I need some opinions on both programs. With them being the top theatre programs in Chicago what are some pros and cons? Does anyone know which school is better at preparing students for the industry in film,TV, and theatre? From which school are students seen more in Chicago theatre?
I no doubt have a lopsided perspective, since our D applied ED to Northwestern (her top choice program) and DePaul wasn’t on her list of schools, but I see students from Northwestern all over the entertainment industry, including the Chicago theatre scene (where our D has chosen to begin her career).
Based on what little I know, I assume the programs are very different. Northwestern is geared toward performers with very high academic stats and an interest in completing a BA in Theatre. They cap the program at 100 students, which includes MTs, straight actors, writers, directors, stage managers, designers, etc. Our D was an MT and her year there were 15 MTs, but as I understand it that can vary year-to-year.
I hope someone with a better understanding of DePaul’s program can offer more insight into possible differences between the two programs.
Maybe @HannahMTheatre will come back to explain? One distinction is that DePaul doesn’t have an MT track, though I believe they do some musicals anyway. DePaul has some fabulous alums, too. My personal favorite is Gillian Anderson, who in addition to rocking everybody’s world in the X Files, has done quite a lot of classical theater and a really chilling BBC detective show called “The Fall.”
If I am correct (remembering research) once nice thing with BOTH is that there is a fair amount of flexibility in your course choices. That is more common in BAs (Northwestern), but less in BFAs (DePaul)
I think my favorite thing about the program here at DePaul is the flexibility. It is definitely unique as far as BFAs go. I’m a BFA Theatre Arts Directing major and currently have a declared minor in Women’s Studies, too; however, I plan on either bumping that up to a double major or picking up an additional minor. I’m also in the Honors College, a sorority (AOII!), and am working an internship. (Not much time for sleep, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!)
While the Theatre Arts program has the greatest level of flexibility and was created in order to allow for entrepreneurialism, even BFA Actors have the ability to double major - and many do. I would say that at LEAST a third pick up a minor or second major.
I wouldn’t come here to study musical theatre, though. We produce the occasional musical, but, as far as training is concerned, those opportunities don’t really exist here. It’s not our focus.
The program here has the potential to be the most formative experience of your life, if that’s what you choose to make it. If I weren’t taking so much on, consciously and by my choosing, then I wouldn’t be impacted in the same way.
I DO think DePaul has a very Chicago-centric focus. DePaul theatre artists tend to be pretty wedded to this city. That’s not to say we’re a “regional program.” You’ll find DePaul on just about every list of top national theatre schools. But I think we’re very proud of our Chicago heritage and that a lot of artists become attached to the work being done here. I think a lot of DePaul alum make a very active choice to remain in Chicago. That choice has nothing to do with an inability to succeed elsewhere and everything to do with the emphasis our training places on our Chicago roots. Chicagoans just LOVE Chicago. And it’s hard not to. I don’t even want to go home for winter break. I want to stay here and keep studying.
Is there anything you’d like to know about in particular? Criticism included. I don’t mind talking about the aspects of the program that bother me, though I love this school and this city and the life I’m beginning to build here. Let me know if I can be helpful at all!
Oh!! You mentioned film! We also have a top film school on campus, and I know of several actors minoring in film. If that interests you, those opportunities are certainly present and numerous here.
Northwestern’s program is EXTREMELY flexible. Whereas DePaul you’re locked into a BFA, here you can completely change your mind on what you want to do and it’s not a problem. And you can do multiple things like the acting and tech tracks and there’s a lot of other cool tracks like playwriting and theatre for young audiences. Also, I have yet to go to a show in Chicago, and I’ve seen a decent amount, and not find somebody involved in the show that’s either graduated or currently enrolled in Northwestern
Do you know if the BFA’s do outside auditions? I’m signed with an agency in Chicago and I worry about not being able to audition and losing opportunities. I wanted a BA but DePaul doesn’t have that. DePaul is more my speed academically I don’t have those high stats for Northwestern. And I know the academic classes are meant to be pretty tough.
My son and I visited both schools and DePaul is his #1 choice. Northwestern is pretty down the list. We also visited NYU, Carnegie (I am a CMU Alum), Purchase, BU. DePaul is first on his list and mine (though I’d be proud to have him at CMU). DePaul is smaller and more contained than Northwestern’s sprawling campus so there is more of a community feeling and I think less chance to get lost in the masses. It is in Chicago vs. Northwestern’s more suburban feel and my son wants that more urban atmosphere and more ready access to downtown. The DePaul facilities for Theater are fantastic and all the students we met were enthusiastic, friendly and focused. The faculty has many working Chicago theater professionals. NW may as well but they did not make such a point of it.
My S attended a Theater program at Yale this summer and his teachers all gave DePaul high marks.
Personally – and this may sound unkind to some other schools – of all the programs we visited, I found the DePaul students seemed to me to be the least narcissistic. Any theater program is likely to have a higher degree of narcissism than, say, a mathematics program. But the students there seemed the most down to earth and focused on the art rather than the ego. There. I said it. All the programs were great but for my son DePaul is our first choice, should he be lucky enough to be accepted.
If your son is interested in Chicago, you might want to add CCPA as a back-up. My son is a senior there and, I believe, very well prepared for the transition to working. It doesn’t land on as many “best theater school” lists as NU or Depaul, but the training is excellent and it’s very well integrated into the professional theater community in Chicago.
Both DePaul and NU are extremely tough admits (in different ways), as is CMU.
Oh, @Jkellynh17, I know what the odds are of him getting accepted at those schools. But on the other hand, my MFA is from CMU drama (quite a while ago) so I do know that they make mistakes sometimes 
He just might sneak in. If not, he will be fine.
@SRWard,everyone needs to find the program that is right for them, and it’s great you have been able to visit so many programs. That said, may I suggest, as a parent of a Northwestern grad in theatre, that there is no need to insult one program in order to elevate another. DePaul is a great program. If NU is not his cup of tea, that’s his perfect right. But to insult a whole group of students in one brushstroke by implying they’re mostly narcissists you don’t care for, well, it doesn’t just ‘sound unkind’- it is unkind.
Well, @connections I was not actually referring to NU at all. I won’t say which schools were uncomfortable places. Point taken on the relative kindness, though. But I have to stand by the art vs. ego preference. The atmosphere of the student body is meaningful. I wasn’t denigrating anyone to raise up another. I was pointing out that the culture of some of the schools based on what I saw did not seem to me conducive to the best college experience. Some level of narcissism is always going to be part of a theater program. As an MFA myself I’m very familiar with it and can be accused of some of that myself. I did not say which I found most problematic. I just noted the one that I thought was least.
We visited both DePaul and NW last spring, and NW certainly did emphasize the fact that many of their graduates are working in Chicago and that many of their instructors are also active in the local theatre scene. Apart from how big the campus is or what area it is in relation to downtown Chicago, the biggest difference is that one is a conservatory BFA program and the other is a more flexible BA program. Both are great in their own way, but it should be pretty clear to the applicant which one they are interested in. For my son, it was definitely NW.
@connections - I completely get what you are saying, and also didn’t like the use of the word “narcissistic” (which I find a very negative description) by @SRWard. But on the flip side, it made me laugh… it’s like saying you don’t want to be in a theater program where students engage in “drama”, and I thought - good luck with that…
My D is spending a semester in her dream city at her dream program (RADA) - heck, Kenneth Branagh met with the group yesterday to welcome them. There was STILL a tearful phone call to deal with today. @SRWard - I wish you good luck finding a program where the students and faculty are all mellow and easygoing at all times - I’ve never seen it. This is an intense world - and so are many of the people who live it in. But I don’t think intensity implies Narcisscism. JMHO
Oy. This thread could go on forever and not be helpful to anyone. I don’t think intensity implies narcissism either. So we agree. A certain amount of it is necessary. Not always a bad thing. What I saw at DePaul was not “laid back.” It was about focus and confidence and enjoyment of the work. That’s all. I’m done now.
Chicago theater has a reputation for being more ensemble-oriented and less star driven than NYC or LA. You may have been seeing some of that filtering in from the teachers (who are mostly involved in Chicago theater). BTW, I didn’t mean to imply that your son isn’t talented, but a lot of kids who would do very well at schools like Depaul, NU and CMU (and others) don’t get in. I personally found this process pretty arbitrary and unpredictable. I wish you all the best , though, and hope your kid sails through.
Personally, I question NU because they don’t audition for acting. They take kids solely on their GPA/test scores and resume. I think they probably miss out a lot of really talented kids that way, and I’m not sure everyone who does get in will get the chance to work. It’s also one of the most expensive. DePaul turns out a lot of really well trained actors, who work a lot in the Chicago area as well as nationally. It’s less expensive and has a new, state of the art facility.
@remartin67 - give their track record of alumni success (on par with any program in the world) NU seems to be doing just fine. If they “miss” certain talented kids b/c of a lack of audition, they get plenty their way. They are not a conservatory (or even a BFA) their whole thing is that students get a full education experience as well as exceptional training.