LAC with strong theatre

momofzag
Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:46:18 +0000

LucietheLakie: At GCs recommendation, Kenyon was the first college we visited and I was prepared for DD to love it. Great school, great theatre program. Everything seemed right up her alley. But both of us were just a little underwhelmed. There was nothing wrong per se but it just felt really small. It’s smaller than her high school, the town seemed non existent (even compared to Williamstown or Clinton, NY). I think it also might be a slight case of familiarity breeds contempt - her HS sends many kids there and I think even though she wants a small school she wants to feel like she’s branching out and going somewhere new.

Momrath: Thank you for the positive thoughts and I agree that she is a strong candidate for many schools. Of course, I’m her mother so I may be just a bit biased – don’t know how to do the smiley face thing yet, I am social media challenged. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Williams alum and would love to see her there. The Dean of Admissions did tell us in a legacy interview in August that her scores will be the problem if there is one (especially her SAT IIs which are not strong). He said that her academic record, all her ECs and commitment were excellent and that many colleges would be thrilled to have her but that Williams (and Middlebury especially of those on her list) gets such strong academic applicants that her scores might be a problem. He did not discourage her from applying and said the arts supplement could absolutely make a difference.

I think you’ve hit the nail exactly on the head as far as approaching theatre from the other end of the telescope. She has friends who are in intensive auditioned BFA programs (CMU for instance) and she realizes that she doesn’t want to only study theatre. She has other academic and social interests and would like to have time to interact with non-theatre people as well. She spent this summer at Northwestern’s Theatre intensive and loved it. I thought she would end up applying ED there but she’s not sure she even wants it on the list even though she loved the experience, the campus and Evansville. She said she doesn’t want a university that big (even though the theatre program would be awesome). I think she wants to get the traditional LAC experience and then if she decides she actually wants to pursue theatre professionally (in whatever capacity) that she would go for an MFA (hence some of my concerns about thinking about merit aid).

As far as some other colleges that have been mentioned:

Vassar - was on the list for a while and might still be. We visited and she liked the campus and the theatre program but thought the whole vibe might be just a bit too artsy/hipster for her – it’s also pretty selective especially for female applicant. She likes Midd, Williams and Wesleyan better so I think she took it off the list.

Oberlin - again may be too close to home and too but I think it’s a good option.

She is adamantly opposed to Women’s colleges – too bad as there are some excellent colleges but I can’t blame her since I didn’t want to go to one either.

The Maine schools - we were surprised to learn from a Bowdoin rep that there is actually no theatre major there. Bates or Colby would probably be great for her but they are really far away from us … All the other colleges on her list are at least within a 9 or 10 hour drive.

Maybe we already have a pretty good list. I was just thinking we had many schools at the tippy top and a couple of good safeties but nothing in between. But maybe Hamilton, Bucknell and Connecticut College function as the “target” range?

After reading through everyone’s thoughts, I also think Muhlenberg might be one to look at more closely. Only one person from her school has applied (at least in the last 5 years). The student was heavily involved in theatre but not a particuarly strong student. She was accepted and attends. It seems to provide really excellent theatre opportunities plus good academics and if DD doesn’t get into to some of the more selective schools she would have an out of state option that will feel like she is going away from home. Plus I am guessing that this might be more affordable with some merit aid…