miahana

A great school with experimental theatre is CalArts. They are very difficult to get into, but you might really thrive there, only 20 drama students per year but multiple arts fields, and a lot of trans discipline cooperation and work. Not a classic liberal arts college, but their BFA curriculum does offer a preety broad swath of arts related liberal arts in literature, psych, philosophy, etc.

Lisa G

Cal arts has a very experimental type theater department but I am not sure if they let the actors take a lot of dance at the school. There is a dance program too

paying3tuitions

Oberlin College in Ohio

Mount Holyoke (women's) in the Five College Consortium in western massachusetts;

Bennington in Vermont

KatMT

Hampshire College also in the Five College Consortium, western MA

Bard, upstate NY

Sarah Lawrence, outside of NYC

Lysistrata

Thanks to everyone for providing all the great information on this thread and special thanks to Thesbohemian for giving all that info about scholarships. If you are still reading, I am in the same boat you were because I am going to need to get at least a half scholarship to be able to go out of state to any good drama school. I have great grades and I did really well on the PSAT and the SAT so I will probably qualify as a National Merit Finalist or at least a semifinalist. The problem I am having is that I want to try to get in a conservatory where you don't need to go to graduate school to finish your training and most of the schools that offer big scholarships are not conservatories.

Can anyone tell me something about academic scholarships or combinations for academics and talent they got or know of somebody else getting at Carnegie Mellon, SUNY Purchase, Rutgers, Boston U, UM Guthrie, Calarts and Depaul? I have heard that Juilliard, NCSA and NYU don't offer much so I am not planning to audition for those. Correct me if I am wrong. You can send me a PM if you aren't comfortable talking about your scholarships in public. Thanks!

PS I am a long time lurker but a first time poster so hi.

Lisa G

Lysistrata....I really do not have scholarship info...sorry. but I was wondering why you felt after 4 yrs in a great program you would need more training..? Of course getting a masters and going for more school is always great but after a 4 yr program in a Musical theater or theater major you would be more than ready to look for work. Have you thought of the conservatory route from the get go? Some schools have the reputation of being a great school and also offer a conservatory style training...Ithaca,syracuse,Emerson...It sounds like you will not have trouble getting $$ with your scores and grades..try to pick the school based on the curriculum,area and how you feel when you visit. Best of Luck!!!

babar

Soozievt's daughter got quite a nice package from NYU and you seem to have the qualifications to get a similar package. I would think BU would also be a good bet because academics are very important to that school, too.

Lysistrata

Lisa G,
There was some talk about that somewhere earlier in this thread and on the musicals forum that is also what I have been told by my teacher. Basically, four years in a regular college BFA should be enough to prepare someone to be able to do musicals, tv/film and most things that a 21 or 22 year old actor could realistically be "typed" as in contemporary theatre. However, if you want to be able to play ANYTHING including the most difficult roles in classical theatre on the same level as someone with a masters in acting, you need the extra contact hours that you get at the conservatories.

Here are two links from doctorjohn that hint at what I am talking about
Theatre/Drama Colleges Part 7
Acting in BFA in Acting vs. BFA in MT Programs (and more)

I don't know how many people read it because it is very long, but Miahana also posted an article that partially speaks to the reality of the situation Theater/Drama Colleges Part 10


Babar,
Thanks. I have read all that on the musicals forum about soozie's daughter. I think she got like $20,000, but NYU is a $50,000 a year school which would still be too rich for my family's blood. I have literally read every word on this thread and most of the useful stuff over there. haha Every year there are kids with top grades and scores that get accepted to NYU and can't afford to go. I need to get narrowed down to around 6 to 8 schools where enough scholarship money and financial aid would make being able to go a realistic possibility.

KatMT

I think that you have clearly done your research, and are looking at many of the top conservatory programs for acting. Do you plan on balancing out your list with less competitive programs, or will you take a gap year and audition again if you are not admitted to one of the top conservatories?

This is not a comment on your talent... obviously, never having met you, no one on a chat board can do that ! The top conservatory programs as as copmetitive (if not more so) than many ivy league schools. If you have your heart set on attending college right after HS, you may want to diversify your list. If you only want to attend a conservatory, then only applying to those schools is the way to go.

I am sorry that I don't have information on scholarships. Do you happen to live in any of the states in which the schools you mentioned are located? In state tuition is certainly less expensive than out of state (or private tuition), and may not need as much financial assistance as a result.

Welcome to the board!

jaymster

Does anyone know of a good public school in a big city (Boston, New York, Seattle, Chicago) with an excellent theatre arts program? I know that most schools with good theatre programs are usually private schools, but I don't have the money for a private school education. Any thoughts?

Lysistrata

Hi Kat,
I live in GA and plan to go ahead and apply for UGA and Bama in case I don't get in anywhere, but I seriously might decide to put off college for the time being. From what I have seen on here, there isn't that much difference in getting in at most of the conservatories and some of the "less selective" college BFAs. They are all hard to get in and what they are looking for with "types" probably bridges any gap between the stats. I think I could get training as complete as what is offered at most of the less selective college BFAs at some of the non-school studios in New York or LA for a lot less money and try to get a career underway much sooner anyway if all I am going to do is light drama, screen and musicals. The problem with those kinds of roles is that the clock is ticking and starting at 20 is better than 22. I could always go to college later if it doesn't work out. Also, my teacher thinks I have a good chance and she has had students getting accepted for years. I know some people who are going to CMU, NCSA, BU and Evansville and they aren't any better than me. It would just suck to get in somewhere really amazing and then not be able to afford it!

Jaymster,
Most of the public schools cost as much as the private schools if you are going out of state.

jaymster

Lysistrata, true, but after a year or two, I believe you can apply for residency of the state and get in-state tuition.

umbrellas

Could anyone tell me which non-audition BAs (in general) have the best reputation?

KatMT

jaymaster - the residency rules are different in each state. Some will let you declare residency after a year or two, others will not... unfortunately

umbrellas - there are so many non-auditioned BAs in theatre, and they are all so different that it is difficult to answer your question. Do you have a particular part of the country in which you are interested? size of school? public/ private? rural/ urban/ suburban? other qualities you are looking for?

Lysistrata

jaymster,
I had not heard of that. Do you know how to go about finding out which states will let you have residency after two years? It would make some of the schools I am looking at a LOT less expensive over four years!