Don't knock the B.A.s!

MomCares
Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:36:28 +0000

Thought it was worth reviving this discussion for those who are finalizing your school lists.

Some of the extremely talented kids D knows who chose BA programs over top auditioned BFA programs they were admitted to this year (and this includes kids with recent Broadway credits) did so for many great reasons, among them (in no particular order, and these are only the reasons I’ve heard some of these kids mention)…

1) Wanted to complete a double major in 4 years,
2) Wanted more challenging academics,
3) Wanted a degree from a more prestigious University,
4) Wanted more control/flexibility in course selection over the 4 years,
5) Wanted the full traditional college experience,
6) Fell in love with a particular school,
7) Wanted more career-diverse classmates (didn’t want to spend 4 years largely with the same 20 theatre people… wanted to meet future doctors and lawyers and scientists and…),
8) Wanted to share classes with theatre kids interested in directing, writing, designing, producing, etc. and not spend all their time around other MTs,
9) Got a better financial offer from a BA program (certainly NOT the case for our D ;-),
10) Wanted stronger Acting training than they found in certain MT BFA programs,
11) Did not want to pay University prices for what they considered to be Vocational training that could be gotten more cheaply elsewhere. One kid said he wanted a “real” degree (which sounds bad, but someone in Admissions at Yale did once tell me they prefer BAs for their MFA programs)

Also, as has been mentioned before, there is NOT a continuum of quality of MT training that places all BFA programs above all BA programs. There are kids in BA programs who spend 80% of their time in college getting top-notch performance training, while others spread their time between dual majors or various aspects of theatre.

As you finalize your lists, be sure to consider adding at least one BA in case your desires change in the coming months, or in case you haven’t considered what a particular BA might offer you.