Starting to work through the process of identifying acting programs for DD. She’s finishing sophomore year and looking at both BA and BFA programs. Ideally, she would love to be somewhere with all four seasons and close enough to go skiing / snowboarding on the weekends in the winter. Any suggestions on schools / programs that meet these criteria?
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The University of Utah has a Theater BFA and unbeatable skiing 30 mins away. It’s fairly economical if you stay the first summer to get residency.
Thank you! We love Park City so this may be a great contender.
Syracuse University
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Wesleyan
She’s very interested in Syracuse. We have suggested that she add in some non audition based programs as possible safeties. Do any come to mind that are close to skiing?
North Central College in Naperville Illinois is an amazing non audition program . They have auditions for scholarships. LeMoyne College is Syracuse has a good BA Theatre program. A lot of the SUNYS have good theatre programs.Some are audition based and some are not.
Skidmore is a strong BA in Theater school. However, please do not lump all BA non-audition programs into “Safety” category. A safety school is relative to the applicant’s qualifications, as well as the overall acceptance rate. Skidmore is likely not a safety for anyone, but I don’t know your D’s profile.
Skiing close by to Skidmore in upstate NY, as well as in Southern Vermont or Western MA.
However, you may wish to consider University of Vermont!
Also, consider Plymouth State’s theater program. It is VERY close to Waterville Valley Ski Resort.
Not a Safety, but a strong BA theater program: Middlebury College in Vermont. It even has it’s own ski area.
Bennington College is strong in theater and is in Southern Vermont, near skiing.
Sarah Lawrence is strong in theater and is 2 hours from Hunter Mountain.
Muhlenberg is a strong BA theater program, with no audition to get in, but an audition for scholarships. There are some ski areas nearby!
I believe there’s some smaller ski hills near Baldwin Wallace.
U of Wyoming has a very well funded program, new theater/dance studios, a study abroad in London program that is actually cheaper than OOS tuition on campus.
U of Northern Colorado has a very good theater program.
Colorado State has a good theater program.
Skiing is not right around the corner but easy to get to. Students all think they are going to be skiing every weekend but that doesn’t really happen. Theater students have rehearsals on weekends, other studying to do, dates, parties, but there is the opportunity to go skiing several times per semester.
Thank you everyone for these recommendations!
@soozievt thank you for those suggestions and input. Although she has been trying to stay away from small LACs, we haven’t visited any to date. I think a visit may help but she’s quite focused on mid to large size schools.
@twoinanddone thank you for the suggestions. We have also tried to remind DD that time on the slopes may not be as regular as she has envisioned.
You can get in-state tuition at the U after a YEAR of residency in Utah, after six months at the community colleges. However, if your daughter has strong academic credentials, she might get some scholarship money.
The proximity to great skiing/boarding, hiking, white water rafting, etc. is unmatched at the U of Utah, because you are in a city (SLC), but only as little as 30 minutes from the various canyons, including about 45 minutes to 7 great ski areas, with arguably the best snow in the world - mostly dry, light powder, and lots of it. Not too cold, often sunny.
Drawbacks - SLC is about 50% LDS, while the state is 90% LDS. SLC is quite liberal, considering it’s in Utah. The U has a very strong LDS presence, but there are still so many students who are not LDS, that it is easy to find politically and socially liberal people, too.
It’s a plane ride to get almost anywhere else.
@parentsbythelake …well, then, do consider University of Vermont! Theater program is good and the setting in Burlington is great, and it’s near lots of ski areas! Unlike many state Us, UVM has a TON of students from out of state.
It depends what you do in the vacations, spring break etc. D is doing a BFA (in dance) but last year pre-pandemic had 30 days of skiing, two-thirds of which was over Thanksgiving and in the winter and spring breaks (including Mammoth, Big Sky and Banff). This year without a spring break she’ll probably end up at 15-20 days. It is a great help to be 30-45 mins away from the slopes so you can just go for a morning and come back to study/rehearse in the afternoon.
James Madison University in Virginia is less than 30 min from Massanutten Ski Lodge, though if she is used to ski/snowboarding in Utah, the size of the hills may be a let-down. But all four seasons in VA are lovely.
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