College/Life Advice

soozievt
Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:14:08 +0000

Ah, CollegePLEASE…I have now read more of your history and have a better understanding. For one thing, I noticed that while you did apply to many BFA programs, you also applied to some BAs and they were clearly NOT all of the safety BA variety (ie., Yale, Stanford, UCLA, Northwestern). So, it appears that you were strongly considering these fine BA schools, not just a BFA path. You also state now that you are not sure you’d want conservatory as you care about the academics as well. Before I go on, as an aside…I know quite a number of highly talented MT students (have either worked professionally, on Broadway, are Equity, have won NFAA awards, won state and regional awards, have played lead roles in many musicals in a competitive talent pool, etc.) who either got into top BFAs or could have had they applied but who OPTED to attend excellent BA schools (such as Yale, Brown or Northwestern). So, a BA path is a viable path for highly talented MT kids who want a more academic education while still doing a lot of coursework/majors in theater and participating in MT.

So, I know which school you plan to attend and I have actually recommended that school to others as a fine BA option with MT (compared to some schools with only straight theater). Your school offers a BA in Theater Arts, a Dance Minor, and an Interdisciplinary Major or Minor in Musical Theater and puts on musicals! Given that you had already contemplated a BA path, I think you ought to give your fine school a good chance because you CAN study MT there! Part of college is figuring out what you want to do. Take acting, voice, dance and music there and try out for shows, etc. See what you think. You may actually love it there. You CAN go into this field coming from such a school. However, if you feel the training is not intense enough for you or if you do not like the school, or if you come to the realization as to what you prefer to focus on and whether it can best be done where you are at or not, THEN you can put in for a transfer. Don’t start college with the plan to transfer just yet. Give it a really good shot because your school DOES offer MT! Also take advantage of the training and performing available at your school because if you should opt to try for a BFA, you will be keeping up with the training of skills. I don’t know anything about your qualifications or skill set, but your college list was full of very difficult reach schools and not much a step down. Thankfully, you were wise to apply to the school that you will matriculate at. But your original list was not very balanced. Again, I don’t know your qualifications but those schools are tough to get into even IF extremely qualified.

So, use this coming year to discover what you want to study, what you prefer in a college and to explore it all at your own college and give it your full attention without a plan to transfer. You will come to discover the next step. You will know that transferring is possible, but it is too early to plan to do that. You have a good chance of thriving and enjoying the good school you are entering this year. Nobody can tell you which path to take but you can discover it as you experience your first year of college and that is the beauty of a BA degree. There is no firm committment ahead of time. Here is a chance to discover what you really want to do and then you can see which next steps to take and you may even decide to stay put! Good luck to you and go and enjoy your first semester…forget past rejections…you are entering a new adventure…embrace it! Things may change down the line but you have to discover that as you go along.