doctorjohn

Kel:

It's been awhile since I've been directly involved in an MFA program. (I chaired one at Illinois State, but my current place has only undergraduate programs.) But I used to do the U/RTA tour, and the number of students auditioning for MFAs was much lower than the numbers I now see for BFA programs. You could ask the program directors at Yale, NYU, ACT and UCSD; they are probably seeing the highest numbers in the country. But I suspect it's more like 100-200 than the 250-900 which the top BFA programs claim to be seeing. That would mean that the acceptance rate is higher than for BFA programs. But I could be wrong. If you do hear from them, let us know what you find out.

If you'd like to read more about graduate schools, take a look at the U/RTA website. The four schools I named are not members, but the U/RTA schools would rank just underneath them. Here's the link:

http://www.urta.com/Members.htm

Good hunting!

notarebel

Thesbo - You dont have to take calculus at most colleges thank god. I would never pass. its like college algebra which is bad enough if your terrible at math like me. I am so gonna get tutored all summer to try to test out or get way ahead if i have to take it. You can take rocks for jocks - and actors? - for one of the science requirments. Now I need you to kindly get your butt back to school to give this widdle piggy some singing lessons in AP Bio so I dont have to take it in summer school after freshman year. Please please please please PLEASE let me get in CMU or LIPA so I dont have to deal with it at all.

jamimom

Thesbo, there are a number of schools that do not require theatre majors to take many courses outside of the discipline. Those who want to take that tack can certainly do so. But there are schools that do have kids from a variety of backgrounds and want them on the same academic footing or as close as possible. Therefore, the required core. Also, universities often want majors of all disciplines to take courses with eaçh other so they get to know others outside of their field.

I guess that is the difference between going to a university or college vs a conservatory or certificate program.

chrism

This is a fascinating discussion. BA followed by MFA is a track we hadn't considered at all, but which might actually fit my D better. Does anyone know a general article or link where the merits of an MFA are discussed? After trying to educate myself for months in order to be able to discuss this stuff with my D, I find I know nothing about the MFA. Except that it will cost more. :-)

chrism

OK, I just re-read Doctorjohn's great post of Monday, June 14, 2004 - 10:54 pm about the BA and BFA, in which he mentions the MFA. That helps. It's funny how this information means more, or reads entirely differently once you've been through 7 months of auditions and applications and visits.

doctorjohn

chrism, good, you found it. I just went looking for it myself. See also my post on Wednesday, June 16, 10:28 p.m. in Theatre/Drama Colleges, part 3. Go to the opening page of this thread and look at Thesbo's first post to find the links.

thesbohemian

Chrism,
Doctorjohn, Catherdingmom, Alwaysamom, and I also discussed the MFA on the opening page of this thread. One of the biggest advantages I can think of is sort of what I've been ranting about above. In an MFA program, you already have the broad based education done and all you do is train as an actor without distractions from other academic subjects and post-high school social issues. Most of the good MFAs devote some time to musical theatre, too; so, she's safe there if that's what she's into. Notarebel and I have a talented friend who could get into a BFA, but will be taking a full ride to a state university BA program instead. He's already had two years of preprofessional training at our school and will probably audition out of the school's acting classes. In school, he'll emphasize directing and design and take summer acting intensives. After that, he'll follow it up with an MFA. I was actually considering doing the same back in December when I had a family emergency I thought might make it necessary for me to stay close to home. (Mom was in a bad accident, but is going to be okay.) Another advantage of the MFA is that a lot of the better schools get you an Equity card before you graduate. You can also get a lot of help with tuition, etc. through teaching assistantships so it may not even be more expensive - especially if you have a scholarship to the BA program. It can be a good deal. If you'll look at the faculty websites for the BFA programs you've been considering, you'll probably find that the majority of the instructors with MFAs got a BA first.

As for choosing BA programs, if I were going that route, I'd look for good schools that DO NOT have an MFA. That way, you don't have to worry about getting random grad students teaching your acting classes and you don't have to worry about preferential casting going to them. People who don't already have a lot of training would have trouble competing with them, too.

Kellster

Wow thanks. This thread has been so BFA oriented that I almost felt like a loser asking about BAs. haha Anyway, though I don't think they would appreciate me quoting them by name, here is part of what two of the MFA people told me:

"There are certainly some very good BFA programs out there with some good training. In general, I think a young actor should get a BA, especially if they think they want to go on for an MFA. A BFA should be a terminal degree, in that you shouldn’t need any more training after that in graduate school. I encourage actors to get BA’s because I think it makes them more interesting people in general. I am not sure it is such a good thing to spend all of your four years in the rehearsal hall and in acting classes."

"I suggest that you pursue a solid general education BA. Choose the major you want. Learn about as many things as you can - in other words, get yourself a very well-rounded education. Since you know that you want to pursue an MFA, there is no point in receiving a BFA first. Both are pre-professional degrees but, in my experience, graduate level actors train professionally much better than college age students. In any event, everything you learn in college will help you with your acting down the line. You can major in Drama but still take classes in philosophy, art history, English, geology, or whatever sparks your interest."

I may post some more when I get responses from some of the other people I'm going to contact.
Kel

wct

Is anyone going to the California State Thespian Society Festival in March? It would be fun to meet up with anyone from CC there.

RenoSweeneyTodd

Hi, I'm a high school junior with a deep passion for the performing arts who plans on pursueing a career in the theatre. I've studied acting at both the Circle In The Square Theatre School and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and have taken both my work and my studies as an actor extremely seriously for the past three years, though I've always been interested in the theatre. Though I plan on studying and pursueing a career in acting, I think it's extremely important for an actor to have a great deal of knowledge about history, literature, art, philosophy, etc. and I'd like to have a well rounded education. That being said, I also consider it incredibly important to study every aspect of the theatre in a serious and intensive environment where utter professionalism is key and no aspect of the actor or his craft are left unstudied and a willingness to experiment is appreciated. I'm considering conservatory training (and I'm almost certain that I want to graduate with a BFA), but I worry that I won't be a very well-rounded person after graduating. My top choice school right now is NYU (Tisch - the Experimental Theatre Wing), but I need safety schools as well as other options. Does anyone have any advice? I think that I'd like to stay in the NY area, as NY truly is the center of theatre, but I'm considering schools all over the country as well as abroad.

Also, does anyone have any audition tips?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

~Jenny~

thesbohemian

Jenny,
In New York ... I assume you know about Juilliard. Purchase, Rutgers, and Hartt are nearby, too. Ithaca and Syracuse aren't too far off, I suppose. Of those, I guess Hartt would be closest to a safety. I imagine you already know about all those, though. If you're into experimental theatre, you should definitely take a look at CalArts. The University of Minnesota has an experimental theatre company, too; which I linked because it's a pain in the butt to find.

As for broad based education, you can probably get as much as you want if you have time, but in most BFAs, you won't with the possible exception of Tisch where people somehow even find time for a double major. There won't be much besides your art area at all in a conservatory unless you go to Juilliard and have the stats to get in classes at Columbia and Barnard. I guess this is a choice we all have to make.

The best tip I can give based on my audition experience thus far is to be ready for ANYTHING. Most schools ask for two monologues, but you should really have at least four ready. I have six and used all of them at various auditions. Know some good jokes, too. I had two auditions where I got asked for them. Also, have more than one song ready just in case. As for the anything part, I had one where an auditor got up and did an improv with me based on one of my monologues throwing in all manner of odd choices to see how I'd react. Expect to be directed on your monologues, as well. Somebody on the MT thread said she was asked to do one of hers like a Vegas stand up comic. I personally had good experiences with all my auditors attitude-wise, but I hear there are some real d-bags from some schools out there. If you get one, don't let him/her affect your acting. And, oh yeah ... SMILE. There's some good advice on the MT thread's FAQ, too.

Hope this helps.

RenoSweeneyTodd

Thank you for the tips, bohemian! I'll keep them in mind. I am planning on applying to Juilliard and Purchase, and I really appreciate the suggestions of Hartt and CalArts. I'll check them out! Thanks again.

DizzyDani88

RenoSweeneyTodd- are you interested in only B.F.As or are you considering liberal arts schools with strong theater dept.s??

Kellster

I got some responses from the BA departments I emailed. Most didn't respond as completely as I would have liked but did send me some info.

Dartmouth sent a link I had not seen giving info on the careers of some of their alumni. It looks like most of the actors didn't go to grad school but went straight to pro studios and work. The ones that did seem to go to Yale and Harvard for MFAs. Here is the link if I can get it to work right. http://www.alum.dartmouthentertainment.org/ I hope I do well enough on the SATs to get in and they don't hold my ECs against me since I have moved around so much.

Vassar's recent graduates have a very impressive list. They have gone to Trinity-Brown program, NYU, ART, U of Washington, ACT, UC San Diego and Columbia. I will surely apply there if I go well on the SATs.

UNC Chapel Hill has in the past sent graduates to NYU, Yale, UC San Diego. Some have been on Broadway in lead roles in Arcadia, 42nd Street, Copenhagen, The Elephant Man and The Lion King. I will apply here.

Kenyon has a senior who has a callback to Yale but that is all I was told. I might apply.

UVA and UC Irvine never responded.

I didn't email Brown because their website claims that they send more students to the top 5 MFA programs in the country from either BA or BFA programs. I will definitely apply there if I do extremely well on the SATs.

I still need to write to the KC/ACTF people. I will hopefully have enough time for that in the next few days.
Kel

DizzyDani88

Kellster and any other B.A. explorers-
I've been meaning to give a review of the Cornell theater program since I got back on Saturday. I spent a very comprehensive 3 days there and learned tons about the program, and it led me to believe that it is surely one of the top B.A. theater programs in the country. I have tons of work, and SATs are creeping up on me so I haven't been able to report in full detail. For now, an abridged list of things most notable:
1. In 1986 (?) Cornell spent $22 million creating the Schwartz center for the performing arts. It's a space shared between the film, dance, and theater majors-- and it's gorgeous. I toured the facility and was just amazed- the dance studios, multiple black box and large scale theaters, film editing spaces- all really really great.
2. The theater classes are open to anyone, they are part of the arts and sciences course offerings at cornell. For theater majors, however, of which there are only about 80 (in a school of 15,000+) there are requirements and I was told that the intro level classes often have a lot of non-actors just interested in taking the class, but as you move up the levels, it becomes more and more just theater majors.
3. Cornell puts on around 5 or 6 shows a year- including 1 musical.
4. Cornell has a program where they hold auditions in NYC for what they call "resident actors". These professional actors come to Cornell for 1-3 years and teach the intro to acting classes (they all have teaching backgrounds) and also perform alongside the students in the productions. My first reaction was, "hmm well then aren't you taking away leads from students actors"... but as the former head of the theater dept. told it: this is what differentiates the productions from just an higher-quality version of high school shows- they are professional shows. You don't have 18 year olds playing 50 year olds. The older parts go to the resident actors. Not only does this make it so the 20-year-old girl with the slightly lower voice doesn't play middle aged women for all of her college years, but it raises the bar for the young actors to be alongside working professionals.
Another kick of this program is that it makes cornell shows technically regional theater equity shows, meaning you can count it towards points to your equity card and graduate with an equity card, or (what the theater head suggests) is with ALMOST enough points to get your card, but not with the actual card because it will ban you out of non-equity roles which may mean you lose a job because of your card.
5. Some actors at Cornell are going for MFAs, others have supplemented their training in the summers and are planning to go straight to NYC. All of them feel Cornell has prepared them for this life.
6. There are opportunities to register for dance classes that Cornell doesn't offer (i.e. tap) at Ithaca College, which is known for its musical theater B.F.A.
7. It isn't hard to double major if that is something you want.

OK- there's much more, but I have to get to work... Overall impression was that it was preprofessional, serious training, but was simply within a liberal arts curriculum meaning there are many many opportunities to learn about anything you want, which many students feel is something that they are able to bring to their acting work, not to mention it teaches them some skills that may be valuable as survival skills. I recommend anyone who is looking in to a B.A. to consider this college if you have the stats.
Dani