My rising 8th grader already has her eye on the prize—an elite college (Ivy+) with a top drama program and a top business school, where she can dual major in drama and business. Greek life, a pretty campus and a rah rah environment are all pluses.
What are some elite colleges where a dual major in drama and business is possible? And what’s a good high school roadmap so she can craft the best narrative and be best positioned for a positive acceptance outcome when she applies to college 4 years from now.
The best gift you can give your child is to make sure they understand that elite university admission is extremely unpredictable and should not be looked at as a prize. Doing well in HS, being involved in things they truly enjoy, and being a good human being will mean they have the building blocks for success regardless of where they go to college later.
If they really want to major in drama, it will be even more unpredictable with auditions.
Don’t put that kind of pressure on them or yourselves by worrying about this now. It’s way too early.
In 8th grade, my daughter still was considering conservatory. She’s a chemical engineer now.
Your child should make sure they work with their HS guidance counselor to have four years of core classes - English, math, science( bio, chem, physics, and one at the AP level), history and foreign language. And if CA schools are on the list, a year of fine arts.
When it’s time, prep for standardized tests.
Make sure you as parents are realistic about the financial side of the equation and know your college budget.
It’s way too early for this question. Given the current uncertainty about higher ed, who even knows if a school known for the two things she seeks right now will offer both of,those things in 5 years.
Your child is 12, maybe 13? Her interests will almost certainly change by then. I suggest letting her pursue what she enjoys right now and not think about what colleges to apply to. Let her have fun. Childhood is precious and fleeting.
Edit: The prize is going to college. It doesn’t have to be elite. She can achieve her goals by attending most colleges if she works hard and is proactive with opportunities.
First thing that springs to mind with top drama and business is NYU. Of course that’s not an ivy - but still has a single digit admit rate now. So just some context for competitiveness.
Agree with comments above. By all means follow the most rigorous program at school and have a well-rounded list of ECs, but also make sure your kid isn’t one of those who’s burnt out by the end of high school chasing ivy dreams. And have a good list of targets and safeties when you do eventually make a college list.
You as the parent may want to spend a year or two familiarizing yourself with what you mean by “Ivy+”. There are plenty of places where someone might get a good grasp of management and theater arts in the form of joint programs, but my sense is the further up the food chain you go, the more difficult it gets. Most members of the Ivy League separate their business schools from the rest of its undergraduate colleges. Where they combine programs are often at the graduate school level like this program at Yale: Plan of Study - David Geffen School of Drama at Yale).
Other Ivies, like Columbia, may offer access to some Business School courses, but you may have to thread the needle between them and whatever your underlying major is:
And even at Wharton (which has an undergraduate component) the number of joint degree programs are slim:
TBH, it might be worth your while to take a look at Washington and Lee where half the students are enrolled in its undergraduate business school:
Rising 8th grader?? SOOOOO much can change between now and college application time. Please encourage her do do what she enjoys with her extracurricular and keep up her grades in the most challenging courses she can take.
Once your child has a junior year mid year GPA, and an SAT or ACT score, it will be easier to help with elite schools…which are highly rejective. Add in an auditioned drama focus, and this could be challenging, and acceptance very unpredictable.
Please encourage your 8th grader to be the best she can be NOW. That will help her when it does become time to choose colleges for applications.
And free advice…when that time comes, she needs to find an affordable, sure thing for admission that she likes first. That is the single most important college on any application list.
ETA…a school like NYU has strong drama and business, but I dont believe you can double major in them, and admission to Tisch for the drama part is highly competitive and audition based.
A few comments:
–It is WAY too rarly to think about colleges.
–Drama and business would be a nearly impossible double major.
–Elite colleges have exceedingly low admission rates (some in the low single digits). Do not get fixated on these schools when there are tons of amazing choices.
–When the time comes, consider affordability as art of the equation
Interesting suggestion, but I think it’s a bit early to suggest any school to an 8th grader! But since I am a W&L fan, the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics provides an interdisciplinary approach to business education within a larger liberal arts curriculum, which may be of interest for someone pursuing both business and the arts. When the time comes, I suggest sourcing more current information on the school’s official website rather than an article created for a journalism project in 2019.
But I digress. This is an 8th grader with so much to explore through her high school years before college is a serious consideration. OP - I commend your student for looking ahead but hope they do not allow that to be the sole driver for their high school pursuits. If they dive into their interests, the commitment and perhaps leadership will shine in their college applications.
If she is really committed, you could casually visit a few college campuses over the next few years if you happen to be in the area so she can get a feel for large, medium, small campuses and see what resonates. And one thing I always suggest for the high school years… learning self-advocation. Allow your D to take the primary role in communications with teachers and EC advisers so they have that confidence when it is time to go away for college.
I was thinking of this, but it’s film and tv rather than drama per se. It’s also secondary admission once you’re already in NYU so not assured even if you make the cut into either Stern (<5% admit rate) or Tisch (portfolio required) as a freshman.
I am sorry, but admissions to an “elite” school is not a “prize”. A common end result of this type of thinking is a thread on CC starting with a post along the lines of “My Kid Was Rejected From All The Elite Colleges They Applied To”, with a long post about how devastated they are, how the admissions process is unfair, and how the Poor Kid’s Life Is Ruined.
In four years, your kid may, or may not, have been accepted to a college that you deem to be “elite”, but most likely not. However, they will almost certainly have spent 4 years in high school.
Are you willing to live with the almost certainty that your kid will be stressed out, unhappy, engaged in activities that they don’t especially enjoy for four years, for the small chance that they will be accepted to a “prestigious” college? Moreover, there is absolutely no reason to assume that your kid will enjoy that college, since the major criterion that you are focusing on is how popular that colleges is with subset of the population.
Even if they are accepted to their (or your) “dream college”, and even if they enjoy their time there, why do you believe that their four years of college are more important than their four years of high school?
Let us also compare the dangers. The potential effects of stress and anxiety in high schools students who are under pressure to perform and achieve in high school can be serious and long term physical and mental health issues, in some cases leading to self harm or worse. The potential effects of attending a non-elite college instead of an “elite” college, are, perhaps, a salary that is 15% lower.
This is something I wrote for a high school kid a few years ago, and that young teen was focused on UCs, I left what is relevant for you and your kid, just replaces “UCs” with “Elite Colleges”:
While I agree with what others are saying about this being a “too early” question, I can give you an answer. Here are a few elite schools where this is possible, but still very difficult:
Stanford
Penn
Cornell
Duke
Vanderbilt
Rice
UChicago
I agree that it’s too soon to focus on a particular school or major and that your child may well change her mind after experiencing many different classes and electives in high school. That said, for anyone who comes across this thread because they are interested in drama and business, Northwestern has a terrific theatre program and encourages double majoring across schools. They don’t have a business degree, but they do have a great econ program and a business institutions minor, as well as a Kellogg certificate. This site has more info about ways to prepare for business as a NU undergrad.
As for activities, finding ways to link theatre and business might be a good way to go. Student producing or business managing high school productions or community theatre, or starting a theatre group at school and creating productions from scratch are activities that could align well with her current interests.
Edited to add that you would likely need to apply to the School of Communication to get the theatre major and then add econ as the dual major.
The biggest gift you can give your child is to help them think about what TYPE of college they’d like to go to without being specific. They have 5 years to craft their “perfect” college (and it should definitely change and evolve over time) before limiting themselves to a name. And take the word “elite” out of the picture. In the end (years from now), they may find their perfect fit is not that selective. And that would only be a bonus!
Rather than play into finding an IVY and crafting a resume for it in 8th grade, provide her with the opportunity to figure out who she is and what she loves. Let her experience life rather than build a resume. One will last her a lifetime while the other will increase her chances at getting into “an Ivy” from 4% to 4.1%.
Visit all different types of colleges when you travel. Have her answer questions periodically (again, answers will change) about weather, population density, housing options, and career paths. Show her how to navigate around college websites to find housing information, if they offer merit scholarships, what clubs they offer, honors programs, major requirements, etc. (and I strongly recommend avoiding any of the “rank” websites). My son’s school had them start doing these things in 10th grade, and I feel like he definitely had an advantage over kids that just made a list based on some names that they knew.
