<p>Which of these schools would you say is the strongest in Acting/Singing/Musical Theatre and has many connections to Hollywood and Broadway?</p>
<p>UCLA
USC
LMU
CSUF
CSULB
Chapman</p>
<p>These are all the regular universities, but would pure conservatories be better such as
AMDA and CalArts?</p>
<p>Please rank these schools and help me with my decision, basically my perfect school would be transfer friendly, very strong BA and/or BFA programs, great social life and college feel, alumni connections, alumni who have gone on to become stars, graduate oppurtunities for securing agents or auditions. Please give me advice on all of these subjects, and prefreably please only discuss schools in California, and if there's any I forgot to mention please feel free to mention them. :)</p>
<p>I am not a college admission councelor and I don’t claim to know the exact answer to your question, but here is what I will tell you:</p>
<p>If you want to act on broadway, you need to live in New York City.
If you want to act in movies/television/commercials, then you could really live in either New York City or LA. (more and more flim auditions are moving to NYC)</p>
<p>So it really depends on what your true dream is.</p>
<p>Also, have you considered deferring a year and just moving to LA and working/focusing on building your career? The schools you have listed above are all very expensive…perhaps it would be better for you to try it out for a year before you spend the money studying it. You referenced above that you want a school that produces “stars”. If you do your research, rarely has a famous actor/actress gone to college. Just putting the idea in your head.</p>
<p>(Deferring for a year would allow you to still have the safety net of college waiting for you: you will still apply, be accepted, choose a school, and just tell them you accept but will not attend for another year.)</p>
<p>Hope this helps. All of the schools above have strong programs. Break a leg on your auditions!</p>
<p>The only real way for you to get the best out of your college experience is to visit all of these schools and ask these questions to them yourself. Nobody can give you an accurate ranking of any of these schools, because there’s no such rank. Especially if you’re in California now, you need to be visiting and calling these schools right away if you want to make a decision for next year. </p>
<p>I will give a little advice though, in terms of social life and college atmosphere. If student activities are important to you, such a greek life, social scene, etc., you should look into a university with a good acting program. If you’re really interested in immersing yourself into acting wholly, then you could benefit from a conservatory style school. But remember that conservatories are very hard to get into, and demand a LOT from their students. As far as networking goes, I’m sure there are notable alumni from all of the schools on your list. Just because one secures a BFA/BA degree in acting from a school with notable (or “famous”) alumni doesn’t mean that they’ll become just as successful.</p>
<p>It’s really all about what YOU want! Just go out there and try to get a feel for what’s best for you, not what everyone else thinks is best for you.</p>
<p>I recommend a BFA program in a conservatory style setting. Often BA and non-conservatory style BFA’s leave holes in the training. My recommendation would be look for a school that has four years of Acting, four years of Voice, and four years of Speech. At least 3-4 years of movement.</p>
<p>Clemme,
There are some of us who might disagree with your statement that it is necessary to live in New York City to act on Broadway. It is certainly possible to take rigorous training at a university outside of NYC which could prepare a student for film or stage acting.</p>
<p>The USC School of Theatre has trained actors who have won Tonys, Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, Lawrence Olivier and Palme d’Or.</p>
<p>Many posters here are residents of eastern states and may not know these actors/directors are alumni of the USC School of Theatre:</p>
<p>Forest Whitaker
Kyra Sedgewick
LeVar Burton
Eric Stoltz
Tate Donovan
Anthony Edwards
James Lesure
Jonathan Silverman
Sophia Bush
Swoozie Kurtz
The late John Ritter
Ally Sheedy
Grant Heslov-Writer/Actor…Good Night, and Good Luck; Leatherheads
Andy Tennant-Writer/Director…Fool’s Gold; Hitch
Jack Bender-Producer/Director…Lost; Sopranos
Todd Black-Producer…The Pursuit of Happiness; Antwone Fisher</p>
<p>Some recent graduates:</p>
<p>Stark Sands-Tony Award nomination for his work in Journey’s End
James Snyder-Had title role in Cry-Baby</p>
<p>Kevin Mambo
Donald Webber
Emily Baum
Jeff Thomson
Kate Russo
Pranav Shah-Technical Theatre
Eric Close
Deborah Ann Woll
Kelly Preston
Brandon Barash</p>
<p>Kevin McCollum-Producer…Tony Award Winner…Avenue Q; In the Heights
Frank Wildhorn-Lyricist…Civil War; Jekyll and Hyde</p>