D accepted at UCSD. Would love more info on their BA theater program, especially regarding acting training. She is only looking at BA programs and also interested in playwriting/screenwriting as well.
Congrats to all who got good news today, and good luck to all who are still waiting.
[Please feel free to skip the below if not interested in the topic of gender inequality and the performing arts.]
@Noreplays2018 - I so agree with you - the gender imbalance in acting (both stage & screen) is overwhelming, and itâs disappointing to see the way college opportunities reinforce this.
I remember hearing about a program not too many years ago (I think it may have been UNCSA, but Iâm not certain) that had a policy of admitting 2x as many young men as women to their acting program. That horrified me, and I considered it a serious red flag with respect to the value that program places on educating girls and women. Their reasoning (that there are more âgood rolesâ for men than for women) did not impress my D or myself at the time; our response was, âUm, so make a point of seeking out a broader range of shows, or go crazy and do some gender-blind casting.â I think I heard that in a recent year (within the past 5-10), this school had only 3 girls admitted to BFA acting. (If this was another program, perhaps someone can correct me.)
Only recently have I begun to recognize that the (very standard) active pursuit of even a 50/50 male/female class* can be viewed as merely a less extreme version of that policy, once we consider how many more girls than boys are applying. (Anyone have an idea of that actual number? Iâd be curious to see an educated estimate.)
Iâd be even more interested in seeing a gender breakdown for all BFA acting and MT programs in terms of numbers who apply, who pass prescreens/get callbacks, who are ultimately admitted, and who are offered scholarships & (non-need-based) FA.
This is not intended to indict the talents of any of your fantastic sons. (We all know there are WAY more talented, dedicated, hard-working and deserving kids of every stripe than there are spots in the programs theyâre all dying to get into.) I just wonder when or if the cycle will ever shift away from the status quo of highly disadvantaging girls applying to college theatre programs.
I suspect, or at least hope (given our countryâs historic & ongoing record of racial oppression), that the odds are a little better for women & girls of color applying in 2018 than they are for white girls. As a mom of white kids, I fully applaud the schoolsâ long-overdue dedication to seeking out racial diversity. Still, even there, I canât help but wonder whether these young women still have the odds stacked against them, relative to guysâmaybe even relative to white guys. (Whoâno offenseâare obviously the last group who actually needs any kind of affirmative actionâŠwell, along with the children of Ivy League alumni, who get it anyway, in the form of admissions preferences.)
Hopping off my soapbox now. GOOD LUCK this weekend, everyone! (Boys too!) ;-)
*footnote: with apologies to anyone out there who identifies outside that gender binary; Iâm talking in generalizations here.
Congrats on all of the acceptances today!
Question regarding SyracuseâŠdid anybody receive an email from them with a rejection or waitlist? You can send me a private message. I am just curious because I have seen several acceptances, but no ânoâsâ or waitlists in the first wave tonight.
@jenniferm1973 I was wondering the same thing . . .
@katew529 - You are totally correct that there is a very real imbalance. I am a parent of a S (have two Dâs who arenât performers) and he definitely has had breaks in acting that a girl wouldnât have. Reese Witherspoon has started producing movies with female centered plots. We need more of this.
The schools- and there are many (including CMU, BW) - take more men because they are judged on how many of their students sign with agents at the end of their 4 years and they find that itâs harder for girls (because roles arenât there).
The way out of this is for women (and men who are aware) to write more plays and movies with female centered plots. Tell your Dâs to pursue playwriting and script writing - as a second major or concentration!
Roller coaster day ends on a high note for my son! Yes from Syracuse Acting and UCSD theatre. Yes for Fordham, but not for theatre. No at UCLA. 5 more schools to go, but thankful to have some choices. Feel so lucky and fortunate.
@MomofJ5, exactly! I couldnât agree more.
Thereâs also the issue of generating demand for this type of work. I am cautiously optimistic that the current generation of youth might grow up and raise their children, even their boys, to be less likely to devalue women-centered books, theatre, films, etc. than our society does now. Most women will read books/watch art about and by both men and women, but the reverse is not nearly as true.
And having more stars demand inclusion riders should promote a reduction in inequality, also, right?
As far as the CMU/BW argument - I have heard that also, but I still find it troublesome. As a matter of civil rights, we donât let firms in big finance, for example, openly discriminate against women applicants (or POC) on the basis that more clients will want to deal with their male counterparts. And to the extent that this happens anyway, nobody in 2018 would be ok with a policy of MBA programs admitting a much higher percentage of male (or white) applicants just because it might be easier for them to get certain jobs, even though theyâre judged on the future career success of their alumni.
Schools with a reputation as rock-solid as CMU should, IMHO, be pressured to end these archaic policies once and for all.
@MomofJ5, exactly! I couldnât agree more.
Thereâs also the issue of generating demand for this type of work. I am cautiously optimistic that the current generation of youth might grow up and raise their children, even their boys, to be less likely to devalue women-centered books, theatre, films, etc. than our society does now. Most women will read books/watch art about and by both men and women, but the reverse is not nearly as true.
And having more stars demand inclusion riders should promote a reduction in inequality, also, right?
As far as the CMU/BW argument - I have heard that one, but I still find it troublesome. As a matter of civil rights, we no longer allow investment firms to openly discriminate against women applicants (or POC) on the basis that more clients will want to deal with their male (or white) counterparts. And to the extent that this happens anyway, nobody in 2018 would be ok with a policy of MBA programs admitting a much higher percentage of male (or white) applicants just because it might be easier for them to get certain jobs, even though theyâre judged on the future career success of their alumni.
Schools with a reputation as rock-solid as CMU should, IMHO, be pressured to end these archaic policies once and for all.
@katew529 - personally, I prefer women centered plots in films, books, plays, etc. There might be a shortage of stories written, but there definitely is a shortage of investment in those productions. I think this metoo moment might be the change women need. Hopefully!
A sincere College Confidential theatre parent prayer: May all our roller coaster days/months/seasons end on a high note, just as VA Skydogâs has! (And this includes the financial aid piece for everyoneâŠmay all our kids end up with at least one program thatâs both financially feasible and a good fit.)
Sending virtual hugs, red wine & dark chocolate to all.
S also got a no from UCLA.
@dramagurl99 Congratulations!!!
Thank you @ginaf1102 ! That means so much to me. 
@STHmom thank you.
@MomofJ5 - yes, Iâve had the same thought about metoo. I was telling my D that Iâll be really excited to see what the coming years bring for the up & coming generation of women actors, directors, etc. Fingers crossed!
@MomofJ5 & @katew529 As the mom of a S, I know that he has definitely had more opportunities throughout the years. But, that is mainly because he would show up for a theatre class and be one of two or three boys compared to the 20 or so girls.
All the schools he applied to talked about a 50/50 split. CMU specifically said that were admitting 12 students for Acting - 6 girls and 6 boys.
Reese Witherspoon has the right idea. With more female producers, writers, and directors on the rise, there will be more roles for women. Eventually.
My D is a freshman at LMU and they have the opposite issueâŠmany more girls in the program than boys. This year there are 36 girls and 12 boys! We need more boys at LMU!
Darn. No Suny Purchase call today. I had heard they were calling boys. Hope that Iâm wrong
To be quite frank. Everything @kate529 said about equality for girls is true. Boys and Girls who are POC still have the same issue. Youâd think that they are in demand and they are to a point but Itâs 1 or 2 maybe 4 for a larger group. Itâs like a quota thing that they are attempting to fill and they will not take very many. The percentage is always lower than everyone else and if you do see a few POC accepted, They have had to work twice as hard, get more training just to be included. This is a fact.
During Unified, a school in the South was bragging to an African American Boy about how 2 bi-racial kids are in their acting program as a sell for their school (itâs 2018 and people are still doing this)
I guess more inclusion for women and minorities need to take place. When the playing field is leveled for women, minorities and those with disabilities, everyone wins because this is who makes up our country and there are more stories that can be told. More movies to go and see and more stage shows that we can be entertained by.
Weâre improving but not fast enough. So once again, Kudos to you with Daughters who are going into scriptwriting, producing, directing etc. we need you
@dramagurl99 I am sooo happy to hear this news for you! You go GIRL!!!
@Noreplays2018 thank you so much!!!