Where is the Class of 2012 Applying?

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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<p>Good luck, Miles. Welcome to the forum and best wishes in your college admissions process.</p>

<p>On your list, I am aware that at least BU and UArts do have some earlier audition days, so they could be places to go for in the fall and see if you can get the kind of answer Kat is talking about.</p>

<p>Another thing you’ll notice on these threads - really throughout this whole forum - is that we don’t comment particularly on potential talent or appeal of any of these students. You did a nice job of describing yourself, but since none of us meet each other, and since none of us ever knows what the schools are looking for from any given candidate, we just tend to assume that everyone is very talented and qualified and could get in anywhere. Then we tend to assume, as kyle says, that no one will get into any auditioned program, because that’s the safest way to go into this process. </p>

<p>The above advice is well worth thinking about. I do agree that if your goal is to be in college studying theatre next year you could stand a few more schools on your list (non-auditioned/financial safeties), at least pending some fall audition results. Or maybe it is fine with you to take a gap year and train for another round of auditions; presumably after your first results you will know more about what you want and what you might need. Many people have gone that route and done very well.</p>

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<p>kylebelieves, when I visited Penn I absolutely loved the vibe and the location. Just to confirm your current vibes. :slight_smile: their drama program isn’t amazing, at least based on the classes available (I looked it up online), but the extracurricular theatre is apparently strong. there’s a ton of options, more than some schools I’m looking at that DO have good theatre programs. let me know how you end up feeling about UPenn because I’m somewhat undecided on it right now!</p>

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<p>@Emmybet and others:</p>

<p>On the topic on audition dates - thank you! This is one topic that I have done little research on and have forgotten to bring it back up to my attention.</p>

<p>On the topic of potential talent, I understand. </p>

<p>On the topic of safeties - location is the largest factor in applying to colleges. All the institutions I listed are in major cities or college towns, which is the largest factor in my college decisions process. I have also visited most of these cities and have fell in love with several of the campuses. Financially, I have been fortunate to be able to attend the college of my choice, and although a cheaper college and location would be nice, this is a minor factor in my decisions. I intend on taking a year off if I am not accepted into any of my above schools, and trying again the following year. I have friends in LA who are attending community college level acting classes and have opened up their apartment to stay with them and audition into the business. </p>

<p>@ KatMT </p>

<p>The subject of lesser known schools is largely a location issue, as stated above. For this reason UMich is a little unappealing to me, but the training is too good to give up. I understand that there are strong schools out there and that your training is what you make of it, but the teachers, facilities, and tools given are also important. I may be wrong for having this type of attitude and I am well aware this might come off as a bit elitist but I do not think I would be happy attending a lesser known school that has its name out there in the theater world but is not the first to be brought up in a conversation of well known theatre schools. As for other BA programs and their competitiveness, I personally am driven to master the craft of acting and I understand that there are many strong BA programs. I would just like to have the best handful of movement, speech, styles, analysis classes that most BA programs can offer, but not to the extent of a BFA program. Of course most performing arts majors wish to attend a BFA program, but I just don’t see myself fitting into the program as a backup. I wouldn’t mind waiting another year and training for the next year’s auditions. </p>

<p>My mistake on the BoCo addition to the list. It was the only school I had considered trying my hand at MT auditions for.</p>

<p>Stated above, financially we are well off and a gap year has been discussed. I have thought of backup schools such has CSUF and CSULB, but I am simply not interested in spending time at these schools for any of the reasons listed above. (in this case, location.)</p>

<p>I will look into the EA options for the programs I have tagged of interest. Thanks so much for the tip!</p>

<p>@Kylebelieves </p>

<p>I don’t intend to sound like a dreamer and optimist, but I really am. I am well aware of the statistics and acceptance rates, and I am more than willing to wait out a year and try again. On the opposite side of the coin (relative to all the stories of people who did not get in anywhere), there are a plethora of my friends who have recently been accepted. From my school there were two seniors this past year who got into the majority of their top programs - they were both ethnic as well. This includes UArts, Mich, Carnegie, Pace, and so on. As for the others, only one girl that I know of in my school who intended for a performing arts major did not get into any schools. The rest ended up at Roosevelt, DePaul, Pace, BU, NYU, USC, with only a handful of students ending up in backup schools. I am ready for rejection although hopefully I can fare as well as my classmates. I guess all in all, I don’t mind waiting and trying harder.</p>

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<p>Nicely put, Miles. It sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of very useful thinking. It’s nice to know that you’re so aware of the potential outcomes. </p>

<p>My D’s aim WAS to be in college next year no matter what. She also felt very strongly in the end, having spent the year considering excellent BA programs - and at some quite high-quality schools - she wanted a BFA more. As you say: at some BA schools, you only have an “Acting” class. At BFAs, you have “Acting” AND “Movement” AND “Voice/Speech,” sequentially, for 4 years (along with everything else). That is different, and that was how she based her final decision.</p>

<p>Like you, she did not have to worry so much about financial safeties, either, fortunately. One thing she did find, was that a “lesser-name” BFA was willing to give her an enormous scholarship. This will make it possible for us to help her in other ways, either during college or afterwards, and in the long run that will probably make the world of difference for her. She did not turn down an expensive, “name” BFA school because she did not get into one, but many students have, realizing that the money could be better spent. Just something to think about.</p>

<p>We are confident that in the long run, the name of her school - and especially the quality of the education she will get - will serve her well. There are no guarantees, but from our experience we’ve seen that “name” schools in other areas of study don’t guarantee anything, either.</p>

<p>My last remark would be that having come from the east coast, and having lived in the Midwest for many years, I would caution you about considering so many places as not great cities or college towns. Considering Ann Arbor, for example, “weak” in location, is frankly an ignorant point of view. It’s one of the best “college towns” in the country. In the same vein, don’t discount cities just because they’re not NYC/Boston/Philly/LA. I understand your wanting to be in/near a “city,” and my D felt the same way, but we’re well aware that there is great theatre and great theatre education everywhere. Ultimately she was fortunate to have NYC access from the school she will be attending, but she gave a lot of thought to her acceptances in other cities, and in more remote locations as well - it depended on the education, foremost.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to pick on you, but these are opinions I feel are important to be stressed; many other kids read these threads and I feel compelled to state my differing point of view.</p>

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<p>Add SUNY Purchase to that list. Amazing alumni, faculty, and CHEAP!</p>

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<p>kyle - I think you are very wise in looking at Goucher. We found it has a wonderful theatre curriculum, one of the best in a BA setting that we saw, and it is one of the few LACs in the US that truly is in a city, and a lovely city at that. My D got a nice merit scholarship from them, too, without officially applying for FA. I highly recommend applying EA - Goucher was one of the schools D had an acceptance (and scholarship) to quite early on, which is a very nice feeling.</p>

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<p>@Miles-- my daughter is at the same program right now-- maybe you’ve met her. Also, you might want to change your username so that it’s a bit more anonymous. That seems to be the convention on CC. Like you, my daughter has mostly top “reach” schools on her list (and the added disadvantage of being a common type, in terms of her looks) but she is also going to apply to one non-auditioned safety (Temple) and some LACs.
@Kyle and butterflies. I’m curious about the Theater Arts program at Penn, too. I actually teach there (though obviously not in Theater Arts) and my daughter would be something like a sextuple legacy, with two sets of grandparents and two parent alums… although her stats are slightly low for Penn and she wants to leave the city. So I’m all ears to know what you learn about that department.</p>

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<p>@glassharmonica</p>

<p>I’ve heard from a few people who have seen me post on this forum that are also at this program. Miles Moto is just a temporary name I’ve been using for my theatre credits. My temp. ‘stage name’, if you will. It is not my actual name, although most people who actually know me will know that it is my stage name.</p>

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<p>What about the University of Minnesota/Guthrie program? Is it not considered a great program-up there with some of the other highly regarded schools on previous post’s lists?</p>

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<p>Just swapped out Redlands for UCSB; it’s cheaper thanks to state residency and it has a BFA program, rare and possibly unique among the UCs.</p>

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<p>Hurray! Nice find! I hope you can get there to visit and let us know what you think.</p>

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<p>Hello all, sorry to revive an old thread but I’m hoping for some advice. After applying last year to mainly reach schools (waitlisted at Emerson, and didn’t end up loving URI, my safety) I’m taking a gap year and reapplying. I have a weird GPA situation, very low (2.5) from my freshman and sophomore year and a 3.7 from my junior and senior years after switching schools, making a combined gpa of 3.1. I have a 26 on my ACT with a perfect score in reading and an 1890 SAT. I have been acting for 10 years and have had multiple leads in both high school, community and small professional theaters in my hometown, as well as lots of training. I’m spending 3 months this year in South Africa teaching theater at an under-resourced school, and when I return home I will be working as well as working at a professional theater company as the director’s intern. I would rather be in a conservatory BFA program but could also see myself happy in a strong, performance focused BA program. I want to major in acting but access to musical theater education is also very important to me. This is the first version of my list…any immediate reactions? This is about how many schools I have time to apply to, so adding more than one or two would mean I have to take away some.</p>

<p>BFA PROGRAMS
Pace University
Point Park
Depaul
Roosevelt University CCPA
Fordham
Emerson College
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
SUNY Purchase</p>

<p>BA PROGRAMS
Drew
The New School Eugene Lang
Hampshire College
Farleigh Dickinson University
Indiana University Bloomington
Rollins</p>

<p>Thank you all so much. I’m always amazed by how much you know!</p>

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<p>My sense is that Sarah Lawrence might be a better choice than Hampshire if you’re interested in something closer to professional training… and SLC is test optional and would likely give some weight to your gap-year experience…</p>

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<p>I would deffinantly consider the University of Minnesota/Guthrie program one of the top BFA Acting programs around. It is a very unique program(joint program Between the U and The Guthrie Theatre) and that is why it gets over looked by many. Many also look down at Minneapolis as a small city without oppertunities, but in fact Minnesota has the most theaters per capita in the United States. The Guthrie program is my number one choice.</p>

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<p>I’m a class of '12 grad and strongly considering applying at the new york conservatory of dramatic arts–mainly because I’m pretty much only interested in the screen acting aspect. Any opinions?</p>

<p>Sent from my ADR6300 using CC App</p>

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<p>I think Fordham is a BA program</p>

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<p>Jenna, I’ve heard very divisive things about NYCDA-- either that it’s brilliant, and the best investment you’ll ever make in your life, or that it’s a colossal waste of time, the admins are con artists and the professors are charlatans.</p>

<p>If you’re interested in the Screen Acting major, why not look at Chapman in Orange, CA? I believe that they’re the only other school in the country to offer it (they always claim to be one of two schools that do), their theater and film schools are top-notch, their academics are great, and their location can’t be beat-- it’s driving distance from the mountains, the beach, Disneyland, San Diego, and LA. My sister is a business major there and she absolutely LOVES the atmosphere. It’s worth checking out for sure!</p>

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<p>For screen acting, why not audition for NYU Tisch and do primary studio in one of the acting studios (Atlantic, Meisner, Adler) and then, after primary is over (two years), transfer to Stonestreet?</p>

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<p>Great ideas NotMamaRose and StrangeBro! I have thought of Chapman but I’m trying to stay on the east coast, I would love to go there though! I’ve heard the same thing about NYCDA too StrangeBro…so that’s why I’m a little hesitant. NotMamaRose–do you know anymore information on those program? Or a website I can look at?</p>

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<p>I’m applying to:</p>

<p>Pace
MMC
Fordham
Hunter
Loyola Marymount (haha, the only one in los angeles out of the list!)
NYCDA
AMDA (but heard they don’t let you audition when you’re in school… so if that’s real, then no)
AADA</p>

<p>what do you guys think of my list? I’m an international student who knows french, turkish and english fluently. I came to a college prep school in US in my junior year and will graduate here! :slight_smile:
My gpa is not high, junior one is 2.9 and I don’t even know the previous, but in my country high schools don’t care about GPAs, half of my class FAILED lol it was pretty difficult. i probably had 2.7 GPA which is good compared to everyone else in the school</p>