BFAs usually have some sort of admittance procedure.  Just because you make it into the school, doesn't mean you make it into the program.  First you need to interview with the tech teachers and show them your portfolio.  Yep, they expect you to have one of those in high school if you are really that serious about theatre.  Basically, they just want to see some of your work organized in a logical fashion that shows where you are coming from artistically.

These programs can be found in conservatory and non-conservatory styles.  Non-conservatory BFA means that at the end of your education you have both a BFA and a Liberal Arts BA qualification.  The extra Liberal Arts thing gives you a little more flexibility for getting a job in the world outside of theater later in life.  Some would argue that it also makes you a more well rounded person. 

This is the style program I went through, and it’s major downfall is simply time management in regards to how many classes you must take.  When I was at Fredonia you needed 120ish credits total to graduate, and 35 needed to be from certain liberal arts categories.  You needed 93 credits in your field to graduate with a BFA.  About six of those credits overlapped, so if you add 93 and 35 and subtract 6, you get 122.  That doesn’t leave a lot of time for electives or for needing to retake classes.  One mistake and you will be there an extra semester or two.

A conservatory style program simply eliminates the liberal arts requirements, so you are completely focused on theater.  If you were in danger of failing out of high school because you worked 40 hours a week on the school play and can't pay attention in Science no matter how hard you try, this is the kind of program you are looking for.

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