SDSUMFAMusThea

Hello FTM2011

To reply to your question, a 30 year old would feel very at home in the program. Most classes split about half being in their 30s or older, and half in their mid-late 20s; my class is somewhat of an anomaly as far as that goes, we range from 23-41, but most of us are all 28-30. What you find is that students are accepted to these programs, not based on their age or their experience, solely, but on their appropriateness for the program, and in turn, the appropriateness that the program would have in serving them. The 23 year old student in our class is an old soul, and intensely academic, not your typical "fresh out of a BFA" undergrad. To the best of my knowledge, it is important to have a range of ages in these programs because it would be pretty difficult to put up two seasons of shows with a homogenous group of 20-something year olds. Additionally, many students are not fresh out of their undergrad programs because grad school is hard. It requires an academic maturity that sometimes takes a few years in the world to attain. That being said, it all comes down to the individual student, as I pointed out earlier.

I think that the most important thing to consider before applying to MFA programs is:

What do YOU want out of it?


Because this isn't like auditioning for a show where you are all competing for the same end result. You need to determine WHY you want to go to grad school, and WHAT you want out of it. This is important because the MFA Musical Theatre at SDSU is completely different from, say, the MM in Musical Theatre at Oklahoma, or the Voice Pedagogy and MT Directing programs at Penn State. Think of your endgame, and then work backwards from there. If _________ is what you eventually want to be doing with your life, then which path is the best one to take you there?


I hope that this has been helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me here, or on facebook, and ask any and all questions.


A reminder:


If you are thinking about applying to SDSU's MFA Musical Theatre Program--
Applications will be processed starting OCTOBER 1st, 2011.

The program accepts 6-10 students every TWO years, so if you are interested and you don't apply this fall, you will have to wait two years for the next cycle to begin.


Thank you all! Sending my best,

Kati