School Notes: David Geffen School of Drama
January/February 2020

Three departments drop GRE test requirement

Yale School of Drama’s Departments of Stage Management, Technical Design & Production, and Theater Management have eliminated the GRE requirement for prospective applicants, effective immediately for the class admitted for Fall 2020 enrollment. 

Department chairs Narda Alcorn ’95MFA, stage management; Shaminda Amarakoon ’12MFA, technical design & production; and Joan Channick ’89MFA, theater management, each cited similar reasons for eliminating the test as a requirement of their individual application processes. James Bundy ’95MFA, dean of Yale School of Drama, noted: “It has become clear that the GRE is not only an unreliable indicator of potential success in these disciplines of our art form, but also an unnecessary barrier for potential candidates who decide not to apply to Yale School of Drama. We are confident that the school will be a more effective and inclusive conservatory to the extent that we can reduce unconscious bias, unhelpful stressors, and burdensome costs in our application processes. As we dedicate ourselves to advancing leaders who will raise the standards of global theater practice, we see this change as an opportunity to improve our own work.”