Attend UCLA to "plug into" LA Dance Scene?

College Majors Dance Major
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Dance Dad Here:

DD is applying to BFA programs with a focus on NYC (Ailey/Fordham, Pace, Tisch).

DD will have completed her AA degree from a CC here in FL prior to graduating HS.

It would be a bonus to transfer as many credits as possible to her four year school (to free up her schedule for dance, etc. - and “been there, done that”). Some of the schools do not accept college classes taken while in HS, Fordham, for example, accepts zero (but they take AP etc. - whats up with that?). NYU, may take some, Pace (haven’t checked, yet).

The UC system does accept college units taken while in HS (up to 70 semester units).

I’m seeking input on DD enrolling in UCLA and using her transfer credits to reduce her course work to the minimum (she could try the BA in dance program, or some other non dance related major, like Psychology) - By taking a light college load, and geographically positioned in Westwood, I wonder if DD could engage in non academic dance programs, activities, auditions that would benefit her dance career?

I would think if she entered a BFA program at UCI, or UCSB, or USC, that she wouldn’t have the free time to pursue many extra curicular “Entertainment Capital of the World” (LA) activities.

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It’s not clear to me how “light” a load you really can take at UCLA and still be a full time student (I think the cutoff is 12 credits which is still 3 classes). By careful course selection you can sometimes get all of those courses on 3 days (though 4 days is more common) since you usually have 2 days of lectures plus 1 TA section on a different day, but you may need to take courses with MW and TTh lectures when that’s all that is available in the second pass selection.

Living on campus at UCLA isn’t hugely convenient for getting around LA, the main option is buses which take at least an hour to get downtown, because there’s no subway in Westwood. And don’t take a car, the parking is a nightmare.

The one dancer we met from the audition tour that did choose UCLA was treating the dance major as additional to other academics (she was a Regents Scholar). Conversely the dancers we met at Chapman were very keen on gaining out of school (commercial) dance experience, the obvious option being Disneyland just down the road, but they would also take the train from right outside campus up to downtown LA. You might ask how Chapman treat transfer credits, my impression is that both public and private CA schools take a lot of transfers. And even though Chapman is quite expensive, they do have a fair amount of merit aid unlike UCLA.

Although UCI is slightly closer to the city as the crow flies, getting from that campus to downtown LA seems much less straightforward, and we didn’t meet any USC dancers, that is an incredibly selective audition process even at the prescreen stage.

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@ Twoin18 - thanks for the insight

Yes, checking the UCLA catalog, 12 units is the minimum. After reading the UCLA dance department, the Dance major seems a bit unfocused (following the merger with another program etc.).

My current UCLA thinking for DD would be to try and get her into pre-psychology, or cognitive science, with the goal of three years to her degree. During her “free time” she could go off and dance somewhere (on campus, or off).

Since the DD world transfer ~ 90 quarter units, I think she could get the three year Psych program down to around three classes a quarter

http://www.ugeducation.ucla.edu/degreepath/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Degree-Map-Psych-181.pdf

Yes, dance wise, it looks like UCI has the best UC BFA program, and DD’s GE transfer credits would make life easier at UCI, but like most BFA programs it will take four years any way you slice it (Tisch is the odd man out). UCI’s on campus BFA audition is the day after UCLA’s dance audition (1/31), so, DD should be able to do both on the same trip (from FL).

The odds of getting into USC’s BFA program are slim, UCSB is a great experience (been there) but I doubt DD will go for it (even if accepted). I could see her telling her dance posse that she decided to go to UCLA pursuing an academic major with the hope of making it in show business (insert something a dancer would say).

DD did a summer intensive in LA (I think with one of the instructors that is now associated with USC), maybe there’s a nice studio (think BDC) somewhere local (I’d guess in the valley, somewhere).

DD had an audition at Pace over the weekend (her first), of many I expect.

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I would definitely look at what would transfer to Chapman (it appears there is a website you can use to do this assessment) and consider applying. It is a very good program, my D felt it was better than UCI and she loved the location - downtown Orange is very cute old town SoCal. And for an OOS applicant it might be cheaper than the UCs. Unfortunately the audition dates might not line up with UCI despite the two schools being really close to each other.

I’m not sure that it’s worth applying to UCLA for dance if you prefer an academic major, as I doubt they reduce the academic standards much if at all. But there’s no reason you can’t just apply for completely different majors at different UCs (that’s what my D did because UCB and UCLA were her “non-dance” backups and she was admitted to both as well as to the dance programs at UCSB and UCI).

However in terms of getting off campus at UCLA my S definitely finds it too time consuming to go much further than Westwood, Hollywood or Santa Monica - he’s never been over to the San Fernando Valley AFAIK.

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@Twoin18 Thanks, I’ll check out Chapman (but I doubt that will be cool enough for DD :wink:

Dance wise, I think DD’s best play is to get into a FL BFA program: (FSU, USF, or UF) and use the money saved to spend on summer programs in NYC, Paris, or?

I could also see DD pursuing an academic path at UCLA, or UCB with the hope of getting done in three years (and saving the $40K for a fourth OOS year). UF would be fine for academics, but lacks cool points.

I think Purchase will be too “country” and I think the NYC programs will be a reach financially - and at the least, would cut into the ability to fund summer programs.

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Mom of actor here, not dancer, but Chapman is quite cool FYI, beautiful campus and lovely town, quite well known/desired among CA schools i believe! Agree that you have to really take traffic into account when thinking about how much outside activities she will do (and Chapman is an hour away FYI)…find a studio and check it in Google maps, you can’t use mileage to guess how long the trip will take with LA traffic. My D did do outside acting classes with her theater BA (LMU), it’s doable depending on how great your D is at time management and how motivated she is (she sounds motivated!) Also with Theater, not sure if it is the same for dance, most BFA programs specifically prohibit outside auditioning, so that’s something to check.

My D got into UCLA as a 3.7 or so GPA, I do think her Theater resume gave her an admissions bump but there is no way to tell, really. She turned down UCLA in favor of LMU BA for flexibility to do outside classes/auditioning and is very happy with that decision.

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@TS0104 Thanks for the tips.

After searching for LA dance studios, I determined that EDGE was the Summer program that D attended (studio seems around a 30 drive from UCLA, traffic dependent, hmm, maybe a bike would help with her training).

D is still focused on dancing in NYC, and I don’t want to seem non supportive, so I’m working the other other options (on the DL).

It would help if I knew where D pictures herself in 5 years, but that might be a road too far for this 17 year old.

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@ucsb82 Have you looked at schools in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. TONS of amazing dance training options with plenty of contemporary/ modern companies as well as amazing training available in every genre very close. SMU has amazing technical dancers and plenty of prestige. They love double majors and double or triple minors as well and really are willing to help create the degree the student wants if they dont have it exactly. But your D could also attend school at any one of the many schools in that area for example and just continue to train outside of college if that is what you are looking for. Houston has lots of options for that as well.

I think you said you are in Fl but in Atlanta, GA which has tons of dance opportunities much like LA but not as spread out - Kennesaw State has great dance program as well as works with those trying to double major. We know several dancers who are actually working different dance gigs, auditioning and performing in music videos, having opportunities to dance with artists when they come to perform in ATL, etc while going to school as a BFA dance major at Kennesaw.

Perhaps there are also other places besides the LA scene with just as many dance opportunities that also have school options she would be interested in. Just throwing something else out there. ? so many ways to go about getting experience and training and also finishing a degree. Good luck!

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DD got an invite for a USC live audition - she is stoked.

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FYI Getting to a dance studio from Westwood shouldn’t be too difficult. There is Uber/Lyft after all and a metro station at Westwood/Rancho Park which could be easily accessed by Uber. Although parking at UCLA is a nightmare, the car is still king.

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@ucsb82 DS got his invite to USC live audition as well - he is not so stoked. We did the Open House at USC and while he was impressed with facilities and the campus, he wasn’t as impressed with the classes he took. Still, options are on the table!