IBEElieveINU

Oh sorry I should have used the term "more selective"

ProudDadFL

According to the Dean of Theatre Arts & Film, they processed approximately 800 applications for the B.F.A. Acting program. This year's freshman Acting class size is 17. The other 3 programs (Design Tech, Film, Dramatic Writing) in the Theatre Arts & Film Division received 500 applications for a similarly selective number of spots.

NewbieMTMom

Sorry but I am not buying the 3000 auditioning at OU no matter how it's explained and rationalized.

Kaitrin

Just chiming in to add the stats of my school, Temple. It's a new program, so it didn't have as many people auditioning. Still pretty selective, though. It's really a bfa, even though it's still listed as a BA. I think they're going through the process of making it one. They accepted 9 freshman and 9 sophomores/transfers. All the transfers/sophmores accepted, and they yielded 6 freshman.

Baldwin-Wallace (BM MT) 300/12-14 (accept 20)
BOCO (BFA MT) 1000/40 (accept 57)
CCM (BFA MT) 822/24 (accept 30)
CMU 1000/28 (BFA Acting: 16, MT: 12)
Elon (BFA MT) 400/20 (accept 24)
FSU (BFA/BM MT) 240/12
Hartt (BFA MT) 400/25 (accept 60)
Illinois Wesleyan (BFA MT) 140/8 (accept 17) MT only.
Indiana (BFA MT) 315/10 (accept 12-15)
Ithaca (BFA MT) 500/12 (accept 32)*
JMU (BA MT) 100/9 freshman; 2 transfers (accepted 18 freshman; 2 transfers) (BA stats)
Michigan (BFA MT) 450/22 (650 applicants-450 academically eligible)
Montclair (BFA MT) 400/18
North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA Acting) 900/20 male 10 female
NYU Steinhardt (BM in VP) 275/25--accept 50 to yield 25 (approx. 15 are MT, 10 classical)
NYU Tisch (BFA) 2300/350 (all studios); approx. 1000+/64 (accept 75) for CAP21
OU(BFA Acting) 240/24
Otterbein (BFA MT) 340/8 (accept 10?)
Pace (BFA MT) 490/25 (30 acceptance offers)
Penn State (BFA MT) 500/12 (18 accepted to yield 12)
SUNY Purchase (BFA acting) 1200/22
Syracuse (BFA MT)800/30 (accept 60)
Temple (BA MT) 120/9 freshman, 9 transfers (yielded 15 total)
TCU 84/10(MT) 10(Acting) accept(20MT, 20 Act)
UArts (BFA MT) 600/22 (50 accept)
UCLA ( BA MT) 300/16 has no wait list
UIC 205/32 (16 BFA Acting) (16 BA acting)
USC (BFA Acting) 500 - accept 26 to 30 to yield 20 however 25 accepted their spots this year: 12 male and 13 female - has no wait list
Webster (BFA MT) 450/25-28 (accept 50 Acting and MT)

SeniorMom08

Changing UMich's stats. They made offers to 25 and yielded 24 for this coming fall.

Baldwin-Wallace (BM MT) 300/12-14 (accept 20)
BOCO (BFA MT) 1000/40 (accept 57)
CCM (BFA MT) 822/24 (accept 30)
CMU 1000/28 (BFA Acting: 16, MT: 12)
Elon (BFA MT) 400/20 (accept 24)
FSU (BFA/BM MT) 240/12
Hartt (BFA MT) 400/25 (accept 60)
Illinois Wesleyan (BFA MT) 140/8 (accept 17) MT only.
Indiana (BFA MT) 315/10 (accept 12-15)
Ithaca (BFA MT) 500/12 (accept 32)*
JMU (BA MT) 100/9 freshman; 2 transfers (accepted 18 freshman; 2 transfers) (BA stats)
Michigan (BFA MT) 450/24 (650 applicants-450 academically eligible)
Montclair (BFA MT) 400/18
North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA Acting) 900/20 male 10 female
NYU Steinhardt (BM in VP) 275/25--accept 50 to yield 25 (approx. 15 are MT, 10 classical)
NYU Tisch (BFA) 2300/350 (all studios); approx. 1000+/64 (accept 75) for CAP21
OU(BFA Acting) 240/24
Otterbein (BFA MT) 340/8 (accept 10?)
Pace (BFA MT) 490/25 (30 acceptance offers)
Penn State (BFA MT) 500/12 (18 accepted to yield 12)
SUNY Purchase (BFA acting) 1200/22
Syracuse (BFA MT)800/30 (accept 60)
Temple (BA MT) 120/9 freshman, 9 transfers (yielded 15 total)
TCU 84/10(MT) 10(Acting) accept(20MT, 20 Act)
UArts (BFA MT) 600/22 (50 accept)
UCLA ( BA MT) 300/16 has no wait list
UIC 205/32 (16 BFA Acting) (16 BA acting)
USC (BFA Acting) 500 - accept 26 to 30 to yield 20 however 25 accepted their spots this year: 12 male and 13 female - has no wait list
Webster (BFA MT) 450/25-28 (accept 50 Acting and MT)

llong39

CCM's Freshman class is 17.

ProudDadFL

Changing SUNY Purchase to 800 auditions and Freshman class is now 18.

Baldwin-Wallace (BM MT) 300/12-14 (accept 20)
BOCO (BFA MT) 1000/40 (accept 57)
CCM (BFA MT) 822/24 (accept 30)
CMU 1000/28 (BFA Acting: 16, MT: 12)
Elon (BFA MT) 400/20 (accept 24)
FSU (BFA/BM MT) 240/12
Hartt (BFA MT) 400/25 (accept 60)
Illinois Wesleyan (BFA MT) 140/8 (accept 17) MT only.
Indiana (BFA MT) 315/10 (accept 12-15)
Ithaca (BFA MT) 500/12 (accept 32)*
JMU (BA MT) 100/9 freshman; 2 transfers (accepted 18 freshman; 2 transfers) (BA stats)
Michigan (BFA MT) 450/24 (650 applicants-450 academically eligible)
Montclair (BFA MT) 400/18
North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA Acting) 900/20 male 10 female
NYU Steinhardt (BM in VP) 275/25--accept 50 to yield 25 (approx. 15 are MT, 10 classical)
NYU Tisch (BFA) 2300/350 (all studios); approx. 1000+/64 (accept 75) for CAP21
OU(BFA Acting) 240/24
Otterbein (BFA MT) 340/8 (accept 10?)
Pace (BFA MT) 490/25 (30 acceptance offers)
Penn State (BFA MT) 500/12 (18 accepted to yield 12)
SUNY Purchase (BFA acting) 800/18
Syracuse (BFA MT)800/30 (accept 60)
Temple (BA MT) 120/9 freshman, 9 transfers (yielded 15 total)
TCU 84/10(MT) 10(Acting) accept(20MT, 20 Act)
UArts (BFA MT) 600/22 (50 accept)
UCLA ( BA MT) 300/16 has no wait list
UIC 205/32 (16 BFA Acting) (16 BA acting)
USC (BFA Acting) 500 - accept 26 to 30 to yield 20 however 25 accepted their spots this year: 12 male and 13 female - has no wait list
Webster (BFA MT) 450/25-28 (accept 50 Acting and MT)

parent2noles

Ugh. Tough competition. I'm glad my kids did something easy and studied the sciences.

EnjoyTheAdventur

I realize that there is no way to accurately compute this, however can some one give me a educated estimate of

Total number of different students that applied/auditioned for a BFA in MT (also for a BA in MT) at any of the schools
and
Number of students that were accepted to one of their choices


When looking at the stats in this thread what comes to mind is that many students are accepted at more than one location and most (if not all) students apply/audition at numerous locations.

thank you.

kjgc

I know you are asking for an educated guess, but there really is no way to statistically do what you ask without more information. The list above is not an exhaustive account of BFA programs in the U.S., and the B.A. programs aren't represented well at all. There are well over 100 BFA programs nationwide and 29 or so listed on this thread.

I sound like a broken record sometimes. The schools discussed here are not the only training programs nationwide, nor are they necessarily the best training programs nationwide. (Nor am I suggesting they aren't good - in fact the statement isn't intended as a qualitative statement.) They are programs that have earned a reputation, and tend to be selective.

I actually intend to do a survey that will ultimately answer the questions you pose. But I don't think that information will be available for some time.

EnjoyTheAdventur

Thank you for the reply

I am aware that what I asked for is not obtainable from the list above and that the list above does not contain all schools.

I suppose what I need is some reassurance that the percentages in the list above are not as scary as they seem. For Example if I read that there was only a 2% acceptance rate at each but that there are 50 schools and only 100 different students who applied/audition that would tell me that everyone was accepted somewhere. This would in turn allow me to breathe again.

As the information is not available, would you give me a 'educated guess', taking in consideration your strong knowledge base, how many students get in no where?? or to put it in a positive tone, how many students get to continue in their quest to learn what they love (Musical Theatre) at a college somewhere, although granted it might have not been their original first choice ??

Thank You

onstage

It's SO important to include safety schools on your list. And the only schools that fall into that category are those that you know you can get into academically, and that also do not require an audition. Try to find at least one school that meets those qualifications. As we have seen on this discussion board, it happens every year: some students don't get accepted at any of their "reach" schools. It happens pretty often. Maybe kjgc can come up with an educated guess.

My guess? I think that the regular participants on this discussion group are unusually well-prepared; however, there are a lot of other people out there who aren't -- I've seen them at auditions, frantically trying to learn their songs and monologues at the last minute. I certainly can't prove it, but I'd be willing to bet that at least 30% of the total are not accepted to ANY of their schools, based on their audition. Maybe more. Anybody else have a guess?

kjgc

There are many quality programs that accept anyone who is academically eligible. I am not a fan of the term "safety school". To me, that indicates a lesser choice. I know what is meant by it, so before I set off a stream of replies, let me say this is my problem and I need to deal with it.

I would argue that anyone who wants to train in the area of musical theatre can do so at a school with quality teachers and quality productions.

soozievt

I have no idea the percentage.

But one way to look at that list is to remember that those who are admitted to BFA in MT programs are often admitted to more than one but can only attend one and so the overall chances to get into any BFA school at all are a bit better than the single digit admit rates at any one particular program. Also, the chances are better for boys. Anyway, I agree with onstage that there is a chunk of candidates auditioning for these programs who are not truly competitive to get in and so in some ways, if YOU are truly competitive in the talent pool, your chance are better than the published admit rates because somem kids in the audition pool are not truly in contention. This is even true at academic schools like Harvard. There are some who apply who have virtually no chance of being admitted. Take those kids off the pile, your chances go up a bit. Unfortunately, it leaves a LOT of candidates that truly ARE in the ballpark. Buut there are some ill prepared or truthfully unrealistic candidates applying to some competitive BFA programs. That still leaves plenty of true contenders. I agree with onstage that those represented on this forum are not an accurate cross section of those applying/auditioning. The mere fact is that those who come here and seek information and become learned of what it takes and so forth are not typical of the entire applicant pool.

soozievt

A good term for safety school would be "sure bet" or "likely" school. It needs to be a non-audition school where one's academic qualifications are above the mid range of accepted students at that school and where the admit rate is not real low. It would be a school where you feel very likely and certain you'd get in. But the school is not a lesser school. Picking one's likely schools should take great care and thought and not simply a matter of tacking schools you could get into onto the list but not really wanting to attend them. It is natural to have favorites on a list but the "sure bet" schools should be ones you'd be happy to attend. Pick these with great care.