Schools for a theater major with strong academics!

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

Hi! I’m an international student, currently attending school in South Korea as a rising senior. I want to attend an American college with strong theatre department and overall strong academic education. I’ll definitely apply for a BA rather than BFA and I’m mostly looking for schools that don’t require auditions.

My scores are
GPA 4.89 out of 5.00
SAT 1570/1600 with 22/24 essay score
I have plenty of theatre experience as EC (6 years/14 musicals at a youth musical theatre group. 3 student made films as the main actor, currently doing a Shakespeare performance school club, one performance at South Korea’s most prestigious art university, etc.) But, since drama scene at South Korean schools is not as active as in the States, I guess my stage experience is limited compared to those in the US that are serious about theatre.

I need FA or scholarship as an international student so this is super tough. (Only 5 schools-MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst offers need-blind to international students) At least, I need to apply to a school that is generous with international FA.

I’m mainly interested in musical theatre, but not necessarily looking for a MT major. Just one or two musical theatre courses or student-led musicals going on will be good enough for me. After graduation, I want to be an actress and also a musical theatre producer, so I’m interested in acting and production management. But I’m basically just looking for a broad theatre education in undergraduate.

One thing that is super important for me is making connections with people in that field. I need to stay in the States after graduation so getting a job that can get be visa is extremely important. So I am looking for schools that have plenty of those opportunities to make contact with professionals in the field.

Right now, I’m thinking of

  1. ED or REA Yale Vassar (ED2 perhaps) Amherst
  2. EA Tulane
  3. RD Duke with Robertson Scholarship UNC Chapel Hill UVA with Jefferson Scholarship USC UChicago etc.

My current top choice is Amherst, considering FA, my scores, etc. But I’ve seen many people in various threads saying that Amherst doesn’t have a good theatre program. It has a fantastic dance program but since theatre and dance is a combined major, I’m worried that theatre courses would be neglected compared to dance. I would love to hear some advice about Amherst theatre major!

I’m also totally open to new suggestions!

2

Northwestern has a great theatre program, USC BA as well. Both have extensive alumni contacts.

3

@astute12 Northwestern was definitely my first choice last year. I absolutely love it. But the fact is…they almost never accept international students applying with FA, which was devastating for me. Thanx anyway for the advice!!

4

Brown has an excellent reputation for undergrad theatre. I would put it equal to, and perhaps above, Yale on your list.

5

My daughter looked at Amherst 5 years ago and met with the head of the theater department and attended acting class and decided it was not a strong theater department relative to other academic peer BA programs she was considering at the time like Williams, Northwestern and Brown. Just one person’s opinion from 5 years ago, but I would encourage you to visit, especially any school you would apply ED to.

6

Carnegie-Mellon? Theater is probably the last thing you think about when it comes to CMU, but they do have a School of Drama that is pretty good. As one of the leading technical universities of the world, it will have a strong name associated with it. Very similar profile to KAIST, except with a Drama school as well.

7

@ProfessorPlum168 Carnegie Mellon is a hard core conservatory, not a BA program. A much different route from what the OP says she is looking for.

8

I would add William & Mary to that list. IMO, the W&M theatre program is strong. Would also suggest Skidmore but I do not know about the international FA availability.

9

Bard? Although not known to be great with FA. Boston U.? Connecticut College and Denison could be worth a look. Not sure for any how they are with FA for students in your situation.

Your best bet is going to be the schools where your stats place you at the high end of their range, not the matches (although it is worth applying. )

10

Thank you all! Another question: What do you guys think about Vassar? I love the school’s atmosphere and I’ve heard they have a strong theatre program. But apart from theatre, is Vassar known as a prestigious school in America?

11

Vassar is a very selective, highly thought of school! It was one of the “Seven Sisters” schools, now it is coed. Great theatre – Merle Streep went there! Also Carnegie Mellon is considered on of the top (ranks 1 or 2 with Julliard) for drama, but it is a conservatory BFA program and super competitive.

12

If you are particularly interested in BA Musical Theater opportunities at top academic schools, in addition to a broad theater education, I think Northwestern, Yale and Princeton should be among the schools at the top of your list of reaches.

Obviously, you cannot assume acceptance to any of these regardless of stats, and you also can’t assume you will get the aid you need, so of course you should cast a wider net. But these would be my top 3 suggestions for you. Lots of other strong academic schools with strong theater are mentioned above. One school I don’t see above that I would add is Wesleyan.

13

Take a look at Muhlenberg. The are a solid liberal arts college with a very strong theater department. You don’t need to audition, but they do give money based on talent if you do. You can audition for the talent scholarship without needing to major in theater. They also seem to have some good merit awards in general.

14

Northwestern does offer FA to internationals though the admission is need aware. You can find the numbers in the common data set.

15

I just looked up some Northwestern numbers for you. Per their latest common data set, 105 international undergraduate students were awared FA (55k on average). That’s about 1/8 of the total. It’s very competitive but I wouldn’t say “they never accept”.

16

@IWannaHelp Yeah, I agree that it is not impossible to get FA but it’s just that they rarely offer FA to Korean students. Thanks for the advice though!!

17

What do you guys think about theatre major at 5 college consortium schools (Smith, Mount Holyoke, UMass Amherst, Hampshire) if Amherst is not so good? I heard that students can take classes and participate in productions at other schools!

18

Yes, this is the five college consortium, so you can take classes and participate in productions at all five. You’ll want to explore the logistics of getting back and forth and class scheduling - it can be challenging time-wise. College rehearsals and productions can be late night affairs.

We looked at Smith and, as a parent, this was one of my most favorite campuses/towns, and I’ve toured a lot of really great Northeast campuses with my kids. My daughter met with the head of the Smith theater department and attended an acting class, and she really liked it. Her main hesitation was the prospect of taking acting classes with predominately (if not all) women. At that stage in her life (five years ago), she felt it was important to practice acting with both sexes - she felt there were different dynamics between co-ed acting classes vs single sex. Ironically, she just finished directing a college play, where she intentionally cast all women.

Also, when she met the head of the Amherst Theater Department head, he told her there was a student from one of the other four colleges(I forgot which) who participated in a lot of Amherst classes and productions.

As I said before, my daughter did not like the Amherst Theater department, but absolutely LOVED the Williams theater department. Williams was very near the top of her application list. Have you explored Williams?

19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AHrsaroEQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCK1Y4ML4OU

20

@arwarw Wow! Williams definitely looks appealing. Thanks for the advice.