Anyone have experience with this program?
@MDmom11 My daughter graduated from there in 2016. Any specific questions?
Yes - so many questions! how many students are in the program, how many performances, is it realistic to get into program after freshman year, is a double major realistic?
@lovetoact - thanks so much!!!
My daughter had a double major–BFA Acting and BA French. She went into college with many AP credits (all were accepted) so she had no gen ed courses that she had to take, which made the double major possible. She’s also a very hard worker and took up to 21 credits most semesters. It got a little tight at the end because the specific major requirement classes were at specific times, so fitting it all in was like a puzzle but she was determined. She also chose not to study abroad for a whole semester–she went during the January break for 3 weeks.
I believe there are four departmental productions per year. UMBC is eclectic. For Eurydice, they built a river with actual running water in the middle of the stage.
They do interesting things there and have great visionary set design staff. Another very cool thing is that there is a playwright who is a professor at the college and the theatre department workshops and produces her plays. My daughter was fortunate to be involved in a couple of them and to follow the process of how a play develops and how to develop a character of a play that’s not an established show is amazing.
Go to the UMBC theatre department’s website and click on the ‘Productions’ tab, then click on the ‘Past Seasons’ from the drop-down to see some great photos (other than Eurydice, my favorites were Voracious and Rhinoceros!) There’s also a student-run musical theatre club that, when my daughter was in school, did a full musical each year and a themed musical theatre cabaret once each year.
When my daughter was in school, students didn’t start as BFAs but I see that they can audition during senior year of high school. I know that they can also audition/apply to the BFA at the end of freshman year. If she doesn’t start as a BFA, she can talk to the department, you can make sure that she’s in the right classes during freshman year that would prepare her for that if she doesn’t start in the BFA. I believe that a student can try for the BFA twice.
There are some great scholarships, through the Linehan Scholarship, and through academic scholarships.
I’m going to ask my daughter about the number of students and then I’ll get back to you. They were a super-tight-knit group and some really awesome young people!
@lovetoact I think it might be a great fit for my DD - fingers crossed!
@MDmom11 in 2016, my daughter graduated with 3 other BFA Actors and 5 BAs, which included tech students. Your username means you live in Maryland, right? Nearly all of my daughter’s friends in the program are from MD or Delaware. We’re from NY.
I also forgot to say that UMBC participates in KCACTF and that was a very energizing conference for my daughter to attend.