BA vs BFA decision

<p>His college counselor thinks Northwestern is a safety?</p>

<p>More comments. i think Univ of Utah is on his list. Academically, I am guessing it is a safety or at least a match. I am also assuming Utah has a BFA option. Although it is a BFA, i think it’s safe to say that program will be easier to get into than CMU. So you may have to treat that as his “safety”. He also needs to decide whether he is willing to go BA route at any of schools on the chance he does not get into any BFA program. </p>

<p>And re USC, has he applied yet? If not, make sure he applies by Dec 1 so he can compete for USC’s full tuition scholarship. Yes, if he gets in, he has the 1/2 scholarship in the bag, which is awesome, but given USC’s cost, a full tuition would be even more awesome. I think EVERYTHING has to be into USC by Dec 1st for those who want to apply for scholarships(other than the NM option). </p>

<p>I understand on the schools with the great NM merit aid not being high on his list. We ran into that too(although as I’ve mentioned elsewhere it did not matter at end of the day cause my son barely missed the cutoff). One of our issues is kid wants to be in the middle of a big city. On some EC cities, forget even the suburbs. He;'s just about downtown or bust. So finding schools that had great NM options, fit what he wanted academically, which for the most part, is laid back and a flexible BA, but had at least decent theatre depts, but would allow a semester to a year abroad, dear God. Glad we got a list together at least!!! He narrowed it down to one full ride NM school(UCF), USC, and I don;t think the rest of the schools he is applying to even offer NM scholarships.</p>

<p>Times3, I KNOW, right? She’s a friend of ours…came from Admissions at a very prestigious university. But I just explained to my son that I know for a fact that there are some parents of students who were very disappointed in where they ended up being accepted last year (at least two that I know of)…and I really don’t want him to end up in the same boat. Yes…she has told him and us that she thinks the BA at USC and Northwestern are both adequate safeties for him.</p>

<p>BTW, we don’t NEED National Merit money, but when looking at real safeties, I feel we may as well look at schools that offer it. We have plenty of friends whose kids are in college or have already graduated…but NONE of them on the theatre path. Other kids from his HS theatre program have gone on to NYU, Emerson, BYU, Bucknell, George Washington, Ithaca and Barnard. That list doesn’t help us much.</p>

<p>Im not sure kids with a 2400 SAT should treat either USC or Northwestern as a safety. As i told my kid, to get the full tuition at USC, he probably needed to be a brain surgeon by age 16. Yes, admissions is “easier” than full tuition, but neither are easy at those schools…</p>

<p>of course, if she was on admissions at a prestigious school, she knows more than me on the inner workings</p>

<p>If your counselor is telling you that USC and NU are a ‘safety’ I’m afraid I would take most anything she advises with a grain of salt. </p>

<p>Btw my D had a 2300 SAT and was a NMF in NJ (the second hardest state to be one) and would never in her wildest dreams have considered NU a ‘safety.’ She did get in, but considered that extremely fortunate and lucky–which it is. The college admissions process has always been competitive but in the last three-five years it has become wildly competitive and highly unpredictable. I have seen many many students who, in previous years would have been shoe-ins for x or y college, get rejected. My favorite story is a kid who got 2400 on his SATs, had 9 AP tests (all 5’s), a 4.0 GPA unweighted, went to a prestigious private school, did zillions of leadership and volunteer things-- <em>and</em> had two parents who were both alum of a top Ivy. Yet he was rejected from the Ivy (not even waitlisted)! </p>

<p>All’s fair in love, war and college admissions.</p>

<p>ctl987, thanks for all the info. He told me this morning that he hasn’t actually applied to the UofU yet because he REALLY does not want to stay in Utah. He acquiesced to apply at Westminster because of the National Merit money…full tuition…even though UofU definitely has a better program. He has applied to USC, we are only waiting for LOR’s (which he requested the end of summer) and transcripts (that counselor again).</p>

<p>He just sent the common app to URI, so he is listening to me this morning…and responding…LOL! I said, “Shall we look at a map to see exactly where it is?”…and he said, “I don’t really care! I only did it to make you happy.” And to shut me up, I expect. He said he is just getting tired of there always being “one more thing to do”…and I said that I am just trying to get it all tied up so he ONLY needs to think about his monologues.</p>

<p>I agree with the “grain of salt” comment. That’s why I’m here. I think she is good at what she does, but not necessarily much experience with the BFA in Acting search. She kept telling us that we didn’t need to be in such a hurry to get applications in and we kept having to remind her that we needed to get auditions scheduled. Anyway…yes…I think we have taken her out of the equation…no matter how delightful I find her.</p>

<p>There is so much wisdom here and I will be eternally grateful for your help at this stage of the process. Thanks, everyone…for chiming in.</p>

<p>And I agree it is scary out there these days and no guarantees. I’m getting closer to feeling we have our bases covered. Your information has helped ever-so-much to cut down on the last-minute research I felt needed to be done.</p>

<p>well the good news on USC is that if he is in the running for a competitive scholarship, I think he’ll know by Feb cause he’ll be invited out there. Not totally sure if it works for NM kids who they were leaning towards a half scholarship for but assuming they still get an “invite”, if he hears by USC in Feb, pretty sure that means he’s been accepted to USC. If he does not hear anything from USC by then, he may still get admitted but it will give him time to regroup and look at more typical safeties as hopefully, he will realize USC is less of a safety than he currently thinks. Hoping he gets the good news in February and hang in there mom.</p>

<p>ctl987, he is auditioning for the BFA Feb. 9th. Do you think he will hear about BA acceptance independent of that? That would be awesome to know he had a safety that he will truly love. He did an independent movie with some relatives and friends of theirs last winter, all of whom are USC grads…and they convinced him that it is an awesome program. He would be thrilled to know that he was in there…would be a huge load off while waiting for news from all the other BFA programs.</p>

<p>that I don’t know. I’d get in touch with USC directly to get their take on it. Ive seen from other posts on USC and it may even be on their website that kids in the running for full and half tuition scholarships get invited out there and I seem to remember those posts starting coming out in Febuary. Although they are BUSY now, USC has an admissions counselor for each geographic area so you have a one on one contact out there. I think if you plug in your zip code, you find out who it is. Ours has been great to work with and I suspect USC makes sure they get good people for this position. So I’d get in touch with whoever that is as well as the theatre dept and see how that plays out for a BFA candidate. there is another poster on here (Madbean??) who has kids out there so see what they know too. And I think 5boys son has USC on his radar so she may have some good info on them too. And to clarify, my kid had and hopefully has USC on his radar. He is a prospective applicant, not an admitted kid or a student there. That being said, he and I have looked at USC very closely so please keep asking questions as I may know answer or at least have a very good guess.</p>

<p>when he applied to USC, did he list BFA as his first choice and BA as his second choice???</p>

<p>Yes…BFA first, BA second. My husband said that it says for BA he needs an interview, and that would be handled at the same time as his BFA audition.</p>

<p>That makes sense on interview and I’m not sure how scholarship issues will play out then due to BFA issues, and his audition being in February. It may be a longer wait for him in that case. Sorry, I tried… I’m also not sure that since he will presumably be NMF, if USC wants to give him 1/2 tuition scholarship, there would be no need for him to be interviewed on campus. I don;t know if those kids are invited anyway or how that all works itself out.</p>

<p>Last year, at the BFA audition there was someone who had the big USC scholarship. I don’t remember what it’s called but it’s the rare one. He knew he was in. Everyone else BA or BFA found out in April.</p>

<p>ctl987, yes…you did try! You’re the best. And actor112, wouldn’t THAT be great…to show up at your BFA audition, knowing you already had a full ride! We can dream. Did I see that you are at UC Irvine? And you love it? Congrats! Any info on anywhere you auditioned is greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>

<p>MsMommy, I am not sure if I discussed this with your before, but some people take the attitude that if they can’t get into any of the schools they really want, they would rather take a year off and try again than go to a “safety” school they really don’t want to go to. This is a strategy that many have used succesfully. For these people, applying to a safety school simply makes no sense.</p>

<p>TheRealKEVP, thanks…I have seen a discussion about that and actually mentioned it to my son this morning. He didn’t act as if a “gap year” was something he would consider, but at least we have planted the seed.</p>

<p>His HS situation is a bit odd. They describe his school as a Private Liberal Arts College Prep School. He has been on the same campus since he was two years old. His academics are rigorous and he has devoted much time and energy to AP classes. His scores are high in all subjects and his SAT’s were 2360. Each of his teachers over the past few years has tried to sway him to consider their discipline (Science, Math, History, English, Creative Writing, French, Music) as his major, but his PASSION is theatre. His graduating class will only be 53 students, but includes a nice mix of socio-economic students because they have a well-developed scholarship program. He has been very involved in HS Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra (he plays the double bass), Outdoor (which is a rigorous academic and outdoor sport program…rock climbing, skiing and avalanche safety, rafting, paddle-boarding, hiking, camping, emergency first-aid and evacuation techniques, etc.), and Community Service (many local charities and assisting on Navajo reservation during the summer).</p>

<p>Because his HS theatre program performs a play each of three terms and he has always had a lead or supporting lead (Freshman and Sophomore years), and the work is usually Shakespeare, Greek, Chekhov, Moliere, Beckett, Brecht, Friel, O’Neill,or some other fairly serious work, and his normal day (not including homework) is 7am to 6 pm and some Saturdays, it is already rather like a mini-conservatory setting. His HS drama teacher has also started a local acting company and David has occasionally performed in plays for that in addition to his school plays. I guess my point is that even with good grades and high test scores and a rigorous theatre program…his experience has been almost exclusively centered around his HS and I just don’t know how that will translate to an acceptance committee.</p>

<p>Here’s hoping he will knock his auditions out of the park. If he doesn’t, we will need to regroup. Applying to Fordham and RIU this morning made me feel much better about the safety situation.</p>

<p>Feeling calmer. On to the monologues!</p>

<p>If you already know this I apologize for repeating this, Fordham does have an audition requirement. Not sure you were aware :)</p>

<p>bisouu, thanks…yes…I did see the audition requirement, but it was recommended as possibly not being quite as huge of a reach as many of the BFA’s he’s looking at. “Conservatory-stlye” BA I think is what caught his attention. I do know that someone said that no auditioned program can be considered a safety and I understand that.</p>

<p>I apologize, I feel that I’ve hijacked this thread…which was going the direction of your children deciding BA rather than BFA…and my son is just the opposite. But the info here has been invaluable and I feel we made some progress today on the “you need a few more options” front.</p>

<p>Have a wonderful evening. Really looking forward to the camaraderie here as we go through the steps.</p>