<p>Has any homeschooler applied for a conservatory-style theatre program, particularly in the UK? </p>
<p>I’d really be grateful for your experience, or if you know of anyone’s experience. My S was homeschooled and has limited official grades and scores. He does have his GED and high SAT scores. </p>
<p>Many thanks.</p>
<p>I am a homeschooler from the UK and will be applying only to US colleges in the fall (conservatory-style theatre programs: Carnegie Mellon, SUNY Purchase etc.). I do not have my GED but will be taking the SAT in October, and have scored highly on practice tests. </p>
<p>The reason I am applying only to US colleges is that the application process is much, much easier for home-schooled students. In the US home-schooling is becoming increasingly popular and there is always a page, or a paragraph, specifically for a homeschooler on each individual college website. In the UK home-schooling is almost unheard of - when I tell people that I’m home-schooled they look at me funny as the common perspective here is that home-schooling is only for odd misfits with religious parents who live in the middle of nowhere. </p>
<p>Having said that, if you S is serious about studying in the UK, it is best to look at schools with an international perspective - perhaps a school affiliated in some way with the US as supposed to the traditional London drama school. Also a school that does not require an A level in drama or similar as these schools will be unlikely to regard your S’s qualifications as adequate. </p>
<p>There is only one college that I would really recommend on this basis: Rose Bruford College. It is a Drama UK member schools (the UK equivalent of the Ivy League for Drama: [Drama</a> UK Member Schools - Drama UK](<a href=“http://www.dramauk.co.uk/drama_uk_member_schools]Drama”>http://www.dramauk.co.uk/drama_uk_member_schools)). The principal of the college is Professor Michael Earley who was born in the US and has taught at Julliard, Yale and NYU Tisch. They are actively recruiting students from the US (I believe they hold auditions there) and have a whole section for International students on their website, as well as various exchange programmes with accredited universities in the US ([Rose</a> Bruford College - International - Exchange/visit the USA](<a href=“http://www.bruford.ac.uk/international/exchangevisit-the-usa.aspx]Rose”>http://www.bruford.ac.uk/international/exchangevisit-the-usa.aspx)).</p>
<p>I have an audition for their part-time acting programme in a couple of weeks and the application form did not even require me to list where I went to school, only my highest qualification etc. I have been in contact with the director of the programme who seems very accommodating and friendly.</p>
<p>I will let you know more about the school once I have visited it!
I’m sure I will like it as the school currently has the highest student satisfaction rate of all UK Drama schools and I think that it would be perfect for your S.</p>
<p>I am assuming that you are residents and citizens of the United States.</p>
<p>“GED” and “SAT” are part of the US Educational system, they are NOT a part of the UK educational system.</p>
<p>The UK educational system is so different from the US, that I can safely say that not having a GPA is not going to be a problem in the UK.</p>
<p>When you look at some of the UK acting schools–like RADA and LAMDA, which I think are what Americans would call “conservatory-style”–you are going to find that they don’t care about ANYTHING except the audition. Really. I know you Americans don’t believe that, but it is true. But you are going to need to give an INCREDIBLE audition to get into one of those schools.</p>
<p>In a more traditional college or university (including Oxford and Cambridge) with American applicants they will be looking at your AP tests. Some American applicants substitute SAT subject tests for these. You are going to need at least three AP tests with good scores.</p>
<p>But if you are more interested in “drama school” you really need to be working on that audition.</p>
<p>What is your son’s acting experience and training? He will need to have taken some acting classes and been in some plays. Acting classes can’t be done on your own, you need to work with other students on exercises, scenes, etc. And of course plays need the whole cast and crew, etc. Has your son been able to do these sorts of things while being homeschooled?</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>KEVP, if you recall Connections’ many previous posts in this forum, you will know that her son has plenty of experience and training.</p>
<p>zoenatasha, Rose Bruford is a great tip! Thanks.</p>
<p>Maybe I should clarify my post. We are Americans, and my S has been homeschooled mostly to accommodate his acting commitments. He just completed a summer at RCS as well–he fell in love with the program there! Anyway, he would like to apply to UK acting schools such as RCS, Lamda, Rada, etc (as well as US schools). Since we’re Americans, I have a pretty good idea how to read between the lines for American college applications. But when we look at the UK applications, they ask for a lot of school transcript info, and as we’re not British, we don’t have the skills to read between the lines or know protocol or unspoken rules. We could certainly ask each school directly, but before we do that, I was wondering if anyone knew how homeschooling was viewed in the UK drama schools or if there were specific tips for filling out the applications. </p>
<p>RealKEVP, you say with certainty that they ‘don’t care’ about schooling–how do you know, since you are American too? Do you have access to information you’d like to share? Do you know any US homeschooled student who applied to UK drama schools? Thanks.</p>
<p>Regarding school transcripts; transcripts for students in the UK are completely different from transcripts in the US (they are not even known as transcripts). I know this because I attended a top private school for four years and have friends at various high schools in London. Instead of a list of coursework and grades awarded each term (semester), students are presented with a ‘school report’ consisting of an evaluation from each individual subject teacher alongside a detailed course description of what the student has recently been studying. The focus is less on grades and instead each student is awarded ‘very good’ ‘good’ ‘fair’ ‘poor’ in various criteria such as behaviour, understanding and participation. I’m sure that top schools such as RADA will have experience reading American transcripts as there is usually a member of staff appointed to review international applications specifically. I would recommend that you present a transcript as you would present one to a US school, but perhaps include more detail than you normally would: for example not just the textbooks studied, but the topics that the textbook covers - particularly as US textbooks are again very different from UK ones. </p>
<p>RealKEVP is partly right, and partly wrong. Whilst I do not know any US homeschool student who has applied to a UK drama school, I do know a lot about the drama schools over here having taken courses at many of them, researched each programme and also spoken to the staff (faculty). I would say that the drama schools that are not within a university setting (such as the ones that you mentioned) regard schooling as secondary to the audition (and training), but they still do take qualifications into account. I think that in that sense the criteria academically wise for getting admitted into a top drama school is the same as for conservatories in the US. If you are an outstanding actor then Julliard would admit you regardless of your SAT score; as would RADA. Some schools do state a minimum criteria with regards to qualifications, but it would be best to contact the school directly as to what this criteria would be for a US student as the qualifications required are usually GCSEs/A levels - which are UK examinations only.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that LAMDA is not interested in the high school career or transcripts. My daughter is attending in the fall and they have not asked for any proof of same. They are mostly concerned about the auditions. That’s it.</p>
<p>My S will be attending LAMDA with actingmom’s D and I agree that it is all about the audition. He also attended an online charter school (some would consider this homeschooling) but the school was accredited through the state.</p>
<p>Actingmom18 and mommadrama–this is great to hear. So when you filled out the forms for LAMDA and other UK schools, do you think their questions about schooling were more of a protocol thing? </p>
<p>And if at all possible, I would <em>love</em> to hear about your kids’ experience at LAMDA once they get started!</p>
<p>RADA has the same criteria as LAMDA. Those are the two I was particularly thinking of. I do indeed seem to have some sort of special knowledge of this–because I went to the webpages of these schools and read all the information there and in the prospectuses!:)</p>
<p>I am guessing you read the information, too, but perhaps you didn’t believe it. It’s true, RADA and LAMDA will only be looking at your audition.</p>
<p>I am not completely “American” because I spent a great deal of my childhood in England, so came to be quite familiar with the UK educational system. I have often seriously considered attending college in the UK (like so many of my friends in England did), but for one reason or another it hasn’t happened. At least yet.</p>
<p>My S will not be applying only to RADA and LAMDA. It’s not a matter of me ‘not believing it.’</p>
<p>For instance, Guildhall requests the following information: “Names of Schools or Institutions attended with dates,All qualifications currently undertaking or achieved, with dates and grades so far”</p>
<p>This is one UK among several that request such information. That is why I asked. If anyone has specific information about this as applied to homeschooling, I’d be grateful.</p>
<p>Connections, I believe we just listed the school names from high school to elementary with years attended. For the qualifications we put the classes and grades received for each year of high school only.</p>
<p>We discuss these issues a lot in the “United Kingdom” forum of CC.</p>
<p>What British students applying to college or uni do is they take exams called “A-levels”. Then based on the results (or predicted results) of these A-levels, they are offered places at universities or college.</p>
<p>For foreign students, they will be looking for your country’s nearest equivalent to A-levels. For the United States, that is usually AP tests. Basically, a 5 on an AP test is equivalent to an “A” on an A-level, a “4” is roughly a “B”, and so on. Some American applicants use SAT subject tests instead.</p>
<p>If you are applying to a UK college or uni that usually expects A-levels from British applicants, you are going to need the equivalent AP tests or SAT subject tests. And I really don’t think they would ever make any kind of exception for someone who is homeschooled. British kids who are homeschooled would still be expected to take A-levels.</p>
<p>Here is the page where Guildhall explains the entry requirements for English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, or IB students:</p>
<p>[Guildhall</a> School of Music & Drama | Entry Criteria](<a href=“http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/shared_left_nav/how_to_apply/entry_criteria/]Guildhall”>http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/shared_left_nav/how_to_apply/entry_criteria/)</p>
<p>Here is the page for other students from other countries applying to Guildhall:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/files/QualificationsMeetingEntryCriteria.pdf[/url]”>http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/files/QualificationsMeetingEntryCriteria.pdf</a></p>
<p>For the USA, it simply says “High School Diploma + (SAT1 (>=500) or ACT (>=21)) + SATII (>= 500)”</p>
<p>I would assume that they would understand that a GED is equivalent to a High School Diploma, and if your son has a “High” SAT it must be at least 500. But note he is also going to need an SATII score of at least 500. So look into taking that test.</p>
<p>These are actually quite low requirements for a British college or uni. So it seems pretty clear that they put a lot of emphasis on the audition.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>Actually, the SAT II is a good tip. He wasn’t really thinking of taking one, but I think it’ll be a good idea for him to take at least one.I think we’ll have to handle this on a school by school basis. Thanks for the help, everyone.</p>
<p>You understand that for Guildhall the SAT II isn’t just a good idea, it is a REQUIREMENT, right?</p>
<p>We can talk about what the requirements for UK colleges and unis are “in general”. But the acting programs you are interested in are not going to have “typical” requirements. You will need to take each one on a case by case.</p>
<p>If you meet the requirements, you will get the audition at somewhere like Guildhall. And there will also be an interview. They may want to ask about your son’s theatre training, which is why they are asking about his past schooling on the forms.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>KEVP, not to continue with the meta-critique, but on the web it’s bad manners to speak in capital letters. And scare quotes come across as condescending. Even without these typographical enhancements, your writing style (the rhetorical question at the opening) is coming on too strong. </p>
<p>Readers will be more likely respect your opinion and to appreciate your advice if you don’t talk down to them.</p>
<p>I like KEVP’s posts. He’s got an interesting, non-parental perspective on things – and his thing about how having a fallback pretty much ensures falling back has become sort of a mantra for me as my son throws his whole self into this. Also, I think his posts are probably good practice for learning to deal with all the strong, opinionated theater people we will end up interacting with in this bizarre process.</p>
<p>People who post on here a lot usually remember things about one another. Even if not, it is courteous to glance over at least a few older posts by a member (if there are any) before making assumptions about them.</p>
<p>KEVP responded to Connections’ initial post in this thread as if she were clueless. In fact, she is quite a knowledgeable theatre parent, and her son attended the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland this past summer.</p>
<p>Not to jump all over KEVP, but reading through connection’s prior posts, I know that she is inquiring for her son who is the 4th of 5 of her children to go to college, and the 3rd of three going into theater. She is also a teacher and SAT tutor, so she’s a fairly knowledgeable presence on this forum. That’s why I found the tone problematic. Sorry to have been rough on you, KEVP. I know your intentions were good.</p>
<p>This is the problem, isn’t it?</p>
<p>When I am not sure that somebody has understood what I said (like when I read connections response to my last post), I restate my point in simpler language. And, yes, that does sound patronizing. But what is the alternative? When I don’t speak in simple language people don’t understand what I am saying.</p>
<p>Specifically, when connections replied “I think it’ll be a good idea for” her son to take the SAT 2, I really thought I hadn’t been clear in my explanation of Guildhall’s requirements. So that’s why I explained it again in simpler language.</p>
<p>Of course, it is not really a requirement, because there are lots of other things that you could use instead of the SAT 2, but I hadn’t heard connections mention whether her son had any of those things (like an IB, or some other international or foreign educational qualification)</p>
<p>I was not using “scare quotes”. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I was using quote marks correctly for the English language.</p>
<p>It would have helped if connections had stated her question clearly in her first post, that she was specifically talking about Guildhall. Then I could have come right to the point, and not wasted her time by talking about LAMDA and RADA, or about general requirements for colleges and universities in the UK.</p>