<p>Hello All:</p>
<p>This is my first time here. Just beginning the search with my Junior-year daughter. She's looking for MT / and or a T program with a strong Music program. We will begin our search in Oregon & Washington as we live in the Pacific NW. Prob will go to CA for President's Day weekend. Will be looking across the country in the spring.</p>
<p>For now, over the T-Giving week we plan to drive to Washington. Any ideas or recommendations?</p>
<p>Thanks,
NWDramamama
nwdramamama is online now</p>
<p>UCLA, UC Irvine, and Cal State Fullerton come to mind. There are so many more strong programs back east that I would suggest you expand your search.</p>
<p>There has been some discussion on this site about Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Do a search and see what comes up!</p>
<p>And my D is a freshman at Roosevelt/CCPA in Chicago (closer to you than east coast) and loves it! She is in the BFA Musical Theatre voice emphasis program. They also offer a BFA MT dance emphasis and BFA Acting.</p>
<p>Hi nwdramamama! We too are PacNW people (suburbs of Seattle) and my D is a Freshman BFA in MT at Ithaca College in NY state. We too searched the PacNW to find good programs. My D had her heart set on a BFA MT program and there is only one in Washington state and it is a very new program at Central Washington University in Ellensberg, WA. We don’t know too much about it but my D didn’t want to apply there. A couple of her friends are in straight theatre as well as the MT degree program there and we drove over to see their production of Jesus Christ Superstar last year and it was quite good (the leads were outstanding and the ensemble decent). The theatre program at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma is really strong and their music department is outstanding—one of the best choral programs in the nation. The University of Washington just started a brand new program this fall : a BA in Musical Theatre. With all the outstanding high school/regional theatre/professional theatre programs in the Seattle area at large, it’s really a shame there aren’t any BFA MT schools here!!! I told my D she should come back here and start one after she graduates 
As far as Oregon goes, we didn’t look there at all because again there is no BFA MT program there but we used to live in OR and Southern Oregon in Ashland has a great program for straight theatre and they have the world-renowned Shakespeare Festival there! Hope that helps and keep us posted!! Best of luck :)</p>
<p>Hi Momarmarino! Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. We plan to go back east this spring and Ithaca is on the list!!</p>
<p>Can you please help me decipher the difference between a BA, BFA and a Conservatory program??</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>NWDramamama</p>
<p>Hi Saratoga Parent! Thank you for the info. We plan to visit some CA schools over President’s Day Weekend. We are from CA and still have a lot of family & friends there. My D really likes the sun, so it’s definitely in the running. Thanks! And, yes, we plan to do the east coast for spring break.</p>
<p>Hi austinmt! Thank you for the information! Yes, Cornish is on our list to look at although it seems a bit too small for my D’s taste. We’ll look into CCPA in Chicago. That’s such a great town. By the way, can you help me understand the difference between a BA and BFA program? Thanks.</p>
<p>nwdramamama, There is a LOT here in the threads about the different types of programs and how they are similar. Best if you just devote a number of hours to perusing . . . which is how we started out 3 years ago. You will find that there are no exact lines between types. Its best to ust start looking at individula programs. We are from Portland, so if you’re in that neighborhood, feel free to pm or email me. Make sure you go to the big list of programs by type, which may be a help. I will also bump the advice for juniors thread for you.</p>