<p>vjay, if you search for "Columbia College Chicago" on this forum and the MT forum, you should come up with a lot of posts.</p>
<p>ok, thanks so much. It didn't come up in my initial searches of top acting/drama/music programs.</p>
<p>Hello, vjay! I am currently a freshman acting major at Columbia College in Chicago, so I might be able to give you some insight.</p>
<p>First of all, it's a huge school-- 12,000+ undergrads, I believe. At Orientation, they said that 800+ students are theater majors. If your son is looking for an intimate, conservatory-style theater program, this is not it. But that said, the classes are pretty small (usually around 15 people), and auditions for shows are competitive. </p>
<p>The best part of the school is its location. Chicago is an awesome place for live theatre (and an awesome place in general), and I have seen many shows around the city since moving here. Most of the faculty are working actors in the city, so they know the ins and outs of the business-- and going along with that, the school has incredible connections to the professional theaters in the city.</p>
<p>This is a definitely a career-oriented school, and there is a lot of focus placed on one's major. My first semester, I took 4 acting courses and 1 gen ed. Both a BA and BFA are offered for theater and musical theater, although the BFA program is by audition only (generally in one's sophomore year.) Most people have to audition more than once for the program, because there are so many people and not many spots. However, admission into the school itself is not at all difficult. Columbia prides itself on welcoming anyone who is interested in the arts-- which also means that there are a LOT of novice actors in the theater program.</p>
<p>Overall, my experience at Columbia has been good, but not amazing. I think there are much better schools for theater, and the academics are definitely sub-par. However, the city is great, the connections are great, and the theater faculty is, for the most part, great. It just depends on what your son is really looking for in a school/theater program.</p>
<p>I hope this is of some help to you. Please feel free to ask me any more questions you have!</p>
<p>Northwestern University's theatre major is one of the very best in the nation. No audition required, but admission is highly competitive. Many regard it as a top 3 program, but that may depend upon the interests of the student. When we researched this topic, we were repeatedly told that Northwestern & Julliard were the top two programs & that Yale's graduate program was superior to Yale's undergrad drama/acting/theatre program.</p>
<p>i've done a lot of research, both on cc and otherwise, but i would love a bit more insight into the question of top BA theatre degrees?</p>
<p>Why bump Emerson?</p>
<p>I am wondering why the BA Theater program at SUNY New Paltz is not coming up in any of these discussions? WE visited the school and toured the program and were very impressed. It's a BA-acting program but requires an Audition for entrance.</p>
<p>Does anyone have opinions on the acting BFA programs at University of the Arts or Marymount Manhattan? My daughter has so far been accepted to both. She is still waiting to hear from Purchase and Emerson. Of the four, do we agree that Purchase has the best reputation?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great info!</p>