<p>I’m looking for schools that meet the following Criteria:</p>
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<p>Any suggestions much appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>There are many threads that list BA theatre schools, and really most colleges have a BA in theatre, mostly non-auditioned. I would look for schools you like, and you will find most of them offer EA or rolling admissions. Only a majority have ED instead of EA. Some have both.</p>
<p>The question to ask about BA schools is whether the program is more academic than experiential. A student who really wants to DO theatre probably would be disappointed with a department that more LOOKS at theatre than TRAINS for it, and which doesn’t do very many productions (or just leaves them to students, meaning there is no professional direction).</p>
<p>Really your criteria could include hundreds of schools, so we need more information, or you need to tell us about schools you like and ask deeper questions about the theatre programs themselves.</p>
<p>Ok EmmyBet how did you travel back in time to post your response?! </p>
<p>Top choice’s are Brown University followed a close second by Northwestern. Brown will likely be the ED school. Therefore, looking for a similar school (strong academics with abundant performance opportunities) with an Early Action option.<br>
So if the ED school defers, it would be ideal to get an acceptance from an EA school in order to take some pressure off the regular decision application process. I hope that makes sense. This is for 2014, but we’re visiting now.</p>
<p>This is for my daughter. It’s quite easy to get excited about Brown and Northwestern, but I need to find more of sure bet (Early Action) that she would also be excited about.</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill remains on her list as a possible EA school. I’m intriqued by UMass, because of the five school five school consortium.</p>
<p>I’d appreciate any suggestions.</p>
<p>Haha, I have no idea how that happened. Some of my posts this morning wouldn’t go up at all.</p>
<p>When my D applied 2 years ago, she was looking for a BFA, and as an alternative, more academically rigorous BAs (she is at a BFA now with a very rigorous Honors College). Her list included quite a few nice BA options, and she was hoping to go to the east coast, too. </p>
<p>I don’t think you will have trouble finding EA options. I don’t know about every school, but off the top of my head, I can only think of one BA that people recommend here that is only ED. Here are some schools that are often suggested for kids on this thread with good academic stats and a strong interest in a performance-based BA:</p>
<p>Brandeis
Bard
Vassar
Sarah Lawrence
Goucher
Drew
Boston College
University of New Hampshire
Muhlenberg - this is the ED school I mentioned, but perhaps I am wrong
and lots more</p>
<p>The 5 school consortium in Western Mass is very exciting, but none of those schools seem to come up here as recommended for a theatre major. URI and UNH might have better theatre departments as safety schools for a kid with good stats. As with any of these programs, take a look at the curriculum and see what suits your D best. </p>
<p>There are a few auditioned BA programs which people find are a nice option. SUNY New Paltz and American U (in DC) are often discussed here. Some schools have both BFA and BA - Ithaca, Pace and a few others. As she reads the websites and researches, she’ll know if these are good options for her or not.</p>
<p>You can search this forum and find lots of discussion on BA programs. Here is a thread that is commonly recommended:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/678469-what-top-ba-acting-programs.html?highlight=ba[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/678469-what-top-ba-acting-programs.html?highlight=ba</a></p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks EmmyBet</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I’m really in need of suggestions for schools with a non-binding Early Action option.</p>
<p>The schools you have listed are great and we’re looking at many of those as well for Regular Decision - but i don’t think most of them (Vassar, Barnard etc…) have the Early Action (non-binding) option.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Not the same as EA and not in the same league as Brown, etc., but you might want to apply to the BA program at Temple University. They have rolling admissions, so you would have an acceptance in hand early in the process. It does fit your listed criteria.</p>
<p>Yes, Temple! I kept feeling there was a great one I was forgetting. If she is interested in the Midwest (based on Northwestern), I do feel the University of Minnesota’s BA is terrific, know several grads. A wonderful city to live in, too. They have one app deadline that’s early and then gives a fairly early answer.</p>
<p>I am sorry that some of the ones from my general list didn’t have EA. I know Bard and Goucher do, also New Paltz, because D applied there, and Drew because she considered it. Most public schools have rolling or EA of some sort. </p>
<p>I still recommend finding schools by the program - perhaps from suggestions on these threads, and then taking a few seconds to doublecheck the EA online. I know it’s frustrating, but starting with EA isn’t going to send you to schools your D will like. That’s just my two cents.</p>
<p>D applied to probably half of her schools EA/rolling, and other half regular (mostly because they had ED only). She did burn out on essays and postponed one of her EAs to RD. Generally the earlier the better is a great policy - except where certain financial aid issues exist. Non-binding is a very nice option.</p>
<p>I totally understand wanting a few EAs/rolling in case the ED doesn’t work out. I had an ED kid the first time around (not theatre) and she refused to apply even to our flagship before she got her ED answer. Some kids are just like that. She said she’d push the button on her other apps the day she was rejected ED - but in fact she was accepted. For her that made it sweeter, I guess, even though it was frustrating for me.</p>
<p>You are on a noble quest, awrawr, but the most selective colleges (like the ones that top your D’s list) do not tend to offer EA. Stanford has single choice EA, but that would not work as your D has an ED choice, and it’s not on the east coast. Yale used to offer the same, but switched back to ED I believe. In any case, that was single choice too. (meaning it was not binding, like ED, but it limited the student to just that one application). From the standpoint of the most recognized leading U’s ranked by academic standards, you have to go down a bit in the rankings to find a school who offers straight EA. However, you’ll find Case Western, U Miami, and Tulane all offer BA Theatre in EA. They all offer significant merit aid to top students, as well, so that might make them look even better.</p>
<p>If you read this forum a bit, you may discover that the schools recognized for the most stellar theatre programs (and really, many of these are known mostly for their BFAs) are fairly obscure by CC standards. Aside from NYU, Carnegie Mellon, USC, Northwestern, BU, Fordham, and U Michigan (and perhaps one or two more I’m forgetting), the top acting programs often reside in schools like SUNY Purchase, CCM, Otterbein, U Minnesota, Northern Illinois, and many more (apologies to those I’ve left out–I don’t have a student doing an acting BFA so I’m blanking). The point is, if your D is serious about getting a good BA at a very top top academically prestigious school, EA is going to be a problem. For RD, no problem at all. So she may want to look for a couple of great safeties (with merit opportunities) in EA and proceed onto the RD round. Since most BAs do not involve auditions, you can see by looking at your HS’s Naviance what her prospects for admission will be to those other programs.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>P.S. I believe U Michigan does offer EA (used to have rolling, but no more). Their BA is non-audition, too.</p>
<p>^^Madbean, Yale is single-choice EA.
Also, some of the BFA schools that also have a BA in theater arts offer early action (Otterbein is one example).</p>
<p>Bard not only has EA but it also has a one day acceptance/rejection program. I forget exactly how it works but you attend a day of workshops and discussions and in about two weeks they tell you if you were accepted.</p>
<p>James Madison University offers EA academically… decision by around January 15. The application deadline is November 1. An audition is required for the Theatre program (auditions in January & February), but if D was admitted ED to her top choice, she could cancel the audition.</p>