their castle in the Netherlands. He toured many countries in Europe. This was truly a life changing experience. Perhaps the greatest negative is the cost of the school (ouch).</p>
<p>As far as cuts go, they generally aren't as brutal as they may seem. Often those who don't move on upon re-evaluation are the kids who didn't put in the effort required or those who voluntarily exit the BFA program in favor of the BA program, or another field of study. One of the great things about Emerson is that the school and program are different. If the school has accepted a student, and the program denies the student for admission or progression after the sophomore year, that student is encouraged to stay at Emerson as opposed to other schools who will ask the student to leave the school if he/she does not continue to hold a spot in the specific program.</p>
<p>When we visited a few days ago it was repeatedly stressed that the "number" of BFA students going forward from sophomore year to junior year is 16---no more, no less. I assume the person who told us about this knows what she was talking about, because she was asked about several scenarios---for example, when there are 18 extraordinarily talented and capable sophomores. She said they "have to cut" to 16 because if they had more they would have to hire more staff. </p>
<p>Someone asked what would happen if they had only 14 students at the end of sophomore year, and one or two were not as strong as the others and who would in overage years be cut. She said that under those circumstances no one would be cut, because the target number is 16.</p>
<p>This said to us that their concern is for a target number, and that they really are not committed to the students in the program, but rather the program itself. Both my son and I felt very strongly that the school was selling the program and the school, where at other schools the teachers and students are the focus. We didn't hear a single thing about the teachers, but a good deal about their castle in the Netherlands. On the tour (with non-theater students, it was a general tour and look at the school) the quality and recent renovation of the buildings and equipment were emphasized repeatedly. Not much, if anything, was said about the quality of teaching, which I personally thought was odd.</p>
<p>We were also told that there is "essentially no difference" between the BFA and the BA theater arts "except in how you choose to spend your time." The BFA has only fifteen required hours of "studio," i.e. required for the BFA, each week. This seemed very sparse in comparison with other programs, but our group leader said several times that Emerson is not a true conservatory program.</p>
<p>She also said that there is NO difference drawn in the casting pool between the BFA and the BA students, and that both were viewed as completely equal in terms of ability, status, opportunities to be in shows, etc. Our leader was a BA Theater arts student.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we were told the exact same thing at BU by our group leader there, who was also a BA Theater arts who was interested in criminal justice and taking classes in it.</p>
<p>Princeton Review said that Emerson was the third highest unreligious schools in the country. We might as send her to Berkley!</p>
<p>As with any school, it is important to identify those criteria, characteristics and issues that are important to you in a school search and then ask all the questions you need to get the answers. With any MT program, you are really looking at “3 disciplines in 1”, acting, voice and dance - 4 if you include liberal arts. Schools very often have a different balance and focus, strengths and weaknesses, between them. In Emerson’s case, from among the MT disciplines, dance is in a distinct 3rd place. We visited Emerson twice - to tour and for my daughter’s audition. Based on the questions we asked, it became clear that my daughter would not get the dance training she wanted at Emerson. In fact, we were told that to get the level of dance that would continue to challenge her, she would need to cross register at BOCO for dance studio (Emerson has a consortium arrangement with BOCO). For some, that opportunity would be viewed as a positive; for us, the need to travel across the city to another school to get the classes my daughter wanted was undesirable. Moreover, from what we were told, students in the BFA program do not start to get the specialized focused training one would expect for a BFA MT program until their junior year (after the sophomore year cuts). On the other hand, there is a strong emphasis on liberal arts the first 2 years.</p>
<p>Then there are the much spoken about cuts after sophomore year. While Emerson does encourage students who are cut to remain and switch majors, keep in mind that Emerson is primarily a communications/journalism/performing arts school. The communications/journalism programs have strong reputations and the facilities are state of the art. If you are cut from the MT program, your options are more limited, however, than at a full liberal arts university that also has a BFA MT program.</p>
<p>For some students, this structure is a good match; for others it is not. What’s important is to scour the website, learn all you can about the program there, visit, ask a ton of questions and then decide if the school matches your needs and desires.</p>
<p>MichaelNKat, we were also told at Emerson that students who wanted to progress in dance should cross-register at BoCo… although the student group leader said that if you want to take “too many” classes at BoCo “you should just go there.” </p>
<p>For the record, when we asked at Boco about this the next day, the tour leader there vehemently denied that any Emerson (or any other school’s) students are allowed to take their MT dance classes. ** Vehemently denied.**</p>
<p>My son Scott graduated from Emerson with a BFA in Musical Theater in 2007. For him, it was the best place to learn and grow. Boston is a great place to go to school. The Castle was an amazing experience. He visited 9 countries. I was no longer afraid for him to travel anywhere. </p>
<p>Emerson encourages actors to be smart, independent and ready for when those breaks happen. Emerson students are absolutely driven but also some of the nicest people you will ever meet. When not cast in a main stage production sophomore year, he auditioned and performed in 2 plays at Harvard. </p>
<p>The teachers are all working professionals, as well as educators, and are of very high quality. When Scott played Sebastian in Twelfth Night on tour and had his photo in the paper, the picture was passed around at the faculty meeting and everyone “qvelled” saying this is what it’s all about.</p>
<p>Since graduation, he has been on a national tour and performed in multiple musicals and plays around the country. He is a proud Equity member on 2 callbacks as I write this. He also “plays a waiter” at a local restaurant. We are very happy with the education he received.</p>