I know I posted this before but am reposting about some other schools in case anyone has a kid there or lives near, knows anything about these BA/BFA programs/schools: All except a few are small schools.
Mars Hill College/NC
Ashland Univ / OH
Emory & Henry/VA
Lees McRae/NC
Ferrum College/VA
Valdosta/GA
Messiah College/PA
Nazareth College/NY
DeSales/PA
Appalachian State/NC
thanks!!
Here’s a thread about Ferrum http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1728805-ferrum-college-bfa-in-mt-p1.html
I have seen a show at Emory and Henry. It was good. Talented cast. They have a partnership with the Barter Theatre in Abington, which is a great professional company in VA. I believe they are going to be moving into a new performing arts facility soon. The college is very small and rural. Pretty campus. Close to the Tennessee border.
My D had Ashland in her final 3. It is a nice, small campus, very pretty when we visited. We saw one show there which was good, but other schools we saw were better. Their theatre program is small but they are trying to grow it.
We met with one professor (Fabio Polanco if I spelled that correctly). It is a BA program and they ask you to audition for both theatre and music depts, but I think their bar is low as they are trying to build. I think Fabio said they tend to get about 6 kids per class, not because of their limits, just who they can bring in (that might have been MT only and there may be additional students for acting). Voice is done as an applied minor in the music dept. D had a lesson with an instructor a month or two before auditioning; it was fine but she wasn’t “wow-ed” either. They offer dance classes but I don’t remember much about those.
My D was awarded a nice merit scholarship that paid about half of tuition. I think she was also awarded a small music scholarship (something like $500, don’t remember exactly). The bad side financially was that since it is a private school that still left a lot for us to pay (although nothing like bigger name school). The good side is that Ashland is trying to stay competitive financially and announced (during 2013 or early 2014) a program to reduce their costs and hold them flat. Since my D didn’t choose that as her college I haven’t looked at them recently, so don’t know if anything has changed on that.
Aside from scholarships (my D got a better deal at her current school), the decision was between possibly more stage time vs. more competition forcing her to improve. She chose the competition and only time will tell if that was the right choice from that perspective (although she is very happy where she’s at). Another factor was that it appears that there are more performance opportunities at the bigger schools (main stage and student-directed), something my D considered. But I suspect that will change if Ashland’s program grows a little more.
My assessment is that this would be a good school for kids who aren’t competitive enough for the top tier schools or maybe even the next level down. Don’t take that too harshly, I liked the school and thought it would be a good place for the right students (and would have been fine with my D attending there). Since the school/theatre department is small I think there is a lot of opportunity for someone who is motivated to work in that sort of environment. Sort of a “get out what you put in” sort of place as long as you can self-motivate and/or want to learn outside of a highly competitive environment. I thought Fabio was great when we spoke with him and have no reason to doubt other professors would be as well.
if you have other specific questions I can try to answer them.
Since I posted I decided to look at the Ashland web site. From a financial perspective it looks the same as what I had seen before and they haven’t posted 2015-2016 rates yet.
From a theatre perspective though I got a surprise. Apparently Fabio is no longer at Ashland and is now at Kent State. Don’t know any of the circumstances around that move, but it has to be a bit of a set-back for Ashland.
We are looking at Kent State @raellis123 also. Several oh schools . This info is so helpful from others, thanks! Heard this about Ashland also. My D needs performance opportunities or she’ll go nuts! We know someone going there for baseball lol! It reminds me to search for info on Plymouth State too. I forgot to post that one on my list above. I know I must seem all over the place but so many schools look interesting but no info really on them . This forum is a gem
@theaterwork, you might want to look at Northern Kentucky. It’s just across the river from Cincinnati and I think @raellis123 has a D there.
You’re welcome @theaterwork. Being all over the place is normal as you research. Kent State is a good school too. Saw one show there (was good) and seems to be a lot happening there. That was in her final 3 as well, along with NKU where she attends as @Dusing2 mentioned (she is a BA student, not BFA).
What other OH schools are you looking at? We live in OH and looked at several ourselves.
If you are interested in staying in the Ohio/Kentucky area, you may also want to look into the University of Kentucky’s new MT certificate program. Or Western Kentucky University’s BFA in MT program. And of course NKU which has BA and BFA options. On the Ohio side, you may also want to consider Wright State for MT. Or look at some smaller schools like Wooster, Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan. They do not have MT degrees but have strong theater programs to go along with good academics.
For OH schools we have Ohio Northern, wright state, Kent state, otterbein, Baldwin Wallace. Some of these are reach of course. I haven’t looked at Kentucky much but I think I have some of those on another list ! Lol we are in MD so we have a wide range of area really. Just nothing too far west or north. Trying to stay within 8 hr drive from home .we do have one Indiana on there since it was recommended by a friend, ball state . I am not getting caught up in school name and status at this point. We will have one or two reach schools but not a lot. Most are out of our pricing plus some of the odds for some of them are too insane for me ! Lol
S is an MT sophomore at Wright State. He and a fellow classmate are currently doing ensemble summer theater work at Shenandoah. She is from Maryland. There is also another girl in the cast who is recent Western Kentucky grad. Also another 2018 CC mom who’s D is a current WKU sophomore. PM me if you want me to try to hook you up with any of these people.
Since you and D want to keep her list more on the financially feasible and not too heavy on the tippy-top-high-reach side, I’d definitely look at Northern Kentucky. We were very impressed with it. D ended up choosing another school, but she would’ve been very happy there, too. Check out this thread to find out why we were impressed and to get others’ feedback:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1753430-northern-kentucky-university.html
Oh wow @mom4bwayboy we live 45 min from Shenandoah! We are going to see Addams Family there~ Is your son in it? My D will apply there too of course. Wright State looks like a great program. I was bummed though when I was told they accept few, like everyone else! Seem affordable though!
We also just received info in the mail from Northern Kentucky today @myloves ! They sent lots of info, very thorough! It looks like a nice program. Can you audition for the BFA there as an incoming freshman instead of waiting? My D would want to try to enter the BFA I think in the beginning, not wait for later. I also need to look into the Western Kentucky Univ info! So much to research…I am tired and just starting!
Yes, at NKU you can audition prior to freshman year. Can also audition once there. It is usually in early December and April. Don’t think they were doing Unifieds when D went through this.
Yes, D got in as an incoming freshman, as did another CCer’s D this year.
They don’t attend Unifieds, and they only have 2 audition days (one in November and one in April, the latter of which is the one most current students audition at, but it’s also open to incoming freshmen), both of which keep their auditioning numbers down. Usually, they audition around 200; the assistant head of the department said that they mostly accept between 20 and 40, but they would accept as many or as few as they believe satisfy their criterion (listed in the post I linked). He said that if all satisfied those criterion, all might be accepted, but that hasn’t been the case. (They have accepted only 10 in the past, but that number is most often higher.)
Ashland University has had a long history of graduating theatre artists that are working all over the country. Very small program, facilities are OK, but won’t blow anyone away. Faculty were (and likely still are) dedicated. It was more of a family than a program. Former students are now Artistic Directors, Actors on National Tours, Regional Theatres and beyond, designers winning awards from New York to L.A., there are also quite a few that chose to teach, including at Tulsa, Michigan State U (chair of the program), and many other universities small and large. Given that there are only about 40-45 majors in the program at any given time, it really has a nice record of success. University has hit a rough patch, like so many small liberal arts schools have, but they will bounce back quickly and be stronger for it. If what you want is a program that you’ll do everything from paint to produce, Ashland is the kind of program for you. It is a true generalist liberal arts program.
(disclaimer: I am the former chair of that program and while I don’t work there anymore, I still love what they stand for and who they are.)
@kjgc that’s good info on Ashland and maybe a little more than we heard when looking at them. I hope my comments didn’t come across negative as I did like the school. In fact if finances were not a factor I would have pushed harder for it as I could see it being a good option for my daughter. I think it is a good school.
The difference we saw was depth of talent. Within a few months we happened to see the same musical at Ashland and at another school that is often mentioned here. The two leads were good at both schools. But down the cast list the other school clearly had more talent throughout. Not that Ashland was bad, but it there was a difference. Some differences on the technical side too. Ashland was doing more with less, but the other school was more polished and sophisticated (and looked like they had more money for sets).
But plenty of opportunity at Ashland for the right people.
No, I didn’t take them as negative. Not every program is for every person. But, since I knew the program so well, I thought I’d put in my two cents. The program is unique and can be quite good for the right person/mentality. Good luck on your journey. There are certainly many paths to the same destination.
Thanks @kjgc for your input. All is appreciated and I agree many paths that can be taken. To be honest our biggest obstacle will most likely be $$ do I will be searching for best possible MT training in s tight budget if that makes sense!