argh! Common App for theatre majors

<p>I think arwarw’s post #15 is probably spot on. At LACs it is unlikely that the theatre department weighs in at all during admissions decisions. Teasing out the nuances in a theatre resume outside of that department would not be something that I’d expect most admissions reps would have the background to accomplish. What they would probably notice is dedication, training and conviction to something that you’re passionate about and if theatre is that thing, then find a way to write about it. A thoughtful answer to the “identity” essay on the new Common App can probably get you there as well as any resume that may not be looked at too closely unless they specifically area asking for it which suggests they have a step in their admission process that includes looking at it.</p>

<p>I’m not hating this year’s Common App the same way many of you are. At least there is only 1 essay. Yes there are all of those school supplements often with their own essays as well but that was always the case even when there was an additional common app essay to produce. It could be worse don’t you think?</p>

<p>Some schools (LACs and big universities alike) will send arts portfolios/DVDs/etc. to the relevant department. They may not always say that they do so, but your high school’s college counselor (guidance counselor, etc.) should be able to call and find out. Have also heard of schools where this backfired, as in the department either didn’t respond or said something negative about an otherwise qualified kid, so definitely find out as much as you can in advance about how each school handles it.</p>

<p>Turtletime, personally, I would absolutely include your D’s earlier work. Not only it’s, as you say, substantial and prestigious, but it definitely informs who she is today, and has helped carve her path to where she is now. She could in fact use one of her earlier experiences as a springboard to a theme in one of her essays.The ‘only high school’ rule is in general for those whose experience is non-professional.If she has a very great deal of film/commercial/professional theatre on her resume, you should not include it all, only highlight it (especially if it’s when she was very young.) But there is a continuum here–she is continuing in her interests. </p>

<p>Have you considered getting recommendations from directors or others familiar with her work? That would be important. They would speak not just to her talent, but to her character, commitment and work ethic.</p>

<p>TO anyone considering BA programs, my D sent a link or DVD of her monologues to all her LACs/universities (depending on what they preferred). What she did was simply to treat this as an audition tape, and had four monologues, her two classical, two contemporary, just as though she were auditioning. This was not high-tech. We did this at home with my home camera. She did not have a reel, or anything fancy. I will say that several colleges commented positively on it–so they viewed it.</p>

<p>Connections, thanks for the response. I hope I’m not high-jacking the original post too terribly. DD is getting a recommendation from an artistic director that has been working and following her progress since she was little. This person has worked with her in several different capacities and knows her professional, educational, community service and administrative experiences in regards to theatre. I think we can work in her high end professional credits because she’s still connected to those companies in different capacities that will already be included under activities. Maybe just let go of the smaller companies whom she no longer has any activity with and who deal mostly in local talent and staff. She’s not looking into being an actor (thank goodness because I tell you, college apps seem hard enough without all the audition stuff on top!) But you are right, the experiences did shape her. Hmm, some good things to discuss with her. Thanks a bunch.</p>

<p>turtletime, what is she looking into majoring? I’m sorry if I missed that post.</p>

<p>Turtletime, regarding recommendations, last year when my son was applying, I was disappointed to see that all the schools he applied to stipulated recommendations ONLY from an academic teacher. I had a couple of good non-school ones lined up but nobody wanted them and were explicit about not sending other documents. Maybe I should have sent them anyway? I don’t know. And of course every school is different, but read carefully.</p>

<p>Thank you, everyone for tips, commiseration and work-arounds :-)</p>

<p>I am just going to have to call each school, pack as much as I can into the line-by-line activity space, copy/paste appropriately into “additional information” and send a hard copy where it’s prudent to do so.</p>

<p>Her main common app essay deals with personal experiences in theatre. Her recommendations from Guidance Counselor and one of her teachers will outline theatre expreriences too.</p>

<p>Perhaps they will cut a break because there is a learning curve with this revamped common app.</p>

<p>I appreciate your help and advice.</p>

<p>A couple more tips/suggestions:</p>

<p>In the document you’re ‘cutting’ from use the helvetica neue font. It seems to work really well with the common app.</p>

<p>Print out a draft of your actual Common App form ASAP. We find ourselves reading and tweaking it a few minutes almost every evening. It’s nice seeing it on paper and having a little breathing room to edit it.</p>