<p>I KNOW UArts is a great school, but I’m so frustrated by their website! It’s just not very intuitive in the way it’s set up! I couldn’t find the audition requirements at all until I came here and someone had posted a link! (THANKS!) </p>
<p>Not to mention all the information that IS there is just written in huge blocks of text with no links or even much variation in font size, color or anything. It’s just not very user friendly!</p>
<p>And I can’t determine whether there are any academic prerequisite classes required for admission or minimum suggested GPA/SAT/ACT scores. The website just doesn’t seem to list that information anywhere! If there is a link to that information, can someone please post it?</p>
<p>I’m sure it’s an awesome school and clearly they have no lack of students auditioning, but for us parents trying to do some pre-research it really doesn’t present a very professional first impression! For an Arts school it’s not very visually appealing!</p>
<p>But I’m going to trust the conventional wisdom and check it out anyway because I KNOW the MT faculty have NOTHING to do whatsoever with the website design!!</p>
<p>Secondly, many colleges do not provide a MINIMUM SAT and GPA for admissions. And they shouldn’t. What many colleges DO do is to provide a profile of the freshmen class or admitted students and this often includes the mid 50% range on the SATs and ACT and sometimes includes a GPA average/mean. </p>
<p>However, UArts is a conservatory type school and not a full university and so it is not surprising to me that they don’t have a “profile” of accepted students academically speaking since all students who are admitted to such a school also go through some sort of artistic review process. Nobody is attending just for academics or gets in just via academics. </p>
<p>The academic selectivity for UArts is not that high a bar to jump, just to give you an idea. </p>
<p>In terms of what courses in HS need to be taken…I saw your post under another school forum here (CCU) and my advice is to NOT select a high school curriculum based on what X or Y college requires at a minimum because you don’t yet know your child’s final college list (too early to finalize it without more exploration, junior year grades and test scores in hand). What a high school student should do is to take the most challenging curriculum that she/he can handle and to take a solid academic core all four years of high school. This will put them in position for a variety of colleges. Not only that, the candidate is not in as good a position to just take the min. requirements to get into college when it is competitive to get into many colleges. They should not take a “light” senior year (this is in response to your post on CCU forum) due to lots of auditions and college applications. They should not slack off, but rather continue to challenge themselves academically. Everyone has college apps and auditions to do and many continue with five academic core subjects in senior year. </p>
<p>One thing that is misleading is to think that each college has a GPA or test score minimum…and that is not so much the case. You can’t examine GPA in isolation. Colleges tend to heavily weight WHAT you took and the rigor of your HS curriculum in the context of what your HS offers. GPA itself doesn’t tell the whole story. They will care about what courses you took, the level of the courses (Honors, AP, IB, etc.) and the actual grades on the transcript (not just the average/GPA). </p>
<p>My suggestion is that your D takes four years of math and 3 lab sciences (referring to your other post), particularly as she has only gone up through Alg. II in math. To do less, may limit her college options and it makes sense to find MT programs that fit her, rather than only finding MT programs that have very low academic selectivity. And even at the easier academic MT programs, it is better to position yourself as strongly as possible rather than do the minimum.</p>
<p>As far as high school course requirements for UArts specifically…
according to US News…</p>
<p>Only four years of English are required. No other course min. listed.
Three years of math are recommended, 2 of social studies, 2 of History, 2 of foreign language, and 2 of science. </p>
<p>However, under “Academic Factors Considered,” they list Rigor of Secondary School record as “very important” whereas GPA and Test Scores are listed as “important.” </p>
<p>At UArts, your D likely could get by without 4 years of math or 3 lab sciences as the academic bar for UArts is not that high. However, I would not select high school courses based on what one or two colleges have as a min. standard, but rather take the strongest curriculum possible to put oneself in good position for many schools, let alone beyond the min. requirements.</p>
<p>A common misconception that I see on the MT forum is people thinking, “well, I am not going to go into math or science in college and I’m going to be majoring in MT.” However, it is not that you need math or science to study MT, but rather you are entering COLLEGE (not simply the field of MT) and since it is a SCHOOL setting, they want to see a student who can handle rigor and challenges and time management and all that entails. They want a student with a very solid academic core that positions them for college course work too (and you do take some liberal arts and not just singing, acting and dancing in a MT program). They are looking for good students because you will have to be a student even in a BFA program. It isn’t that you need to know math or science as much as the ability to have handled challenging coursework and being prepared to handle the rigors of college work. For example, my own kid took AP Calculus in junior year of HS even though she was pursuing MT and never took math again in college. But having taken the most rigorous courses at her high school (and then some due to a bunch of acceleration), she could present a profile of someone who could handle the rigors of college work and even the rigors of a BFA program that requires juggling a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Susan for the words of encouragement and advice and for the information from the website. My words weren’t well chosen. I DID mean “averages” and not “minimums,” although there are a few schools that do publish a “minimum.”</p>
<p>I do want to clarify that my D WILL be taking a very challenging academic load her Senior Year, with Honors level classes in High School AND 3rd and 4th year foreign language classes at the local community college. And she will definitely take that 3rd science (though not Honors level). All in addition to choreographing a show, teaching dance classes and rehearsing for a show of her own. I didn’t mean to give the impression that she would be having a “light” senior year!</p>
<p>It’s just that one math class that’s the issue. She’s one of those kids that just struggles and struggles with math and it makes her (and by extension, OUR) life miserable the whole time!! She had SO been looking forward to not having to take math that last year! And I need to weigh how much value it would add to her profile against the suffering it will produce in our lives!!</p>
<p>Thanks again for the encouragement as well as all the help you give to each and every family who comes to CC for advice! You’re the BEST!</p>
<p>I know what you mean about juggling all this stuff. My own kids did and it can be insane. Still, many MT applicants do shows, training, and so on in addition to a full academic load.</p>
<p>Your D might be able to get by with three years of math only up through Alg. II (I think the issue is not just how many years of math she has taken but that it is only through Alg. II) at some of the MT colleges that are not too selective academically, such as UArts. But she’ll have to apply to a bunch of colleges and there may be some good MT programs that interest her in schools that are a bit more academically selective and so even if just three years of math is OK for one or two colleges, it may not be for all. I just think it helps to position oneself with the strongest curriculum they can muster so as to not close doors or to at least make themselves more competitive. Some colleges even have a separate academic admissions from the BFA admissions process. That said, there are a number of MT programs that are not too academically selective and so if your D’s test scores or lack of four years of math, etc. are part of her profile, that leaves a bunch of MT programs where that may be enough to get in. Schools like UArts, BOCO, Roosevelt, Point Park, etc. come to mind. But she may like other programs and I’d hate to see her close the door to them. </p>
<p>Perhaps your school has an “easier” math track class she can take? Statistics maybe? You’ll have to weigh it but there will be some schools willing to take a student with a less rigorous high school curriculum. Generally, the rule of thumb would be to take the most challenging courses that you can. </p>
<p>I know you wrote that she’ll be juggling applications and auditions and all her MT and dance activities and yes, it is mind boggling how it will all get done and fit into a day,but it does get done and many who do it are taking numerous AP classes, are in shows and lessons/classes and much more. I have to tell you that once IN a BFA program, the schedule is also insane!</p>
<p>Tracy, keep in mind what I wrote earlier which is that a student should take the most challenging HS curriculum that SHE CAN HANDLE. If your D cannot handle taking math next year, and if she can’t get a decent grade in it, perhaps she should forego it, even though I think four years of math would be better. Again, there are quite a number of BFA in MT programs located in colleges that are not too academically selective and where that likely won’t keep her out.</p>
<p>Just to add a few more thoughts to soozie’s well considered comments. First, bear in mind that the “averages” that are posted (whether it be gpa, SAT or acceptance rates) are for the school as a whole and not for specific programs. While UArts is a conservatory style school (although the School of Theater eschews the label of “conservatory”) with a liberal arts component, academic achievement does play a significant role in the level of scholarships offered to a student. In the School of Theater, there are many students who would be academically competitive at very selective liberal arts colleges. The Theater programs, and the MT program in my daughter’s experience, require a substantial amount of reading of dramatic literature, related research and writing of papers. Many of the liberal arts courses are literature based and can be very challenging high level courses comparable to upper level literature courses that an English major would find at a liberal arts institution. More over, the time demands and intensity of the MT program require strong time management skills and a well developed work ethic. Accordingly, soozie’s advice to take the most demanding high school curriculum a student can handle is well placed. The foundation provided can be the difference between handling the demands of the program and becoming overwhelmed. </p>
<p>As to navigating the website, the easiest way to do it is to go to the black “bar” at the top of the home page. There are 2 links - undergraduate programs and admissions/apply that will take you to pages with links for departmental/major info, curricula, application, admission, audition requirements etc.</p>
<p>Good question KSwag10. Even though my daughter took a load of AP classes in high school, she elected not to take AP exams because she was so busy prepping for SATS and doing all her performance related stuff. She did get 6 college credits from a pre-college summer MT program that were accepted as elective credits so it’s worth asking. The best person to ask would be Peter Stambler, Dean of Liberal Arts <a href="mailto:pstambler@uarts.com">pstambler@uarts.com</a> .</p>
<p>If you do ask him, I would suggest asking very specifically the impact the AP credits would have. Liberal Arts credits fall into a few different categories. You have mandated departmental classes such as Musical Theater History and Script Analysis that are considered liberal arts but I doubt you could waive out of any of the departmental “liberal arts” classes because they are part of the structured MT curriculum in the department. There are 2 semesters of freshman writing which you could probably waive out of with English AP credits. Same deal with a semester of a required Scientific Inquiry category of classes that a student must take. There are 2 semesters of Period Interpretation classes which are literature based classes, but you probably can’t waive out of those because they are focused on specific literature based thematic content. There are 15 required credits in liberal arts electives and the AP credits could probably apply there. Something to keep in mind, though, is that to maintain scholarships, a student must take at least 12 credits a semester so at best, the AP credits would free a student up from some of the basic non-departmental liberal arts classes so that the student could choose electives earlier on in the game.</p>
<p>My D’s HS required her to take the AP exams. Our philosophy in the face of the various priorities at the time was to just “wing it” and she was lucky enough to do well and thus had AP credits that were accepted by UArts. </p>
<p>UArts will count only 4’s or 5’s, not 3’s or lower. Michael is correct that the English requirements can be eliminated by the AP credits and (if my memory serves me) if your son/daughter has science or social studies/history AP credits they too can be used to waive some of the other LA electives. </p>
<p>Filling up a semester with 12 or more credits will be NO problem. The majority of the freshman classes can’t be eliminated with AP credits (dance, MT performance, private voice, acting studio, music skills….). If there is room in the schedule to take on more classes there are plenty of dance, liberal arts, or other courses that can be easily added (my D loaded up on interesting additional dance classes and a LA elective freshman year). </p>
<p>A fact to keep in mind is that tuition is not charged to you by the credit hour, so why not be a sponge and take as many courses as can be handled. If your kid in HS is an AP student with a heavy extracurricular load, then they are accustomed to a heavy schedule and know how to organize and prioritize and they will be fine. I’m not sure my D has had a semester @UArts with fewer than 16 or 17 credits!</p>
<p>kb is right about the credits. Freshmen take 16/16.5 credits. However - and this is a big however that tracks throughout the curriculum - those credits translate to 24.5/25 hours of class. While you can take additional credits beyond each semester’s curriculum without additional charge, I would be cautious about doing it freshman year. My daughter has done it - but in her junior and senior years. Freshman year is a huge adjustment due to the work load, even for the h.s. student who was a stellar all honors/AP student with top grades.</p>