Colleges w/ Acceptance Rates >20% & Strong Theater / Drama Programs: Schools You Like and Why (NO REPLIES)

Continuing @AustenNut’s great initiative, I am starting a series of threads aimed at emphasizing colleges with strong majors where the acceptance rates are higher than 20%**.

** we are interested in schools where the acceptance rate for the program is >20%, not the overall acceptance rate at that college/university.

In this thread I want us to focus on theater/drama programs. What colleges with strong drama, where the acceptance rate is higher than 20%, do you like and WHY? These can be schools you/your kids have attended/are attending or simply schools you discovered during your research.

Let us know the school name, the acceptance rate, and, most importantly, what do you like about the school? This can be anything from positive experiences while attending the school, visiting the campus, outcomes of students, strength in a particular area of study, engagement of staff and faculty with students, etc. If you liked something about the school, please share it!

Schools may be mentioned more than one time if more than one poster liked it. Once again, if you like a school, please talk about it!

NOTE: Posts suggesting schools that fall below the specified range are considered off-topic. This will also be a NO REPLIES thread (like the Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that moved up on the list. Why? (NO REPLIES) thread). If people are interested in continuing a separate discussion about something in this thread, please create a separate thread for off-topic discussions (like the Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting” thread, and perhaps a moderator could edit this post to link the thread for OT discussion.

Looking forward to learning about the schools people like in this range!

MODERATOR NOTE: Acceptance rates stated are not fact checked and can vary.

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I am a counselor at an arts conservatory high school. Here are some theatre programs I regularly recommend to students that have a higher than average acceptance rate:
-Lenoir Rhyne University is a private institution with a BA in Theatre that offers several scholarships. They have recent alumni working on Broadway and theatre circuits.
-University of Nebraska Lincoln is the smallest school in the Big10, so they have all the features of a large university with a small school feel. Their Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film is able to connect students with funding and network with important people in the business. They have a new degree in Emerging Media Arts that encompasses several areas of media to help students be competitive all around in production. They have recently invested in updating the performance and rehearsal spaces, and I’m personally very excited about the school for my students.
-SUNY Binghamton has recently added a School of the Arts under their prestigious Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. They are looking to grow the program, so this is a cool opportunity for students to be involved in the start of a legacy. You get the benefits of being in a New York system school along with it.

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So, a big problem is that it can be very hard to determine the admit rate for schools that require an audition (for acting or musical theater) or portfolio and interview (theater tech, directing, writing.) These programs may have admit rates much, much lower than their overall rates, especially for MT.

That said, here are some thoughts:

UMN’s BA theater program: I like it because UMN is a solid Big 10 school located in a terrific city (Minneapolis/St. Paul.) The Twin Cities have a lot of theater opportunities, including the Guthrie Theater which is walking distance (well a bit of a long walk, but a really nice one) from UMN. UMN also is really flexible with majoring across different schools, and having a 2nd major or minor in something more marketable is never a bad idea. I also just think starting in regional theater is a really smart move for all sorts of theater professionals. The cost of living is cheaper, and if you’ve got the talent, it won’t hold you back. From Amy Adams to Diablo Cody to Santino Fontana to Lizzo, incubating in the Twin Cities has paid off.

St. Olaf: A CC forum favorite for a reason. Just so many performing arts opportunities of all sorts. Outstanding music. Kind, happy students. Gorgous campus. Terrific food. Merit money (including earmarked performing arts money.) What’s not to like?

Many Schools: a theater minor. This is an overlooked option. There are a lot of schools with theater majors that are probably below 20% admit rate, but which don’t put a cap on theater minors. As an example, Fordham has an uncapped Theater minor, with essentially unlimited tech opportunities and ability to audition. And there is a formal process for Theater minors to gain secondary admission to the Theater major should they so desire. But do your research because not all theater programs work this way.

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I was a musical theatre and arts administration double major in college and continue to work professionally in theatre, film and television. While I would not recommend my own alma mater (which I won’t mention here as it’s beyond the scope of the thread, but happy to discuss in the DMs), I’m happy to mention some of the schools I don’t often hear mentioned on CC, including schools I have some personal experience with and schools friends and colleagues of mine attended.

Oakland University in Rochester, MI - David Gram, who is one of the acting and directing professors at Oakland, changed my life when I was doing my first professional theatre job. He is one of the best, most student-centered directors and educators I have ever worked with. It’s my understanding that the rest of the faculty is equally as strong. This is also one of the only undergraduate programs in the US to be directly associated with an Equity theatre (Meadow Brook Theatre), which is a real boon for their students as this is something that is more typically reserved for graduate programs.

Stephens College in Columbia, MO - If your child is looking for a women’s college experience without compromising on conservatory-style training, I think Stephens is probably the place for them. It’s a women’s college but does also admit students of all gender identities into its BFA programs. They have a really interesting structure for their BFA degrees - their programs are 3 years long, which is good for the young artist who really wants to get working quickly or the family for whom a 4 year degree may be cost-prohibitive. Because the degree is done in 3 years, students spend two summers working at the Okoboji Summer Theatre, a summer stock which is owned and operated by the college.

Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec - This English-language LAC in Quebec is such a hidden gem! It’s one of Canada’s only institutions where you can major in Music or Drama (both BA, but performance-based rather than theory-based) and take a concentration in musical theatre without an audition, making this a great safety for students who are less confident about their odds of acceptance at hyper-competitive audition-based programs. Gorgeous venues, a great student theatre culture, and great opportunities to add on an arts administration certificate or double major if a student so chooses. If their musical theatre concentration had existed when I was a high school senior, I probably never would have left Canada for university (and I would have saved my parents so much money that way)! Learn from my mistakes–with the weak Canadian dollar right now, this school may be a bargain for American families!

Butler University in Indianapolis, IN - I spent a lot of time here when I was an undergrad as the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional festivals were held here two years in a row. Every time I went down, I wanted to stay! This is a place with absolutely GORGEOUS theatre facilities. Although all theatre students have to audition or have a portfolio review to be admitted, it’s my understanding that this program is far less competitive than other audition-based programs. I especially love the way they talk about doing BFA vs. BA degrees (Butler’s only BFA is their BFA in acting): “Students who specifically want to focus on acting may decide between either the BFA in Acting or the BA in Theatre with an Acting emphasis. Unique to Butler Theatre is the ability for students to choose between either degree program. If they’re admitted to the Department of Theatre, they can make the decision as to which program they want to pursue—and can change their mind throughout their time at Butler. We support and empower our students to develop their individual student voice and to choose their own path to success.” Students in the BA program can also add an emphasis in Musical Theatre, for those who are looking for a lower-stakes MT admit. Indy is also a great midsize theatre market and it’s my understanding that a lot of students work professionally at various Equity theatres before graduating.

Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA - One of the most talented actors I’ve ever worked with came out of this program, and I’m not sure why it’s not talked about all the time! A caveat: This is a secondary admission program. That is, “all freshman and transfer students entering the department are initially classified as Theatre Foundation students. After successfully completing the first two years of core theatre courses in their foundation areas of emphasis, students apply for admission to a specific degree program (B.F.A. or B.A.).” As someone who doesn’t believe in cut programs or secondary admission broadly for theatre (make a 4-year commitment to your young artists once at the start of the program or don’t make the commitment at all!), the reason why I want to highlight this program is because VCU also houses a graduate degree in Performance Pedagogy. That is, this is one of the only theatre departments in the country that is actively teaching artists HOW to teach theatre at the post-secondary level. There are so many theatre departments across the country who have hired artists with no pedagogical background to teach their students, believing that a Broadway credit is an adequate prerequisite to teach young artists. It’s not. Because of VCU’s commitment to performance pedagogy as a discipline (and seeing how well-placed their MFA PP grads are on the academic job market), this would be one program with secondary admission that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to students, because I know that any sophomore year “cuts” wouldn’t be made on an arbitrary basis (as these cuts often are in other programs) but would actually be grounded in pedagogy.

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What about Kenyon? Of course known for writing but they have a great drama dept too I believe. I’ve watched a few great things from them over the years (and not just their funny shorts plugging their school) Talked to one film prof who was fantastic and got so much out of his students in their projects. ~25-30%.

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Emerson College - overall acceptance rate is well above 20% (I think 50%) but I am not sure about some of the audition-only degrees. I think Musical Theater is hard.

We toured (for different major) and the whole school is focused on arts/communications with a strong emphasis on stage/film.

They have a whole array of theater/drama/film degrees from stage production, to musical theater to comedic arts. There is (apparently) nonstop film making going on, so lots of call for acting practice!

Lots of famous alums (given schools size) and the rumor is they are a very loyal bunch. Featured Alumni, Emerson College

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