BFA MT/Acting NYU Tisch (and others): Chance Me!

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

Please comment your thoughts on my chances at REGULAR DECISION (on NYU) in the comments below!

Most recent ACT: 30 (32 English, 28 math, 33 reading, 28 science, 9/12 writing) - June 2017
ACT SuperScore: 31 (35 English, 28 math, 33 reading, 28 science, 10/12 writing (new writing score))
Most Recent SAT: 1360 (680 on all sections; 17 on writing)
SAT SuperScore: 1360 (680 on all sections; 19 writing)
Cumulative GPA: 4.09 (weighted)

I will retake the ACT & SAT (hoping for a 32+ and 1400+)
My unweighted GPA is about a 3.7? That estimate may be wrong.

APs:
APUSH: 5
AP Government US: 5
AP Spanish Language: 5

Senior Courses: AP Chemistry, AP World History, English IV Honors, Calculus (maybe an AP self-study?)

Rank: my school does not report rank. I have seen some insider information that my rank is ~#50 out of 284 students.

Important to Note: I attend two schools. My academic institution works on a rotating schedule; therefore, when I attend my arts school after lunch, I miss two different classes every day. I still maintain my honors and AP courses with high academic standing.

I have attended NYU Tisch’s Stonestreet summer program last summer. All of my friends who attended with me and were rising seniors got accepted to NYU. Granted, most of them ED’d.

I attend an arts school for Musical Theatre training. I have studied their for my junior year of high school and will continue studying there in my senior year. I am not the best singer, but I my monologues will be worked, and I have studied dance extensively.

I have been studying drama for 4 years. When I apply to colleges, I will have been studying for five years. I will have studied Musical Theatre for two years when I apply to colleges.

Another important artistic factor to consider is that I have trained in NYC and Los Angeles and in my hometown, so I have extensive training with artists across America.

I believe my letters of recommendation will be good. I have placed great emphasis on that part of the Common App.

One potential problem: I received a “C” in a Physics Honors Course in my junior year. The course was Calculus-based, and I was in Pre-Calc at the time. I am writing an additional essay for colleges in order to explain to them that this grade does not represent my work ethic. I aced my sophomore chemistry class (the reason for me to continue into AP Chemistry (and I love the course)). There is other information mentioned in my essay that demonstrates how this course does not represent my overall work ethic. I just want to provide a brief summary here.

Outside work: I have done volunteer work and have a wealth of artistic work outside of my arts school. I have been involved in some diverse projects for community outreach.

Please Let Me Know any thoughts or comments you may have! I am applying to other notable drama/MT schools (Ball State, University of Southern California, Northwestern, Emerson, Boston U, CCM, etc.)

If you have any thoughts on any of these schools (or others), feel free to comment!

Also, if anyone can recommend an AP to self-study. I was thinking AP euro due to the overlap between World & Euro. Let me Know! (I am not sure if I will self-study. I probably will focus on my college auditions.)

(I would rather not self-study AP Environmental or Psychology. I did those tests and received twos and canceled those scores. Sadly, I sent those scores to NYU early, but APs are used for placement, not admission. At NYU, APs can be used for admission, but I will submit a more thorough AP report once I finish senior year. I plan to submit the ACT or SAT for admission.)

I know Early Decisioning is my personal choice, but do you think I should ED in order to increase my chances? I do like the school and if accepted, I would probably attend, dependent on my other acceptances.

Thank You!

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Unfortunately, “chance me’s” aren’t possible when it comes to BFA’s. @toowonderful can probably give you some idea on the academic side of Tisch, but in regards to actually being accepted it’s all about your audition. It doesn’t matter too much about what you have done artistically, it’s all about what you do in the room. That is the case for any auditioned school. It also has to do with what the school is looking for in their class that particular year, so that is why it is really impossible to “chance” anyone for an auditioned BFA. Best of luck in your audition journey!

3

I agree with stagedoormama, chance me’s are near impossible for MT or Acting programs. Several programs we spoke with have said that 80% or more of your application is based on your audition for those programs. Some even said your could be lower than the college average if your audition met what they were looking for. So I would not get overly concerned about 1 C grade or about taking extra AP’s. Now that being said NYU is one of the exceptions, they stressed that it is 50% grades and 50% audition. I would be concentrating more on what you need to do to show your best self for auditions ( ie; voice lessons, improve your dance skills, etc)

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One more thought - you mentioned early decision. Most of the audition and prescreen schools require you to apply by the early decision deadline. So while not technically early decision, plan to have your application materials complete by then. Which also means, any AP classes, honors designations, or activities that you do senior year, will not be visible on these apps because they have not yet occurred.