BFA Theatrical Directng....Advice? colleges?

glassharmonica
Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:11:43 +0000

CADirectorMom, my daughter wanted both an auditioned acting program and a program where she could continue to develop as a playwright. She went into the college application process thinking that she would enter a BFA program, but as the year progressed she realized that she wanted to be able to take academic courses in addition to conservatory courses. (One of her sisters goes to a music conservatory, another to an art school; both have expressed regret over not being able to take academic courses in addition to their arts studies.)

Fordham has an auditioned playwriting major; this was very attractive to my daughter. When we visited in November she met with the son of a CC parent who is double-majoring in acting and playwriting. He gave her an insider’s report about the school. Then, at her playwriting interview she spoke at some length with the playwriting teachers (and later sat in on classes.) So, Fordham became her first choice. The other schools she applied to where it would have been possible, at least in theory, to study playwriting intensively were Bard and NYU, but (without going into great detail) Fordham was where she felt that she fit.

Fordham is expensive. They don’t guarantee meeting financial need as some schools do, and she actually received no need-based financial aid (even though we have 3 kids in college right now!) However, she was able to get enough merit aid to keep it within the ballpark.