<p>Hello, I’m a parent of a rising senior, and fairly new to CC. Just posting to say hi. After about 2 months of reading cc posts on quite a number of overachievers, I was getting disheartened that my DS will never get into college! I’m over that now after reading more posts (especially on the Parents Cafe) and realize there is definitely a college out there, perfect for my son with a not-too-common intended major, playwriting. Thanks for being such a helpful community.</p>
<p>Welcome to CC, Mountains. The hyper self-selected nature of CC can at first seem daunting if your student doesn’t have 2600 SAT’s and a 4.7uw GPA but you’re right, not only are there colleges out there for your son, there are <em>good</em> colleges out there for your soon.</p>
<p>Good luck with the journey.</p>
<p>Hi mountains…welcome to CC. Do not worry about some of the stats you see here. They are definitely not the norm, so no worries there. And yes…there IS a college for everyone and every interest. The most important thing is to find the school that helps achieve the end goal. Nothing else matters. :)</p>
<p>btw…which mountains? Smokies or Rockies?</p>
<p>The White Mountains - NH!</p>
<p>ha…forgot about those NE mountains! lol!</p>
<p>Hi Mountains. Welcome aboard. I’m a list kind of guy.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The kids on CC don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to college choice and college admissions (no offense intended, high schoolers). Do NOT pay any attention to a “chances” thread down below decks in the student spaces. </p></li>
<li><p>People don’t lie so much as they selectively report. There aren’t that many straight-A, wrote-their-first-Tony-winning-musical-at-15, national sports champion, 2400 SAT kids, even on CC.</p></li>
<li><p>My son turned down an offer to two schools with much better “reputations” to attend a little-known college where he said, “these are my people.” The “reputation” and “prestige” things are heavily overdone here on CC. They are LOT more important here than they are in the real world. (I work in the computer software industry. I genuinely don’t know where my cow orkers went to college.)</p></li>
<li><p>The Sierra Nevada and Cascades are mountains. I don’t know which hills ldmom was talking about. :)</p></li>
<li><p>“Fit is more important than prestige or rankings” sounds like an excuse that losers make. It’s not. It’s the truth.</p></li>
<li><p>Oh, and love thine safety. (My son John’s final choice wasn’t even a safety – it was an afterthought.)</p></li>
<li><p>Try to keep your son relaxed. Unless he’s one of the clueless sons, then you won’t have to worry about it!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck. It’s not that bad.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. Your advice is so reassuring. The college search was beginning to get the best of me; thank goodness, I was able to step back and took everything in stride. My son wants to go to a college that is a good fit, and we have a lot more colleges to visit come late summer/early fall. Playwriting is tough because not a lot of colleges offer an extensive program. Our university system does not, so there goes the affordable state university option. Sigh.</p>
<p>Mountains, somehow I missed the “playwriting” in your first post. Is he strictly interested in live theater, or is he interested in screenplays, television, and new media? You might want to have him take a look at film schools if he wants to cast his net a little wider.</p>
<p>He sounds like an interesting young man. TallSon is a sophomore in high school next year and wants to be a filmmaker. He’s currently shooting a Lego stop-action feature. Maybe the two of them will collaborate some day.</p>
<p>
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<p>TOTOALLY AGREE with this statement. Try and ignore USNWR if you can!</p>
<p>I will double the welcome. My son also passed up chances to attend more <em>prestigious</em> schools and he’s very happy. It’s a much better fit for him personally and academically. Do not fall into the trap of feeling insecure about where your kids go to school.</p>
<p>Welcome to CC!</p>
<p>WashDad - he is indeed an interesting young man. He is a self-taught playwright. He is also into films - watching them, that is - anything from the current ones to the most obscure foreign films. His passion is definitely writing for live theater. He is very active in theater, also. He feels that he needs to act to be able to write more effectively. Your son must be having a blast filming his Lego stop-action feature.</p>
<p>To all, thanks for your reassurances. It is so easy to get caught up in the “my kid better get into a top school” syndrome when one starts the college process. I am so over that now.</p>
<p>Hi mountains! WELCOME! Glad you came out of lurkdom and I hope to see you participating here in the future. I’m your “neighbor” as I live in the Green Mountains. The last few winters, we have been in the White Mtns. a bunch to see our college age D in her college ski races. </p>
<p>Try not to be daunted by the types of students you see on CC. Yes, there are many top students who post here who are seeking elite colleges and this is a self selected group. But I hope you read widely here because there are numerous families and colleges represented here beyond that level. In other words, the students on CC are not representative of all applicants but we do have many here who are interested in all sorts of colleges and have achieved at many levels of academics. </p>
<p>I also urge you to do a search on CC of threads regarding playwriting, screenwriting, and/or dramatic writing, as these have been discussed on CC before and also there are several parents and/or students seeking these majors. Also, you may wish to visit the very active Musical Theater major forum as there are those who discuss related fields there and also on the Arts Majors forum. </p>
<p>I don’t know if your son is seeking BFA or BA programs. There is a great BFA in Dramatic Writing program at my D’s school, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. There has been a poster on CC whose son is attending Vassar for this field (BA). Another poster has a son heading to Chapman University. </p>
<p>Other schools that come to mind are USC, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Emerson, Brown (may not be in ballpark?), Carnegie Mellon, Colby, George Washington, Emory, Oberlin, Univ. of Evansville, Purchase, University of the Arts, DePaul, Columbia College, University of Michigan, Bennington, CalArts, Drexel, and Ohio University. </p>
<p>See you around!</p>
<p>soozievt - Thank you for all your suggestions. I have done searches on playwriting on cc and these have been quite helpful. I was also exchanging emails with Michael Wright, the author of a publication on schools that offer playwriting as a major. My son wants to stay within NE and, unfortunately, is not interested in living in a major city at this point in his life (he knows he may have no choice on the matter later on in his career), although we go to NYC quite a bit to see plays. He wants a BA program and likes Brown (reach), and knows he has to visit more schools. Emerson, Bennington, and Colby are on the list of places to visit next month, and I think I can convince him to visit Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>Washdad’s post made me think of Lake Woebegone, except on CC all the kids aren’t <em>above average</em> – all the kids are <em>gifted</em>. 
I’m only sorta joking, all in all, the parents and kids that post on here – a lot of them are pretty amazing. Just don’t let it get to you. CC attracts a certain spectrum of parents that are very interested in their kids getting the best education. And very ambitious kids, too.</p>
<p>So, anyway, welcome, Mountains! </p>
<p>And now, I suppose I should go do those dishes I’ve been avoiding by hanging out here.</p>
<p>okay, okay, okay washdad…I bow down to the little mountain ranges too. ;)After all it’s flatter than a pancake here in Houston…lol!</p>
<p>Btw…don’t know too much about playwriting, but Austin and the UT Film Institute have good options. Great independent film scene there.</p>
<p>Welcome mountains. My D just completed her freshman year at your State University, which is a great “fit” for her. She wanted to experience eastern mountains, along with other parts of NE. We have a few hill but mostly lakes here in MN. Enjoy your colege search. April and May will come quickly enough.</p>
<p>mountains…oh, ok, so he wants the Northeast and not a city. I don’t know his other college criteria or his academic profile. But yes, Brown would be great for him. I have a daughter who attends Brown too. Emerson is definitely a city campus but a good school for his interest. I’m glad you are checking out Bennington and Colby. Bennington is very small but has what he is interested in. If you are going to check out Sarah Lawrence, you should also try to see Bard, Purchase, and Vassar on that trip, if he likes them on paper. </p>
<p>While not the same as Playwriting, but if he needs other schools to round out the list, he may wish to look at schools with a Creative Writing concentration/major. Middlebury has a Creative Writing major with 20 course offerings. Other possibilities in this related field are: Boston College (suburb of city), Conn College (no city), Brandeis, Colgate, Hamilton College, Bates, Univ. of Rochester, Ithaca College, and Hampshire College.</p>
<p>mountains~</p>
<p>Welcome to CC!!! I agree–reading these forums can be a bit intimidating at first. Do realize, though, that for most of us, the process is all about fit and meeting the individual needs of your own unique children. My oldest two have chosen very different college paths, and I couldn’t be happier for or prouder of either one of them! I wish you and your son the best as you enter this exciting and challenging part of his school career! Best of luck to him in finding the <em>perfect</em> place to spend his college years!</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>soozievt - Thanks for all the suggestions. My list is definitely getting longer and longer. I tried to send you a PM but your allotted space is full. Nothing important. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Welcome mountains!!! Don’t worry about all the hype–just focus on finding the right fit for your S! There are so many schools out there and he will find quite a few with programs that will be good for him! Only a very small percentage of colleges are uber-competitive, so just make sure to check out a few of the college guides from your library and google those that seem interesting to check them out further!</p>
<p>There are lots of good people on CC who will be willing to help you–we’re glad you’re here!</p>