<p>Apologies in advance for the coming wall of text: this is my first post, and I have several questions.</p>
<p>I am a junior at a large public school in Texas, with a generally well-regarded theatre program. I act at my school, and love it, but know I do not want to pursue acting. After through research, I have decided that I want to major in Dramaturgy. I also have experience Stage Managing and am currently Assistant Directing and doing unofficial dramaturg work. I had been hesitant to commit to majoring in theatre, but Dramaturgy fulfills everything that I want from school- academically challenging yet artistically rewarding, while combining English/research writing with Theatre.</p>
<p>As of now, I am considering:
DePaul- BFA Dramaturgy/Criticism
Carnegie Mellon- BFA Dramaturgy
U of Arizona- BFA Theatre History and Dramaturgy
Yale- BA Theatre Studies
U Chicago- BA TAPS
UT Austin- BA Theatre and Dance (Dramaturgy Concentration)
Emerson- BA Theatre Studies (Dramaturgy Concentration)
Webster- BA Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies
San Francisco State- BA Drama (Emphasis Play Development and Dramaturgy)</p>
<p>If anyone has any information concerning any of these programs, especially the difficulty of admission (and what one could to do increase chances of admission), it would be greatly appreciated, as would suggestions of other programs to consider.</p>
<p>My stats are:
GPA: 4.53 (weighted), 4.0 (unweighted)
Rank: Top 8% (Class of roughly 1000)
SAT: 2270 (780 CR, 750 Math, 740 Writing)
APs: 11 by graduation
ECs: Theatre Officership, Honor Thespian (ITS), Newspaper Editor, Student Council Officership, Nominations for several leadership awards, Interfaith Community Service, Speech and Debate, UIL Academics, UIL One Act Play </p>
<p>You might want to check out Northwestern’s B.A. in Performance Stidies program. While it is competitive to get in, I believe you have the stats to be a strong candidate. Because of their quarter system, it is also easy to double major there.</p>
<p>CMU Dramaturgy is a small program–only 3-4 students per year. I don’t know your chances of admission but obviously they are looking for a very particular kind of student. Send me a private message if you want contact info for a teacher who can better answer your questions.</p>
<p>The program is innovative, demanding, and exciting. But dramaturgs spend a lot of time outside the department and they can be a little at sea in a school that is more a collection of departments than a university. Some eventually transfer from Drama to English.</p>
<p>I applied as a Dramaturgy major this time last year at Southern Methodist University (BFA Theatre Studies – emphasis in Critical Studies: Dramaturgy) and the University of Oklahoma (BFA Dramaturgy), both of which had very different, yet similarly impressive, programs. I also applied as a BA Theatre major at Chapman University which allowed the opportunity to study in that field, though I believe their program has changed a lot in this past year, so I am not sure whether or not this is still an option. I highly recommend these programs, and if they appeal to you, I would be glad to speak to you about my experience interviewing/auditioning. I was accepted to all three.</p>
<p>I did look into DePaul’s program, but ultimately decided it was too rigid for what I wanted to pursue so I did not apply. They are very strict about Dramaturgy being the only theatrical discipline you are able to study. This is appealing to some people, it just didn’t work for me.</p>
<p>My D is Freshman Dramaturgy major at the University of Oklahoma-(BFA-Dramatugy class of 2018). She applied to OU, CMU, Emerson, DePaul for Dramaturgy and got admitted to each of their programs. Each of these programs only 3-5 students per year. She also applied to Univ of Texas at Austin, Hofstra, U of Arizona (Dramaturgy program on hold 2014-2015), St. Johns (NY), Univ of Houston, Tulane, Brandeis, Drexel, Southern Methodist University, Univ of Kansas. She admitted to all except: Brandeis, and Tulane. Did not complete SMU audition packet. We visited/audition/interviewed with DePaul and OU. Mom visited Emerson. She did a skype interview with CMU. She had strong grades—GPA 3.9 SAT 1920 Overall 10 AP classes. We never dreamed she would get into CMU but she did and they offered her a very strong talent and academic scholarship. However, we live in Texas and she was not ready to move that far away from home. It saddened her to not go to CMU but she knew she was not ready. Her brother was already at OU for Lighting Design (class of 2017) and loved the theatre program there. She knows she will need a MFA in Dramaturgy and will probably again apply to CMU, DePaul, and Emerson. She is loving OU and the Dramaturgy professor there, Dr. Koger. She is already working on a project that she initiated.</p>
Hi simonshalom,
I’m currently a senior in high school, and I just got asked to complete a skype interview with CMU just like your daughter. It’s an incredible school, and I really would like to get accepted. Do you think you or your daughter could give me some insight on what the interview will entail? I would greatly appreciate any help. Thank you!!!
Aggie