<p>KAT: I realize there will be some atrophy from programs for lots of reasons. Heck, my son my decide he would rather teach, direct, etc. rather than perform, and I will support him in whatever he decides. My shock and awe is at how FAST these kids changed their minds after such a long drawn out process. But some good points all around.</p>
<p>MomCares: NU was on our list for a while (me because of academics, he because of Meryl Streep :D) He ultimately decided not to apply there (we were not eligible for aid and they do not do merit aid at all and the price tag scared me!) but I was really impressed by the program…and I had read on another thread about how being more “educated” in general would serve you well as an actor. Both Meryl and Tom seem like very good “thinkers”…and they have done okay for themselves. :)</p>
<p>Thanks so much, KAT, for sharing your experienced insight! When DH and I went to college, we had the luxury of going back for second degrees once we changed our minds about careers. At today’s prices, that ain’t gonna happen for most of these kids!</p>
<p>And about that sticker-shock aspect… No kidding! We’re also in the “no need” bind and it was hard to have to walk away from several full-ride offers when the ED notice came.
I guess with that in mind, we should hope that if they’re going to change thier minds they do it QUICK!!</p>
<p>We are going through this process right now as well with our D. She is a very good student and extremely busy like the rest of the theatre crowd. I totally understand your helping your child out with the application and organizational process. They will need to tackle this on their own in college but right now this is a very daunting process. We cannot expect them to keep up their grades and activities while having extra time to manage all this as well. This thread has been very valuable to read as I have a D who is interested in attending a BFA MT program but is also keeping numerous BA programs on her safety list. Hopefully she will make the right choice or it will be made for her!</p>
<p>just for the record, Meryl Streep got her BA from Vassar, and her MFA from Yale. Tom Hanks attended two colleges in California, neither ones known names…</p>
<p>I was just about to post as well, wondering where the Tom Hanks /NU connection was coming from. One of Meryl Streep’s daughters attended NU, of course, but Tom Hanks’ son went to UCLA which is why Tom Hanks (along with Annette Benning) does fund raisers for UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.</p>
<p>Just to echo the time commitment/burn out issue: My D is a freshman in a BA MT program and came home from fall semester physically and mentally exhausted. She carried 17 credit hours, was in 2 MT shows and 2 dance performances last semester. She was disappointed that her grades weren’t as high as she was used to in HS, but I wasn’t surprised. She just doesn’t have the time to put in her best effort. She was sick with the flu for the first two weeks of her Christmas break and literally laid on the couch for the last two. She goes back on Sunday and the daily grind begins again. Some of the performance majors in her dept have already switched to theatre management or other majors. D is determined to slog it out, but I won’t be disappointed if she changes her major.</p>
<p>@megPmom - I went to an acting conservatory 100 years ago where they purposely tried to exhaust students to weed them out… As if they were doing it for their own good. I certainly hope those destructive attitudes don’t exist in any current theatre schools, since in my experience that sort of abuse has no resemblence to the professional theatre world, which seems dominated by caring people.</p>
<p>And for the record… D knew nothing about the Streep/Hanks connection when she chose NU She fell in love with the school when she toured this summer.</p>
<p>Northwestern has always had a great reputation for theatre. H and I are both alumni and just from our class we have several working actors, directors (stage and screen) and one of the biggest Hollywood producers, not to mention Stephen Colbert and Dermot Mulroney - both of whom did not become “famous” until almost 20 yrs after graduation. Great training, good connections, but as with all programs, no guarantee of fame and fortune.</p>
<p>I wonder if any MT program atrophy is the result of kids getting away from home and realizing how much they like having money versus being a poor $$ student? Maybe college helps some kids realize they don’t really want the lifestyle of a starving artist?</p>
<p>This is a little off topic or more the other side of it - kid getting re-invigorated at college. D was very involved in MT from upper elementary through HS, worked quite a bit regionally, but headed to college into a BA dance program because she was pretty sure her performing days were done. She has found a renewed love for dance and has started singing again (a little) and has reset some MT performance goals for herself - that she willingly expressed publically over the holidays.
I don’t know if things had become stale here at home and the change of environment, peers and instructors have contributed to her change of heart, or if these are just normal growth and plataues that all kids go through. She is glad the PPU starts most kids as BAs, who can after a year opt to stay in the BA or audition for the BFA and she likes that PPU dancers can minor in MT if they want. The idea that she was not fully locked into one track from day one was appealing. It has given her time to talk with her instructors about possibilities, the benefits and disadvantages of the different routes that she might pursue after they have had some time to get to know her as a person and performer.
Initially she was unsure of the staggered admissions at PPU, similar to NU’s, but at this point it seems to have worked well for her.</p>
<p>Keepingcalm, some but very few of the programs D has looked at starts everyone out as a BA for the first couple semesters and then if they want to and have demonstrated dedication and talent they go on to the BFA track. ~Admittance to the BFA track is based on the student’s own efforts and is not competitive with other students, or capped, at these particular schools.</p>
<p>Frankly I wish more of them were like that. I think it’s a wise idea to give them a taste of what they are really in for, before they decide the course of their entire education and in many cases there’s penalties to pay for changing. I don’t personally think my d will be finding that she regrets her choice but you never do really know - she may think she knows the difference between what it’s actually like to be in a BA or a BFA program and may think she knows which one she prefers but then again she might find it to be different than she expected. I rather doubt in her case, as I said, that she will, but I’m sure that a lot of kids do have that experience. That is what college is for, to find out.</p>
<p>I’m sure that’s one reason that the BFA programs where you start out in the BFA right away, screen their applicants so carefully: not just for talent, but for evidence that the student is fully aware of the path they are on and has enough experience and self knowledge to be reasonably sure that this is the one they want. At age 18 I think there’s no way to be 100 percent certain about anyone but some have a lot more evidence to prove that this is highly likely than others do.</p>
<p>This is so true, and honestly, I’ve wondered if some BFA programs screen kids carefully enough-- they’re happy to take the audition fees, but they could start by culling applications so that they audition fewer kids. A kid who goes into a BFA needs to have a great depth of experience beforehand and a great work ethic, things that show in a transcript, resume, essay and recommendations. If colleges really used the applications to narrow the field they’d have more time to spend with each auditioner, and kids wouldn’t be left feeling that their lives hang on a couple of two-minute monologues and or songs.</p>
<p>~ but - what is also so appealing to me about the programs that advance to BFA later, is that if a kid just hasn’t had the opportunity to build a resume proving the are BFA material before they applied to college, but nevertheless do have the passion and ability,(late bloomers maybe? Or living in a town with really limited opportunity or having to fight family who are against this path…who knows) if they can prove it in their first few semesters, the door will be open for them and not closed forever based on where they were at 17 or 18.</p>
<p>We met a dance major when we toured NU who had very much that experience. SHe had never done musical theatre before college, but found she had a passion (and major talent) for it and auditioned for the MT certificate her sophmore year, and has now gone on to a very successful college MT experience that looks like it will lead to a successful MT career. It’s cool that the program gave an opportunity to a kid like her who would have been missed by the traditional BFA path.</p>
<p>I love stories of people discovering their passion at any age… Heck I’m well over 50 and still open to finding mine! :-)</p>
<p>I totally agree, snapdragon and momcares! D’s ballet teacher started dancing when he was 25, and he’s amazing. And I recently saw a show on Broadway and noticed that one of the most eloquent dancers had only started dancing after he finished business school.</p>
<p>I also wish there were BFA programs that started as general theater, then allowed students to choose a major within theater. That would be great for my D, who maintains that she can’t stand to wait one more minute before focusing on theater theater theater.</p>
<p>I know it’s hard to remember this when you are still in the crazy process of applying/auditioning, but your child is “auditioning” the programs as well. There are options of all kinds out there, and if you have a well-rounded list, hopefully you will have choices, including choices between different programs at the same school. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about things like starting out as a BA and then moving to the BFA. Or starting out as MT and then moving to Acting or Technical Theatre. Most of the BFA courses are highly sequenced but that doesn’t always mean there is no way to move into a BFA program. </p>
<p>There are programs where you start as a BA student and then audition or switch to BFA. Both CSU Fullerton and UC Irvine in California are that way…Fullerton you audition into BFA end of sophomore year…Irvine you audition in as soon as you complete one quarter of MT 3 which could be as early as end of freshman or start of sophomore year. Northwestern, you are a BA drama or music student and audition for MT certificate. THere are others as well…just check around and you can find them.</p>
<p>CalMTMom, the problem with programs like these is that there are a high number of BA students starting out, then a small percentage are accepted into the BFA later. The student may be very talented, but it their type isn’t needed, they are left out, and are then a transfer student, making it very hard to get into another BFA program.</p>
<p>Although our kids are all wonderful and uber-talented, and yes, it does take much more blood, sweat and tears to get into MT programs, at the end of the day, they are all just normal 17 and 18 year old kids leaving home for the first time. Just like at any school and in any major, some will decide that they have made a mistake. It may be because they are unprepared for all the intensity, or don’t like the program, or it may be for less specifice reasons such as they don’t like the culture at the school, don’t like their roommates, don’t like the food, or don’t want to be so far from home. I think that our jobs is to make sure that they don’t feel that they have let us down or that they have “failed”. Remember that there is life outside the theater, and there are many ways to suceed in theater besides that BFA.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, CalMTmom-- Irvine looks GREAT! We’re on the east coast though and she wants to stick close to home but it looks like a wonderful opportunity for some.</p>
She fell in love with the school when she toured this summer.</p>