"Backups"?

College Majors Musical Theater Majors
1

<p>As a current senior, the WORST thing about being an aspiring theatre major is being asked, “Where are you going next year?” Because admissions, especially to top BFA programs, are so selective and so unpredictable, I really have no idea.</p>

<p>It’s not like I have no performance experience or objectively suck and have no business auditioning for BFA programs. I’ve been doing theatre since I was about eleven, and I’ve been heavily involved in my high school’s (awesome) theatre program since freshman year. I’ve been cast in more shows than anyone in my class, I’ve gotten leads, and my director is pretty encouraging. But I know that the other kids I’m auditioning against are going to be AMAZING, and I can’t gauge how well I stack up. And I’m becoming increasingly terrified of not getting in… well, anywhere.</p>

<p>I’m a pretty good student, and I’m applying to some excellent BA schools (Northwestern, Brown). I plan to audition at Indiana, Penn State, Emerson, Illinois Wesleyan, and NYU Tisch for MT and DePaul and Minnesota for acting. But the problem is, I don’t really have a back-up school - other than going to Indiana and getting a BA in Theatre, which, as far as I know, wouldn’t offer many performance opportunies. Can anyone recommend either a less selective BFA program or a good BA program at a school that’s not impossible to get into academically? Because I’d really like to, you know, go to college.</p>

<p>Any help at all would be VERY much appreciated. Thanks!! :)</p>

2

<p>If you have the academic credentials to be a competitive applicant to Northwestern and Brown, you may also want to look at Muhlenberg as more of a “safety”. While academically excellent, it is not as highly selective as those 2 (but still is selective). Muhlenberg has a very highly regarded BA theatre program in which you can combine dance and voice to fashion a MT curriculum and stages musicals regularly.</p>

3

<p>I know a girl at Indiana who is going for a BA and that kid is FOREVER auditioning for plays and shows! She has more performance opportunities than my kid does at her fancy schmancy BFA school. So should you wind up at Indiana, you’d be in a pretty good spot.</p>

4

<p>And remember that DePaul has a pretty severe cut program after freshman year. I know an insanely talented student there who was in the BFA acting program and was earning A’s in her performance classes and got cut.</p>

5

<p>Just a thouhgt. Niagara University, catholic University.</p>