<p>@EmmyBet so it’s possible to be in a BA program but take all your electives in the theater department which would technically give her the same number of units that a BFA might require?</p>
<p>At some schools that could work. My D strongly considered UMinn’s BA, for example. With APs and other advanced credits, she could have probably put together a program that would have equaled a BFA in the curriculum. What would have been different would have been that the theatre classes would have been open to most students in the university, rather than taken in a structured way by an auditioned group of auditioned students. There are pluses and minuses to each option. </p>
<p>At another BA that she considered, she found that there weren’t enough broad-based classes in Theatre, even though it was a very nicely experience-based program. There were lots of classes in Acting, Directing, etc. but none in Design or Tech. Yet in some Acting BFAs, the students can’t take anything but Acting classes, so it’s something you have to look at. My D made a prospective 4 year plan of coursework at all of the schools she was accepted to, and made her decision where the pieces fit together the best for her needs. There were other factors that influenced her, too - such as location and cost.</p>
<p>Depending on how many schools you want to bother applying to (and paying application fees for), you don’t have to be incredibly detailed at the beginning of the process. But it’s a good idea to have some understanding of what the major includes. My D removed quite a number of BAs that did not have training classes, and some BFAs that had very little academic focus. That was her preference.</p>
<p>OP, if you are open to larger schools, there are several that have wonderful theatre programs (some BA, some BFA) and also excellent academic courses. You should take a close look at NYU (BFA audition), UCLA (BA audition), Northwestern (BA non-audition), CMU (BFA audition), Fordham, Vassar (BA non-audition)… and I always put in a plug for USC (both BFA audition and BA non-audition). There are more, so I don’t mean to leave other great schools off the list. This is off the top of my head. These schools, among many others, are extremely competitive so it’s likely you’ll want to apply to many more schools to account for the unpredictability of both the academic selection as well as the audition component. In addition, if you feel your grades/test scores put you in the top top range to try for highly selective colleges, you will get an excellent academic experience at all the top schools. Btw, Yale is renown for their MFA theatre program and schools such as Brown and Penn have excellent theatre majors as well. But when you add in LACs, you might love Kenyon which has a great rep as well.</p>
<p>All these are in addition to the wonderful conservatory-style BFA theatre programs which are not in traditional top ranked academic schools, but among theatre folk are beyond excellent. </p>
<p>One of the great difficulties of being in your position is the work required to audition (huge commitment of time, travel, money, scheduling) plus the work required to apply to highly selective colleges (huge emphasis on test scores /retakes, essays, college visits to show interest) can be almost too much during senior year. So it is a bit stressful and you will feel much better once you make some decisions about your focus/direction.</p>
<p>P.S. I’d have to suggest that getting a later start did not seem to hamper Meryl Streep.</p>
<p>Hello madbean. Great advice! </p>
<p>I’ve never really heard much about Penn for theatre. I’m curious. Are you familiar with their program? Can you elaborate? Thanks!</p>
<p>Penn has a theater major-- not sure if it could be characterized as excellent.</p>