<p>Hi I thought it might be informative to share knowledge of admittance numbers and if a particular school does a waitlist. I have some of the information, but not sure if the schools have waitlist. If any of you have that information, that would be great! Here are some schools with BFA in straight acting.</p>
<p>BU 50<br>
Juilliard 18<br>
University of Minnesota 20
DePaul 50
Mason Gross at Rutgers 20
Syracuse
Ithaca
Emerson
Tisch
NCSA
SMU
CMU
University of Michigan</p>
<p>We just visited NCSA and I believe they admit 30 into ACTING.</p>
<p>Florida State University admits 12 into the BFA Acting program each year; yes, we do have a waitlist.</p>
<p>Thanks I'll add that info!
BU 50
Juilliard 18
University of Minnesota 20
DePaul 50
Mason Gross at Rutgers 20
Syracuse
Ithaca
Emerson
Tisch
NCSA 30
SMU
CMU
University of Michigan
FSU 12 waitlist yes</p>
<p>emerson is 20 bfa acting, i think its the same for mt.
syracuse looks for 30 acting 30 mt. syracuse does waitlist and people do get off of it and get accpeted.</p>
<p>If you are creating such a list, make sure you are all talking about the same thing. The number admitted is not necessarily the number of slots available in the class. Most programs admit more than the number of slots available and hope to yield a certain number (many applicants are accepted at more than one program). A few programs only accept the exact number of slots available and use the waitlist after that. So, you may wish to clarify if you are going to note HOW MANY ACCEPTED vs. HOW MANY SLOTS AVAILABLE. For example, I am pretty sure the numbers that Robbie gave above are SLOTS AVAILABLE, and not numbers accepted (which is higher) at Emerson and Syracuse. Another example above is that DePaul has 52 slots in the class but must accept more to yield 52.</p>
<p>Hi Susan
That is actually exactly what I am trying to figure out. Maybe you can tell us. Which schools accept more than the allotted slots and which accept the exact number and do a waitlist... or are there actually schools that accept more than the allotted slots and also do a waitlist.</p>
<p>Perhaps the list read: How Many Accepted - How Many Slot Available - Does This School Do a Waitlist.</p>
<p>As a parent, I certainly would feel a little bit less daunted by this whole process if I knew some of the schools accepted say - 35 to fill 20 slots, or accepted 20 with a waitlist of 15. It makes the odds seem somewhat less impossible!</p>
<p>Actingmom, I think more schools accept more than the allotted slots because most candidates are accepted to more than one school and so they can't count on them all matriculating. I can think of a couple schools that only accept the exact number of slots available and if some do not take the offer, then the go to a wait list (such as CMU and Otterbein). This is occasionally done if it is either a very small program that can't afford to have more accept the offer than slots they truly want to have (such as Otterbein) or if highly selective like CMU, where they have a high yield as many who get the offer, take it. But most schools accept more than the slots available. Most schools have a wait list but may or may not need to go to it, depending on their yield that particular year and it can vary year to year. </p>
<p>Generally speaking, I know for musical theater, the acceptance RATE (which is what really matters), is approximately 2-10% at most BFA programs. The rate is better for Acting, however. Still competitive, but not quite as low of an acceptance rate. But you also have to figure in the pool of applicants. School A may have a 5% admit rate but so does school B but school B doesn't draw from quite as much of a national talent pool or top talent or even if they do draw nationally, they may not be able to get the top talent to enroll if they are accepted at a more renown program. So, admit rates don't tell the entire picture either. </p>
<p>But your list of information would be more clear if it were to be:</p>
<p>How many accepted, How many Slots Available</p>
<p>because some use "how many admitted" and you can't tell if they are talking about the size class they want to ENROLL or how many they actually admit (the latter usually being greater).</p>
<p>As far as if a school goes to the wait list.....many have a wait list but may or may not need to go to it and it depends on their yield in a given year. There already is "built-in" extra students compared to slots available/desired. Then there are schools like CMU that just accept the desired number and use the waitlist if someone doesn't take the offer. My own kid was on CMU's "Priority Wait list" for Acting (though was trying for MT, but they consider you for both when you audition there) and I think that is a short wait list and sometimes they have to use it if not everyone takes them up on the offer. </p>
<p>I'd be more interested in the figures for how many accepted for how many slots available. But that also varies year to year as a school looks on their trends from the previous couple of years. For instance, at my D's studio at NYU/Tisch, CAP21 (the musical theater studio), they used to accept 80 to yield 64 (and have a roughly 6% admit rate). But in my D's year, all 80 took the offer and they ended up with a class bigger than they were hoping for and so the next year, made fewer offers to yield the desired 64. I think 2500-3000 audition for Tisch. They want to matriculate about 350 I think, but I am not sure how many they accept to yield that. Their acceptance rate for all of Tisch Drama is 16-17%. I believe two years ago, 100 invitations went out to attempt to yield 70 freshmen for Adler Studio.</p>
<p>The number 30 for NCSA is the number of students they hope to have in an entering freshman class according to the info given at Open House. How would one find out how many offers are extended to yeild the 30? While schools seem to share the info about entering class size, it does not seem that they generally talk to potential students/families about the number of offers.</p>
<p>A lot of information sessions offer such information or you can ask.</p>
<p>letsfigureitout, that what was what I was trying to track down! Hypothetically speaking wouldn't it be comforting to know out NCSA accepts 50 to yield the 30. I guess I could contact each school (as Susan suggested)and ask them if they would share that information.</p>
<p>SMU has about 12 Theater Studies BFA (emphasis in playwriting, stage mgt., directing, etc.) and 12 Acting BFA students each year.</p>
<p>Thanks all -I'm adding that info!
BU 50
Juilliard 18
University of Minnesota 20
DePaul 50
Mason Gross at Rutgers 20
Syracuse
Ithaca
Emerson 20
Tisch
NCSA 30
SMU 12
CMU<br>
University of Michigan
FSU 12 waitlist yes</p>
<p>Just visited PPU. . .Point Park University will have a freshman class of 30 ACTING students (and 40 MT students), half males, half females. I did not ask how many students get offers to obtain this class. They mentioned a waitlist, again, I'm not certain how many students become waitlisted or it they actually go to the waitlist often.</p>
<p>All enter the BA in theater track. At the end of the freshman year, students audition for the BFA. Not everyone makes the BFA cut--it is described by students as a "vote of confidence" by faculty--however no one is actually cut from the program as they may stay in the BA program. BFA and BA students may take the same classes, audition for the same shows (and there are a lot of them!), etc., so it's a little unclear exactly what the difference really is. Students audition in their senior year to participate in the Showcases--LA and NYC.</p>
<p>Just visited CMU. CMU will have an entering class of acting/MT majors of about 30. They did not separate out acting and MT, although the student tour guides suggested that there usually are more acting than MT majors, say 20-10 or 18-12. If the rough numbers they provided are correct, they accept less than 2% of applicants.</p>
<p>In my D's year, CMU said they auditioned 1200. They wanted 18 for Acting and 10 for Musical Theater. They also accept more males than females. As well, they do not accept extra students to yield those slots. They accept the exact number they want and if a student doesn't take the offer, CMU goes to what is called a Priority Wait List. My D was offered the Priority Wait List for Acting at CMU. It involves a commitment to enroll within 24 hours of a call of an offer to get off that wait list. Your financial aid package is already given to you in case you get that call. When a priority wait list offer is sent (as opposed to an acceptance or denial) around April 1, you have to let them know if you want reserve a spot on that list in case you get such a call and be willing to commit in 24 hours of such a call.</p>
<p>Someone told us that, last year, CMU auditioned 1050 kids for both acting and MT spots. Those are long shot odds for anyone ...</p>
<p>NMR....you got that right! They have about a 2-3% admit rate. It is worse at CMU for girls actually. It is worse generally at any BFA program (particularly in MT) for girls due to the numbers of girls auditioning compared to boys, but at CMU it is even worse as they readily admit that they take more boys than girls! In my D's year, they took THREE girls for MT! My D made the priority wait list for acting and we thought that was quite something already, since acting was the one of the three MT skill areas in which she has the least amount of training. Think of CMU as a lottery ticket. The odds are tough and they have to turn away many kids who are accepted at other top programs, in fact.</p>
<p>Soozievt, the fact that your D made it to the Priority Waitlist is a huge, huge, HUGE accomplishment, though that doesn't surprise me at all, based on what I have heard about her talent. The adjudicators at Carnegie Mellon certainly saw something in her acting, even if she had not had a lot of training. People just need to keep in mind these odds when auditioning.</p>
<p>NMR...you are so right that people need to have realistic understandings of the odds. The odds at CMU are extremely long odds, particularly for a female for MT, but overall are long odds for anyone, even if very talented. A well balanced list of colleges is crucial. </p>
<p>One thing to learn from my shared example also is that people get very caught up on "what do I need on my resume?" In this case, while my D did have a lot of voice and dance training and a lot of production experience at many levels of theater, though mostly musicals....but a few plays....our school, nor community, had drama classes. She did get to take acting at her summer program but that was it. She then worked with a coach the fall of her college audition year to prepare monologues. But her acting training was minimal. Yes, the Priority Wait List at CMU for the BFA in Acting was affirming in that skill area considering it was the area she had the least training in. Moreover, it goes to show that you can get far even if you don't have a bunch of stuff in that area (in this case, acting training....though she had been in some plays). </p>
<p>Also, use the audition experiences for learning. My kid got to realize that maybe she has some natural acting talent that obviously needs further training (she has gotten more in college now). The auditions themselves can be worthwhile experiences. </p>
<p>Looking back, while it was affirming, it was an expensive trip with very very low odds and reminded me of buying a lottery ticket. But someone does win, of course. I think if one has CMU on their list, particularly for MT, they should build the rest of their list almost as if CMU was not even on it as the likelihood of being admitted is just is not that great, even if you have what it takes to get into a well regarded BFA program. Out of 1200 applicants, there surely are more than a handful that would qualify for CMU but they can only take that handful. Some kids who I know who did not get into CMU or were wait listed there, are now attending what many would consider the top programs in MT or Acting. This is simply the reality of the situation. Better to know this going into it and to build a well balanced college list.</p>