My daughter is accepted to all 4 schools. They all have pros & cons. USC is expensive and we live in SoCal. Michigan is a great school but the program is not exactly what she wants because there are not a lot of acting classes. UCSD has a great acting program but the social life and sports are below the other schools. She has a merit scholarship to Newhouse at Syracuse but the school does not appear to be as high quality as the other three based on facts such as acceptance rates, GPA & test score requirements, etc. Does anyone have an opinion for or agains any of these school? Thanks!!
Probably USC if you can afford it.
Thanks for the reply. Let me add color: If she attends USC she does not grow as a person by getting out of state. She’s a SoCal girl who grew up here and went to school here. I think going away from your home town helps shape a person. Also, while USC is probably the best school, when she graduates and pursues acting we can not support her as all of our money will have gone to the school. If she chooses any of the other schools we can help pay post school for car, rent, insurance, etc. Does this change your opinion at all and why did you choose USC?
As a communications major at Syracuse, she will not be able to take acting classes with majors in the Drama School, and there are many productions she will not be able to audition for, because they are only open to students in the Drama School.
In communications, Newhouse is top notch! But, if she is looking for a place where she can participate at a high level in theatre as a non-major, she may find that Syracuse is not a great fit. I think UMICH is similar in this regard. Opportunities to participate in student run theatre, but not within the program. You may wanto to post on the Theatre and Musical Theatre forums to get clarification from current students in those drama programs.
That grow as a person if she goes OOS is in my opinion non-sense. Both of my kids went to school no more than 2 hours away and they are very independent, I guess it depends on the kid. I never visited them, only when they want me to, I also encouraged them to not come home often , so in a senses they did go OOS. Kid #2 is a completely different person now, in a good way, or shall I say she did grow leaps and bound. My daughter has lots of friends in theater major, they all found some paying jobs after college. Not the most glamorous jobs, but there are ways to survive on less income. One works as an admin in NorCal, one just landed a job near Culver city after working as a waitress( very common), one worked as a Princess(Disney character) at Disneyland and is now preparing for law school. Interestingly enough, I thought mine would have a high probably of going to law school and I encouraged her to keep high GPA. Some of her friends discounted that path and now turn to law school. I think the fact that’s USC is in LA is a plus for this major. I know it’s tough choice but I think perhaps you should made it clear whatever choices your daughter make, there will be no financial help afterwards.