For me, what basically ruled out any Illinois school was the fact that the five that have technical
theatre programs (according to a couple of college search websites) are expensive private programs, ...
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a state school, has a highly-regarded
theatre dept., but does seem expensive, even for residents.
As for two years of gen ed at a "cheap" community college then two years at a "good" university--I know people who have successfully done that in other fields, but not in
theatre. I'm certain no BFA program would allow it, and suspect some BA programs wouldn't either. I think you'd be cheating yourself, by cutting in half your participation in productions.
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As long as I'm here, I'll bring up two topics I'm passionate about:
Choose an institution of higher learning
not by the quality or newness of its equipment or facilities, but for its faculty and program. All the state-of-the-art whiz-bang gizmos don't mean squat if the professors don't know how to teach, or don't know how to use the "toys" themselves. Besides interviewing potential professors and
current students, a campus visit should also include seeing a performance. Now while it's possible a HS student will be impressed with any college production, it's not always a given. I once saw a production at a "name"
theatre school, with an MFA program, and the production values were so poor there is no way I could ever recommend that school. Now that I think about it, that's happened at two different schools.
Another thing--
I'm leery of any school where the students design too much. (Controversial statement? Please continue reading with an open mind, before responding.)
My college allowed only seniors to design mainstage productions, and rarely if ever would allow more than one student designer on a production. I see too many students who have designed many shows, but without proper supervision. Therefore, they lack critical analysis of their work, and don't know how to collaborate or defend/explain their design decisions.
IMO, design is best learned via the mentor method, not on one's own in a vacuum. Choose a college, primarily, because of its faculty.
/end lecture rant