<p>About Chapman - I read terrible reviews on their Theater Acting program, even though their Screen Acting program seems very good (but I’m not interested at all in screen acting).</p>
<p>About Emerson - I did not care about the program from what I read. The classes listed on the site are “the basics” and nothing more than that. Besides, the re-audition cuts concern me a lot.</p>
<p>Stagemum - I’m glad you can confirm my hypotheses. I probably won’t be able to visit any of the campuses before the auditions, so it’s good to hear from someone who has been through the process.</p>
<p>ActingDad - I had that impression by reading some things on this forum (most of the topics I read emphasize the musical theater component), and also, like you said, there is one musical per year and you must sing at the auditions. Again, that was just my impression. I wouldn’t say that I’m a terrible singer, but if prior singing training is required, then I stand no chance.</p>
<p>Austinmtmom - I did look at CCU’s Physical Theater program and realized I had a complete different notion about the meaning of “physical theater”. From what I understand, it has a circus approach to it, right? If so, it is not really what I’m looking for. CCU’s Acting program seems ok, but it didn’t interest me much to do further research.</p>
<p>KEVP - Thanks for the info. I’m definitely reconsidering adding CCC to my list as a safety. Even though I guess I would rather go to college over here than go to a college I’m not that excited about. But I will do another research on it and hopefully visit the campus.</p>
<p>People more knowledgeable than I will probably weigh in, but a couple of things caught my eye.</p>
<p>Re UNCSA, I think the only reason that the subject of musical theatre keeps popping up in discussions about it is that many students who visit CC are extremely interested in MT. It is not uncommon for students to apply to many, many schools for MT and perhaps be admitted to none. Some of these students end up attending straight acting programs and are attracted to those that sometimes do musicals.</p>
<p>My understanding is that UNCSA is one of the top acting conservatories in the country. It, and at least one other very selective program (SUNY Purchase), require a song at auditions. This is not because you need to be able to sing but because singing provides information about vocal resonance in general.</p>
<p>Physical theatre is becoming more and more popular. It simply emphasizes the physical use of the whole body more than just the use of the voice in acting. It is “movement driven theatre.” A lot of students don’t know much about it before attending a BFA program and then fall in love with it once they encounter it. Commedia dell’arte is a form of physical theatre. I would say that physical theatre is more related to dance than to the circus arts, although the training does often include the study of clowning.</p>
<p>Voice and movement are both vital parts of the training of any actor. You don’t need to be able to sing, but you need to be able to use your voice well. You don’t need to be able to dance, but you need to be able to move well.</p>
<p>Milkshakespeare, on another thread you stated the following about theatre in the country where you live:</p>
<p>“The kind of theater that attracts some sort of audience (other than stand up comedy and remakes of Broadway musicals, of course) is very experimental and usually each company has it’s own ‘method’, which can combine physical theater, Tanztheater, native indian rituals, Meisner, Stanislavski, among others. It is really a big mix of everything. That’s the ‘kind’ of theater I want to make. Different, original, unusual.”</p>
<p>I was very impressed by that! I can see why you might not want to attend a school that focuses on a single type of training. I think you might want to attend a school that offers at least a little bit of training in physical theatre, though.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, NJTheatreMOM, absolutely! I would like to attend a school with physical theater as part of the curriculum, but I don’t know if a BFA in Physical Theater is the right choice.</p>
<p>It pleases me to know more about UNCSA’s program and I’m glad they don’t focus that much on MT as I first thought, their program really impressed me. I’ll probably add it to my list also.</p>
<p>I think I’ll end up with 15 colleges. So far, I have 9 in the U.S. (including Minnesota and UNCSA) and 5 in the UK. I’ll audition to 12 of these colleges (phew!). 15 is my limit because of application fees (which are usually way higher for international students).</p>
<p>Do you think 15 is a good number? Is it way too much?</p>
<p>Also, I would like to get some more info on the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland if anyone knows more about their program.</p>
<p>I don’t think 15 applications are too many, so long as you can handle the application fees and all the essays and the minutiae of keeping up with everything.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ll be pretty busy during the fall at the National Theater Institute, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to write 10+ essays. I’ll probably write them according to my college priorities.</p>
<p>I’m thinking about removing The New School from my list. It was kind of a “safety” for me, seeing I know some students with worst grades than me getting in, but their BA didn’t really interest me that much.</p>
<p>Umm, I hope you know that you really don’t need to “write 10 essays”, because these schools are all pretty much asking the same question, so you need to basically write ONE essay (maybe two if their is some big difference in essay requirements), and then make whatever small changes to that ONE essay are needed for each individual school.</p>
<p>It’s like using the same monologue for more than one audition. As long as it meets all the requirements of both auditions, that’s okay (but make sure it does meet all the requirements of BOTH schools!)</p>
<p>Actually, each school can ask different questions. Yes, there is one “big” essay for the common app, but there are supplemental essays asked by most schools. And some schools will ask several questions and each one is different. If you applied to 15 schools, you very well good be writing 10 essays. Some may only be 150-250 words which is more like a paragraph than an essay, but it is still work.</p>
<p>I researched last year’s essays and they’re pretty different, except for some that ask about my past with acting and why I’ve chosen the profession, etc. Most are pretty specific, and ask about “what inspires me” (UArts) and “about a time when you were in the minority” (The New School). I’ve made several Word Tables to compare them all and I’ll have to write around 8, 9 different essays (even though, like MOMMY5 said, some are very short).</p>
<p>Also, my father is not very pleased with the idea of me applying for that many colleges. Usually people here apply to 3 to 4 colleges, as we don’t have a big variety of schools. He didn’t give me a number, but I’m guessing I’ll have to cut about 6 of them.</p>
<p>Just a little FYI on Sarah Lawrence . . . it is the most expense college in the U.S. at $59,170 per year. We have a friend who attends and she would likely say that the acting program wouldn’t be even be remotely close to Juilliard’s. </p>
<p>Regarding Cornish, we live in the Western U.S. and after doing some research my daughter decided not to audition for them. We know of a local gal who attended last year and we’ve heard that she wants to transfer out. </p>
<p>When looking at BA programs, it is best to study curriculum carefully. Don’t just go by reputation, being “known” as an artsy school or good in theatre. Look for curriculum that really appeals to you. For example, my D had Bard College as a BA option. In the end, she decided that the lack of design classes would bother her, even though the rest of the program seemed excellent. She looked at Sarah Lawrence, as a matter of fact, and didn’t like the way courses were organized (she did end up at an auditioned BFA).</p>
<p>Many BA schools can give you a fairly BFA-like training experience (such as Muhlenberg, Goucher, University of Minnesota - the BA, I mean - and University of New Hampshire, among many others). Also, there are a number of non-auditioned BFAs. There is a thread on this subject:</p>
<p>I’m curious about (and a bit miffed by) your remarks on Chapman. Where’d you find this information? More importantly, how dated was it? What might’ve been accurate five years ago probably isn’t today, as the program has come a long way recently.</p>
<p>What about Carnegie Mellon? The acting program doesn’t have the rigorous academic standards that the rest of the school is known for (unless you are flunking out of high school) . . . it’s certainly one of the best acting programs in the country.</p>
<p>EmmyBet - thank you for the tip. I really like Sarah Lawrence’s program, though. The one I’m thinking of crossing off my list is The New School, which I’m not that into it.</p>
<p>StrangeBro - most of the “reviews” I read were from 2009-2010. Could you send me a more recent oppinion?</p>
<p>kksmom5 - CMU requires a TOEFL score a bit higher than the one I have, and if I want to apply for many universities, I’ll not be able to re-take the test just for one college (the other ones accept my current scores and it is a very expensive test).</p>
<p>Does anybody know a school with an exchange program to Germany? I have German heritage, speak some German and I adore the country, specially Berlin. So I would love to spend a semester or so doing something over there.</p>
<p>NYU has a lot of overseas programs, including one in Berlin. I’m not sure whether it is something a BFA theatre student could do very easily, though.</p>
<p>It is very easy for an NYU Tisch student to study abroad, either through Tisch’s programs or the ones offered to all NYU students. But if OP’s grades are weak as she says, then Tisch is probably not a good option.</p>