@FourStars we are still waiting to hear from Pace BFA and SUNY Purchase.
A little off recent topic. When digging deeper into Faculty at each school and their backgrounds, it appears that all of these programs are somewhat intertwined.
One professor leaves a school for the other and itâs more like a circular rotation. CMUâs assistant director of acting for several years transferred to DePaul to head their acting department. Same goes for many of the other programs. Just wanted to throw this out there when making decisions. Considering my S school mimics another top program, he may have had a great experience of what it wouldâve been like to be there for college.
I think I can chill a bit without the anxiety attacks. I canât believe it took me this long to actually start to feel one coming on and I imagine some of you are also in this mindset. Just several weeks ago, I was stressed about passing pre-screens and auditions, now Iâm stressed about programs, financials and knowing that my kid will only be living with me a few more months. On the upside, Iâve been thinking about what I will do with his bedroom :))
@Oaktree99 - I donât have personal experience with BU, but one thing I noticed about BU vs some other schools is that the liberal arts (non-acting) courses are all 4 credits each (vs 3 credits). That means to complete the 28 non-arts elective credits required for the degree, the student only has to take 7 classes (7x4=28) vs at least 9 classes (9x3=27). I went to a college that kept all classes at 4 credits and while there might be somewhat longer per week class hours, the material covered is the same as 3 credit courses at another university. (E.g. Calculus 1 has to cover the same material whether itâs a 3 credit or 4 credit course). I personally donât love 4 credit courses because you really are getting less for your money, BUT, unlike the rest of BU, the BFA coursework at BU is actually mostly 3 credit classes (so it seems like your son would be getting a full value in his arts education).
In deciding between programs, one important question to ask about is faculty to student ratio in acting classes. For acting, personal attention is so important. For example, I believe CalArts divides their class of 36 in thirds so acting classes there are 12:1, which is not bad. LAMDA divides its class of 28-30 by quarters for acting classes, so a 7:1 ratio there. Iâve only realized the importance of this after the fact. Last year I thought a schoolâs acceptance of 18 versus 22 was more impressive, but, actually, what matters is how many other students will be in their acting classes with them.
@ThespDad17 Smaller classrooms seem more personalized. a 7:1 ratio sounds like personal training daily. I can see why itâs hard to get into Lamda. Impressive. 12:1 isnât bad either. I wonder if there are larger acting classes in most of the programs due to such a small amount of people accepted. Maybe this is the norm?
@actingdreams You bring up such a good point with the faculty! Yes, there is a lot of intermingling with regard to faculty and where they are teaching or leading. And, this will trickle down to the feel and presence of a program for sure. I have heard that Arizona is modeled similar to Michigan due to one of the department heads which is great.
Funny, because for the longest time it is all about the pre-screens and auditions and now it is really fine tuning the fit for our kids. Style, training, faculty, financialâŠall take the center stage! And, sometimes this means looking at programs that maybe hadnât seriously even been considered, but are now front and center. It is so strange to even imagine that these kids will be heading out in just a few months because right now everything is spinning around themâŠand then âpoofâ they will be gone.
@marg928 It would be wonderful if you did talk to Pace about this issue, even though I think impacting bureaucracies with communication issues is like titling at windmills. But they should just walk in the shoes of our kids. I watched my daughter, when we got a Pace call, go through overwhelming joy and heart pounding excitement, to finally crashing in tears when she realized what it was. She had held it together for so long, and this was the last strew.
@fourstars we are certainly still waiting on Pace
I have a question for anyone who applied to USC. Yesterday they sent out an email stating that decisions would be mailed on3/22 and would be available online on 3/35. At the bottom of this email was an invitation to their SDA Open House (which if you click on it has an rsvp button at the bottom). Did everyone get this virtual invitation (with an rsvp button)? Seems odd to allow kids they are going to reject to sign up for the Open House (and provide them with 4 complimentary tickets to a USC show). Prior to two years ago, USC used to snailmail an invitation (with an enclosed rsvp) - and getting that mail correlated with acceptances, but not sure about the email version.
@MomofJ5 My D (tech theatre) received the same USC email with the Open House info included.
@MomofJ5 . I agree this is odd and noticed it as well. But, it also doesnât seem like it reads âthe dean invites youâ as I have read about with the old card that used to go out. So, I am assuming this went to everyone, but who knows. I imagine those accepted will retrieve that email and reserve. So, so, so over the waiting!
Regarding USC, We got the same email with the same open house link.
That would suck if we planned to go and got rejected.
According to post #2070 on USC thread, those emails are a good sign -
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/2023383-usc-class-of-2022-p138.html
My son received a phone call on 3/15 from Pace and he was accepted into the BFA FTVC program. Not sure if all the calls have gone out yet though.
Congratulations to your son @Mcgeok !
@SCMHAALUM - I think the email version of the USC invitation is new territory. We will have to wait to see if anyone who got the emailed invitation didnât get in.
Did anyone here who applied to USC NOT get the emailed invitation yesterday? (It was sent at around 5 pm pacific time (received by my S at 8pm eastern time).
@Mcgeok - Congratulations!
Awesome news @Mcgeok!!
Similar to the teacher taking attendance in Ferris Buellerâs Day Off⊠Purchase? Purchase? Anyone still waiting on Purchase? 
@blessedgirl3 Yes still waiting, we have not heard from Purchase. Have any rejections been received from anyone? Seems like I remember a comment awhile back saying someone received a snail mail rejection.