<p>Hi! I’m really interested in this school! I have some questions…What is the difference between the ba and the bm at this school? can you double major with the bm easier than with the ba? also, are you required to live on campus? thanks for your responses!!</p>
<p>Hello littlemermaid13, </p>
<p>I coordinate the Musical Theatre Concentration in the BA program at JMU, and work closely with students in both the BA and the BM programs.</p>
<p>If you PM me with your email address I will email you a side-by-side comparison of the required courses for the two major concentrations. This is the easiest way to truly see the differences and similarities between the requirements for the two programs.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, the students in the BM program through the School of Music are music majors. They take the same music core as all Music majors (including conducting, the complete music history sequence, etc…), follow a course of study very close to the course of study followed by the Vocal Performance Concentrators, and are required to take a small cluster of courses in theatre, dance, and musical theatre performance. The students in the BA program through the School of Theatre & Dance follow a similar course of study as the Theatre Concentrators (including the complete theatre history sequence, technical theatre/ management practicums, etc…), and are required to take additional courses in music, dance, and musical theatre performance. The programs audition and are administered separately, but students are fully integrated in classes and productions. It is possible to audition for both programs, but most students look at the curriculum differences and tend to be more drawn to one path or the other. If a student were to be admitted to both programs they would choose the program that they felt best suited their needs. </p>
<p>It is easier to double major with the BA program, and we do have a few students who choose to double major. Many choose to pick up a minor. It would be difficult to double major with the BM program because you would have to “double degree” which requires significantly more credits. For example… if a student in the BA program wanted to double major in History, all of the BA liberal arts courses would be exactly the same, so it would simply be a matter of completing the history major courses. A students in the BM program would have to complete the BM music core plus the required BA core courses, plus the additional history major courses. </p>
<p>Freshman are required to live on campus unless they live close enough to commute from home. Sophomores through Seniors may live on or off campus. On campus housing is only guaranteed Freshman year, although many Sophomores do also secure on-campus housing. Almost all Juniors and Seniors live off campus. </p>
<p>PM me, and I can send you the curriculum. Please feel free to send me any other questions you may have as well.</p>
<p>PS. All students at JMU follow the same 41 credit GenEd program in additional to their major concentration courses. In addition each degree program has specific requirements… for example all BA students (Theatre, History, Political Science, etc…) take a foreign language and a philosophy course… </p>
<p>If you go to [2009-2010</a> Undergraduate Catalog](<a href=“http://www.jmu.edu/catalog/09/general/degreeinfo.html]2009-2010”>http://www.jmu.edu/catalog/09/general/degreeinfo.html)</p>
<p>The course catalog would be a good place to look for all requirements major, degree, etc… [2009-2010</a> Undergraduate Catalog](<a href=“http://www.jmu.edu/catalog/09/]2009-2010”>http://www.jmu.edu/catalog/09/)</p>
<p>thank you so much for your response, that really helps!</p>
<p>Thank you for your quick response!</p>
<p>My D will be a sophomore in the BM/MT concentration. If you want to talk to a student, PM me and I will send you a link to her facebook page.</p>
<p>Hi AngieA – I thought your D did a great job in ATTIWICS. I am looking forward to having her in MT History in the fall and MT Perf. in the spring. Hope that you have a terrific summer!</p>
<p>littlemermaid13 – I would also be happy to put you in touch with students in the BA curriculum. I think the students are pretty well versed in the pros and cons of each depending on what type of curriculum you would like to follow.</p>
<p>Yes, I would love to speak with students, thank you both!</p>