<p>Can you clarify - you are able to attend school on the east coast, just can’t afford to travel to many auditions, or are you mostly looking for west coast schools? And where are you with academic stats? That will help us help you find schools where you can get good merit aid.</p>
<p>Many wonderful BFAs are at schools with not very stringent academic admissions requirements. Some are very competitive audition-wise, others not so much.</p>
<p>If you have good to very good academic stats (B+/A- GPA, high 20s ACT, 600s or higher SAT) I would apply to Adelphi. They accept auditions by video and have excellent merit aid. Their BFA is exactly what you describe - conservatory style, with a liberal arts base (meaning you will have solid gen ed distributions, can minor in academic subjects, and theatre classes are heavy on reading and writing). If you are very academically inclined, there is an Honors College with a Great Books focus. My D is currently in the BFA and the Honors College, and considering a minor as well.</p>
<p>Adelphi is on Long Island, in a suburban setting, with a very convenient 40-minute train to Manhattan. My D knows many students there from CA, and many of them got in with a video audition.</p>