<p>Awhile ago Javon asked if BA was like theater studies. With my daughter having gone through the whole admission process last year and having wrestled with this dilemma, I wanted to share some of her thoughts as she made the decision to go the BA route.</p>
<p>First, no program will guarantee employment. Finding work as an actor is largely about talent and luck or even who you know. An education, however, is the one thing that you will always have, no matter what life brings or where you end up. Hopefully after having attended college, either for a BFA or a BA, you will have learned to think and question so that you can make decisions based on reflection throughout your life. This is something that my H and I always instilled in our children while encouraging them to follow their dreams.</p>
<p>My d decided on a BA because she wanted the breadth of a liberal arts education. She had been at magnet arts schools since middle school but always loved the academic subjects, specially history, literature and foreign languages. She is committed to her love for theater and the proof is that after devoting countless hours during her high school years to her theater program, she spent her summers at intensive theater programs like NYU’s ETW and Yale’s Summer Conservatory for Actors. Because she has spent so much time doing theater, she knew that she also loved and needed the academic subjects." Along the way she came to the conclusion that the more that she learned and read, the better equipped she would be to understand the roles that she would undertake and interpret. In reaching this conclusion, she decided that a BA would give her more of an opportunity to dabble in other areas. </p>
<p>The task to identify colleges where she could continue to train with strong mentors while obtaining a solid liberal arts education was not easy. It took an enormous amount of time. I did some of the leg work by using the book that Dr. John recommends and going to the college websites because she simply did not have the time to do it all herself with all her commitments at school. ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU DR. JOHN! As I reviewed the programs, I would point the ones that seemed like good fits so that she could look them over at least on paper and on the web. </p>
<p>By looking at the courses, faculty and resources there is a lot that you can learn. The Directory recommended by Dr. John helped immensely. The college where she is now, Swarthmore, would not have been on our radar screen for theater had I not looked through the Directory or had we relied on the usual names that come up. This is not a school normally mentioned, and decidedly not for everyone, but it is a perfect fit for her and she is extremely happy with her choice. It is also a school where she will be able to continue to grow, meld her interests and experiment in theater. </p>
<p>What made her decide on Swarthmore? The chair of the theater department, sitting on classes, the facilities, talking to other faculty, visiting, and most importantly, becoming familiar with what the program and the school as a whole had to offer. Visits were important. Schools that we had assumed would be top choices did not even rate an application after visiting and contacting the department and learning more about the resources offered to the theater department. Make no mistake, each program IS DIFFERENT. Some will be theater studies, largely academic, others will be acting intensive. Some will mandate exactly what you must take, others will give you flexibility. At some you will be treated as a colleague, at others you will not. The bottom line is that you need to do your own homework and ultimately there is no substitute for up-close, personal looks.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone!</p>