<p>I posted this in a different forum, but was told to post it over here.
I am a current senior in high school, and it's that time to start applying to and auditioning for colleges. I have a 2.97 weighted GPA (I am aware that this is awful), and a 1950/2400 on the SATs, which I am retaking a week from now. I had a VERY hard time adjusting to high school, and I was very depressed my freshman year. I had no friends, I had horrible self confidence, my dog died (this may seem like it isn't a big deal but my dog was everything to me, and I did activities with her too), and I was often sick. That year my GPA was at an all time low of 1.87. I had mostly Cs and a few C minuses. My sophomore and junior years I had either a GPA in the high 2s or low 3s. I know that my chances of getting into college would be next to none if I weren't going into college, but I am wondering what my chances are for musical theatre. I have heard that it is generally 80% audition and 20% grades. What are my chances of getting into school? As of now, I am considering applying to Ithaca, Rider, Syracuse, Indiana University, Baldwin Wallace, CCM, Missouri State (I am automatically in because of my SAT), NYU Tisch, SUNY Fredonia, Penn State, FSU, Pace, Marymount Manhattan, Hartford, and Emerson. Please note that I will NOT be applying to all of these schools if I get accepted through early action or priority application. I am not going to audition for 15 schools, realistically, I will apply to 8-10 schools. Anyway, I am very stressed about not getting in already because I have to audition for these programs, so I was wondering how much my grades will affect my chances. Also, does having a widowed father help my chances at all? I also have 2 siblings, and both of them went to Ithaca College, and my late mother went to Rider for her BFA and Indiana for her MFA. Do you have any recommendations for colleges that generally accept lower grades? That would be very helpful! Thank you for taking the time to read this!</p>
<p>You should be able to check the websites to see their admission requirements . Most schools list minimum scores, GPAs, etc. </p>
<p>I’ve looked and I haven’t been able to find GPA requirements except for Missouri State, where I am automatically accepted to the school because of my SAT scores.</p>
<p>Try CollegeData website… they list avg and hi/lo gor most schools. Sometimes the arts GPA threshold is lower than the general university (for example… UofM is a 3.82 avg, but for theatre the requirement is 3.0).</p>
<p>NYU is 50% grades and 50% audition, and their standards for grades are fairly high</p>
<p>Some other schools to consider who may accept a lower GPA: Texas State, Coastal Carolina, Otterbein, Montclair, Columbia College - Chicago, Point Park, UArts</p>
<p>Your high school guidance or college counselor should have information as to the general admission requirements for different colleges. Start there. To get into a program for a BFA you will have to meet the general admissions criteria for the university. Just looking at your list and knowing a bit from both my daughter’s journey, as well as having a wife that is a college counselor, there are some schools like Syracuse, Penn St, Indiana, NYU, FSU where your grades may be an issue with general admission. Also, you’ll need to really look at costs for schools, and whether your gardes would make you eligible for scholarships. Syracuse and NYU for example cost a lot of money and if scholarships are an issue you and your dad will need to sit down and talk about what colleges are reasonable from a financial perspective. </p>
<p>In your applications you usually get to write an essay and you can explain the difficulties you faced early in high school which may be of benefit. Your SAT is pretty good and you might also want to consider taking the ACT; many students do better on the ACT vs. the SAT because it emphasizes science more and it is graded differently. </p>
<p>CCPA Roosevelt has a very strong MT program (with two tracks, voice emphasis and dance emphasis) and doesn’t care much about grades or test scores. </p>
<p>My son’s stats weren’t far off from yours and I can tell you to cross off your list: Syracuse, FSU, Penn State NYU, and Emerson. Sorry, I know this is harsh, but don’t waste your time and $$ on those applications. Add to your list (in addition to those listed in post #5) : Ball State, Ohio Northern, Shenandoah and those all-important non-audition schools!! </p>
<p>If your GPA goes to a 3.0 at the end of the semester, make sure to send that transcript! It makes all the difference in the world. There are many schools that use a 3.0 as a cutoff. How far from home are you willing to go? There are many schools that will accept you with your current grades. Your SAT scores are pretty good. Some schools use a matrix that shows your likelihood of being academically accepted based on the combination of grades and SATs. Others state that they like to take a look at the full picture and acknowledge that grades and scores alone don’t represent a student. You may want to use your essays to explain your difficulty in adjusting to high school, and how you have matured as a student since then. Audition programs are so tough to get into as it is that you may want to avoid schools that are also a reach academically. </p>
<p>If your SAT scores are decent, there are PLENTY of schools that will welcome you with a B (B-/B+ average). Don’t fall for the CC mythology! And your guidance/college counselor is responsible for explaining any extenuating circumstances that may have affected your academic track record, so be sure to have a thorough and honest conversation about that rocky freshman year. SU88BFA is right about the schools to (probably) remove from your list (although I’ve seen a couple of cases where kids with lower GPAs were accepted to Tisch with a great audition). If your school uses Naviance, that should help you identify places where you have a shot, although you have to interpret the Naviance scattergrams with some understanding of context (again, ask your college counselor for help). It sounds like you just need help expanding your list of schools; the competitiveness of the audition process demands a more balanced list. </p>
<p>My non-theater son was accepted to several very solid liberal-arts colleges (including College of Wooster, Wittenberg University, Mary Washington in VA)–with merit aid, no less–with a 2.9 GPA (he did have decent SAT scores). Don’t despair! :)</p>
<p>The OP mentions weighted GPA. Be aware that when you look at GPA information and matrices plotting admission data, you are looking at unweighted GPA numbers on a 4.0 scale. Colleges do take weighted GPA into consideration for admissions, but published admission data is generally unweighted GPA. This is due to a lack of standards in calculating “weighted” GPA. There is a considerable amount of variation in the computation of weighted GPA’s around the country: 5.0 scale, 6.0 scale, 11 point scale, 100 percent scale, variance in bonus values for advanced courses, and so on and so forth. </p>
<p>Some schools only look at “core” academic GPA for admission (math, science, english, social studies, and foreign language, all elective credits are left out of GPA computations). Some schools add their own weighting factors based on their perception of the quality and difficulty of various high schools and various curricula. Merit scholarships are computed based on comprehensive, unweighted GPA for many schools (all courses included and given equal weight).</p>
<p>@Theatreplease - GPA admissions data from collegedata for the schools on your list is shown below. These are unweighted GPA numbers.</p>
<p>As you can see, your odds for clearing the GPA hurdle may be very low at Syracuse, Indiana, NYU, Penn State, Florida State, and Emerson - this correlates with recommendations from other posts above. If your unweighted GPA is below 2.5, you can pretty much cross Indiana, NYU, and FSU straight off your list. Depending on what your unweighted GPA is, Rider, Baldwin-Wallace, CCM, Fredonia, Marymount, and Pace may offer your best chances to clear the GPA hurdle. No data for Hartt and Ithaca.</p>
<p>Many of these schools are extremely competitive for entry on an artistic basis.</p>
<p>Rider
2.50-2.99 19%
2.00-2.49 3%</p>
<p>Syracuse
2.50-2.99 6%
2.00-2.49 1%</p>
<p>Indiana University
2.50-2.99 4%
2.00-2.49 0%</p>
<p>Baldwin Wallace
2.50-2.99 13%
2.00-2.49 3%</p>
<p>CCM
2.50-2.99 14%
2.00-2.49 1%</p>
<p>NYU Tisch
2.50-2.99 2%
2.00-2.49 0%</p>
<p>SUNY Fredonia
2.50-2.99 19%
2.00-2.49 1%</p>
<p>Penn State
2.50-2.99 4%
2.00-2.49 1%</p>
<p>FSU
2.50-2.99 1%
2.00-2.49 0%</p>
<p>Pace
2.50-2.99 12%
2.00-2.49 2%</p>
<p>Marymount Manhattan
2.50-2.99 20%
2.00-2.49 5%</p>
<p>Emerson
2.50-2.99 3%
2.00-2.49 1%</p>
<p>Hartford-did not report
Ithaca-did not report</p>
<p>D had a friend with a GPA like yours, though I believe his test scores were lower. Academics kept him waitlisted at BW even though the MT dept wanted him after his audition. There were a number of meetings b/c the school wanted to make sure they felt he could be successful. Eventually he was admitted (and is super happy there) so things can work out- I guess it depends on how badly they want you!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I cut Indiana, Syracuse, Penn State, Tish, and FSU off my list. This year, I have all straight A’s, and when I did the math, it is going to bump up my unweighted GPA to a 2.6, and I’m not sure about my weighted GPA, but it will definitely bump that to above a 3.</p>
<p>Just so you are aware, no school that my daughter applied to cared about weighted GPA. They only took her regular GPA</p>
<p>@bisouu through the Common App, they had an option to choose to use unweighted or weighted GPA. Would a college potentially not accept my application because I used weighted GPA instead?</p>
<p>When you submit your transcripts they will only care about the unweighted GPA…</p>
<p>Have to say, this really depends on the school. Some schools (esp privates) DO use weighted. I think it was Elon that specifically said they consider weighted. Some consider only your “required” courses and recalculate your GPA, some consider only “academic” courses and remove all those A+ in Show Choir, haha. Needless to say, its anyone’s guess what might happen to your GPA in the hands of a given school.</p>
<p>Would taking a gap year, attending community college, and taking lots of acting/singing classes be a good idea? I feel like if I did that, then I could apply to the more academically challenging schools? I am still applying this year, but I am just thinking of the worst case scenario of not getting into a single school. </p>