Theatre/Drama Colleges Part 8

WallyWorld
Fri, 19 May 2006 14:51:05 +0000

A couple of further thoughts. The good news is that you don’t have to have a super academic record to get into a super ATP BFA. I will tell you what we have done to improve out daughters chances of getting in to a top program.

First take elliotsmom’s suggestion. Print this whole forum and read it. (Or have your son read it)

Beyond the obvious stuff here is what I would suggest;

Have your son create an actors resume. (If you want to see our daughters PM me) Take a hard look at it. Is it impressive? How can you make it more impressive? We have spent the last year focusing on that. D is a Junior in HS. In addition to her school plays she auditioned for a bunch of stuff outside school. Ended up getting the lead role in a Shakespeare play at Whitman College. So, college acting experience as a HS Junior looks good. A variety of summer programs including NCSA and OSF this summer will also look good.

The resume itself, no matter how strong, will not get him into a top program. However a good one helps but more to the point the experience gained by building it is key.

Lastly, through building the resume we have been making contacts to use as references. We now have people at some recognized institutions/organizations to write letters, which is much stronger than the plain vanilla hs teacher.

We also hired a professional acting coach for about 6 hours which improved her monologue/audition abilities exponentially. I also think you have to ask the hard question to anyone with industry knowledge that meets your son. Do you think he has what it takes……? If they say yes, it will encourage everyone. If they equivocate then? Its a difficult balance to be encouraging and realisitic especially given the costs and effort involved in this persuit. The number of hs kids with a passion for acting who end up doing it professionally is pretty small.