How to Apply

Applications open October 1st for admission for the following September.

Apply early. Once you apply to the UofA you can then apply for Housing (residence fills up every year - and fills up fast!) as well as for Scholarships and Financial Aid.

Entrance to this program is competitive with a maximum of 6 spots in each incoming class. You must meet both Academic and Artistic requirements based on an interview and a review of additional materials.

Interviews will be scheduled once your additional materials have been reviewed and will start as early as February 15th. Interviews will be conducted in person (if you live in the Edmonton area) or over the phone/online. You must have a successful interview AND meet the academic requirements to be offered a spot in the program.

How to Apply

  1. To apply to this program, go to: uab.ca/apply
  2. Choose BFA in Drama (Production) and select which route you are interested in:
    • Design
    • Stage Management
    • Technical Production
  3. Follow the procedures as outlined in the application process

Additional materials to accompany application

All additional materials will be uploaded via your launchpad account, as part of your online application. Follow the procedures during the application process in order to upload materials.

Letter of Intent

Please address your letter to: Coordinator, BFA Production Program.

Your letter should be about a page and indicate why you want to enter the BFA Production Program. Include information about your previous theatre experience and/or a key experience as a member of the production team (can include courses, projects or plays).

Theatre Resume

Please include your preferred name, contact information, and completed education.

List your theatre experience (include: name of production/play, director, role in the production, and where it was presented), followed by any courses or training you have taken (at school or in the community). Then you may also list any "special skills" that relate to performance of any kind.

3 Letters of Recommendation
Portfolio (only if selecting the Design route)

Please submit your digital portfolio in support of your application via your launchpad account. After reviewing the information below, you are welcome to contact Professor Guido Tondino (gtondino@ualberta.ca) with questions about your portfolio. 

Please include any form of visual art you have done either in high school or on your own. This can include sculpture, costumes or clothes you have built, photography, drawings, et cetera. Perhaps the most important element is a few simple examples of freehand drawings. If you don't have any, do approximately 5 examples using a soft pencil on paper of simple objects eg. Keys, door knobs, a towel, bottle, pot etc.

For all work, you must include all relevant information such as titles, dates, dimensions or duration, media and any other information needed to help us understand and assess your work.

For any collaborations, digital painting, procreate files, renderings, etc., you must provide any context necessary for us to understand exactly what role you played in creating the workFor instance, please differentiate between things like:

  • "image created entirely by me using (example program)"
  • "original image or photo by me, manipulated using (example program)"
  • "photo from (specify other source), manipulated using (example program)"

For some larger projects it may also make sense to tell us the narrative of a project, for example from sketches to concepts to final product. Some projects may also require numerous images to help convey it, for example larger, 3D pieces. 

If you are uploading a single pdf that contains your whole portfolio, it is important that you not crowd your pdf pages with many small images as the media viewer we use does not allow us to zoom in. Letter-size layout is preferable to legal or tabloid for optimal viewing. 

If you are uploading separate images or videos, after you upload your files, you must click "Edit details" on each image/file to provide the title, date, media and dimension information for your work, and the info requested above.

High School Academic Admission Requirements

You will require at least a 70% average on 5 eligible high school subjects as follows:

  • English 30-1
  • Four other eligible 30 level subjects
  • Of these four subjects, a maximum of one eligible 30-level Fine Arts course may be used
  • Of these five classes, no mark can be below 50%
  • Your admission average will automatically be calculated on the 5 highest grades that meet these requirements

Examples of classes used for admission: Biology 30, Chemistry 30, Physics 30, Science 30, Mathematics 31, Mathematics 30-1 or 30-2, Computing Science ADV (CTS - 5 credits), Social Studies 30-1, 30-level language other than English.