I would love to understand positive and negative aspects of Muhlenberg’s increasing percentage of theater majors. My S wilI be double majoring in theater and in another field so wants a strong theater community with many opportunities to perform.
Are theater classes hard to get into? (more students now than supply can serve)
competitiveness to get casted : How many students audition for main stage shows? Do freshmen get roles?
description of program: quality of performances , number/type of shows in season, other student clubs/ opportunities to perform
Will talent scholarship give him any “priority” in getting access to opportunities or casted in main stage shows
I have similar questions. My son is between two schools. The other is a bigger school with a smaller number of theater majors. I think he will have more opportunities to perform and work tech, as he wants to do both, but Muhlenberg has more course offerings.
I dont think the talent scholarship has an influence on casting but his talent would.
My reply is likely too late for the OP but I thought it might be helpful for others looking at Muhlenberg. My D just finished her first semester as a Theatre/ Creative Writing major.
I hope this is helpful to anyone looking at this school. My daughter really enjoyed her first semester and I’ve been impressed with the school overall.
Thank you (and your daughter) so much for the info. Could I ask what other theatre programs she had considered? And is the creative writing a second major, or a minor?
Sure! Creative Writing is currently a second major for her. She’s also considering a Dance minor. I’m an academic advisor (not for this school though) and I believe that she could complete two majors and a minor in four years based on my look at their curriculum. They do have a general education program but it is very flexible (lots of options and generous double-counting policies). She’ll meet most of the GE requirements through her three programs (including a dance-focused science class called Biology of Movement that she just started this semester and is loving so far. It will count for both a science GE and her minor).
She did not want to apply to BFA programs or to schools that required a theatre audition for admission. She was accepted to, and seriously considered, Mount Holyoke and Sarah Lawrence. She was also accepted to University of New Hampshire, UMass, and Grinnell but decided earlier in the decision process that she wasn’t going to attend them. She also applied to, and was waitlisted at, Connecticut College, Wesleyan, Kenyon, Vassar, and Dartmouth. She was denied at Smith and Barnard.
I hope this is helpful. She is really enjoying Muhlenberg so far.
Thanks so much, sounds like she had great choices (and hard ones!) and that’s really great to know about the flexibility and that one class can count for both sometimes, I’m sure that helps! With the BFA program, was the concern that it wouldn’t allow much time for pursuing other interests? Trying to decide on that, too.
Yes. She has multiple interests and wanted to be in a program that allowed her to stay involved with each to some extent. In addition to writing, theatre, and dance, she also enjoys music. At Muhlenberg the music ensembles are 0 credits, so she can join them without going over her credit limit. She’s in Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and Choir and participates in the student-run Pep Band. Their instrumental program is small but mighty, and they have talent grant funds to give out to students interested in participating. That helped us financially as well.
I would say Muhlenberg is a great school for students who want to be involved in a lot of activities. They make it - maybe not easy but certainly possible - to pursue multiple interests in depth. My D also swears they have an unlimited activities budget - they always have multiple programs going on, and they go late into the evening as well. So students who want to be involved in activities outside of their academic program have a lot of options for that as well.
Thanks so much!, that’s great that she can do all those musical activities and that there are so many other options, too. We’re looking forward to visiting campus again in a few months.
I just wanted to say thank you for your helpful posts. My kid got into Muhlenberg, and while they’re still auditioning for some BFA programs, they really, really like the school. It’s been helpful to show them your posts to give them an idea of what to expect on campus.
HI! I know it’s been a while, hopefully you’ll still see this. We loved admitted students day, we had to miss the first one so just went yesterday. One question that my daughter wasn’t sure of that maybe yours would know the answer to, since there aren’t concentrations within theater like some of the BFA schools, can you still really focus on a particular area, like lighting, or costume design? Are there still enough classes in those production areas to feel like you could come out and get a job in one of them? Thanks so much!
That’s great! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I sent your question to my D to see what she thinks. She enjoys both on stage and back stage aspects of theatre and so hasn’t really decided on a focus yet. She does work in their costume shop currently and is getting great experience there.
So sorry to take so long to get back to you on this. I asked my D your question and she said that she does think that depth is there in the curriculum in those areas, but as a first year student she doesn’t know a lot about those upper level classes yet. But they do have a good number of classes in those areas
She loves the costume shop! She’s in charge of cataloging inventory and handling incoming and outgoing rentals but also will help with alterations and repairs. She also frequently works the 10pm-1am post-show shift washing the costumes which she enjoys way more than doing her own laundry I definitely feel like she’s getting great experience that she could use on a resume. In fact, her hometown arts camp offered her a job teaching costume skills this summer but she was already committed to teaching playwriting for them at the same time and that’s her passion.
I definitely feel like she’s getting great experience that she could use on a resume. In fact, her hometown arts camp offered her a job teaching costume skills this summer but she was already committed to teaching playwriting for them at the same time and that’s her passion.