<p>I know that Penn State's BFA in MT has a great recommendation. Can someone assess their acting (BA) program relative to Syracuse, Fordham, and Catholic</p>
<p>The BA program at Penn State is a BA degree in theatre not an acting degree.... on the plus side, the BA students who are interested in acting have the opportunity to take acting classes with the same faculty who teach in the MFA acting program and BFA musical theatre program. They are in acting classes with BFA musical theatre students. There is a seperate acting class for non-theatre majors... so the students in the BA program are not in acting classes with students who are taking acting as a gened.</p>
<p>The biggest "complaint" I heard when I was a graduate student at Penn State was that the BA students felt a little ignored.... someone was looking out for the MFAs and the BFAs and they felt a little slighted. However, I felt that was changing a bit in my last year there... a show that was more specifically for undergraduate students, a very active student directed group in the department, etc... I think that many of the BA students were frustrated because they wanted their program to have the intensity of the BFA musical theatre program, and it did not (nor should a BA, really)... It can be difficult to be at BA at schools where there are BFAs and MFAs... many time the opportunities go to the students in the professional degree programs over the more liberal arts program.</p>
<p>Syracuse is where I did my undergraduate degree... and this is a very focused BFA or BS (Bachelor of Science) acting program.... much more professionally focused than Penn State's BA degree. From what I know of Fordham the dept. is undergrad focused and there are many opportunities. I have also heard good things about Hofstra. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I teach at a LAC, but know little about BFA programs. My son is interested in Theatre (acting track). When a student completes a BFA and (later on) decides to pursue grad school - not MFA (i.e., Law), are there any issues relative to someone who has a BA in Theatre?</p>
<p>I went to college with people whe recieved both BFA and BS degrees... some of them went on to law school, to get an MBA, social work, and one even went to medical school (although he did have to spend a year taking pre-med courses first :)).</p>
<p>Basically a college degree is a college degree when it comes to graduate school (if you didn't take any undergraduate coursework in an area you may have to take a little bit of catch up before applying to graduate school so you will have the background... as my firend who became a doctor after being a BFA acting major in undergrad.)... a BA degree is traditionally a more liberal arts degree, and a BFA or BS is a more professionally focused degree... but all of these degrees vary in terms of the amount of general education one takes outseid of the major.</p>
<p>Does this help???</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. My wife is nervous about Ian (my son) majoring in Theatre and is pushing him to go into Nursing instead. As I suspected, with a BFA he would have to pick up the required courses to get into a BSN (Accelerated/Second Degree) program during the summer. With a BA he can take these courses as General Electives. As I have mentioned previously on CC, since my son does not have substantial theatre experience; just HS plays and evening acting classes, I worry that he will not get into the top-tier classes. We will send him to whatever summer program accepts him ( Rutgers, Syracuse, Boston Univ.) this summer. He was a very active athlete - nationally ranked fencer at one point and, more recently (until his injuries), he played football. But now he is totally focused on theatre. I am hoping that, assuming he has a good audition, these EC's and his being male may give him an edge.We have a tuition exchange relationship (cheap) with Syracuse, Boston University, Catholic, Fordham, Skidmore, and Bard (Penn State would also be cheap), so we are considering these schools, given that we may also have to fund Grad school.</p>
<p>brian, my suggestion is to have a close look at the curriculum for the programs at each of the colleges he's interested in. It's not necessarily true that he'd need to do the summer work at ALL BFA programs. My D is at NYU and is doing a double major, which, although it is a lot of work, it IS possible. I suspect the same may be true at other schools.</p>
<p>In some BA programs the general education is more broad based... meaning that the students choose courses from a number of different coruse clusters... math and science, Humanities, etc... So, you may want to look at the general education requirements at all of the schools to see what the options are during the regular academic year.</p>
<p>I wouldn't be too nervous about the fact that he has "only" done H.S. plays and some evening acting classes. That was very much the case with the acting majors with whom I attended Syracuse. There were some who had gone to performing arts H.S or had worked professionally... but the majority had school and some outside of school class experience.</p>
<p>At Syracuse the B.S. option might be a great fit.... you have a lot of flexibility in the general education courses that you take, and have enough elective credits to pursue a minor. I am sure that other schools offer similar opportunities.</p>
<p>Brian - </p>
<p>I think the issue for your son doing a double major would be different from a student doing an arts, humanities, or even perhaps sciences major, because nursing has such extensive clinical requirements that would likely conflict with required theatre courses. It sounds like the accelerated BSN degree with summer coursework is a good option if does want to pursue nursing as well as theatre. </p>
<p>I chime in here as a second degree grad student (my first undergrad degree was a liberal arts degree) doing medical clinical rotations right now - my classmates are traditional-aged (one year out of undergrad) and we have time for NOTHING else right now, in our final year of clinical.</p>
<p>You mention that your son is really interested in theatre... is he interested in a medical degree at this time as well? Nursing is an incredibly intense profession. I have a few friends, an aunt, and a cousin, who are nurses. They are passionate about nursing the way many are passionate about theatre... although, even I have to admit that their passion is more "important" to the world at large, and probably makes a much more significant impact on people's lives. They are dealing with life and death on a daily basis. Nursing is a calling.</p>
<p>The person I was talking about who graduated from Syracuse with BFA and is now a doctor actually went on to be in 2 Braodway shows after graduation from SU, and taught for a while before deciding that medicine was a true calling. In the end we end up finding the path for which we are most well suited, and that fulfills us. For me that has been teaching, for another that will be performing, for another medicine, etc.. there are so many paths to follow and so many differnt ways to find the "right" path. It sounds like you have tuition exchange with some wonderful schools with lots of options. Good luck to your family as you look for the path that seems best. :)</p>
<p>whats the acceptance rate for penn state ba theater???</p>
<p>Dancegrl979, this thread is from 2006. Hopefully someone can help you out though.</p>
<p>Hi 
I know this thread is really old, but I had the same question as Dancegrl979… Does anyone have an idea?</p>
<p>I hope someone can answer the question for you two. I just wanted to say that it was nice to see this thread reappear. The OP, BrianSteffy, was a very nice man and member here, who sadly passed away about a year and a half after this initial discussion took place. I have often wondered how his son is doing.</p>