I am planning on pursuing an acting BFA in college with a concentration on screen acting! I am debating on whether or not to apply to the following universities. I’d appreciate any input/thoughts on the following programs!
I added some specific hesitations next to the school in parenthesis.
University of Nevada Las Vegas (I love their BFA in Acting for the Stage and Screen but I haven't heard much about the program. Has anyone attended or heard good things? Is the program established?)
UCLA (has a strong BA program, but lots of theory classes and less credits are devoted to hands-on performance training)
Loyola Marymount/LMU (also has a strong BA program, but VERY liberal arts-based and as a result less time devoted to hands-on theatre training)
SUNY Purchase
Fordham (BA program - liberal arts education emphasized over conservatory training)
Emerson
Northwestern (I'm not super familiar with the program, but I'm dissuaded by the fact that you don't start taking real performance training classes until Sophomore Year)
I don’t have info on those programs, but if your focus is screen acting, you should also consider Pace’s FTVC program (Film, TV, Voiceover, Commercial).
@loveacting And Chapman in Orange (south of Los Angeles) has a Screen Acting BFA program. From your list, Northwestern has an acting for screen module and is an amazing program, but you will need to have top grades and test scores to get in.
Whoops - just realized you were looking for feedback on your list not more schools. The schools are your list all look great. I haven’t heard much about LV but I have heard very positive things about the others. Fordham is the only one that doesn’t quite fit as it’s a BA but that’s good - you’re going to want some variety and you’ll also need to get some non-audition “safety” schools in the mix. The basic CC feedback for BFA admissions is you need to apply at at least a dozen schools as the admit rate at each is low … so keep adding before you narrow down! And don’t fall in love until you’re in, lol.
Looks good to me, too – I don’t know anything about UNLV, and I’m not sure about Emerson and film (other people may know more). The others look good. If you’re in a big city (or near one), you may be able to get some experience in student films before, during and after college. There are tons of audition listings in backstage.com. Also most of the major film hubs have “acting for camera” classes, if you want very focused training on film/tv acting. From what I understand it’s a little different (smaller, more subtle) than stage acting, but if you have good acting chops, not too hard to make the transition. Both SUNY Purchase and Northwestern are EXTREMELY hard to get into (for different reasons).
If you’d like to expand your list - consider SCAD (Savannah College of Arts and Design) for a BFA in Performimg Arts. They have their own casting department that gives student many film credits before graduation. You can also take some of your liberal arts credits at their Singapore campus. Although it has a private school price tag $$& - they are generous with merit and talent awards.
Most strong acting programs will include classwork and practicum in film/TV acting, to cover the adjustments you need to make as an actor when you are in front of a camera vs on stage. It’s a pretty easy transition to go from stage to film, but not necessarily the other way around.