glassharmonica

I had the same question-- are lbligh and prodesse the same person? Consider Temple University in Philadelphia as a non-auditioned acting safety. They do have an auditioned MT program. I think you could apply as an acting major and also audition for MT. As a state school, their tuition will be lower, even for out-of-state students. And if your son has high scores, as you say, he will get an automatic tuition discount. Temple's program is pretty good. That was my daughter's non-auditioned safety last year and it remained high on her list through April, even with acceptances to auditioned programs and programs that were much more competitive academically.

Also-- Temple's Esther Boyer School will have a great voice faculty so he can continue to study singing.

prodesse

Sorry I temporarily suffered from Internet Multiple Personality Disorder. I was using my Kindle and did not realize it was logged in as a username I thought I had deleted.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody.

stagemum

lbligh/prodesse - It's often difficult to know what parents and students on these threads mean when they say their scores and grades are good or bad. I know my son had poor grades (bad) at a respected private school (good), with respectable test scores, and one out-of-the-park Critical Reading result. If your son is in a similar range, I would suggest applying to some state schools (are you VA residents?) with rolling admissions; some will accept a student for the BA program as an option, even if the auditioned BFA is much more selective. In NJ, for instance, students can apply for up to three divisions of Rutgers for a single application fee. Mason Gross required an additional audition, and my son was not accepted, but he was accepted into the College of Arts & Sciences. I will presume that your son falls well within the range academically for the Virginia state colleges you mentioned. Temple is pretty competitive academically, and so you should check Naviance or another source to see whether your son aligns with their academic demands. They do not consider talent in admissions for prospective theater majors, unless they have changed policies recently. You might also consider Rider College. They are trying to upgrade their performing arts, and have introduced a musical theater program in association with the Westminster Choir School. They also offer a talent scholarship. DePaul does not have a Musical Theater major, but they stage musicals regularly. They are highly selective in terms of talent, but not as much academically. You could also check out Columbia College Chicago as a "safe" school, and CCPA/Roosevelt, if you visit Chicago. We were not particularly impressed with CCPA for Acting, but thought that it was very strong for music.

glassharmonica

Agree with much of what Stagemum writes, but one correction: Temple is not especially competitive academically. They accept over 60% of applications and their ACT average is 21-26. If your son scored well on standardized tests, as you say he did, he should get a merit scholarship. There are additional theater scholarships. The reason qualified students are rejected from Temple is that they have rolling admissions. My daughter sent her application in at the beginning of the season and received an immediate acceptance plus merit aid. I know well-qualified students who waited and were not accepted.

stagemum

Thank you for correcting me, glassharmonica - I guess I accepted Temple's own statistics when we visited. They indicated that the GPA average was somewhere around 3.5. I also inferred that it was more selective for out-of-state applicants. Maybe my son should have applied, after all.