<p>med school? Wow that's quite different from theater. Is your heart in med school at all?</p>
<p>Kayla,</p>
<pre><code> Do you mean that you will study pre-med somewhere? Where will you go to school?
</code></pre>
<p>thanks soozievt, i actually didnt apply to any BA schools, just BFA and universities for academics.
and i asked hartt if they could notify me by -emial , they said no and the letter was sent already..it might get here in 2 weeks, i dont know :-(
and elon was supposed ot notify by e-mail, thats what Ms. Mcneela said...</p>
<p>Yea, umm..my heart is not into medicine, but i would do it for a year if necessary and get training outside of school i guess...ill still be getting more training than i am here..even though i wont be doing it in a school :-(
and sarahmoms i got accepted into Brown, ithaca, michigan, and elon for Medicine..so i would go to one of those.</p>
<p>Kayla -- Brown is an amazing school with a great arts energy on campus, a theatre studies major, and many performance opportunities. If you end up going to one of your academic BAs, you may find that you really like what Brown has to offer.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Wow, Kayla, I had no idea you ALSO applied to BA schools (yes you DID apply to BA schools, even though you say you did not....those schools all offer a BA). You got into amazing schools!!! Congratulations are in order! However, medicine is not an undergraduate major. Medicine is a degree you get in medical school. Pre-med is not even a major, but a set of requirements one must fulfill if applying eventually to medical school. A person can apply to medical school having taken any undergraduate major (including theater!) as long as they fulfill the pre med coursework. In fact, my D has friends majoring in music and English lit who are pre meds at Brown. When you are accepted as a BA to those universities, you are not commiting to a major yet, you can major in ANYTHING. Please know that those schools offer a BA in theater. You are NOT having to give up theater, if you do not get into a BFA, but simply will not be in a BFA degree program! MANY MANY MANY people pursue a career in theater by getting a BA degree. </p>
<p>In fact, I know SEVERAL kids who CHOSE to go to Brown or Yale or Northwestern for theater over BFA options they had. </p>
<p>If it were me, I would be less inclined to go to Ithaca, Michigan or Elon for a BA (not because they are not GREAT schools....as they are) but because as a BA in theater at a school that ALSO offers a BFA, you MIGHT conceivably be second fiddle to the BFA students in registering for certain classes and in casting. It is not out of the question but a consideration.</p>
<p>However, with Brown, which is also far more selective academically than the others you got into for starters, it is FANTASTIC in theater and does a LOT of musical theater!! My daughters' friend is a senior graduating with a dual major in classics and theater at Brown who has been leads and in various musicals at Brown including a Sondheim one that the theater department just put on, and took time off a year ago to be the lead in the National Tour of RENT. There is also the Musical Forum at Brown which puts on student run musicals. There are many FANTASTIC a capella groups at Brown. I have seen many of them with great singers. My D's a capella group at NYU is going to perform at Brown this weekend but she can't attend she is in a musical at Tisch. I have a daughter at Brown and she could tell you how great theater is at Brown, including many opportunities to take acting, dance, voice. Brown also has some association with Trinity Rep, a well regarded equity regional theater. </p>
<p>Please PM or email MattyB (whom I also know) who is a freshman at Brown, involved a great deal in theater, was in the recent departmental musical, is in a great a capella group, will be working in a program with Trinity Rep this summer, takes various theater classes (you can take any classes you want at Brown with their open curriculum) and get the scoop. </p>
<p>You do NOT have to give up theater just because you may not get into a BFA program (IF that is how it turns out). Many who get a BA go onto professional careers in theater afterwards. Please realize this option. I had no idea you even had it or applied. Congratulations on those fine acceptances.</p>
<p>PS...also you said you would have to get training outside of school if you go to one of those universities but that is not so. I know for a fact at Brown that you could take theater courses, major in theater, take voice lessons, study music, take dance, be in musical theater productions, and so on. You do NOT have to give it up or get it outside of your college.</p>
<p>Kayla- My heart goes out to you....but you have some really wonderful options for your "back-up plan". Hugs to you, and I hope you get some great news in the mail soon.
p.s. I am suprised that Hartt would not supplement thier snail mail letter with an email. It shouldn't be so hard for them to do.</p>
<p>Again, Kayla, I am so relieved to learn that you actually DO have BA options. Up until now I thought you only had applied for BFAs with no back ups. </p>
<p>Your "back ups" are terrific options and so I am glad to know there are places and even choices for you to pick from for next year even if the BFA route doesn't come through (I hope it does). Truly you can STILL study theater and at some very fine colleges~!</p>
<p>I agree with anothermom-w-q that given this late date of April 11 and that schools require a commitment to enroll by May 1, that Hartt should have been willing to send an email decision given that they say they have mailed the hardcopy and that you live in another country.</p>
<p>Apparently schools don't wish to email if they send letters via snail mail. They will remail if you think it may have been lost (been there done that). I think it's crazy for someone who lives outside the U.S. to wait so so very long. It's just not right.<br>
Kayla, my heart goes out to you. Personally, I would keep calling/emailing the remaining schools (in a nice manner, of course) someone out there has to have a heart! GOOD LUCK and btw we too know of a few who are at Brown and loving theatre there. CONGRATS for BA options.</p>
<p>hey..thanks you guys, i have now realised my mistake, i meant Boston and not Brown, I never applied to Brown, now im wishing I had...and its not that I have ruled out BA, ts just that it was an aggreement with my parents beofre hits all started that if I didnt get inot Musical Theatre, I would study a career that would lead to medicine, eg. Bio, Chem or Phys. I made that aggreement with my parents and the rest of my family, who originally and probabaly still believe that the Performing Arts profession is foolish...my dad was the one who enforced the aggreement (im making it wound legal..lol..) but he originally had said that he would allow me to apply to MT programs, but i also had to apply to do proper academics, and if i didnt get into to any schools for Acting/MT...I would then got o university doing soemthing that my family considered proper...and no more theatre, he already think theatre is a risky career, so ot not get in anywhere for MT and then still go to school doing theatre he would never allow.</p>
<p>It upsetting the standards my family has, but it is namely because of where we come from and that is generally the view here, for me, getting into a school would of kind of proved to them ' you didnt have any faith in me...but i can do it' so now, i just have to take what happens. My mom has already said that I have come so far by myself, she talked to Gary and has heard what he had to say about me, and even though i got rejections from schools we have received personal handwritten letters from universities telling me to go on and do this...but i dont know, it feels to me that I have gotten so close and yet so far...especially with Otterbein. I'm still waiting so I guess we will see what happens..i just wish that universities saw in me what Gary saw that summer and at my audition and realised that i havent been trained but there is something there...I dont know,..I always wonder why I came ot love Musical Theatre, especially so late...this career is both a rewarding and such a disappointing one at the same time...and no matter what happens, I wouldnt change a thing. Ive met so many great people through this audition process and become friends with many, although being from barbados has been a huge setback, I tried my best with what I had and gave this whole audition process my all...and had a great time at each audition, I dont think there is any more I could of done or any more of myself that I could of put into each audition. I love this career, I love the people in it and how you are filled with passion because of it...no matter how much hurt it brings. What i guess hurts the most, is knowing that I wont be able to study what I really love next year...but thanks you guys :) I'm so happy that I have support in all of this..</p>
<p>Kayla....no matter what school you attend that is a BA degree, you can fulfill the pre med requirements like your Dad wants you to do but you can STILL major in theater. Many many different college majors can lead to med school as long as you fulfill the pre med course requirements. As I said, my D's close friend at Brown has a double major in music and English Lit and is doing her pre med requirements for med school. In fact, someone my D knows who even graduated from the BFA in MT program at NYU/Tisch/CAP21 also fulfilled the pre med course requirements. You do not have to major in Bio, Chem, or physics to go onto med school. Please be aware of this. You merely have to fulfill the pre med requirements. </p>
<p>So, this does NOT mean you must give up theater in your life. Either major in theater and do pre med requirements as well, or simply take theater courses even if you major in something else. Meanwhile, at these schools, there are active theater scenes, both connected to the departments but ALSO in extracurricular student run musicals and plays. You can still be very involved in theater. You likely can still take voice or even dance. </p>
<p>This is not an either/or situation. Do the academics but still do theater! ALL of those schools do not require any commitment to a specific major before enrolling. Go to college and explore everything and see what you decide to do.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>ok,so what exactly does a B.A. in Theatre studies mean. Do I still get to have voice lessons, or take acting and dance classes?</p>
<p>Kayla,
First, when you revised Brown to "Boston", do you mean Boston University? Boston College?</p>
<p>You need to look at the theater departments at all of your schools and examine the BA degree with that major and what the courses would be and what acting, dance, or voice lessons would be available to you. As well, find out if BA students could be cast in productions. I prefer BA Theater programs at schools where there is not ALSO a BFA program but in any case, examine the theater major, courses, lessons, productions, extracurricular groups (many colleges have student run musicals), that would be available to you. </p>
<p>You can major in anything, including theater, and still do pre med. Also pre med and medical school is a difficult route and involves many many years and only should be pursued if you have a big interest in that field because without interest, it would be too hard to pursue. </p>
<p>When you enter a BA, you have the option to explore all subjects, majors and fields.....you are not asked to commit to a major at this juncture. Go and explore and see where you end up focusing. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, read the theater BA options and call or email and ask about it at each of these schools you have as options and put the curriculums side by side, as they likely differ from school to school. There is not a single answer to your question other than "likely" but it would differ from school to school I'm generally saying that if you don't get into a BFA, it doesn't mean giving up on studying theater, being in productions and getting some training. It just will be different.</p>
<p>kayla - I think this has been shared on CC before, but Aaron Lazar had an interview on one of the Broadway sites while he was appearing in Light in the Piazza. He majored in pre-med, took the med school tests, and decided to try musical theatre -- the grad test scores were valid for 3 years, so he gave himself that much time to see if he could establish himself.... which, indeed, he did. Your pursuits and your family's don't have to be mutually exclusive!</p>
<p>MusThCC...thanks for that great example! I forgot about Aaron Lazar's story. He happens to be from my home town. I agree and hope Kayla will take to heart your wise words that her pursuits and those that her family desire need not be mutually exclusive. Kayla need not give up musical theater even if not accepted to a BFA program. Further, I know students who got into BFAs and even chose a BA path. They are very very involved in theater.</p>
<p>I certainly appriciate your dilemma Kayla. You made an agreement with your family and need to live up to it . . . or re-negotiate it. </p>
<p>The initial two years of undergraduate work is predominately "general education" or a breadth of classes. Only in the last two years does one really specialize in the major. So, you're first year of a "pre-med" major or a BA theatre major could look pretty similiar. Dace class satisfies a required Physical Education requirement. Voice and Acting may satsify an arts requirement. Theatre history may work for the history requirement. You could spend your first year meeting both objectives (theatre & pre-med) and perhaps re-audition as a transfer next year.</p>
<p>Finally, as you're probably aware, admission to medical school once the BA/BS degree is obtained is VERY competitive here in the US. GPA is important. A major in theatre, with A's in all of your science/pre-med classes might work out better for you as compared with having a more difficult major (such as Biology, Chemistry, Biochem) in terms of keeping your GPA as high as possible. That particular strategy might appeal to your family.</p>
<p>As I understand it, there are approximately 11 core courses which must be covered in order to approach the materials on the MedCat Exam, and apply to medical school. At some schools, there is a difference between the basic biology and chemistry courses taken by science majors and those used as core courses. You must take the major courses to be well prepared. These courses need to be taken in a sequence, they are time consuming (with labs), grades are hard to achieve, and they really need to be part of the curriculum from the first semester. It can be done, but you must plan very carefully. Good luck.</p>
<p>To add to the Aaron Lazar story. He got a scholarship and studied music while still heavily taking science classes at Duke University. Then he slowly started taking acting classes, but didn't get the chance to take any dance. Then he auditioned for the CCM MFA in musical theater (I don't know if that program has since been defunct since he was there) where he got his first real formal acting and dance classes, plus more singing. </p>
<p>So as you can see, any route is really possible in this business!</p>
<p>Come to think of it, my D has done some professional shows around the country and the person who staged them, has choreographed ballets for major ballet companies, choreographed on Broadway, as well as many nationally known opera and theater companies, including the Met, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, etc. This person has a degree in cell biology from Columbia. He has since taught dance at Barnard and like I said has major credits. Many paths...</p>
<p>Kayla, I looked back through but couldn't find whether/what you heard from CMU?</p>
<p>I got rejected from CMU...and thats ok :)..im extremly happy that one of my close friends kay is going there...</p>
<p>thanks you guys for the support...im waiting to hear from 4...im actually thinking about the BA in theatre studies at Elon if I dont get accepted for MT...i just wondering how much training i can get inside the school...so ive been searching for voice teachers/dance studios outside and close by the school.....if anybody knows of any, let me know!..lol</p>
<p>so im guessing im going to be hearing from more schools tomorrow...so ill let you guys know. But im actually quite fine if I dont get inot any MT schools....i did it with no training and still got good feedback, so now im just goin to spend the next year training and working hard and then reaudition and transfer. Im actually really hoping that Otterbein comes through for me, cause I would love to go there...but whatever happens, its ok :) thanks you guys! :)</p>