A message to drama students

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
21

<p>Hard to argue against the very realistic view that any program isn’t all perfect or all horrible. (well, some might be all horrible but I would think any program with zero redeeming qualities wouldn’t be on The List for very long) My D is overall very happy at her school and I am very happy with it for the most part…there are some things that we don’t like but they are fairly minor and I’ve come to learn that no matter the quality of an institution overall there are always some flaws or qualities that you don’t like. I think the trick is being able to get a feel for what the strong and weak points of a school and program are, and being able to discern which weak points (or perhaps not weak points but just characteristics that may not be your preference) you can live with and which you can’t.</p>

<p>I would prefer that D’s school produce more shows and have a foreign study program patterned like the one at SFA, for example, but when everything was weighed in that mattered to D and we saw how her options stacked up, it seemed pretty clear what her choice needed to be and so far it has been about what she and I expected it to be. The things that were essential to her that were not negotiable, are there, so she’s pretty happy with it. Something perhaps to look at is the overall happiness of all students - I think some of the college ranking industries offer that statistic (though I don’t know how accurate it is) that’s something you sort of have to feel out through visits and talks but some schools do have much happier kids than others overall; we in theater have to consider both the school AND the program which can get more complicated.</p>

<p>We have had some issues with dorms and cafeterias but from what I hear, most colleges seem to have issues with those things…nothing outrageous, just the usual institutional irritations.</p>

<p>I think perhaps the anger and frustration in some posts comes across from reality being wildly divergent from expectations.</p>

22

<p>Mommy5 - I agree that from time to time incorrect information is posted, but having been on the Theatre/Drama Majors board for almost two years, my impression is that most of what’s incorrect is posted simply because the poster has wrong or outdated information. That being said, in my experience this board is well-subscribed enough that it is “self-correcting” i.e. any posting of any materially incorrect information is corrected in short order by other CC members.</p>

<p>I absolutely agree that each user should check out the facts for his or her self prior to making any important decisions, but I don’t agree that there is any significant lying or intentional misleading going on. (Yes, there is the occasional ■■■■■, such as the one mentioned in JME1992’s post, but those too are generally quickly spotted by the community and identified as such.)</p>