<p>I was wondering whether anyone could provide me with some more information about the BFA acting program at University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). Whilst I have seen the name of numerous programs mentioned here in the 'theater drama majors' section, I have never seen anyone mention UofM. My impression used to be that it was more for MTs, until I spoke with an admissions officer at a recent college fair. Of course she was keen to promote UofM (she mentioned several times that Darren Criss had attended!) and I didn't really get a sense of how reputed the program is in the world of theater as a result.</p>
<p>After taking a look at the website, I became curious about the program as it seems to offer a similar combination of performance and academics as the other colleges I am applying to (e.g. NYU).</p>
<p>"The 4-year curriculum is a balance of performance and academic classes. You'll take courses in theatre studies, foreign language, English, writing and a good number of elective subjects."</p>
<p>However a description on a website is obviously not a substitute for opinions, so I would be really grateful if you could share your views.</p>
<p>dBPMw99u - you mentioned in another post that you were homeschooled. In the past, University of Michigan was known as one of the most “homeschool-unfriendly” colleges. As recently as two years ago, University of Michigan required homeschool applicants to submit <em>5</em> SATII Subject Test scores (while regular applicants were required to submit zero).</p>
<p>I just checked their website, and it sounds like they now have a more welcoming policy (SATIIs are no longer required, but “strongly recommended”). But I would definitely do some more research, and ask a lot of questions about what criteria they are using to evaluate homeschooled applicants.</p>
<p>Re strength of Michigan program, I don’t know. however, hopefully others can chime it. However, given overall strength of Mich in so many fields, my guess is they have at least a decent, if not as well recognized theatre program. Just a guess. You mentioned NYU elsewhere. NYU can be pricey so look into that issue. And Im not sure how pricey Michigan is for out of state students, assuming you are out of state, so check that issue too.</p>
<p>that is pricey. and to the op, you can go to school for less than that elsewhere. Re need based aid, it so varies state by state but some state schools are not that generous with need based aid for OSS> so i’d run a net price calculator on Michigan to see if it appears affordable. The accuracy of a NPC is still an unknown to me since we have yet to do a FAFSA but it has given me an estimate or ballpark of what our costs could be at a number of schools so I have NPCs very helpful. and mh brings up a good point on homeschooling too. That could raise admissions issues for you and my preference is my kid to go to a school that is considered home school friendly. That may or may not be an issue for you and you want to find the school that is the best place for you and even though you may be homeschooled, the best choice for you may still be a school that is not considered homeschool friendly. michigan may be a phenomenal option for you. just go in with your eyes open.</p>
<p>NPCs are really only a very rough measure. A better way of seeing how much need based aid they will give is to look at their stats, available on their website: What percentage of students have needs met and how (loans or grants), what percentage graduate with loans, what is their philosophy on loans (are they committed to low or no loans), what size is their endowment, and so on. Remember, your FAFSA’s EFC is simply that, estimated. The university may try to meet the need, but sometimes it just can’t, and other times it meets them with loans, which is very different from meeting them with grants/scholarships. The EFC is also often much higher than most people think it will. </p>
<p>You can also learn a lot simply by talking to admissions people.</p>
<p>For instance, when we went to one BFA program for auditions, the reps had a Q & A session for parents. Parents were asking many questions, which were all confidently answered, THen I asked about their policy on need based loans – and believe it or not, they were unable to answer me. This was a huge Q & A session with leaders from within the university and the woman shrugged and looked at the other two reps, who also shrugged. Then she said, 'Um, I don’t know." I was asking about their policy on loans and she couldn’t answer me! Nor did she make any effort to say, “Oh, so sorry, here’s where you’d find out.” She just shrugged. This told me a lot - I felt it spoke volumes about their attitude toward financially needy students (that shrug, the lack of caring) and that university was not committed to recruiting and supporting students of need. </p>
<p>U of Mich is a state university and is not known for its generous need based grants, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up there. It’s very expensive OOS. It is excellent for MT but less well known for acting, but that’s all I know. I do know a few people who have gone there and gotten excellent training, but in MT. The MT connections are great too.</p>
<p>It was one of the last schools to drop off my daughter’s list. We just couldn’t shake the impression that it was dominated by MT. Though in the interest of full disclosure – I went to Wisconsin so maybe it clouds my view of everything Michigan. :)</p>
<p>dBPMw99u - I’d be happy to answer your questions. My son is a senior in the BFA Theatre Performance program at Michigan. Your assumption is correct: the program offers a healthy mix of core theatre training, theatre electives and academic electives.
Academically, Michigan is strong across multiple disciplines. It’s also a very large school, but the theatre kids are insulated from that in a couple of ways - the class size is small (my son’s class has 14 or 15); and the theatre dept is located on North Campus, along with Engineering and Art/Design. There are great performance opportunities (check out “Basement Arts” and “Musket”). There is a very strong alumni network for Michigan in general (globally) and for the theatre alumni also. The faculty for Theatre and MT is separate but there is cross-over in a couple of classes. We are in-state so lucky enough to visit Ann Arbor to see shows often, and get to know faculty & students. It has been a wonderful 3+ years. Pass along any other detailed questions via this thread or PM - I am happy to answer them. Good Luck!</p>
<p>To ActingDad: RE: “dominated by MT” - we never got that feeling. The programs are separate. Yes, Michigan is one of the top schools for MT. That means there are talented and creative kids from all over the country at his school. It also means that the MT course that my son took as an elective is taught by Brent Wagner. Not bad.</p>
<p>mountainhiker - a few of the colleges I’m applying to are known as “homeschool-unfriendly” (although I have made sure to include several that are said to be welcoming toward homeschoolers). For example, USC requires 3 SAT subject tests from all homeschooled applicants, including one in Math. Requirements such as these are not a specific problem for me as I have incidentally taken 7 SATIIs (before anyone thinks that this sounds crazy, I have taken these in lieu of any AP levels). Also, just because a college has higher requirements for homeschooled students does not <em>necessarily</em> mean that they are “homeschool-unfriendly” - I think in most cases the college just wants to ensure that a homeschooler has covered enough content to keep up with the gen ed requirements.</p>
<p>I am reluctant to avoid applying to a great acting program simply because the college as a whole is perceived to have an aversion to homeschoolers. It’s my firm belief that it is wrong to make assumptions about a college - such as ‘this college prefers out of state applicants’, ‘this college prefers wealthier students’ and ‘that college prefers Christians’ - even if these assumptions are based on the experience of others. The reason being that noone, noone can proclaim to know how/why an admissions officer makes a decision and also because there will always be an exception to the rule. This is particularly true in the case of an auditioned program. Even if a school does genuinely have an aversion to homeschoolers, an outstanding audition could compensate for not having had a traditional high school experience (this is my opinion anyway).</p>
<p>I have contacted each of the colleges I will be applying to regarding homeschooled applicants – and will make sure to do the same with UMich if I do apply there.</p>
<p>Financial aid: I am in an extremely tricky situation regarding need-based aid at the colleges that do not offer merit aid. Id say we are middle middle class (if that makes any sense!). My Mom is a lawyer but she only works part time and my Dad is a family doctor (he earns enough but not a huge amount). Over the past few years my parents have created a college fund they have saved enough to afford $30,000 in tuition fees per year. We would possibly be able to pay more than this, but it would involve them using other savings such as pension and assets (not too sure what the latter is, my Mom was trying to explain to me yesterday). I am very reluctant for them to use up their personal funds to pay for me to attend an expensive college. It is going to be difficult for us to get need-based aid within our income bracket income is at the higher end of those who do receive need-based aid but certainly lower than those who are able to afford to pay the full tuition cost at a school like NYU. As a result, I am still applying to colleges with high tuition costs in the hope that I maybe just might get some form of need-based aid, in addition to colleges with lower tuition costs and colleges that offer generous amounts of merit aid. I am not a National Merit Scholar but my SAT score is good (2130) and I got around a 700 on each of the 7 subject tests.</p>
<p>Bazaarshopper – thank you for offering to help I will definitely ask some questions this afternoon (I don’t have time to right now) and ctl987 I will also reply to your inbox later on.</p>
<p>dBPMw99U - we homeschooled both our kids for many years, so don’t get the impression that I’m personally “homeschool-unfriendly”! (Both are now in brick-and-mortar schools, but that’s due to a long list of reasons.)</p>
<p>When our oldest started 8th grade, I started researching what different colleges wanted to see from homeschoolers so that we could make sure our kids were prepared to apply to a wide range of colleges. It sounds like you have “covered the bases” from the standpoint of having “outside validation” of your academic abilities, since some colleges have extra requirements for homeschooled applicants, such as additional APs or SATIIs, in addition to SAT/ACT scores.</p>
<p>There is a fantastic yahoo forum named “hs2coll” that has more than 2,000 members, and covers all things related to the college application process for homeschoolers. It’s a great resource for “been there done that” advice, including info on how “homeschool friendly” different colleges might be based on recent experience. You must join in order to post or search the archives, but they’re a very welcoming group.</p>
<p>I understand your feeling that “no one can understand how an admissions office makes their decisions.” That is true - but sometimes schools have biases (maybe because their administrators have biases) and it’s good to have information about what you might be up against in the admissions process so you can take steps to overcome those biases.</p>
<p>My own son is homeschooled but he is going the intensive conservatory route, so his experience is going to be different from yours. I’m afraid your income situation does put you out of reach of need based aid. “Middle class” means different things to different people, but bear in mind that the <em>median</em> income for a family of four in America is $51,000 and that with the recession (unemployment, underemployment, foreclosures, etc), many families are really struggling. This is coupled with universities themselves being hit hard financially. So you are very wise (and mature) to be looking for merit based need and to be practical about where you are applying. </p>
<p>I also think you are wise to apply to most places regardless of what their reputation is about homeschooling. YOu never know. And your stats are strong; and perhaps theatre majors are treated differently, who knows. You are also wise to communicate directly with the schools.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice mountainhiker, and for you kind words connections.</p>
<p>Here are some questions for bazaarshopper (is it possible to tag people on this forum?):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Would you say that it is an easier admit for the students applying for straight acting, because the majority are applying for MT? Is there less competition than Carnegie Mellon, for example? (I remember reading an article on another thread last week about how it’s easier to be admitted to a school in a major that the school isn’t known for; that it gives you a hook.)</p></li>
<li><p>You mentioned that your son took an MT course as an elective. Is there any singing required as part of the core curriculum because, as I mentioned in another post, I am completely tone deaf! Do many of the straight acting kids also dance/sing and take an MT elective or was your son one of the few?</p></li>
<li><p>Which other schools were on your son’s list? What made him choose to attend Michigan? (Also, only if you don’t mind sharing, which other schools on his list was he accepted to?)</p></li>
<li><p>It mentions on the website that it is possible to take a minor in addition to the BFA. Would you say that this is easy to do and that many students do it (like at NYU) or is it almost impossible within the curriculum? Or somewhere in the middle?</p></li>
</ol>
I would only be guessing. There is a large number of applicants for both programs (relative to the number accepted). I would not put Michigan’s theatre program in a category of “majors that the school is not known for”.<br>
No requirement. Some of the straight acting kids are very good singers/dancers, some are not at all. My son was one of the few taking the MT elective course, as far as I know. He wanted to learn more about the creating/writing side.
Michigan was his top reach school. We are in-state. He was accepted early so we cancelled all subsequent auditions/visits. He also was accepted to a couple of schools after Unifieds - not big name schools. He treated Unifieds as practice for UMich, which came 2 weeks later.
Some do get minors - no, it is not easy or common. My son is working toward a minor in Creative Writing.<br>
Good Luck, and Go Blue!</p>
<p>bazaarshopper, thank you for being so helpful. I am planning a campus visit soon so will make a final decision then, but from what you have said and reading about the program it sounds like it would be a good fit. </p>
<p>I am planning on taking a minor in creative writing too! Has your son found it difficult to balance the workload and will he still be able to graduate within 4 years? If you don’t want to answer this publicly then PM me</p>
I will definitely ask some questions this afternoon (I don’t have time to right now) and ctl987 I will also reply to your inbox later on.</p>