<p>Hi! I have been scouring this site & gathering tons of info for my D & I. She is a senior & wants to go to college for MT. We are trying to figure out which schools we are applying to, I think we are pretty good on the ones she needs to audition for: PACE, Rider, Baldwin-Wallace, Wright State, SU, Ithaca, SUNY Fredonia, Nazareth and maybe UB and maybe University of the Arts.</p>
<p>We have hired an audition coach & her coach does not recommend safety schools, says if she doesn't get into any of those schools she shouldn't be pursuing MT & that w/out a BFA you won't get anywhere in the business! (Obviously the coach is not a fan of Baldwin Wallace!). While I appreciate opinions & what else the coach will be able to help my D w/, I do not agree w/her. I think we should have safety schools-non audition schools that have a good acting/theater program. </p>
<p>So...can anyone recommend some good schools that offer a good program, but are not audition based? Let me know if I need to provide more info to help get a recommendation.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, this site is soooo helpful!!
Tami</p>
<p>Look at the infamous thread, Big List MT Colleges by Program Type. It lists schools by BFA, BA, audition, non-audition etc. It is a great place to start. </p>
<p>I would personally be wary of an audition coach that says w/o a BFA, you won’t get anywhere in the business! There has been a lot of discussion here about the pros and cons of different types of programs, but I would say there is a general consensus that successful MT actors have come from all sources. My D started at a well-known BFA program and did not feel it was a good fit. She left (voluntarily) and transferred to a BA program where (she felt) she got better training and a more well rounded program (again, for her this was a best fit-not everyone would agree). We personally know of 2 actors who went straight from high school and are currently in Broadway shows. We know 2 engineering graduates who have had runs on Broadway. We know a girl who recently dropped out of a BFA program after her second year and is a very-much-working actor. To say that only graduates of a BFA program have a chance is completely inaccurate. The majority of kids who graduated recently from my D’s BA program are working and making it in the business so far. I</p>
<p>I agree with you that a couple of safeties wouldn’t hurt. That gives your D some options in case she is not accepted to one of her top choices. She could attend a safety or decide to take a gap year, but at least she has a choice. MT has become so competitive over the past few years that it is a fallacy to say that if she doesn’t get into one of her audition programs she shouldn’t pursue MT. There are many talented kids who do not get accepted each year and some pursue other paths and have great success. It does not mean they are not talented, but that there were others who were a better fit for the school.</p>
<p>Take a look at the list pinned to the top of the MT forum as Important: Big list of MT Programs by Type. It breaks down the schools into audition/non-audition and BA/BFA. There is also a section for schools that start out as a BA then you audition into the BFA MT program. In most cases you could remain in the BA Theater program if you don’t get into the MT program. It is difficult to get enthusiastic about a non-audition program when you had your heart set on an auditioned program and put so much time and effort into pursuing it, but it is wise to pick one that your child could imagine attending. It is also wise to have audition programs on the list that are a little less competitive based on numbers auditioning. Applying only to the perceived top programs is very risky. </p>
<p>I think your coach is unfairly opinionated in her assessment that if you don’t get into an auditioned program you shouldn’t be pursuing the dream. That would be enough for me to walk. I needed my D to be surrounded by coaches who were supportive and understood that college program rejections do not equal future failure. It was hard enough to tell the coaches when she got rejected, but not because of their attitude in the slightest. Does she have kids? Can she relate to the idea that college is the time to explore what you love doing, learn new skills, and pursue your dream? Many parents feel strongly that a college degree is imperative. I don’t know if my D would get through college if she had to do something she didn’t love. While she would have been very disappointed had she not had any audition programs as an option, she wouldn’t have been given the option to take a gap year. She knew she had to attend college no matter what. </p>
<p>I am sure that if you are specific in the type of school you are looking for you will get specific recommendations…Size? Urban/rural? Region? GPA/test scores?</p>
<p>Just for general enlightenment, make a list of about 20 actors whose work you admire or whose career you would love to have. Look them up and see where they did their training. You’ll surely find them all over the place, maybe someone who went to Nowhere College and then got a MFA at Yale, someone who moved to LA after high school and took a lot of classes and auditions while working at a car wash, someone who majored in accounting at the state U but did a lot of acting, and people with BAs and BFAs from a lot of places you’ve heard of and some you haven’t. </p>
<p>Your coach is saying, “If you aren’t even good enough to get into one of the ‘top’ BFAs, how can you possibly expect to compete in the job market?” Only you can decide if this deters you, but do that little research exercise first.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the feedback! I am definitely feeling disillusioned w/our coach, but my D likes her. I am trying to view her as just a voice coach (she does help my D get those notes!) & a resource to help us find the monologues & the music. The rest we are pretty much doing. I think our D will listen to us as well, she is getting opinions from everyone & is feeling overwhelmed w/all of it at the moment & is working w/another director that she hasn’t worked w/before & this director is telling her she doesn’t need a coach, she knows what she’s doing! Maybe too many opinions at the moment!</p>
<p>Shaun0203 does our list look like we are just looking at the perceived top programs? Others we should consider?</p>
<p>Prodesse, that is a great idea, I’m going to suggest that to my daughter! </p>
<p>I am looking at the list everyone mentioned, but not feeling crazy about anything yet. Do like what I’ve read about Muhlenberg.</p>
<p>We are primarily looking in the northeast-Ohio, NY, PA, NJ. We are in upstate NY. My D doesn’t want a school in the middle of nowhere & would prefer a conservatory approach but is ok if that’s not what she gets into. Her grades are good, overall GPA is about a 3.5, first round of SATs were good, not stellar but good. She loved PACE when she looked it up, she thinks being right in the city would be awesome! She also liked Rider since it was so close to the city.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the feedback, we are open to more suggestions!
Tami</p>
<p>I am not familiar enough with the programs on your list to know if you are too top-heavy. I suspect you do have some diversity in level of competition, but most are very competitive. I think all but Muhlenberg are auditioned? What is UB? </p>
<p>When you say your D doesn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere, try to figure out what that means to her. Rider for example, although fairly close to NYC, is a small school surrounded by a very small town. When D auditioned there we really felt we were in the middle of nowhere despite the proximity to NYC. Montclair felt less remote (and we were so impressed with the campus and the town is definitely bigger).</p>
<p>Muhlenberg’s reputation has been skyrocketing and it seems everyone with good grades uses them as a safety now. (My D has 4 close friends studying Acting or MT in this Freshman class - 3 from our high school). I can’t imagine they can sustain that without becoming more selective. I think they have around 2000 students at the college and something like 250 theater students. It is also quite expensive, buy not more so than SU or Ithaca. You may want to pick an additional safety school that is just a little safer. </p>
<p>Non-audition schools to look at:
SUNY Oswego
Christopher Newport (VA - too far?) KatMT, head of the program at JMU, recommended it highly in past posts</p>
<p>Maybe look at Temple. Auditioned but I think it may be a little less competitive - perhaps someone knows better than I do about their program.</p>
<p>I have to agree with a few of the others here, get a new coach. No safeties and the whole “if you don’t have a BFA” doesn’t sound too positive to me in terms of experience or knowledge. Just my opinion. Good luck, keep us posted.</p>
<p>Your coach is not well informed. There are plenty of working performers who don’t have a college degree at all, or have a BA degree. I would concur with those saying to look at threads listing schools by type; you’ll see plenty of non-audition schools.</p>
<p>As far as the coach, I would ask the coach what his or her track record is with placing kids into programs. Sounds like the one who gave you this advice might be more a voice coach vs. an audition coach? My D’s audition coach worked a lot with her on her monologues, and on song choices (for example, one song my D was going to use she vetoed because it’s been overused and in her words"they will not even listen the moment you tell them the title". The actual song performance she left to my D’s voice teacher. Where she also added value was in knowing the schools and advising my D on whether she was making good or bad decisions based on what my D was looking for in a program. She was really great in preparing her for the actual audition itself, from what dress to wear (she overruled my wife!) to how to walk in the room. In fact they spent one whole session on how to walk in the room! Those are the things that an audition coach can help with in addition to the actual performing aspects. So it sounds like her acting coach is too dismissive of the value of an audition coach and the one you have is perhaps not that well informed. You may want to consider changing or finding some local performers who understand the business and can help your D hone her material.</p>
<p>One more suggestion since you’re from upstate NY (I’m from Tonawanda, how about you??). Consider Ohio Northern. My D did an audition with them at Unifieds in Chicago, and was impressed with the folks. She was accepted there and ultimately chose another program, but I was very impressed by the caliber of faculty and the overall program. It’s in a pretty small town, but definitely an up and comer! And as a proud UB grad, you have to give UB a shot! Even if she doesn’t audition into UB, they have a very good BA theater program.</p>
<p>Also look at some of the theatre programs in the Eugene Lang College at The New School in NYC. They have a new auditioned acting BFA, but I believe there is also a non-auditioned drama major offered. Double check with school…</p>