North Carolina BFA Schools

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>I've recently been on college visits to 3 North Carolina schools that all offer B.F.A.s in Drama/Theatre/Acting/etc. They are North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA), Catawba College, and Elon University.</p>

<p>I was very impressed with all of them in certain areas, and displeased in other areas. I currently have a favorite, but I won't mention it at the moment. I am not particularly interested in Musical Theatre, but I certainly want training in dance and voice to be as well rounded as possible. Although I have had no dance experience, I am taking voice lessons, and I feel that my acting is quite strong. </p>

<p>As a sophomore in high school, I auditoned for Much Ado About Nothing and won the part of Don Pedro (one of the leads) in my first play. The next year, I auditioned for an original musical by my school and won one of the leads again (the bad guy). I had to sing, which scared the heck out of me, but after only about 2 months of voice training prior to auditions, I was good enough to get the part and manage it.</p>

<p>I am currently a Junior, and am in another school production (which I organzied) - The Importance of Being Earnest, in which I am Jack (the lead). I plan to do another musical for my senior year and hopefully another Shakespeare (maybe A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I'd love to be Bottom).</p>

<p>I have memorized only one monologue so far (King Claudius's confession from Hamlet) but I intend to learn at least 5 total, ideally 6. I think 1 more Shakespeare, another classical piece, and 2 contrasting modern monologues should work (maybe one from a Streetcar Named Desire), but I am quite inexperienced in this, and am more than open to advice.</p>

<p>Anyway, kinda got off track, but I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on these colleges, what I would need to work on for auditions, etc.</p>

<p>Thank you very much!</p>

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<p>North Carolina School of the Arts is certainly the most notable of the three you mentioned. In fact, NCSA is one of the top acting programs in the country - right there with Juilliard, Carnegie Mellon, Purchase, and Boston Univ. It definitely has a strong group of working alumni and a strong connection with the industry as a whole.</p>

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<p>Awesome that you were Don Pedro--I'm currently rehearsing to be Beatrice in Much Ado. Anyway, I've heard good and bad things about NCSA, but would also be very interested in anyone else's opinion, as I'm deciding whether to put it on my list of possibilities. As for the others, I haven't previously heard of them in a theatrical context, but what do I know. Which was your favorite of the three, out of curiosity?</p>

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<p>Glad to hear it! Beatrice is a very fun role in terms of some of the dialogue, and you can get quite creative with the interpretation of it as well. As for my favorite, I think it was probably Elon. NCSA has some wonderful facilities and faculty, but due to its conservatory style nature, I feel it may be too intense for me. Elon offers a liberal arts style education, but at the same time has a very good and developing drama program. I'm still slightly torn though, but probably Elon.</p>