<p>I’d love to get another opinion on this. My daughter will be considered for an alternate major at University of Michigan. My question is since she would be at UM and be able to sign up for voice, acting and dance lessons outside of a formal MT program, would she be better trained there than if she went to another school that has a lesser recognized MT program? Without naming any particular other school - since UM is about the best of the best I think you know what I mean? Someone suggested to me that in this scenario she would not have access to the same teachers as she would in the UM MT program - but still they are UM teachers and since UM is such a great school, wouldn’t they still be marvelous?</p>
<p>Does anyone have knowledge about how this works with access to the same teachers at other schools like NYU, CMU, Syracuse, etc? </p>
<p>I don’t know exactly how this would work at U-M now – I graduated from that school, and it is indeed wonderful. But that was a long time ago, and I can only give you my opinion based on my daughter’s experience now at Syracuse.</p>
<p>I believe that in any school with a BFA program, the most experienced teachers work only with the BFA students. Frankly, the BFA programs are so time-consuming that those teachers would not have much time to deal with other students. So students in alternate majors would probably NOT be getting the same training as the BFA students. The non-BFA teachers may be excellent (or not), and this situation may be perfect for your D, but make no mistake – it would be a much less intensive experience.</p>
<p>Just because a school has a less-recognized MT program doesn’t mean that the training isn’t good. Again, U-M is certainly one of the top schools; but don’t let reputation deter you from looking at other schools. If your D is really committed to getting a BFA in MT, and she has another offer at a reputable school, you should certainly weigh your options. In the long run, your D’s abilities and drive will be more important that what school she went to.</p>
<p>Well said Onstage - trying to rank performance programs at schools is futile since there have been successul performers come out of a wide range of schools and different students get different things from a wide variety of teaching styles. Don’t assume that any faculty anywhere is flawless. There are weak links in pretty much every chain so going to a particular school without knowing which teachers your D might get does not guarantee the best training. You can play the odds but it is no guarantee. If you think she will be unhappy not immersed in a BFA program, she should go elsewhere.</p>
<p>I’d say it’s not the same. A young man I know, who is extremely talented, did get into the voice program, but wanted more MT (his background) and eventually transferred to MT at UM, but had to audition, etc…</p>
<p>To continue with the comments above many BFA Theatre/ Musical Theatre departments have separate classes for majors and non-majors (if they even offer classes for non-majors). Most of the faculty in those programs would not have time to take on students privately. </p>
<p>For example – at Syracuse the classes in the Drama Dept. I believe are for majors only (they used to offer one acting for non-majors class, they probably still do… but when I was there for undergrad this was taught by graduate students). This can even be the case at some BA programs – for instance, when I was at Penn State there were one set of acting classes for BA Theatre/BFA Musical Theatre students in the department, and a separate class for non-majors taught by graduate students. I believe that this is still the case. </p>
<p>Each school will have a different policy, so it is important to look at each school and ask questions. Sometimes this information is not readily available in the catalog or on the website.</p>
<p>For example – Where I now teach – BA and BM programs – non-majors have access to acting classes. Access to musical theatre performance classes is available on a space available/ by audition basis to non-MT majors. Dance class availability is very difficult to obtain for non- Dance, Theatre or MT majors. Private voice lessons for credit are pretty much impossible to obtain unless you are a VP, MT, Music Ed., or Music Industry (with voice as your primary instrument) major. Many students take voice class, or find a teacher to take them on as a private student for no credit (which means you pay separately from your tuition). So – while there is no official policy prohibiting students from taking music, theatre, dance classes if they are non-majors, because priority is often given to majors (who need these classes to graduate), non-majors have limited or more complicated access. </p>
<p>There are many BFA/ BM/ BA MT major options out there, and schools where non-majors may have easy access to the same classes as majors. Ask questions, and you will get a sense of which schools offer what you D is looking for.</p>