Importance of rigorous academic classes?

CalMTMom
Sat, 21 May 2011 14:44:45 +0000

I think this is the toughest thing for high school students to wrap their head around. Yes, of course, the audition is extremely important and will ultimately decide whether you get accepted into a BFA program. However, these are educational institutions not just theatrical training programs—your academic education matters… a lot in most of them. They want to select students that are talented AND have the potential to knock it out of the park academically as well. The willingness to work hard and set high goals, the drive and determination to push yourself academically, your ability to balance academics with your artistic studies are indicators of your likelihood of success once you get to the college. The institution you graduate from wants to be sure that you represent their school well as an intelligent, educated person in addition to being talented. Also, as many posters have already mentioned–scholarship money is overwhelmingly given based on academic success over artistic skill. As far as the choice between classes, while AP classes are always a good thing, it sounds like you may have an opportunity to use this unique History class as material for personal statements/essays that you need to write for college entrance. This could be something that sets your application apart from others who followed the typical AP path. If you really speak to how this enriched your studies of your art form etc., it could actually be a great thing—especially if it is sincere (that shows through your writing) It sounds like you are excited about the course–I would hate to see you pass on that because of some ‘perceived’ advantage of taking the AP class over this one. Just my humble opinion.