<p>Hello,
My daughter is Junior and is a very talented actress, who also sings. She is interested in going to a BFA for acting. She is an honors student, with a GPA of 3.5 (weighted GPA 4.3. She also tests well, so I think she will do fine enough on the sats. We have a very long list of schools she is interested in. I am overwhelmed by a recommendation I have heard that girls need to apply to 15 programs in order to get into 1 or 2. That is a LOT of applications and auditions to keep track of. </p>
<p>On her possible list at this point are: Julliard (I know, impossible to get into), Carnegie-Mellon (equally impossible), Rutgers, Northwestern, Yale (impossible too), U Michigan, UNC, U Minnesota, DePaul, Desalles (safety?), Emerson, Pace, Purchase, Ithica, Syracuse, Tisch, Montclair (safety).</p>
<p>What do people think of these schools so far for her, given her stats? She is very talented (won "superior" at Internationals in Nebraska this June). I am hoping she may also be admitted to some colleges this year through college auditions at States and Internationals. Do you have any suggestions for me/us? I would be grateful for any advice or feedback.</p>
<p>We started out with only one auditioned BFA on our list and only 4 schools total…after being on this site for a month I realized that we were making a big mistake. We have increased our list to 12. One thing I have learned is that no auditioned school should be considered a safety. Find programs that don’t require an audition and make those her safety schools.</p>
<p>These BFA programs are very, very intensive training. Is she sure she wants that level of commitment? I made my son read a bunch of the Freshman Experience threads here and on the MT forum, to make sure that was what he wanted. It’s very different from the usual liberal arts college experience.</p>
<p>If your daughter isn’t sure about a BFA, I’ve heard some people say that it can be good for a student to attend one of the very intensive summer programs. We didn’t go this route but I can see the value, with the caveat that if the kid falls in love with that particular college and doesn’t get in there, the rejection is much more bitter.</p>
<p>You have a lot of very well-regarded schools on your list. I should mention that Northwestern and Yale are not BFA programs and admission to those universities is based on academics, not auditions.</p>
<p>Just FYI, Northwestern is very close to an Ivy in terms of selectivity. My son had about the same GPA, a 2010 SAT and lots of ECs and did not get in, or even deferred, when he applied ED last year. My sense is that their process is based mostly on numbers, whatever they say in their brochures.</p>
<p>Obviously, these programs are not “impossible” to get into, they take new freshmen every year, so why wouldn’t your daughter be one of those?</p>
<p>If she is really committed to being an actress, and doing the work it takes to get into one of these programs, I don’t see why she should limit herself.</p>
<p>Does she know that she really would be willing to go to any of these schools on her list, even her safeties? Some people are so committed to getting into the program they want, that if they don’t get in they take a year off and audition again next time. Have you and your daughter thought about this?</p>
<p>One suggestion would be to apply early in the fall to Temple, which has a good BA acting program (but not auditioned) and which gives grants automatically to kids with high scores and GPAs. They also have a good Honors college. Once you have that acceptance (if she likes the school, that is) she can relax about applying to auditioned programs. In other words, a great safety. If she scores well she is likely to get full tuition and summer travel money from Temple.</p>
<p>Also, Fordham gives full tuition to National Merit scholars (that one is an auditioned BA.)</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions. My daughter has actually already attended the Mason-Gross precollege summer program, which was incredibly intense. She loved it and wanted more! So, I am confident that she would love a BFA program, if she is lucky enough to get in.</p>
<p>I am thinking that Desalles would be a good safety for her. It is a BA program, and she liked it at the college fair. Montclair is an audtioned BFA, but I am thinking it wouldn’t be nearly as competitive, and might be a decent safety? </p>
<p>All the others are reach schools for sure, but someone gets in, right?</p>
<p>I don’t think you can consider any auditioned BFA a safety, though some are obviously more selective than others. You have a bunch of great ones on your list. You might want to try a few walk- ins at Unifeds as well.(my son FWIW is really happy and learning a ton at CCPA/Roosevelt which is not AS selective as some.)</p>
<p>I know one very talented DeSales grad-- it doesn’t get mentioned here very often, but I think it might make a very good safety. Montclair goes to Unifieds and is very close to NYC so more competitive than you might think. It’s great she did the Mason Gross summer program and that she’s a junior-- plenty of time to research!</p>
<p>YardleSisa, FYI-My son spent the day at DeSales in September, they had a Performing Arts Day, he loved it!!! He took a tour of the facilities, met Dennis Razze, the theater chair, and sat in on rehearsals for “Lost in Yonkers”. We are going to see a performance next month. It was supposed to be a safety, I’ve read on CC, “fall in love with your safety,” well he did. He likes that it’s a B.A. he has the opportunity to perform in the musicals as well as plays, minor in Radio, TV, Film, The Shakespeare Theatre of Pennsylvania could be a possible internship and they have Senior showcase, all 1:45 min from home. Our impression it’s a quiet campus, even on the weekends, but Dennis told him that the theater and dance kids spend a lot of time rehearsing and are a tight knit group, all of this appeals to him, plus a nice list of notable alumni. It might not be for everyone, but he believes it’s a good fit for him. Good luck with your search.</p>
<p>My daughter would describe herself as an actress who sings. She’s a freshman at UNCSA. To me, it is a great fit for an actor who sings because singing is so integrated as part of the acting program and that is not the case for many acting programs.</p>
<p>I agree with the comments no school is a “safety” when you are auditioning. There is also no reason to think any school is impossible. Every school has a different idea of what they need or are looking for that year it seems. My daughter had a similar list to yours and she had some great opportunities. If your daughter is committed to studying acting and not having to much involvement with academics, mature, and looking for a conservatory program, some of the schools you mentioned are not conservatory programs. You may want to look into overseas schools in that case. Also Yale is a fantastic school but it is their Masters program that is prestigious for drama.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg is a non-auditioned (audition for scholarship only) that she might want to look into. Others to look at that are non-auditioned are UMD – College Park, University of RI. Vassar, Skidmore, Connecticut College. </p>
<p>As others have said, no school that requires an audition can be considered a safety. Also – a non-auditioned program is not necessarily a safety depending on the individual students stats and/ or the academic admit rate at the school.</p>
<p>DeSales is non auditioned BA and connected with Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, so offers excellent internship opportunities. It is a Catholic college if that is relevant.</p>
<p>Montclair does have a very competitive BFA. It also has a BA which is not auditioned, but which requires an interview. You would need to ask the school what their selectivity is for the BA. It does seem that BA students have excellent opportunities there, even alongside the BFA students. Minnesota, which is on your list, is probably mostly an academic safety, and its non-auditioned BA is a great program, although if your D has her heart set on the BFA/Guthrie program she might not want to go there in the BA. Sometimes that can be a strange feeling for kids.</p>
<p>There is a thread on this forum called “Non-auditioned BFAs,” which can give you some ideas of other possible safeties, if a BFA is her preferred degree.</p>
<p>Just to underscore what has been said here, getting into an auditioned program is a whole different ball of wax. In some cases, the scores are not as important as the audition, in other cases, they are. However, in all cases of an audition, you cannot use any as a safety, that is the only for sure part of this process. Montclair may not be competitive, but the BFA program is quite competitive and small.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your helpful input. It is helpful to understand that no school can be considered a safety if they have an audition. That makes sense. My daughter is completely focused on an auditioned BFA program, with Desales (currently) as her safety. Bisouu, I am encouraging her to stay away from California schools, as we are East coasters. I know they have excellent programs, but I just think she is young to be so far away, and we don’t have the resources to fly her back multiple times a year.</p>