Auditions after 1st or 2nd yr

EmsDad
Fri, 15 May 2015 21:02:10 +0000

@theaterwork - you are absolutely correct that if you attend one of these schools, have your heart set on an auditioned BFA program, and don’t get accepted your Sophomore year (or whatever), then you could end up not exactly where you are want to be. Some of these programs do offer multiple chances to audition if you don’t get accepted in the first attempt, and most of them, like Western Kentucky, offer feedback and juries along the way. But if a student would not be satisfied finishing within the BA or non-certificate curriculum, then this is a somewhat risky proposition. Not saying these are not great and wonderful programs, no doubt they are, just that there is some possibility that a student might NOT be accepted after spending a year or two at the school and end up outside the curriculum that they really want. Not saying that BA programs are not wonderful either, but they may not be what a student with their heart set on a full BFA curriculum is looking for in terms of dance, voice, acting, music, and MT studio coursework.

In a somewhat similar vein, my d was offered the “come for the BA and re-audition for BFA/BM” option for several schools that she was rejected from and thought hard about a couple of the offers. But, in the end, she was not really interested in the BA curricula available if she did not get into the auditioned BFA/BM programs (limited dance, different acting track, no studio/workshop courses, etc.) and decided the “risk” was not worth it. For other students, this sort of arrangement might be very attractive. This is not exactly the same thing as programs in which everyone auditions in the first or second year, since the odds are obviously longer, but the idea that you need to happy staying within the BA program is similar.

I agree with soozievt that these programs can help balance a list of schools for those aiming primarily at auditioned BFA’s, but I could not get my d interested in any of them since she wanted to begin and end in a full auditioned BFA (or a similar auditioned BA) curriculum and nothing else.