Evaluating College Music & Theatre Programs
How do you find a program that’s right for you?
You're set on a career in music or theatre, so the path to get there needs to be just right for you. With so many options out there — conservatories, liberal arts colleges, dedicated performing arts schools — how can you narrow down a program that meets your needs, now and in the future? Start by benchmarking the programs on your list against the considerations below.
Type of Degree (BM, BFA, or BA?)
For music students, the first fork in the road is a Bachelor of Music (BM) versus a Bachelor of Arts (BA). A BM is a conservatory-style degree — roughly half the curriculum is devoted to applied lessons, ensembles, theory, and aural skills, and it's the right fit for a student aiming at performance, composition, or music education as a career. A BA in music sits inside a liberal arts curriculum, with more room for a double major or a minor outside the arts, and suits a student who wants strong training without narrowing their options this early.
For theatre students, the comparable choice is BFA versus BA. A BFA is an audition-based, pre-professional track with intensive studio training in acting, voice, and movement, and often limits how much students can take outside the department. A BA in theatre offers broader exposure to directing, dramaturgy, and design alongside a full liberal arts course load. Neither path is objectively better — the right one depends on how certain the student is about a performance career versus wanting flexibility to pivot.
Curriculum that meets your artistic goals
Look closely at what's required versus what's available. In a music program, does the curriculum require composition or arranging coursework, or is that only available as an elective? Are there opportunities to conduct, to work in music technology or production, or to explore genres outside the department's core focus (jazz, contemporary commercial music, world music)? Some programs are rigorously classical; others have built out strong jazz or CCM tracks — make sure the program's strengths match the student's actual interests, not just its reputation.
In a theatre program, ask whether directing, playwriting, or design coursework is open to acting majors, or siloed off for students in those specific tracks. Some BFA acting programs are highly prescriptive, with almost no room to explore other areas of theatre-making; others build in cross-training deliberately. If a student is drawn to devising new work, physical theatre, or writing, confirm the program actually offers pathways into those areas rather than assuming it does.
Specialties and areas of focus
Every music program has a center of gravity. Ask what the strongest studios are — voice, strings, brass, piano, percussion, composition — and whether the applied lesson faculty in the student's specific instrument or voice type are full-time, tenured, or adjunct. A school can have a great overall reputation while being genuinely thin in one specific studio, so this question should be asked instrument-by-instrument, not program-wide.
Theatre programs vary just as widely: some are built around classical text and Shakespeare, others around new work development, musical theatre, or physical and devised theatre. If a student is set on musical theatre specifically, confirm whether the program has a dedicated musical theatre track with voice and dance training built in, or whether it's an acting degree with a few musical theatre electives layered on top — the training looks very different in each case.
Time on stage
Find out how many performance opportunities exist each year and how they're distributed across class years. In music, this means asking about ensemble placement (is there audition-based seating within orchestras and wind ensembles, and how do underclassmen fare?), recital opportunities, and whether honors or top ensembles are realistically accessible before junior year. In theatre, ask directly about the casting process: how many mainstage, studio, and student-directed productions run each year, whether freshmen are cast in mainstage shows, and how competitive the audition pool typically is.
It's worth asking current students (not just admissions staff) how casting or ensemble placement actually felt in their first two years — this is where perception and reality often diverge most.
Opportunities to collaborate across disciplines
Strong programs actively build bridges between departments. For music students, ask whether there are opportunities to collaborate with composers, choreographers, or filmmakers on original work, or to play in pit orchestras for the theatre department's musicals. For theatre students, ask whether there's cross-pollination with the dance and music departments — devised work, musicals, and movement-based pieces all benefit from a program that doesn't keep its arts departments in separate silos.
Focus on faculty
Faculty are the single biggest factor in day-to-day training quality. For music, ask who teaches applied lessons in the student's specific instrument or voice type. Ask about setting up a trial lesson to make sure the teacher will be a good fit. For theatre, ask who teaches the core acting, voice, and movement sequence, what their professional credits and training lineage look like, and whether that faculty member will actually be the one leading class, not an assistant or graduate student.
Visiting artists and guest masterclasses
The guest artists a program brings in signal what it values and where its industry connections run. For music, ask about visiting composers, conductors, and performers who give masterclasses — are there names the student recognizes, and do they connect to ensembles or artists already important to the student? For theatre, ask about guest directors, working playwrights, and casting directors who visit campus. These relationships often turn into summer intensive invitations, professional references, or early industry contacts.
Alumni
Research where recent graduates have landed — orchestras, opera programs, Broadway and touring casts, regional theatre companies, teaching positions, or graduate conservatories. A program's placement track record over the last five years is a far better indicator than its overall name recognition. Ask the admissions or department office directly for a list of recent alumni and what they're doing now, and ask how the program stays connected to graduates for referrals and networking.
Access to wellness and injury prevention
What is the program’s position on physical health and professional wellness? From the floors you dance on to the equipment you use, the quality of each is driven by the program’s focus on student wellness. Also, it’s extremely important to have access to physical therapy and other services related to health and fitness. Find out where you would go if you had an injury.
Audition and prescreen requirements
Before a student invests months preparing, get specific about what each program actually requires. Music programs vary widely on repertoire requirements, whether a prescreen recording is required before a live audition, and how much flexibility exists in repertoire choice. Theatre programs differ just as much: some require two contrasting monologues, others add a song for musical theatre tracks, and callback formats range from a single live audition to multi-day callback weekends. Building a spreadsheet of each school's specific requirements early prevents last-minute scrambling and helps a student choose repertoire that can be reused strategically across schools.
Identify your college experience
Finally, zoom out from the arts training itself. Consider the kind of campus and community the student wants outside of rehearsals and practice rooms — a small conservatory environment, an arts school embedded in a research university, or a liberal arts college with a strong but smaller arts program. Urban access to professional companies and industry connections matters more for some students than others; a suburban or rural campus with a tight-knit department can be just as valuable for a student who wants to focus without distraction.
If the options are still overwhelming, let us know — we're here to help. Contact one of our Best Fit Education advisors, and we'll help you through the process.
