<p>Welcome! </p>
<p>If money is an issue, check with the schools on his list to get a sense of which have significant scholarships available. Of the schools you listed in the elite category, I am not sure that any of them have scholarships that would come close to covering the cost of attendance. In the fit category I believe that Yale and Brown only have need based scholarships for families making below a certain amount per year. The state schools also may not have a significant amount of money for scholarships for OOS students, but (of course) check with each school individually. </p>
<p>I think you may have placed schools in inaccurate categories in terms of admissions. I would put Yale, Northwestern, and Brown in the “elite” category, since they turn away many qualified students. UVA and William & Mary should probably be in a match or low reach category, not a safety, since they also end up turning away strong candidates, even from in-state.</p>
<p>I teach at JMU, and the website is currently being updated with audition information for this coming year. An audition will be required for admission to the Theatre program starting with students applying to begin JMU in 2011 (and any current students this year who have not already declared the major). With the new performing arts center opening at JMU this fall we found ourselves with a significantly larger freshman class than anticipated, and will now require all prospective students to audition. Assuming a rigorous HS course load your son appears to be within GPA range for JMU, although his SATs are a bit low (has he considered trying the ACT as well).</p>
<p>The general wisdom is that no school with an audition can be considered a safety, because the audition is a subjective process. As a result I would consider all of the programs on the list that have auditions to be in a reach or match category. The only true safeties are schools where a students stats are on the top of the admitted students range, does require an audition, that the family can afford, and where the student would be happy to attend. </p>
<p>20 schools is a lot – application fees, audition fees (at schools who charge these), travel to auditions. </p>
<p>You mentioned that most of the schools on his list do not attend Unifieds, do any of them have regional auditions in DC? All of the schools on you “elite” list require an audition, as do JMU and FSU. I am not sure about ASU. JMU is just down the road, but all of the others are a significant trip unless they conduct a regional audition in DC, attend Unifieds (a trip, but you can see a lot of schools over one weekend), or have regional auditions at the same time in a specific city (also allowing you to see a few schools in one trip). </p>
<p>I think narrowing the list down to 10 - 12 schools, with a combination of reaches, matches, and at least one non-auditioned safety would be more doable from a financial and time standpoint.</p>
<p>Good Luck! :)</p>