<p>This afternoon I had one of those awkward discussions with an acquaintance whose daughter is a senior in the process of college applications.</p>
<p>Her daughter is a sweet girl, a good student with good scores....a "star" at her parochial girls' school. She has a 3.9 gpa, 27 ACT....and her "hook" is that she has "starred" in the school theater productions.</p>
<p>She is applying to Yale, NYU and Northwestern for drama/theater. Doesn't think any safeties will really be necessary. After all...she's a star!</p>
<p>I don't think she has ever taken voice, or dance, or acting classes, or been involved in theater productions outside of her high school .....</p>
<p>I didn't even know where to begin, except that I gave her the advice to look up CC and see if she can learn a little bit about the process.</p>
<p>Many kids in our local schools are like her - straight As, wonderful students, SAT below 2000, and get nothing but praises from the teachers and parents. Well, they will learn.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t an audition and/or portfolio of performances be weighed most heavily compared with HS GPA/standardized scores to determine whether someone’s admitted to the drama/theater programs of such universities? </p>
<p>I know for a fact it is for topflight conservatories like the one at Oberlin. And the standards/evaluation of such topflight conservatory/Drama school auditions tends to be exceedingly competitive and scores of excellent musicians/dramatists are cut.</p>
<p>Shrinkwrap–I had exactly that thought, right after I posted! But I doublt she will come here because she seems to think she has it all figured out.</p>
<p>I figure that at this point she is going to have to teach herself about auditions, etc., and learn first hand what the caliber of the competition is. According to her, the GC at the high school said she will write an excellent recommendation…and that should about wrap it up!</p>
<p>I’ve never seen the girl perform…I just hope she is as extraordinary as her mom says, and that she then won’t be disappointed.</p>
<p>Who knows, maybe she is a future star? She can reach high and apply if she wants to do that. The big problem I see is that she has no safeties. Maybe you could show her how low the acceptance rates are for those schools and find a couple of safety/match schools to show her? :)</p>
<p>NYU is an audition school. Yale’s theatre major is not performance based and there is no audition. Wannabe theatre majors go into the same application pile as everyone else and you’ve got better odds of winning the powerball lottery than getting in with a 27. I think Northwestern has auditions, but I’m really not sure.</p>
<p>Just checked Yale’s test scores. If she’s not delusional, pointing out that the 25th percentile for ACT scores is 30 might help.
But she’s probably delusional.</p>
<p>Neither Northwestern nor Yale have auditions for admission. Yale Drama School does have auditions, but that is at the graduate school level. Undergraduates do not audition (although there are many opportunities for students to perform).</p>
<p>NYU Tisch is about 50%/ 50% academics and audition. One needs to be accepted for both to be accepted.</p>
<p>You may want to direct your acquaintance to the Theatre/ Drama Majors forum. Generally, all students in Theatre/ Drama programs were the “stars” of their small pond. The general wisdom is to make sure to include at least one (preferably two) non-auditioned, academic, and financial safeties unless the student and their family is prepared for the student to have to take a GAP year if not admitted to the auditioned (varying levels of academic selectivity) and more academically selective (ie. Northwestern and Yale) non-auditioned programs.</p>
<p>There will be lost of advice on the Theatre/ Drama Majors forum… but some schools to suggest…</p>
<p>Temple (non-auditioned BA)
Muhlenberg (non-auditioned BA)
Elon (auditioned BFA)<br>
James Madison (auditioned BA)
Skidmore (non-auditioned BA)
Connecticut College (non-auditioned BA)
Penn State (auditioned BA – for Theatre. auditioned BFA for Musical Theatre)
Fordham (auditioned BA)
Goucher (non-auditioned BA)
Vassar (non-auditioned BA)
Kenyon (non-auditioned BA)
University of Michigan (auditioned BFA)
Boston University (auditioned BFA)</p>
<p>There are many others as well… MANY MANY, actually… I could list on and on… it all depends on whether she is looking for a more conservatory experience or a more balanced training/ academic experience… also geographical parameters, willingness to audition for many schools… etc… NYU, Northwestern, and Yale undergrad are VERY different from each other. So, it seems like D may be applying to schools she heard have strong theatre and academics without truly understanding the differences in the types of programs. Most HS Guidance counselors are not as well versed in the ins and outs of the college admissions process when theatre is involved… when it influences, when it does not, etc…</p>
<p>Yes and no. It ADDED anxiety for us. This girl could have been my D, although she had better scores, and starred in community theatre stuff, BUT before CC, she would have happily gone to a regional school, or mid tier UC…but NOOOOO…</p>
<p>KatMT great advice to check the theater forum. But I am not sure that a 27 ACT is going to be any kind of safety/match for the schools on that list either.</p>
<p>She may want to try to take SAT to see if she can score higher. She may also want to look at test optional schools. In which state do you live. often there are gems of schools in-state that students and families overlook.</p>