My D is a recent CMU grad with a BFA in acting. She’s been out in NY trying to get booked in… something other than community theater. She’s also been on a few auditions for commercials and TV. Here’s what we have learned so far~ Casting directors, producers, directors, agents… don’t care that you have a BFA… or where it came from!!! Your $400,000+ degree from a prestigious acting school will typically NOT get you booked. If you’ve got the money to blow and are talented enough to get into a very selective acting program like CMU, than go for it… but the prestige of the school will not get you jobs or representation!! And, be warned, it’s far more competitive and saturated than we ever thought!! 1200 submissions for 1 role is about the norm!! And don’t even get me started on the run around she got from many agents who saw her at her showcases!! One very reputable agent in particular liked her performance at showcase, called her in for a meeting, not once, but 3 times, then e-mailed her and said your beautiful and talented but we can’t represent you at this time. Um… ok, thanks for nothing. Bottom line: It is a lot about who you know, not what you know… and luck. The icing on the cake was when she was called into a very successful casting director’s office to audition for the role of a 15 second screaming woman on a popular TV show. We thought… “Oh, she’s got this! She knows how to scream! CMU had a whole semester on it (Ha)!” She couldn’t even book that… a role that any joe blow off the street could have done. She gained a lot from CMU in many other ways… great friends, wonderful boyfriend, education, memories… but as far as booking jobs she probably could have gone to a community college, state college, or a 2 year acting program and been just fine. This post is simply to give some honest feedback of our experiences so far. She is $90,000 in debt at barely 22, and can’t even book a regional acting job. Its scary, so think it through!!