How do I apply to the Actor Training Program?
The application opens on September 1 each year for studies beginning the following fall. The full application and audition requirements for the BFA are available here and for the MFA here.
What kind of acting students are you looking for?
We are interested in curious, passionate students who have the desire and ability to connect with the characters they play and an interest in telling stories that will affect an audience. We look for students who have the potential to benefit from training and who will apply themselves to the work in their classes and rehearsals in a serious and committed way.
What’s the difference between BFA and MFA training?
BFA students take a series of liberal arts courses; MFA students take graduate seminars in a variety of topics related to theater. However, MFA and BFA students study and work together in studio classes (voice, movement, scene study, Alexander Technique, etc.) and on projects. Our acting program is unique in this, and our students express that this diversity of perspective and experience is one of the program’s great strengths.
Whether you apply for a BFA or MFA is completely dependent on whether or not you have a bachelor’s degree already:
- The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is for students who have not previously completed a four-year degree.
- The Master of Fine Arts degree is for students who will have earned a four-year degree prior to enrolling at Juilliard.
Each entering class of 18 is composed of 8 to 10 BFA and 8 to 10 MFA students. Some BFA students are right out of high school. However, in any given year, we might have BFA students in their 30s and MFA students who are 22 and right out of college.
What level of experience do you expect from applicants?
Students enter Juilliard from a variety of backgrounds. Some have gone to performing arts schools or majored in acting or theater; others come from a more general secondary or liberal arts education. Some are relatively new to the craft of acting. Many have been working in the profession and decide to return to school for further training.
What can I do to prepare?
We recognize that not all communities offer the same opportunities for an actor. However, we encourage you to engage with the arts in whatever ways you can. Auditioning for and acting in productions at school or in local theaters, whether community or professional, is, of course, great experience. Visiting art galleries or going to concerts, seeking out opportunities in movement or singing, can also be wonderfully enriching. But perhaps the most valuable preparation for an actor seeking to enter our program is to read plays and novels for pleasure. Read voraciously, read deeply. Develop your capacity to enter the imaginative world of a work of literature for a sustained period of time with undivided attention.
Does Juilliard teach a specific acting technique such as Meisner or Strasberg?
To prepare our students for the many different types of work they will encounter in the field, we provide them with a variety of approaches to character and material, including vocal and physical techniques for transformation. In our scene study studios, along with grounding the work in the play’s given circumstances and finding personal connection, we focus on actors receiving from and affecting their scene partner(s) as they pursue their character’s need. Although much of this work is drawn from tenets articulated by Constantin Stanislavski, our faculty passes on to students what they have synthesized from their own studies. We do not teach particular acting methods drawn from Stanislavski, such as Meisner or Strasberg, per se.
I am interested in musical theater. Does Juilliard offer a major for this?
While the acting program is not specifically focused on musical theater, it provides two years of singing training beginning in the second year and also numerous courses in dance and movement as part of the physical acting curriculum. Many of our productions provide opportunities for singing and movement. In addition, in the third year, all actors perform in an evening of songs and musical numbers in our annual cabaret. Certainly, many of our graduates have made a substantial impact professionally in the field of musical theater.
If you are more interested in classical vocal training, we encourage you to consider at the Vocal Arts program at Juilliard.
Am I able to take classes in more than one division?
The Drama Division’s program is extremely rigorous, with classes and rehearsals from early morning to later evening. Due to the structure of the schedule, it is not possible for students to take classes in more than one division. There will, however, be multiple opportunities during your time here to exercise your abilities in dance or music, including playing instruments.
You will also engage in interdisciplinary collaboration with students from the dance and music divisions and interface with their stellar faculty.
Do you accept transfer students?
We do accept quite a few students who have studied elsewhere for a period of time; however, they enter Juilliard as first-year students and complete the full four-year program, beginning in the fall. We do not admit students in the spring.
Do you allow applicants who were not offered admission on their first attempt to reapply?
Yes. We welcome re-applicants and quite often have students come into the program after a second—or third!—audition. A further year or so of training and experience can make a difference.
How many times may I apply?
The maximum number of application attempts is four. For example, an actor could apply twice as a BFA applicant and then return after completing an undergraduate degree to apply twice as an MFA applicant.
What is a day in the life of an acting student like at Juilliard?
See our Juilliard Drama – A Day in the Life video, featuring Lorenzo Jackson, a member of Group 48.
Monologue FAQs
What pieces should I prepare for my audition?
- Four memorized monologues (two heightened text and two contemporary), each approximately two minutes in length.
- At least one of the heightened text selections must be from a play by William Shakespeare.
- At least one of the heightened text selections must be in verse.
- In addition to Shakespeare, heightened text selections may be drawn from any writers whose text is poetic or elevated.
- Contemporary selections should be from writers working in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Do you have any advice about the audition process and choosing pieces?
We are interested in discovering who you are as an actor. Choose pieces that you love, with characters whose journeys you would like to live in for two minutes and whose stories you want to share with us. Don’t worry about finding a monologue that is rarely done; we want to see what you bring to good writing.
May I choose a character of any gender identification? Yes.
Does Juilliard provide a list of suggested monologues (or a list of monologues to stay away from)?
No. Please choose monologues with which you feel a particular connection, whether they are commonly known or less so. Beware of using monologue books to select your pieces: it is essential that you read the entire plays from which your monologues are selected so that you thoroughly understand the character’s circumstances and to whom they are speaking and why.
May I use source material that is not from a play for my contemporary monologue (e.g., a novel or screenplay)?
In general, the faculty prefer monologues to be selected from published plays. However, if you feel strongly about a particular piece that is not from a play, you may prepare it as long as your other monologues are from plays.
What do you mean by heightened text and the requirement that at least one of the pieces be in verse?
By heightened text, we mean text that has elements, often poetic, that lift it beyond everyday speech. While that could be said of many contemporary plays, we want to see you work on a play for which language is the primary engine of the action and whose stakes require you to actively pursue your character’s need through image-laden text.
We ask that at least one of your heightened text pieces come from a play by Shakespeare and that at least one of them be in verse. (Verse is usually metrical in nature and arranged in lines; prose is arranged in sentences and paragraphs.) You may choose to prepare two pieces by Shakespeare or two pieces in verse. However, if, for example, you choose to do a Shakespeare selection which is in prose, you should prepare a second piece that is in verse either by Shakespeare or another author.
Should I work with a coach?
It is generally a good idea to rehearse your pieces in front of someone, but it’s not necessary to hire a professional coach. In fact, more applicants suffer from over-coaching—presenting a piece as a finished performance with fixed choices rather than as a living engagement with an imaginary partner. We are looking for potential, not polish.
May I use an accent?
If you feel that a piece that you have selected warrants the use of an accent, you are welcome (but not required) to do so.
How strict is the two-minute time limit?
Although we do not use a timer in the audition room, we do ask you to be respectful of the time limit. It’s fine if your monologue is slightly less than or a few seconds more than two minutes. However, doing a too-brief or overlong piece rarely serves you. Please be mindful of the length of your pieces.
Is it okay to trim a monologue to fit the two-minute timeline requirement?
You may do a portion of a monologue to fit within the two-minute limit. If you choose to do internal trims—in other words, cut sentences or phrases from the middle of a passage—be careful to keep the integrity of the playwright’s argument and the character’s emotional journey. It is also permissible to combine a few shorter speeches, essentially skipping over another character’s lines, but again, do so thoughtfully. Remember that the faculty is looking for you to do your pieces in the original context set out by the playwright and will be familiar with most of the plays brought into auditions. It’s usually better to choose a speech that doesn’t require major trimming or splicing so that you don’t distort the action or logic of the text, making it harder to play.
How important is it to select a character who is in my age range?
We are interested in discovering who you are as an actor. You may choose any character with whom you imaginatively connect.
Do I need one comedic and one dramatic monologue?
Not necessarily, although we do ask that the different characters you choose allow you to bring different aspects of yourself to the work and reveal your capacity for transformation.
What furniture will be in the audition room?
In New York, there will be a chair and a wooden cube for your use. In Chicago and San Francisco, there will be two chairs.
What should I wear?
You should wear clothes that allow you freedom of movement for the warm-up. Even if you choose to change into other clothes for your audition itself, you need to be able to move freely. Avoid particularly high heels or heavy boots that might pre-determine your physicality.
May I bring a hand prop?
In most cases, props in auditions do not add to the scene and can be distracting for the actor. However, if you would like, it is fine to use something that you might have with you on a normal day: water bottle, scarf, piece of paper, pencil or pen, cell phone, handbag. These items can also be used to stand in for other objects used by the character. Of course, do not bring weapons of any kind.
May I use the same monologues from my prescreening audition in the in-person audition?
Yes. Applicants who are invited to an in-person audition after passing Zoom prescreening are permitted to use the same monologues—or to change them.
What about the song? How important is it? May I accompany myself on the guitar or other instrument?
We ask that you prepare a part of a song (16 bars—twice the length of “Happy Birthday”) to sing a cappella (unaccompanied). It can truly be ANY song that you would like to sing, in any language, from any genre. If you are asked to sing, it is an opportunity for our faculty to find out information about your vocal range and instrument. A trained singing voice is not required for admission. The important thing is to choose a song you like in which you feel free to release your voice.