<p>Can I be on the Deans List as Theatre major? Also is is harder to make the deans list as a theatre major?</p>
<p>Okay- I’m gonna brag right now. The answer is YES! My son was on the Dean’s list at NYU this past fall and he’s a BFA Acting student. The difference, however, is at NYU- Dean’s list is a 3.7! He made all A’s that semester but his GPA was a 3.88. An A counts for 4 points but and A- is 3.7, a B+ is a 3.2, I believe, a B is a 3.0, and a B- is a 2.7. So, in 3 reporting periods, he has only made 2 B+'s and the rest were all A’s and A-'s and his GPA is a 3.688 overall. Thanks for indulging me, it’s just that it’s easier to explain using that example and of course, I’m also very proud. He also told me in the first week of school, the class was told that if you’re here to make an A, you’re in the wrong place- meaning don’t obsess over your grades- you’re here to learn. My son does obsess a bit but he works really hard too.</p>
<p>I answered this on the MT forum but will repeat myself:</p>
<p>Northwestern does have a higher GPA required for Theatre majors to make Dean’s List. I forget the exact number but it is somewhat higher.</p>
<p>At Boston University they require a 3.5 average, with no incompletes, and a theatre student can definitely be on it.</p>
<p>At Fordham I think it is a 3.6 but that is for the academic year, they don’t do it by semester the way a lot of other schools do. Happy to report that my S made it freshman year but won’t find out if he made it this year until grades are in. Dean’s list honors are awarded in the fall. Fordham is a BA program and only the Fine Arts core class is waived for Theatre majors so there are no restrictions to making the Dean’s list…if you get the grades you get the award</p>
<p>I’m curious why this question is being asked. What reward or benefit are people expecting from being on the Dean’s list?</p>
<p>I write as someone who indeed has made Dean’s List and Honor Roll, and who recieved his theatre degree “With Honors”.</p>
<p>The only real relevance I have seen with that is that now that I am thinking about getting a graduate degree in theatre, the fact that my B.A. in theatre was “With Honors” does look good on my application. Other than that, I can’t think of any particular benefit to Dean’s List or Honor Roll. But maybe there’s something I have forgotten, or don’t know about.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>Truth - there is no significance to grade in college unless you are going to graduate school within five years of completing your undergraduate degree. No CD asks what your GPA was nor does any employer I’ve ever known - and I used to be a placement counselor.</p>
<p>Sometimes a minimum GPA is required to keep your merit money but once you’re out, no one cares.</p>
<p>At Ball State, being on the Dean’s list is a big deal. Academics is not only pushed in our theatre courses, but also a huge deal with the university as a whole. Good grades = bigger and more abundant scholarships. $-D</p>
<p>And sometimes, it is nice to just challenge yourself, even if there is no “real benefit” to doing so.</p>
<p>Agreed that GPA, Dean’s List, and graduating with honors or grades in general do not matter in college in the scheme of things if not going onto graduate school. My BFA kid has no plans to ever go to grad school. Still, by her sheer nature as a learner, she prefers to challenge herself and has high standards for herself to do the best she can do. We put NO emphasis on grades and didn’t really care her grades in college but still, it is a nice achievement to graduate with Honors just for one’s own self, not for any other great benefit. I don’t think it is about grades as much as doing the best you can do and getting the most out of one’s education. (I’m not sure why the question is being asked either though).</p>
<p>PS: I forgot one thing in my D’s case, though this was not truly her motivation to do well in college…but she entered her college as one of a very few select Tisch Scholars, which was a special program that no longer exists. To remain a Tisch Scholar (this has nothing to do with money/scholarships) and to take advantage of what that offered, she did have to maintain a certain GPA. But she would have gotten that GPA with or without Tisch Scholars.</p>
<p>Just as kylerkays said, Ball State University theatre majors DEFINITELY are on the dean’s list! There are also MANY theatre majors here in the Honors College!</p>
<p>Dean’s list grades will have different values to different people. I personally do not think they are unimportant although I still think it is possible to achieve great things without them. But continuing to achieve Dean’s list means you ultimately graduate with honors and that does look very nice on a resume!</p>
<p>Plus, and this may well be more important to me, my S’s Dean’s list grades tell me he is working very hard at Fordham and making the most of every opportunity he has been given. And that makes that very large monthly payment that is deducted from my bank account just a little easier to swallow!</p>
<p>Just remember that when someone like me holds auditions for a play (and other directors have told me the same thing) we pay most of our attention to the audition, and only give a quick glance at the resume.</p>
<p>It’s only now that I am thinking about going to graduate school in theatre that I am realizing that the fact that I graduated “with honors” is going to greatly improve my chances of getting into a program I want.</p>
<p>What I am saying is that resumes are not as important in the entertainment field, and they even seem to be becoming less important in other fields as well with the rise of the Internet. Some people predict that soon we will see the disappearance of the resume.</p>
<p>I really believe that people should only go to college if they are focused on using college to achieve their life goals. I am having a hard time thinking of a life goal that would require someone to be on the Dean’s List. I don’t think Dean’s List is worth worrying about, and may instead be a distraction to achieving what you really want to achieve.</p>
<p>It’s true it doesn’t matter in terms of a performer’s resume or audition. My theater kid who is out of college, doesn’t even have on her theater resume that she graduated with Honors or that she also was named a Tisch Scholar (that is something else). She doesn’t even have any other significant awards on that resume either, even though she has won a few national awards in the field. Her theater resume is geared toward credits and training.</p>
<p>My other kid who is in a different field, and also went onto graduate school, does list awards on her resume.</p>
<p>Soozie: do you know if the Studio grades at Tisch count in the GPA for Honors? Right now, I think the studio grade is included, but it’s frustrating because they just give B / B+ to everyone as a matter of practice, which makes it hard when the academic GPA is at the Honors Level…</p>
<p>Well, I wasn’t really looking to stir the pot here! I just wanted to point out that the question about Dean’s List grades and whether they matter or not is not a one size fits all answer! Clearly they matter to some such as the OP who asked the original question and some others (myself included) but not to everyone.</p>
<p>I am actually quite well versed in the business and the importance of the audition as well as what someone might or might not want on their performance resume as my S was a professional child actor in the NYC market from age 10-16. And still, as I said before, I am happy with my S’s achievement as is he! :)</p>
<p>Achievements matter. And the characteristics of a kid who is driven to achieve in any area will translate into long-term success. It may not matter at every audition, but in the long run every audition won’t matter much either.</p>
<p>SDonCC…yes, at NYU/Tisch, studio grades factor in with all the academic classes for the GPA. I know they grade pretty hard. </p>
<p>sandkmom, OH, I am with YOU on this for sure. I was just saying that on a theater resume or at an audition, GPA, Honors, or Dean’s List are not too significant. However, I think it is very important to do your very best in school as it pays off in all sorts of ways. Both my kids are high achievers and would get good grades whether it mattered or not to others. They are into doing their best. My BFA kid did graduate with Honors from NYU. And yes, if we are gonna pay all this money for college and grad school (one of my kids is in grad school), I feel better knowing my kids are making the most of the education and opportunities and so it is well worth it. Perhaps if they were slackers, I would feel differently.</p>
<p>I agree with Flossy that the traits of someone who achieves good grades will be handy in long term success. It is not so much that the grades themselves matter as that motivated learner and achiever types tend to be successful in life.</p>
<p>I’ve been on it every semester at USC, where the cutoff is 3.5 in the School of Theatre, and I’ve been in an average of 18 units a semester (5-7 classes).</p>
<p>^^^Congrats!!! That’s great!!! :)</p>