Thank you! It says BFA Acting Program. D’s very excited!
I have a few questions for the WSU vets that still check in here (and I am so grateful that you do!): Do the students generally stay in a particular dorm Freshman year? Given the crazy hours that these kids keep-are there any late night dining options near the facilities, or dorm(s)? My D has honors stats-but I think last year I read that many kids in the program start an honors track-and decide not to finish it, due to the rigors of the program, is that correct?
The majority of the PA kids are on 1 floor in the Honors dorm as freshmen. A few each year choose to live in other dorms, or off-campus, but not many. There are late night food options that are walkable & the Honors dorm has a small store where they can use dining dollars (or whatever they’re currently called - I am out of the loop on meal plans since D has graduated & lived in an apartment after freshman year). And you are correct about the honors track - D couldn’t fit in everything she needed, and we know several others that happened to. She also knows someone a year ahead of her who was able to fit everything in. Also, while “Honors” seemed really important when she was applying, once she was in a BFA college program, it really didn’t matter to her at all. However, I must admit, this year when D2 gets letters saying she’s eligible for a school’s honors program, it sounds good!
@owensfolks - It’s been awhile since I’ve checked in. When my S (current senior) was in the freshman Theater dorm he seemed to have no trouble finding food at all hours - definitely a major consideration (still is).
S was accepted to the Honors program as a freshman and found it impossible to get any honors classes to fit in around the studio classes. Last year they revamped the program graduation requirements to ease up on the pressure to get everything scheduled (some students were not graduating in four years and many others were taking summer classes to make sure they graduated on time). So perhaps the current underclassmen will be able to manage the honors classes (the changes did not affect requirements for this year’s seniors). Although it is not the same as taking four years of honor classes, there are other ways to graduate with an honors diploma. S has written/directed an original musical that had a table reading in the fall and will have a staged concert reading this spring. The work progressing over two semesters with a faculty advisor qualifies him for the honors diploma (actual research and writing time was more than two years).
That is great info, @mom4bwayboy thank you! My D is much more concerned with attending a BFA that gives her the preparation that she knows that she needs than possibly jumping through the “honors” hoops: But she does like rigorous academics. We think it’s awesome that the Performing Arts kids have their learning community in the Honors Dorm!
Just saw that Wright is doing something with locking in tuition rates for next year’s incoming freshman class. As I understand it, they will have the same rate for 4 years. And it looks like housing and meal plans would fall under this as well. This is so great for financial planning! http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/wright-state-could-lock-tuition-price-after-hiking-percent/pFJEXEnLd6r3TgoFv3eNZJ/
D is waitlisted as well. I assumed it is the same as a “hold” from other schools - will be interested to see what happens once all auditions are done.
Sounds like this year’s timeline is quite different from the previous two years. FIngers crossed. . .
I just got accepted to the BFA MT program yesterday! Does anyone have any insight on the quality of this program? Also, I’m from Oklahoma so it being a commuter campus is kind of scary. Is this a good place for out-of-State students?
Congratulations on your acceptance @sparkledolphin! The program WSU is top-notch. MTs take dance, acting and voice lessons every semester. Dance is leveled - if you’re really good you can take classes with dance majors. The MT degree is actually an Acting BFA with a Musical Theatre emphasis. They train actors who can sing and dance. The faculty is amazing - they have great connections in the theatre community, they are great teachers, and they are caring. The students support each other and are friends.
The MT and Acting kids are from all over the country (California, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, New Jersey, Alabama, Texas…), and most are there every weekend. In addition to MainStage shows, there is a student run Directing Lab that is booked every weekend during the entire school year. They do everything: cabarets, new works, original pieces, comedy shows, full musicals or plays that students get the rights to perform, etc. Everyone goes to the shows to support their friends.
If possible, you really should visit and attend classes. That’s what sealed the deal for my D. We went during her spring break. We saw a MainStage show, she sat in on classes, we talked to faculty. It was an amazing 4 years. She just graduated and is living in NYC with her WSU friends!
Congratulations @sparkledolphin! My S is a current MT senior. Ditto, everything that MTmom2017 had to say about the program. Excellent faculty and training. Kids from all over the country. Maybe 20% live within an hour’s drive of the university. They generally stay on campus except for major holidays and breaks. We live an hour from school, but my S is staying on campus halfway through spring break to rehearse a student-run production (a concert reading of an original musical he wrote and is directing if you happen to be visiting on March 10).
While WSU does a terrific job of producing triple threats (good dancers can take classes and perform with dance majors - Fosse’s Rich Man’s Frug was amazing last year), the emphasis is really on the acting. They are training actors who can really portray the characters and connect with each other on stage - and engage the audience. Not just great singers looking good. I’ve seen a lot of productions at some other schools and I think the acting ability is really what sets the WSU kids apart.
Also can’t say enough about the benefit of having a student-run Directing Lab at the students’ disposal. This is where the students really get to explore “outside-the-box” theater, experiment in a low stakes environment (the late-night student crowd is ALWAYS supportive), and quickly learn how a production happens from start to finish before going on to the next thing. Many of the kids write original material, but there are also opportunities to direct whatever your heart desires. Some students also get involved in film acting with the Motion Pictures crowd. Others find plenty of opportunities to participate in the Dayton/Cincinnati/Columbus/Northern Kentucky thriving (and competitive) regional theater scene - including lead roles.
The BFA program has a fairly strict schedule of required classes, but most of the students find a way to tailor it towards their own interests. Good luck with your decision-making.
My d is a freshman MT major at WSU and yes, notifications went out in March last year, so they must be doing things differently this year. My d is very happy! She’s being challenged, getting excellent training and LOVES her professors! If WSU is your s or d top choice and they are waitlisted, have them contact the Dept to let them know.
My D is gonna email WSU tomorrow and set up a visit! She is very excited. Are there any specific things on campus or in Dayton that you/your kids love? D is completely sold on the program-but is sort of underwhelmed with the suburban area (it looks just like our home town), and what little she has seen of the rest of campus.
Try to go when you can see The Mystery of Edwin Drood if you can. When you arrange your visit, let them know you want to see the show & they’ll arrange for you to have tickets. We have a prospective friend who saw it last night & was blown away by the talent! ArtsGala - a huge fundraiser for the performing arts at the university is 3/24, so there won’t be a show that weekend - I think they take that whole weekend off, but check dates - I’m not sure.
The campus is definitely not scenic, but the program more than makes up for it. The newly refurbished Creative Arts Center is wonderful. Yellow Springs is a nearby artistic community with cute shops and restaurants. There are lots of areas to hike around Dayton. The Oregon District in downtown Dayton also has cute shops and restaurants, and the 2nd Street Market is a fun Farmer’s Market type place to go - lots of local shops and different restaurants & coffee shops.
Wonderful! Thank you so much, @MTmom2017 . That is exactly the info I needed.
From a mom in our WSU parents FB group: Not sure if this is for the parents or the student while at WSU… but here are some ideas: Dayton art museum, Air Force museum, hiking at the numerous metro parks, Cox arboretum, John Bryan Park and Clifton Mill for breakfast, Carrilon Historical Park and brewing, and then of course Cincinnati is an hour down the road…
My D is a current MT freshman at WSU. Feel free to message me if you have questions! 
After our D visited WSU and sat in on some classes, this school went way up on her list for multiple reasons. Chief among them was the overwhelmingly positive learning atmosphere - The MT students seem to get on extremely well with each other and the faculty. And the quality of instruction seems top-notch.
Our D loved the Creative Arts Center. She also got to tour the honors dorm where first-year MT students live. It had everything one could hope for, including a 24-hour gym and convenience store. And the tunnels connecting many school buildings - quite handy.
(Hmm…Does it make sense to set up a 2018 version of this thread and have the moderator move these latest comments there? )
Thank you, @MTfamily1. My D is visiting (hopefully) the week of 4/9, once her current show ends.
@MTfamily1 - my S is a current MT senior at WSU. I have been starting a new “Wright State Talk” thread every year for the last few years - usually over the summer when the next batch of rising HS seniors (and their parents) are starting to get serious about the impending fall application/audition season. Each year’s thread tends to die down in mid-summer when the newly accepted freshmen start planning their new college lives and the students/parents migrate to private groups on FB or wherever. Once a thread dies down the moderators will “lock” it, so no new conversations can be posted to it. The old threads are still there to read and the general information about faculty, school culture, program quality, etc. may still be useful, but as time moves on and schools change their application/audition/acceptance protocols the detailed technical questions and answers may no longer be relevant.
When my S was going through the process I found these threads very helpful, and because of that, I have tried to keep them going - hoping that others would also seek and share program-specific answers about WSU that are not of interest to the larger CC MT audience. With my S graduating this year (can’t believe it!), I will no longer have an inside track to WSU information (sniff, sniff). Perhaps this summer, someone else with a child in the program will take up the torch and start the “Wright State Talk 2018” thread.