Is your goal to transfer to a school with a BFA program in theatre or musical theatre? If so, prepare yourself for the fact that the vast majority of schools will make you start over as a freshman to finish your degree. I was a musical theatre transfer student ~15 years ago, and I ended up taking 5.5 years total (1 year at my original school, 4.5 years at my new school - I had to add an extra semester because I got a job on a national tour my senior year and stepped away from campus for a bit, though I was still taking classes at a distance) to graduate. If you are trying to do the traditional pathway of 2 years at CC → 2 years at a 4-year university, I wouldn’t expect that to be possible in most BFA programs.
However, I can totally suggest some BA programs that may fit the bill, as those programs tend to have more flexibility built in. Just based on your original list of wants in your first post, I wonder if James Madison University might be a good fit for you. I’m tagging in @KatMT, who is on faculty in JMU’s theatre department, who may be able to speak to whether CC transfers can complete the BA programs in theatre at JMU easily.
Okay thank you, I’m pretty open to changing my major as long as it’s still theater related (I think I actually want to do a BA instead of a BFA). Also I didn’t know that schools sometimes make you basically enter as a freshman, is there any way to avoid that?
@Dolphins1 James Madison University checks many/most of your boxes other than in/near a city. Harrisonburg is technically a city, but has more of a college town vibe. By car we are 2-ish hours from Richmond and DC, 3-ish hours from Pittsburgh and Baltimore, 4-ish hours from Philly and Norfolk, and 6 to 8-ish hours (depending on the traffic) from New York City.
It is very possible for transfer students to complete the Theatre major at James Madison in 2-2.5 years with an Associates degree from a CC (as well as extensive dual enrollment, AP, IB in Hugh School, etc.
Depending on your budget, James Madison might be a challenge financially, particularly coming from out of state. As mentioned by others scholarships for transfer students can be more challenging to obtain at many institutions. Running the numbers on schoolsnet orics calculators could be helpful to get a pictureof what the cost may look like at James Madison and all your schools you are considering .
Yes, Happykid (currently a TV news lighting director for a major network) started out her career in theatrical lighting at our local community college. After that she transferred to an in-state public U, worked for several years as a lighting designer, stage electrician, stage hand, etc. etc. at whatever gig she could get before earning her MFA at a public university in a different state. One of her CC and State U lighting design pals earned an MFA in lighting design at U of FL in Gainesville, and now works for a major architectural lighting firm. Don’t discount the FL public universities so quickly. If that is your most affordable option, then so be it.
The secret to making it in theater is being the cheerful, hardworking person that everyone likes to have working on their production. Don’t bring any drama to the gig. If you can do that and are good at building and maintaining a network of contacts, you will have a decent change of having a career. A fill-in-famous-name-here college or university is not necessarily going to make a difference for you. Once you start working, your professional network and reputation is what will get you the jobs.
I am more familiar with the trajectories of theater tech/design people than performance people. Other CC to state U friends of Happykid have gone on to stage management careers with cruise lines, business management careers, sound design work, and even financial planning! The skills stage management students develop seem to be particularly flexible and applicable off stage. Any additional business/financial coursework you can pick up would be extremely useful. For most of your theater career, it is likely that you will be self-employed and essentially running your own small business.
For the best CC to transfer process, make friends with the transfer advisor at your own CC, and work out a clear plan for your courses and eventual transfer. Your CC may well have formal articulation agreements for your major with a number of universities in your state. That will help you graduate on time and at less cost.
You’ll want to look at BA programs or programs with secondary entry (i.e. where you aren’t admitted to the actual degree program until second or third year).
Some schools that might line up with what you want include:
Arizona State (BA Theatre or BA Acting)
U of Denver (BA Theatre) - smaller than you want, but has D1 sports so that may make up for the smaller environment
American University (BA Theatre) - depends on your budget, but theirs is only a 51-credit major so worth a look
University of Tampa (BA Theatre)
Butler University (BA Acting or Musical Theatre)
University of Evansville (BS Theatre Performance)
University of Indianapolis (BA Theatre)
UMN-Twin Cities (BA Theatre)
Stephens College (BFA Acting or Musical Theatre - take a look at this school as it’s located in the same town as Mizzou, undoubtedly a great college town - and the BFA is a 3-year program)
UNLV (BA Acting)
UN-Reno (BA Theatre)
Drew University (BA Theatre) - smaller than you probably want, but checks a lot of boxes otherwise!
Hofstra University (BA Drama w/minor in musical theatre)
Temple University (BA Theatre)
Pitt (BA Theatre)
Christopher Newport University (BA Theatre)
Virginia Commonwealth University (BA or BFA, secondary admission)
UW-Madison (BS in Theatre with an Acting option)
The most important thing is for you to figure out your budget. It is NOT worth it to go into debt for a theatre degree (take it from me, a working actor!). Once you’ve figured out your budget and looked into some of these schools, come back and tell us which ones you like and we may be able to come up with some more suggestions that are similar and meet budget.