#bfa problems

If you have ever looked into a BFA program at the top schools in the nation, you have probably heard the words “cut system.” This means that a student is evaluated at certain points during their college career and the faculty determines if that student has earned a spot to continue on in their program. In the past, some schools have admitted more students than they plan on graduating and use these evaluations as explanations as to why they ask certain students to leave. Currently, the practice of forcing classes to fill a quota (despite talent level or growth) is not common – at least in writing – but that does not mean that an evaluation and decision based on that evaluation does not exist. Basically, the absence of a cut system doesn’t guarantee graduation. [...]

This spring, I graduated college with a BFA in Musical Theatre. I can sing, I can act, I can sort of dance. I grew so much as a person and an actor while I was at college and I wouldn’t trade the lessons I learned for anything. But there are a lot of lessons I didn’t learn and those are costing me a lot in the real world. I spoke with a few of my friends who also graduated within the last five years and discovered that many college theatre programs, whether it’s a well-known school or one that’s still waiting for an alum to make it famous, are lacking in some very important ways. [...]

I completely understand the sentiment to commit to the artistic training in a college environment and always encourage students to make the most out of the 4 (or so) years they have to make mistakes, learn from them and continue to hone their skills and craft. What I have a huge problem with, however, is trying to convince students that liberal studies classes are not important to their future and simply an inconvenience of going to a university. In my experience, the opposite has been true and I believe there are many advantages to working hard in liberal studies or core classes.