Hi! My D is interested in the drama program at UCI. Her stats are on the low end for the college but curious if good enough for the major.
UC capped GPA: 3.93
SAT: 1200 (retaking in November)
Theatre based ECs
Strong essays
UCI admits into the University first than into the major. With her academics being below the averages, it might be a tough admit especially since drama admissions are not audition based. However, looking at the 2018 data for Drama majors, the average UC capped weighted GPA was 4.04 and Average SAT was 1258 for enrolled students so she is within range. Definitely worth her time to apply but make sure she has at least 2 safety schools on the list.
Best of luck.
@Gumbymom Thank you so much! Based on my research, I definitely agree with you. Hopefully, her SATs will increase a bit and we will use this as a reach school. Her match school is SDSU which I remember reading your son attends or attended. As a parent, how do you feel about the safety there (mostly on campus)? Also, has the impacted campus impeded when registering for classes and finishing in 4 years?
My son felt perfectly safe on campus and he did have several night courses. When it comes to safety, common sense reigns supreme so make sure she walks with other students at night and beware of your surroundings. The many times my husband and I visited, there were plenty of students on campus day and night.
If your daughter comes in with some AP credit, it helps with increased priority for registration. The more units accumulated which includes AP credit, will give students an earlier registration time. Also SDSU started using waitlists instead of crashing for overenrolled courses and as students dropped out, you would be automatically enrolled off the waitlist. Freshman get 1st semester priority and SDSU does open up more required GE courses as they fill up.
If students are flexible with class times and professors, they can finish in 4 years. My son also opted to take 2 courses during the summer session due to 1) preferred professor 2) lighten the regular semester load.
Cannot believe it is already a year since my son graduated from SDSU. He lives and works in San Diego and still very active with his Fraternity and Fraternity Brothers.
Best of luck to your D.
My daughter was an early admit into UCI last week for Drama. Her stats were pretty high (ACT 35, weighted GPA 4.6) but likes how UCI has a BA to BFA program. She will get more information next week when she tours to see how hard the process actually is; we heard it’s hard to get classes as a freshman as transfers are placed first into the classes. I think UCI is her first choice but she’s still waiting on a few other BFA programs.
@hexigurl Congrats to your D! My D loved the campus and also loves the musical theatre aspect. She has been accepted to CSULB for the BFA acting program and also loves the vibe of the campus and the theatre facilities.
She did end up getting a 1310 on her second SAT attempt, so that improves her chances but I realize her GPA is still low for UCs.
I would love to know what specifics you find out about the program.
@MommaCat My daughter is on campus Friday for their Honors College Experience and will be touring the Arts College after with a BFA tour guide. I am worried that some kids there have told us that the classes needed for BFA go to the transfer kids first so hard to get the classes needed. We will confirm that when we are there. I know that there are Megas (auditions) before school starts so we will get more information on that process as well (they also use that to place you into your classes), which we aren’t sure how will work if she registers early with the Honors College.
My D was denied. She is actually doing ok and was already super excited about Long Beach!
Are there any stats on how many are admitted/Acceptance rate into UCI Drama?