| Angstridden, you can't compare the admissions to Elon or any other college with the admissions to its BFA in MT program. The selectivity for the BFA program is much more difficult than the college/university at large. For instance, a person who knew nothing about MT BFA programs would tell my kid upon hearing she was applying to Penn State or Emerson or Ithaca (examples here) that of course she could get in because they were assuming that a kid with her academic profile would easily be admitted to those schools. And yes, she knew she could academically get into those schools. However, most are not aware that even if a school has something like a 65% admit rate overall, its BFA program might have a 5% admit rate (most of these do) which is worse odds than Ivy League admission odds. So, you can't compare the credentials of a kid who got into the regular college for a different major at Elon with a kid who had to be selected into the much more selective BFA program there.
Another thing in selecting where to go for a BFA....it is very very different in terms of college criteria than most kids need to think about when selecting a regular college. I know this having two kids go through this now. One did the selection process like most kids...she established her criteria (all the usual things like location, size, level of challenge/academics, EC offerings, social scene, etc. etc. etc.) and narrowed it down. She perused very thick college directories, narrowed it to 30, then to ten to visit and then to 8 to apply to. But for a BFA in MT kid....for one thing, the list of schools must be culled from a fairly small list of programs available. I felt my D's list was created rather readily and was similar to many of her theater friends (unlike other D whose list differed greatly from her peers). She was not as concerned or able to use things like size, location, Greek scene, etc. in making her list. Rather, she had to look very closely at the BFA program...things like curriculum, performance opportunities, training, philosophy, amt. of liberal arts, dance offerings, etc. She had to weigh in on conservatory style or within a university, stuff like that. It was a very different type of selection criteria. It was very very much focused on the actual program, much more than the college itself. That does not mean that she never thought about location and size of the school or the atmosphere at the school at large, but these were secondary to examining the BFA program and fit with that program because when you enter a BFA program, it usually represents approx. 75% of your curriculum at college and it is pretty spelled out for you so you have to make sure you want that very specific program as there is not as much choice involved in picking courses like for other majors. It is a little like engineering programs. The kid is commiting to this specific program, not just the college. So, when getting first hand accounts from kids who go to these colleges (always important), it is quite critical to get these accounts from kids in these specific BFA programs, not just kids who attend the college itself. It is related but still a little like apples to oranges.
Here is one example....and I hope I don't offend....but take CCM. It is one of the top rated MT programs in the country. Many kids who apply there or who attend, likely would not have picked Univ. of Cincinatti as their college of choice had they not been going for a BFA. There is NOTHING wrong with that university but merely saying that some of these kids are likely academically overqualified for that college but picked it SOLELY cause of its BFA in MT program which is about 90% or some such of their program while there. So, they had to examine if they wanted the intense conservatory style training offered there, much more than looking at Univ. of Cinci as a whole (not to discount that they should ALSO look at that but I feel pretty sure that was a secondary consideration for some of these kids).
So, a kid looking at Elon for a BFA in MT MIGHT not be the same kid who would have looked to apply to Elon otherwise. I hope I am not offending because Elon itself is a very good school. Just saying that picking a BFA program is NOT the same as picking a regular college.
Susan |