liberal arts vs. conservatory

nydancemom
Fri, 23 Jun 2006 00:04:56 +0000

SUNY Geneseo is one of the best SUNY schools academically, as you mentioned. It is small and is in the middle of nowhere. Literally. I believe the theater program is a BA degree with either MT or theater options. There is an audition to get in. A girl my D knows of will be a freshman theater student in the fall, so I don’t know too much, except to say that she is much more of a “student” than an “actress”. So I’m not sure what that says about their program. Of the SUNY schools, Fredonia and Buffalo are the BFA programs. Fredonia is not as academically oriented. Buffalo is a University, so has many options, and certainly a higher academic profile than Fredonia. Buffalo’s program is in a bit of transition, however, since the head of it left and went to Elon last year (as dance faculty in MT—and SHE is AWESOME!!!) and I’ve heard that the program at Buffalo has suffered in the transition. I am not sure how many kids Geneseo takes. I will try to find out and let you know whatever I can. Also, I have heard that ALL students can audition for the shows, and many times the theater students are NOT the ones chosen to be in them! Another point to consider.
Another program you might want to consider is LeMoyne College in Syracuse. They do not have MT as a major, but the faculty in their drama department is excellent! Also, for MT, SUNY Cortland has a BA I’m pretty sure. My daughter is only looking at BFA MT programs, so I’m not as clear on the BA programs.