Students are admitted to all undergraduate programs at the Conservatory through an audition. In granting admission, the faculty signals its belief in the potential of an individual to reach ,through training, a significant pre-professional level of excellence in his/her field or instrument. During the first few semesters of study, students confront enriching training experiences designed and led by the faculty to provoke and nurture artistic and technical growth and development. These experiences are organized into courses for which students are assigned grades based on the quality of effort, on the process, as well as on the developing product of work. The Conservatory's expectation is that all students will engage in this work with energy, commitment, and self-discipline.

After those first semesters, the faculty takes a deeper look at the growth and development of individual students through a promotional jury and/or examination process, asking and answering a fundamental question: is this student manifesting the kind of growth which promises that he/she will attain the significant pre-professional level of excellence which is the goal of all conservatory programs? Some students, even though they have confronted the training curriculum with dedication and discipline, may not show promise of meeting this standard and will be dismissed for artistic reasons.

A Conservatory, which invites students to devote four years of their educational lives to intensive focus on training in the arts, has a particular obligation to consider thoughtfully the wisdom of an individual student remaining in a program. The Boston Conservatory feels that obligation deeply for two key reasons: 1) it may not be in the best interest of a student to continue to invest in the demands of training work if sufficient progress toward a clear, pre-professional goal is not being demonstrated; and 2) quality performing arts training programs must insure a uniform level of excellence in studio classroom and ensemble activities.

This is why we have a process for defining a moment in a student's career called promotion. Students in Dance, Music, and Theater are given two years at The Boston Conservatory before they face the possibility of dismissal for artistic reasons (as opposed to academic ones). The specific procedures defining the promotion process are described in detail below.

Theater Division Policies and Procedures
Students who enter The Boston Conservatory as freshmen are candidates for promotion at the end of the third semester in the program. Those who enter as transfer students and who are enrolled in second year Musical Theater, Acting and Speech training work in their first year in the program become candidates for promotion at the end of their first semester in the program.

A committee of Theater Division faculty comprising representatives from all areas will evaluate candidates for promotion formally. The Director of the Division facilitates the committee's work and moderates its discussions. Students will be asked to present material (songs, scenes, etc.) to the faculty committee so that all members have a common experience of a student's work. However, the committee's discussion of candidates will be based both on the work shared and on the totality of a student's experiences at The Boston Conservatory. The committee will also have access to each candidate's transcript, as well as input from Applied Voice faculty, directors, etc. The committee's recommendations go to the full Theater Division faculty for consideration.

Promotion to the third year of training work in Musical Theater is based primarily on a student's growing potential in Musical Theater performance and Acting. However, significant dance skill and further potential for growth will factor positively into a promotion decision.

After a thorough discussion of all candidates for promotion, the faculty will recommend one of two actions to the Dean of the Conservatory: 1) promotion to the third year of study, or 2) a probationary semester. At the end of the spring semester, this process repeats itself for those students who were given a probationary semester in the program.

Students recommended for artistic dismissal may appeal that decision directly to the Dean of the Conservatory. He/she will act on the appeal by polling the faculty individually and as a group to be certain that the decision to dismiss any single student was a fair one given the totality of that student's work in the program.

Students awarded promotion will then complete their program in two additional years of study. They will not face any further formal evaluation of artistic achievement; however, they must complete all required courses and credits successfully to earn the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.