<p>I'm a parent of a sr. Does anyone have info on the best college theater programs? We've visited Northwestern and were really impressed. He has a 28 ACT and in the top 9% of his grad. class. What chances does he have of getting accepted at NW?</p>
<p>28 act is a lil low</p>
<p>i think, if he can get that to a 31 or 32, he will have a stronger chance</p>
<p>their range is a 29-33</p>
<p>drama or musical theater?
drama:
Boston U
Cal State Fullerton
Catholic U
DePaul
Indiana U
Julliard
NYU
Northwestern
San Francisco State
Southern Methodist
SUNY Purchase
UCLA
U Evansville
USC
U Utah</p>
<p>The 28 is a tad low for Northwestern, but let me just warn you that their theatre department is very overrated. If you're interested in Chicago, the programs at U of C, DePaul, and Roosevelt are a lot better.</p>
<p>The major question is drama vs. musical theatre. The above list applies mainly to drama, so for MT the top programs in the country are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Juilliard</li>
<li>Boston Conservatory</li>
<li>Cincinnati CCM</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon</li>
<li>U of Michigan</li>
</ul>
<p>Don't expect to get into any of these unless your son is basically a child prodigy, though. Getting in for drama is a lot easier. Musical theater kids must be able to dance, sing and act at an essentially professional level to get into these 5 schools. The other good schools basically overlap with the ones above already mentioned.</p>
<p>How can you not mention Carnegie Mellon. It is definitely a top 3 with only a handful of kids selected each year out of hundreds.</p>
<p>It basically goes #1: Juilliard</p>
<h1>2/#3 = Carnegie and NYU Tisch</h1>
<p>Rest go here------></p>
<p>There is no musical theatre at Juilliard. It's a pure drama school.</p>
<p>The NU theatre program...def. not overrated.</p>
<p>Their alumni is amazing.... David Schwimmer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Megan Mullally and on and on.</p>
<p>The faculty is also first rate. Frank Galati and Mary Zimmerman? Tony winners and directors of Broadway fare like Ragtime and Metamorphosis.</p>
<p>I have some serious doubts about what people are telling you (at least some people). First off, if the issue is drama only, then pick a school from the Professional Actor Training Programs (PATP). But not all of those are created equal.</p>
<p>First off, let's understand a few things. Getting into the best theater programs is MUCH harder than being a Division I football player. There are fewer spots available and more people vying for them. Getting into the best musical theater programs is even harder than that.</p>
<p>Here are some good drama programs:</p>
<p>Juilliard
North Carolina School of the Arts
NYU
Brandeis
University of Washington
American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco)
Actors Theater of Louisville
University of Alabama (graduate only with its connection to Alabama Shakespeare Festival)
Denver Center Theater Company
University of Delaware (arguably the top graduate theater program in the country)
Penn State
Yale</p>
<p>SMU used to be good, but once top people leave, the program becomes suspect. </p>
<p>Muscial theater:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon (for God's sake, Sutton Foster went there!!!! That's right, freakin' Sutton Foster!!!!!)
U Michigan
North Carolina School of the Arts (you have to combine majors, but you actually learn how to act. Imagine that.)
Webster
University of Northern Colorado (only if you already are extremely good at acting because you will learn only to sing and dance there)</p>
<p>Understand that this is only a partial list. Look, if he's really, really good and wants to do only drama, then send him to the UK. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) is simply the best in the world. British actors are generally much better trained than American actors.</p>
<p>Oh, BTW, on-camera work is a different animal. Stage training translates quite easily (with just a bit of work) into on-camera performances, but it is a much more difficult transition for an actor to go from on-camera to stage. But if the person in question is interested only in on-camera work, then NYU and UCLA probably move to the head of the list.</p>
<p>Tarhunt, the NU alumni I listed, though all famous for their television work, were all trained in classical theatre and not in film acting.</p>
<p>You've listed quite a large number of graduate-only programs; I think the OP was looking for undergrad programs. That would certainly toss Yale and quite a number of schools you've listed off the list.</p>
<p>Anyway, in general, I agree with most of what you've written in your post. If one is interested in pure classical theatre training and nothing else, looking across the Atlantic is certainly wise. Though I would argue that US schooling in theatre offers something quite different as well- perhaps fridge and experiemental theatre or less classically-based acting.</p>
<p>musical theater:
American Musical and Dramatic Academy (NY)
Arizona State
Baldwin Wallace
Ball State
Boston Conservatory
Brigham Young
Butler U
Cal State Fullerton
Carnegie Mellon
Catawba
Catholic U
Coe
College of Santa Fe
Cornell College
Drake U
Emerson C
Florida State Talahasee
Hampshire
Illinois Wesleyan
Ithaca C
Kansas State Manhattan
Kent State
Long Island U CW Post
NYU Dept of Music
Ohio Wesleyan
Roosevelt U
Sarah Lawrence
Shenendoah College and Conservatory (VA)
SUNY Fredonia
SUNY New Paltz
Syracuse U
U Cincinnati
U Hartford
U Miami
U Michigan AA
U Nebraska Lincoln
U Northern Colorado
U of the Arts (PA)
West Virginia U</p>
<p>Windcloud:</p>
<p>I recognize that many of the programs I included are graduate only programs, but my experience has been that undergraduate programs in schools with strong grad programs are generally very good.</p>
<p>As for famous alumni, Northwestern (NU) has a number, many of whom never were in the theater department at all. As you know, there are many schools that can boast large numbers of famous alumni. For instance, my wife attended training programs of one sort or another with Jean Smart, Powers Booth, William Hurt, Thomas Gibson, and Kyle MacLachlan. She didn't attend Northwestern.</p>
<p>Is there a connection between decent training and success? Undoubtedly, though it's a weaker relationship than it should be. And Northwestern is one of those schools that turns out a fair number of successful actors. But a 28 on the ACT is going to be a huge stretch to get in to NU. So suggesting NU is like asking a hungry person to press his nose against a restaurant window.</p>
<p>He MIGHT be able to audition his way into Carnegie Mellon if he's in musical theater. He might be able to get into Yale graduate school if he does well as an undergrad. He might get into U Mich. Maybe. I think the others I suggested are decent possibilities IF the talent is there.</p>
<p>Does American theater training offer something the Brits don't? If so, I haven't seen it manifest itself on stage or screen. To my eye (and I believe it's a reasonably trained eye), there are only a few US actors who can hold their own with the best of the Brits in any medium.</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=501%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=501</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=166214%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=166214</a></p>
<p>I have to disagree with Tarhunt. Good graduate programs mean that undergraduates don't have as many opportunities.</p>
<p>My daughter is MT at IWU and is happy with the program.</p>
<p>fosselover:</p>
<p>You have a good point IF on-stage opportunities are shared by grads and undergrads. The largest programs don't have that problem. </p>
<p>Another way to look at it is that, if you can't compete on stage with graduate students, how on earth are you going to compete on stage with professionals?</p>
<p>Here's even another way to look at it. One of the worst things you can do to many young actors is to set them up to fail. Stage acting is so very difficult because there aren't different camera angles, cut aways, retakes, subtle emoting (or even keeping an expressionless face) because your eyeball is 10 feet high on a movie screen, and the like. Stage actors, especially those in large roles, must have substantial skills if they are to interest an audience for the course of the entire play. (I wish I had a buck for every time I've been so detached in a theater that I spent time trying to guess the Roscolux numbers on the gels).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, many undergrad programs cast young actors who are simply not yet ready for their roles. They get seen by, perhaps, a few thousand people (at large schools) and get a dreadful write-up in the school newspaper. I once saw a young lady get her confidence ruined when a review said, "as an actress, she makes a good clothes rack." Another young lady's husband pulled strings to get her the role of Cordelia at a very well-respected, Tony Award-winning regional theater. Unfortunately, a major daily (and MAJOR daily) said of her, "not only is she not yet ready to play Cordelia, she may never be ready." This was actually a pretty talented young lady. To the best of my knowledge, she never set foot on stage again.</p>
<p>The issue of what constitutes "good" training is a tortuous one and is probably not appropriate for this board. I will strongly assert, however, that being able to get large roles at a small school against very limited competiton does not constitute "good" training.</p>
<p>Yes, I'm a senior in H.S.... and I want to apply to a good musical theatre program and a school... but I don't want to go something as small as a conservatory (I'd like a real college experience, well I'm not saying conservatories aren't real, I just want something bigger), and I can't get into great schools like Carnegie Mellon - my grades just aren't that wonderful... I've only got a 1160 SAT and a 3.4...
What are some good musical theatre programs at easier-to-get-into schools?</p>
<p>I'm looking at Ball State, U of Northern Colorado, and Western Michigan so far</p>