My initial thought btw is given the need to eliminate some from visiting - I’d probably cross the WL schools right off UNLESS some of these were programs your child really had heart set on above the rest of the field and they’d like the opportunity to show how much they want that program with a department visit.
Otherwise the opportunity cost of visiting a school they might not be accepted to vs others they’re already in seems too high.
Congratulations!!! 
Exciting times ahead!
So many great options! I’m sure DD will find the perfect one for her. 
As for which to visit, I think @arkham offered up sound advice. You can begin by eliminating the waitlisted schools that are currently equally or less attractive than the schools to which she has already been accepted. Good luck. These are the sort of dilemmas that one can embrace. 
I have freshman at UMinn. Happy to answer any questions if you need details.
Congratulations on all the great options! In terms of trying to pick where to visit, how does your D feel about location and environment of the school? If this is a key point, there are some pretty notable differences among those that aren’t WL options. Point Park and Ball are in cities, with PP having a vertical city campus in the urban center of Pittsburgh, whereas BW is suburban and a short car ride away from a city and Shenandoah is more of a small town feel. Some kids don’t care where they study, they just want good training. If that’s more important, do a blind curriculum comparison to pick the top 3. Also, this might not be an option with FAFSA delays, but are there any that would be a financial stretch that make them unlikely choices or you might want to see to decide if spending more money is worth it? Finally, is cross-over with MT something she wants? If so, I’d scrutinize BW. I think PP and ShenCo are better with this for Acting students. I don’t know where Ball falls.
Hi Julie, Congrats to your daughter on her acceptance. My daughter so far has heard back from most of the schools she auditioned for Acting. She has been accepted at: Pace, Fordham, U of Arts, Shenandoah, Depaul, Point Park, Emerson, and a few others, the only one we are waiting on is Suny Purchase. I think the concern over MT getting preference over Acting is valid and curious to see some of the other responses. It would be great if Acting majors could audition for any and every type of show.
Congratulations to your DD on all of her acceptances!
SUNY Purchase has been very quiet. The Liberal Arts majors are, I believe, decided on a rolling bases; I don’t think they have said much (anything?) about when the rest of the decisions will be released.
In the meantime, have fun considering the options that your daughter has in hand!
They’re all acting and that brings up an interesting point. I know that many of these schools are famous for MT. It’s hard to determine which ones also have a strong acting program. As an actor-singer she also wants to be able to try out for musicals and I’m wondering if this is even a real (emphasis on the “real”) possiblity at some of these schools. She also doesn’t want to be overshadowed by the MT students.
This is really helpful. I did reach out to the admissions counselor with these questions and she didn’t respond. Yes, I did see the class size of 51 which contrasts with all of the other programs which only accept 10-20. I’m wondering how many are design students vs. acting students. We love Cal Arts, but we’re honing in the details now. We’re now getting closer to narrowing down to Cal Arts vs. Emerson. We also love Point Park, Roosevelt, and CCM. Ugh…this is tough.
Although my daughter has so many choice, she did not pass the SUNY Purchase prescreen. Good luck…I hope it works out for you.
Congrats on so many great choices! I completely agree that it’s hard to determine exactly how strong the acting programs are on their own. For example, I’ve heard that CCM has a strong acting program, but their director just retired and you can’t find any plays on their website, only their amazing Broadway level musicals. It just seems like many of the more “musical” conservatories such as Baldwin Wallace, Shenandoah, CCM are focused on the MT students, but I really don’t know. That’s one of the reasons we love CalArts – no MT, but still a very musical place for actor-singers. Which programs are you leaning towards right now?
Thanks so much for this information. Yes, crossover would be important so checking out PP and ShenCo might be worth it. We also like Roosevelt, Emerson, CCM, and Penn State.
Cal Arts checks all the boxes, but of course, it has to be the most expensive. Even though it’s near LA, it’s kind of far in a way in an isolated community in Valencia.
The concern about Emerson is that it’s actually a BFA in Theatre and Performance. Students can’t try out for the Acting BFA until the end of their sophomore year. The school doesn’t release the percentage who get accepted at that point. However, staying in the Theatre & Performance BFA is not such a bad thing because students get exposed to playwriting, directing, etc.
That does make sense, except I’ve heard that if you want to get off the waitlist (which are very short and likely to move), the best way to do this is to visit. I think we’ve decided against the waitlisted schools for the most part although I have heard amazing things about CCM (Cincinnati Conservatory).
Anyway, we decided not to visit over spring break because we already had something else planned. Instead, I think we will go to accepted student days at Cal Arts, Emerson, and Point Park which are in early April. Emerson and Point Park are just one day apart so I think going to both is a possibility. Cal Arts is local for us so it’s easy.
Fantastic! Does your daughter have a preference? What are your thoughts on Cal Arts and Point Park?
Where did you find the average class size? Do you have a student there? If so, what are your thoughts on the school? How does the film and tv industry perceive CalArts? I always think of it as famous for animation and Disney/Pixar films, but I never hear about the acting side of things.
We are getting closer to narrowing it down to CalArts vs. Emerson. We love CalArts because my DD wants to go into film and TV acting and she composes music, sings, writes musicals, etc. I guess you would say that she is a multifaceted artist. However, we have friends who are pushing us more towards Emerson. I’ve heard that they are more well-respected, have better senior showcases and network opportunities, etc. It’s so confusing!
Thanks! GS was accepted at CMU, and I think that program is currently top of his list (he likes that their Vocal Performance major includes 4 semesters of acting and 4 semesters of dance). Of course, as CMU does not award merit scholarships, he’ll need to wait to see what sort of financial package he is offered before finalizing a decision. 
Congrats!
That’s amazing! Congrats!
My understanding is CCM has a little bit of cross-over with sharing the same acting teacher and dance classes. Shows tend to be separate but that’s evolving a bit. Apparently there is some with Roosevelt and Emerson and Penn State, too. I get the concern about Emerson. My D - who is acting all the way - didn’t apply there in the last cycle, but BU, which was on her list, runs its program in a similar way and that didn’t bother her so much, partly because she has interest in those other areas. Plus, you know, kids evolve. My understanding is staying in T&P at Emerson allows you to study abroad, if that’s a factor.
No, no student there (yet ha). I recently was accepted into the Acting program. I was going off one of their information booklets I received at my callback. I did mix up the class sizes with the student to faculty ratio (7:1). 92.8% of classes are 2-20 students (this number excludes individual lessons/independent studies), and 7.2% of classes are 20 or more students.
I think both schools are phenomenal options for your DD. Emerson does have a incredible MT program which CalArts does not have. While CalArts does have a renowned music department with vocal performance majors, there wasn’t really any “musical theatre” emphasis from what I deduced from CalArts.
I love that your daughter is aware of her multihyphenate abilities as an artist-- I feel the same way! While I can’t speak to Emerson, CalArts is known for their “experimental” style which they touch on in my info session at my callback. They want their students to approach their art in a experimental way: not doing weird stuff just to do weird stuff, but to ask a question/form a hypothesis. Maybe it fails, maybe it succeeds. But the process is just as important as the final product. There were additional opportunities for students to present their own written work/music at student run productions that pop up on campus. Lots of ways to engage your art outside of your typical classroom setting.
I think D would find lots of film/TV opportunity within CalArts and the SoCal area. The film school at CalArts is fantastic and their character animation is one of the top in the country. If DD has ever considered voice-over work or dabbling in animation… No better place 
CalArts 2024 Actors Showcase is also live and you can take a peek at their graduating class. I love seeing what previous works CalArts did in the four years, as well as additional film credits students got prior to graduating. See if Emerson has a similar public showcase webpage you can view. (just a note that there are also MFA students in the graduating class showcase)
https://www.calartsshowcase2024.com/
