…then what is to stop family’s from calling every school and saying “we can only visit this week, can you please give us our decision now?”
I literally witnessed someone basically doing the same thing AT Unifieds, only they were asking if they should still spend the money to visit another school for an upcoming audition. Gutsy!
Does anyone have any info about the musical theater program at Institute of the Arts Barcelona? I auditioned for them at unifieds, and I am struggling to find any information on their program other than what is on their website. I’d love to hear from some students or families who have experience with the program.
@TexasMTDad so part of my struggle is is a BFA a college education? I have been looking at the “academic” classes that these students need to take and, generally speaking, they are classes that they could receive at a community college. The BA degree has a higher requirement of university level classes so that’s a bit different. Clearly, I think kids should have a college education, and I’m 100% certain that my D will be going to one of these universities/conservatories. I just can’t help but be concerned about the ultimate cost and potential hardship with the rising cost of tuition and housing just to say “I went to X school.” I think I read somewhere along these posts that Pace raised their tuition $5000 a year or so ago. That’s a huge jump from one year to the next.
@BWmama in your struggle regarding whether ‘a BFA is a college education,’ are you concerned with the breadth of learning that your child will learn from their ‘academic’ classes, or with what they can do with the degree after college? If it’s what they can do with the degree, are there certain industries that you’re concerned that your child might not be able to work in because of getting a BFA vs. BA?
@BWmama While your point is valid… the kids are not going to be able to get a statistician job out of school. But there are many jobs where someone one can work without a specialized degree. A lot of jobs just want to see that you have the stick-to-itedness to complete a degree. Also, with a BFA in Theatre, the kids can probably get a teachers’ certificate with just a few more credits. Or at least that’s my theory.
As someone with a trade school diploma, I can tell you getting a “degree” over a “diploma” is a big difference. I have had companies that have loved me an interview, that have flat out told me, “Get your degree and we’ll hire you, but we can’t hire you if you don’t have a degree.”
They really don’t care if it says B.A. or B.F.A. They just want you to have a degree.
@TexasMTDad That’s my D’s plan. Get the BFA, and then continue on to get a teaching certificate.
Well, maybe I’m not communicating my thoughts very well, but I don’t have any concern about my D being able to get a job in or out of the theatre post college. And she definitely wouldn’t be a statistician. and I didn’t realize the BFA was essentially a “trade” school diploma so I guess most others outside of the industry wouldn’t know that either!
My dad is an economist and I really dislike arguing with him about anything because he looks at EVERYTHING from a cost/benefit perspective and doesn’t necessarily value what I value. Having said that, the reason the cost of attending these schools is so high is because it’s what the market will bear. Even at the exorbitant current levels, we have literally thousands of kids (at least in MT) applying for the 12 coveted positions at XYZ University. The market will respond dynamically. Look at Montclair. They couldn’t get the high quality arts people they wanted and so they offer in-state tuition to arts majors. The result: lower tuition brings more applicants. I can guarantee you that if/when Montclair establishes their MT program at the same level of some of these other schools such that they can have the quality they desire without the tuition break, they will stop offering that incentive.
With every significant tuition increase, a school will have fewer applicants then they would have otherwise. And sadly, who suffers most, as with practically everything, are the people from lower socioeconomic background (and of course what goes hand in hand with that, in our country, is a disproportionate number of people of color). And so musical theatre and the arts as a whole suffer because the talent pool that “makes it” becomes more homogeneous.
It is the sad way of the world. And I consider myself a part of the problem. After all, even though I see the systemic problem inherent in all of this, I take full advantage of my status as an upper middle class white guy and drive my kid all over the eastern part of the US so he can “live his dream.”
There’s a really interesting part of the movie Crazy Rich Asians where the mother chastises her Chinese-American daughter-in-law to be for chasing dreams rather than upholding tradition. As I spend insane amounts of money so that my kid can chase his dream while so many people don’t have basic necessities, I’ve been thinking about that a lot. But, I’m not strong enough to look past my selfish interests enough to do anything different…
Sorry about the tirade. Even though I believe everything I’ve written, there’s probably something else going on for me right now that it’s on the surface. I probably shouldn’t hit the “post comment” button. It might start a firestorm! Then again, you could all choose to ignore it (that would be a good choice by the way). Oh well…I can’t help it…I’m just that type of person sometimes…
During the Info Session for Boston University, I loved how McCaela Donovan (Asst. Director of BU’s School of Theatre) mentioned how companies are now more than ever looking to hire people who have a performing arts degree/background. Performing Artists have valuable skills that companies want - interpersonal skills, communication skills, public speaking, creative thinking, thinking outside of the box, problem solving, persistence, and drive, etc.
In regards to the BFA/BA question - I don’t think it matters one whit. I received my BFA from NYU Tisch 30 years ago and when looking for work in the communications/ marketing field all they heard was a bachelor’s degree from NYU and I was good to go!! Ultimately I ended up pursuing an MA in drama therapy (also at NYU) and my undergraduate training prepared me beautifully. I think a BFA is an excellent education.
On another note, BW just sent out a lovely letter stating results would be in on Thursday. They started off saying they enjoyed the audition and applauded my d’s hard work. I imagine it was a form letter, but lovely none the less!!
All of these thoughts are part of the many choices to be made in this process. And the good news is - there are so many different types of programs out there. This is a reason why I think PRE-audition visits are so important, to help kids determine what THEY are looking for
@ZukAndSowash Re: “Look at Montclair. They couldn’t get the high quality arts people they wanted and so they offer in-state tuition to arts majors.”
Montclair offered instate tuition to find diversity. It would be very boring to live and work with everyone from NJ. How do you grow as a person/actor if you only spend time with people who are all the same? Texas State also gives instate tuition to theatre majors for the same reason. It had nothing to do with the lack of talent in a particular state.
@lmt did the letter from BW come via snail mail or email.
The skills mentioned by @love2share are also skills necessary for a lawyer, particularly a trial lawyer. When I pointed this out to D, suggesting that if this acting thing doesn’t work out she could follow in my footsteps, she was NOT having any of it, LOL!
@MTmom19 sorry I meant to say email
@ZukAndSowash I get it and agree with you. I can’t imagine anyone giving you grief for elegantly stating the conundrum we all find ourselves in.
@LIMTMom I never thought that the BFA was viewed any differently before I got on this journey with my D. I’m just trying to reconcile it in my mind. Your post is helpful. Thanks.
@FROG65 and @ZukAndSowash re: in-state tuition at Montclair. At a theatre open house at Penn State, a parent asked if in-state tuition would be available and John Simpkins asked if that was a thing elsewhere. When many people responded with a resounding, “Yes!” and mentioned a number of other BFA programs that do this, he said that he wished he could. He said that the board of the state university doesn’t allow it but that he has discretionary funding for scholarships that he could meet the difference between in and out of state tuition for students (at his discretion). So even a school with PSU’s reputation would like to offer that to increase their diversity/pool.
Also, Montclair as a university is offering in-state tuition to all students (regardless of major) who have a 90 or better GPA, starting in the fall.
And finally, Montclair’s proximity to the excellent Paper Mill Playhouse, which has the summer conservatory and the Rising Star NJ awards can insure that if they wanted to field a class of all New Jersey quality talent who’d already qualify for in-state tuition, they certainly could.
@LIMTMom here’s to tomorrow and good news.
My son enjoyed the audition process and met some great students. He also does not mind that it is a BM vs BFA.