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MichaelNKat · 04-10-2009, 08:51 AM

As with any school, it is important to identify those criteria, characteristics and issues that are important to you in a school search and then ask all the questions you need to get the answers. With any MT program, you are really looking at "3 disciplines in 1", acting, voice and dance - 4 if you include liberal arts. Schools very often have a different balance and focus, strengths and weaknesses, between them. In Emerson's case, from among the MT disciplines, dance is in a distinct 3rd place. We visited Emerson twice - to tour and for my daughter's audition. Based on the questions we asked, it became clear that my daughter would not get the dance training she wanted at Emerson. In fact, we were told that to get the level of dance that would continue to challenge her, she would need to cross register at BOCO for dance studio (Emerson has a consortium arrangement with BOCO). For some, that opportunity would be viewed as a positive; for us, the need to travel across the city to another school to get the classes my daughter wanted was undesirable. Moreover, from what we were told, students in the BFA program do not start to get the specialized focused training one would expect for a BFA MT program until their junior year (after the sophomore year cuts). On the other hand, there is a strong emphasis on liberal arts the first 2 years.

Then there are the much spoken about cuts after sophomore year. While Emerson does encourage students who are cut to remain and switch majors, keep in mind that Emerson is primarily a communications/journalism/performing arts school. The communications/journalism programs have strong reputations and the facilities are state of the art. If you are cut from the MT program, your options are more limited, however, than at a full liberal arts university that also has a BFA MT program.

For some students, this structure is a good match; for others it is not. What's important is to scour the website, learn all you can about the program there, visit, ask a ton of questions and then decide if the school matches your needs and desires.

04-10-2009, 08:51 AM	#7
MichaelNKat Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: PA Posts: 1,265	As with any school, it is important to identify those criteria, characteristics and issues that are important to you in a school search and then ask all the questions you need to get the answers. With any MT program, you are really looking at "3 disciplines in 1", acting, voice and dance - 4 if you include liberal arts. Schools very often have a different balance and focus, strengths and weaknesses, between them. In Emerson's case, from among the MT disciplines, dance is in a distinct 3rd place. We visited Emerson twice - to tour and for my daughter's audition. Based on the questions we asked, it became clear that my daughter would not get the dance training she wanted at Emerson. In fact, we were told that to get the level of dance that would continue to challenge her, she would need to cross register at BOCO for dance studio (Emerson has a consortium arrangement with BOCO). For some, that opportunity would be viewed as a positive; for us, the need to travel across the city to another school to get the classes my daughter wanted was undesirable. Moreover, from what we were told, students in the BFA program do not start to get the specialized focused training one would expect for a BFA MT program until their junior year (after the sophomore year cuts). On the other hand, there is a strong emphasis on liberal arts the first 2 years. Then there are the much spoken about cuts after sophomore year. While Emerson does encourage students who are cut to remain and switch majors, keep in mind that Emerson is primarily a communications/journalism/performing arts school. The communications/journalism programs have strong reputations and the facilities are state of the art. If you are cut from the MT program, your options are more limited, however, than at a full liberal arts university that also has a BFA MT program. For some students, this structure is a good match; for others it is not. What's important is to scour the website, learn all you can about the program there, visit, ask a ton of questions and then decide if the school matches your needs and desires.
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