<p>We need a safety school and are looking at CPP. Does anyone have any info on their theater program? Also would love some info on Occidental. Thanks
p.s. I am new to this site and apologize if these questions have already been asked. I have hunted around the site for info and can only find sporadic info</p>
<p>@bisouu… My S visited Oxy… he LOVED it. They have a great theater program with ties to all that LA has to offer. Look at their website, they have a theater open house/weekend in December, where you can visit, sit in on classes, see some shows, and interview and audition( for scholarship, not to get in). I think my S is going to do it since we are so close. DePaul University in Chicago also has this type of thing. I really like the idea because they get to audition in a fun and relaxed way. I would highly recommend Oxy as a non-auditioned theater program. Stunning campus, and energized student body.</p>
<p>Occidental seems very difficult to get into academically. So that may not be a good safety school. My D has 4.3 GPA but only an 1880 on SAT’s…this may be a longshot</p>
<p>Cal Poly Pomona, in my opinion, will not give the quality theatre training your child wants. You may need to decide whether your child would be willing to take a gap year, or would rather go to a school with lesser quality if she does not get into her top choices. </p>
<p>I think she should get into Oxy with those stats, but she may want to try retaking her SATs if she has time. SAT scores often go up after multiple tries.</p>
<p>Aspiring She has taken them twice and they went up from 1740 to 1880…I may have her take them again. But that was after taking a prep class. Not sure they would go up much more. The reason we chose CPP as our safe school was the theater classes they offered. They looked extensive and varied.</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount in LA may be a perfect safety school for your daughter. The link to the classes does not work but if you click around on the site you can find a school wide course catalogue. I noticed that LMU has more acting technique based training then
Oxy. Another plus is that LMU has a very well regarded film school that has to be a bonus for motivated theater majors. </p>
<p>[Theatre</a> Arts](<a href=“http://cfa.lmu.edu/programs/theatrearts/]Theatre”>Theatre Arts - Loyola Marymount University)</p>
<p>But LMU is an audition school so I didn’t think we should consider it a safety school. Am I correct in thinking this way?</p>
<p>LMU just asks you to submit an audition video. That in itself may make it harder. Not much is said about the school on CC. From what I uncovered on their site after looking long and hard seems to make it a great middle ground school that I would think would be not as hard for admittance as many of the schools talked about on this site. If the school seems like a fit for your daughter maybe go take a look and show it some love.</p>
<p>Doublecheck the details on the “just a video” request. At my D’s school, a video audition is just the same as an in-person audition, and the chances are just as low as any other audition - less than 20%. There are “slightly less selective” audition schools, but very few have more than a 25% acceptance rate if it’s a true audition, not just a screening video.</p>
<p>Occidental looks like a good fit and it’s non audition. They have an exchange program with a drama school in London that my daughter would just love. We are going to visit and sit in on some classes.</p>
<p>Bisouu take a look at the acting classes at Oxy. After careful review of the course descriptions my son felt that Oxy was more geared to theory and learning via performance rather then technique. Is that what she wants?</p>
<p>Are there BA non audition program that focus on performance? It seems that the audition in BA/BFA are the only ones that focus on that. I will find out more when we visit. They have several productions throughout the year so she would have an opportunity to perform throughout the year if she is cast. Pomona College has the most extensive list of courses I have ever seen but you have to be a genius to get in there! Minimum SAT is 2100!</p>
<p>I think this is a place to start looking at what your D will learn at Oxy. Notice that it says Theory, Production and Performance</p>
<p>[Theater</a> | Occidental College | The Liberal Arts College in Los Angeles](<a href=“http://www.oxy.edu/theater]Theater”>Theater & Performance Studies)</p>
<p>Look at the classes
[Courses</a> | Occidental College | The Liberal Arts College in Los Angeles](<a href=“http://www.oxy.edu/theater/courses]Courses”>http://www.oxy.edu/theater/courses)</p>
<p>Now in contrast look at a similar LAC school Skidmore college that also is non audition. The theater departments web page paints a different picture of learning… that reads.</p>
<p>Courses within the department afford training in the basic demands of the discipline — physical and vocal control, technique in acting and directing, technical and design skills — as well as the opportunity for advanced study, practical production experience, study abroad, and off-campus internships. </p>
<p>[Skidmore</a> College: Theater Department](<a href=“http://cms.skidmore.edu/theater/]Skidmore”>http://cms.skidmore.edu/theater/)</p>
<p>The classes </p>
<p>[Skidmore</a> College: Courses](<a href=“http://cms.skidmore.edu/theater/courses/index.cfm]Skidmore”>http://cms.skidmore.edu/theater/courses/index.cfm)</p>
<p>Thank you @shacherry you made it very easy for me to navigate. I went to both sites and I counted Oxy’s performance based classes and I think I counted 20 if I am reading the descriptions correctly. For reasons I won’t go into my D has decided to only look into California colleges.</p>
<p>One BA non-audition program that focuses on performance is Columbia College Chicago. They have an open admissions policy that pretty much means they can be the “safety” school for just about anyone.</p>
<p>Bissau, I am looking for the same kind of information for my d and will share what I find. She needs non audition safety schools too.</p>
<p>Esarafish are you looking only in CA for your non audition safety? If not URI could be it.</p>
<p>[Theatre</a> Department - University of Rhode Island](<a href=“3 Young People to Watch in Theater This Spring - The New York Times”>http://www.uri.edu/artsci/the/)</p>
<p>And also The University of Montana </p>
<p>[BFA</a> in Acting | School of Theatre & Dance](<a href=“Home”>Home)</p>
<p>My son2 looked closely at Oxy 2 years ago (he was looking for backup for Theatre Scenic Design) and found a lot to like there. Here are some pluses and minuses from his pov:</p>
<p>On the Plus side:</p>
<p>+Very caring, nurturing professional faculty. Since many professors/instructors have worked in television/film and theatre and have current theatre credits, there were clear opportunities for summer work for him. The profs he met took him on a personal tour and were very encouraging.</p>
<p>+Gorgeous campus, impressive new black box theatre, $ spent on productions. If your student is sensitive to an idyllic traditional-style LAC campus, amazing food (!), fabulous SoCal weather.</p>
<p>+Proximity to the entertainment industry, which allows for internships, great city restaurants, lots to do off-campus.</p>
<p>+On campus tour, we got the vibe that these students were warm and friendly.</p>
<p>+The school talked about funding pretty much any creative/educational research a student could come up with. Studying ancient Chinese costumes? They’d send you to China. Also, like many LACs, they tout lots of study abroad opportunities.</p>
<p>+They do offer a bit of merit $$ to top candidates. S2 did not get offered any, however.</p>
<p>On the Minus side:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>It’s located in near a working-classish suburb. A few student-friendly and cool spots to eat. Not much cool shopping. Public trans not great at all. A car would be needed to do internships, go to the beach, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Small may be good for some, but could feel a little claustrophobic to others. Similar to all small LACs in remote-ish areas. My son likes this cozy feel, but also craves a lot of action, new faces, etc.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>-Please check–but I seem to recall they had a significant foreign language req in their core curriculum GEs. Maybe? For my S2, that was not a plus. Take a look at all req’d classes to see if the academic core fits well.</p>
<p>Other info:</p>
<p>… Oxy has a visit day for those interested in majoring in theatre, with a campus and department tour geared to actors and tickets to see one of their plays. </p>
<p>… Oxy has a good reputation as a fine academic college, but not much of a rep in theatre. Just not on the performing arts mainstream radar. But the program is of very high quality.</p>
<p>My d is looking all over the us so I will definitely encourage her to check out your recommendations, thank you.</p>
<p>Thank you madbean… I often wonder if schools have great programs but just not on the radar for whatever reason. This is one of our backup schools if she has the stats to get in… that’s what makes some of these backup choices so hard. Often there are no auditions, but the STAT requirements as tough as the auditions.</p>