<p>Hi- I'm a sophomore with the grades and extracurriculars to consider Ivies and their equivalent, but I also really love acting. In fact, acting and medical school are my two top current choices for where I'm going after college (sorry about the weird grammar there). College requirements: Co-ed, not teeny, lots of strong departments. Where can I look that offers a strong acting program (hopefully a B.F.A option) as well as great academics if acting turns out to not be my thing?</p>
<p>I’ve had two daughters in your same position. It’s a tough decision - you cannot have a BFA Theatre program and significantly benefit from the academic offerings of your school - the BFA will take just about all the time after your core requirements, perhaps all those and then some.</p>
<p>So I’m reading into your question that you’d like to be able to change out of a BFA major, if you so decide, without having to transfer to another university. Carnegie Mellon has a phenomenal acting program. Once again though, bear in mind that in their BFA you take one writing course, one math course, a one-hour computer seminar, and EVERYTHING else is all theatre, all the time. If you were to drop the major at any point, you’d in effect have to start over from the beginning.</p>
<p>NYU actually incorporates a surprising amount of academic coursework with their BFA programs, so you wouldn’t have to completely start over, but would certainly have a lot of ground to make up. Other notable BFAs at selective schools include USC and Michigan.</p>
<p>Northwestern has a renowned BA Theatre program that has produced stars including Charlton Heston and Heather Headley. That’s probably the best of both worlds if you want to try to have an academic experience as well as a top theatre experience.</p>
<p>I was typing this post as gadad was posting his:</p>
<p>Northwestern. It’s not a B.F.A. program, but it’s arguably the strongest theater department in the U.S. News Top 20 (LOTS of famous acting alums). Most of the other top-20 schools (Ivies, etc.) will offer decent theater opportunities in addition to fine overall undergraduate programs, but none match Northwestern for the breadth, depth, and renown of its theater program.</p>
<p>Also, in addition to NWern’s major productions in theatre, there are a tremendous number of theatrical productions that students of every major produce each year on their own. When I was touring there with my D, we attended a musical that was the quality of a professional touring production, directed by student volunteers, with a student volunteer orchestra, that was performed with a 12:30 a.m. starting time in a huge lobby in the Student Center. :)</p>
<p>Anyone who’s saying Yale is an idiot
Yale has an MFA program…not an undergrad program</p>
<p>Strong academics with theatre? Try Millikan, NYU, Emerson, BU, Elon, High Point, Syracuse, Ithaca, or even Wisconsin-Madison…
Also, Penn State U Park, if you want more of a core academic teaching…</p>
<p>But, are you sure you want acting? good acting schools tend to have trouble with academics whereas good MT programs are normally within top universities</p>
<p>Yale has a Theater Studies program which you may enjoy: [Theater</a> Studies | Yale College Programs of Study](<a href=“Yale College”>Yale College)</p>
<p>NYU would be a great option. You can also double major if you wanted such as Chemistry. You would have to double major with a department from the School Of Arts and Science. You also get academics about two times a week if you don’t double major. Don’t get me wrong, but it is also a lot of work to double major. The BFA will take up most of your time. But you won’t get those courses you may need for medical school if you don’t double major. I know you may get some required courses, but may be hard to get all of them. NYU’s audition is also half academics and half audition. I think you also have to take some Theater History Courses too. Syracuse, Ithaca, Northwestern, Yale, USC may be some good choices.</p>
<p>Ditto on the UCLA. Must audition (1100 audition for 100 spots). Its a BA program, but run like a conservatory. And you get the UCLA name… which everyone knows.</p>
<p>I was in your position last year, and it’s NOT fun. </p>
<p>In my opinion, look at how many general education requirements you are required to have. I’m required to have 34 gen ed hours, and I tested out of a lot of them from AP credit. This would give me a chance to get a minor, or to take upper level classes without seriously overloading myself. Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>CMU’s Acting BFA actually requires one additional liberal arts course per semester, unlike their BFA MT major, which only requires the 3 “other” courses as mentioned above. So it still would not provide many relevant credits to transfer to another major, and would probably not be good choice if someone is hoping to switch without losing a year or two. My D’s roommate is pre-med, and both programs seem to be equally intense!</p>
<p>My daughter is in the BFA program at Syracuse and also is in the university’s Honors Program. She has had the opportunity to take some challenging academic courses, and the theatre program is superb. The rigor of the BFA program makes it tough to fit in a lot of classes outside the major, though some kids do double major.
You might want to check out Middlebury if you’re looking for a strong liberal arts school with a good theatre department. My son is a student there and has friends that are very happy with the Drama Dept. I attended a play there this spring and was very impressed.</p>
<p>Williams College offers a BA program. It is a liberal arts focused degree program, and many students choose to double major. The Williamstown Theatre Festival is on the Williams campus in the summer. </p>
<p>Boston University is a strong BFA program at a top university. I am not sure how many credits outside of major classes students have room to take.</p>
<p>I agree with the suggestions of Northwestern and NYU. But I would put UC San Diego and UC Irvine ahead of UCLA, unless you’re more interested in film/television than stage acting. Both offer very strong undergraduate drama with a solid knowledge base in fine arts, practical experience, and close professional ties. (Although their graduate theatre programs are easily in the top ten, undergrads do get performing opportunities, including lead roles.) They have the academic quality and variety you are seeking, with undergraduate research and excellent medical schools. UCSD has a residential college system; UCI has a Campus Wide Honors Program in addition to honors programs in the Drama Dept. Double majors or major/minor (s) are fairly common.</p>
<p>With the exception of UCI’s musical theatre BFA, auditions are not needed for admission to the major. (UCI’s musical theatre BFA requires auditions after a year as a drama major.) UCSD theatre arts is more avant garde and UCI’s drama dept. is oriented more toward classical and musical theatre. UCSD is particularly strong in laboratory biomedical science and cognitive studies, while UCI is very strong in a wide range of humanities including critical theory and writing, dance/movement and social ecology/law/public health. </p>
<p>Rutgers (Mason Gross) and the University of Minnesota (ties to the Guthrie) also come to mind.</p>
<p>Just so you know, if you are in CFA (college of fine arts) at BU you are NOT allowed to double major or minor in anything else. Believe me I asked. You do have some academic requirements, but not a terribly high number.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with paradoxical… I have heard from students who attended UCI for undergrad that too much emphasis is placed on the graduate program so the undergraduates tend to feel ignored. It was in part for this reason that my D chose UCLA over UCI (she was accepted to both.) However, she decided that UCI and UCSD are on the top of her list for graduate programs, where both excel and are in the top 10 in the country. </p>
<p>My D has had an opportunity to study with many of the instructors at UCSD all throughout her high school years as her high school has the UCSD instructors come over as teaching artists, and she went to the La Jolla Playhouse Conservatory. We have also seen productions by the undergraduate actors at UCSD. Its a great program, no doubt and we love the instructors. It wasn’t an option for my D because she didn’t want to stay at home. From what we have seen, though, the UCSD program is a very fine one indeed.</p>
<p>But UCSD and UCI are not audition programs, at least not to get into the schools. That being said, to get into UCSD and UCI, you have to have REALLY good academics and SAT scores on your own merits. On the other hand, for UCLA, you can get in on an audition, so if you are very talented, and don’t have quite the best SAT scores or grades, you may still get in even though for everone else, UCLA this year was the hardest UC to get into (even harder than Berkeley.) And UCI and UCSD are also very challenging to get into. This is something to think about…</p>