Colleges like Bennington?

<p>Alright so I'm a senior in high school. I want to get a BA in theater. I'm applying to Reed (its close to home.), Academy of Art, Yale school of Drama, Uni of Minnesota, Vassar, and Bennington. I know alot of them are reaches. On Cappex.com according to statistics, Bennington is the only college I have a chance at getting into. Which is my number one. I'm not a bad student or anything. 3.5 gpa. top 20% of class. act was 22 (bad test taker.) ASB VP. I'm very involved in school. I just want to find other colleges that are similar to Bennington, pretty good drama program a beautiful old feel campus is deffinately a plus.</p>

<p>First, please be aware that as an undergraduate, you would not be in the School of Drama which is the graduate program at Yale. </p>

<p>Also, please be aware that at U of MN, the Guthrie program (theater) is a BFA and a highly competitive BFA by audition only. </p>

<p>While I believe in having reach schools on one’s list, the schools should be remotely in reach for the applicant. Just based on the little you shared, your stats are not in range for Yale or Vassar and in my opinion, you have no chance at either and would be better served finding a range of colleges that are reaches (where you are on the lower end of the ballpark for the school and/or the school has very low acceptance rates), matches/ballpark schools where your stats fall in range for the school, and some safety schools where your qualifications are beyond the mid range for that university and it doesn’t have a very low admit rate. </p>

<p>Hard to assess without more information as a GPA is not that relevant without knowing the rigor of the HS curriculum that was chosen (this matters at more selective colleges). </p>

<p>You may wish to look into Muhlenberg, Sarah Lawrence, or Drew which are test optional schools good in theater.</p>

<p>Check out Bard College, as well. They are test optional, and have a strong theater dept. And a number of students who apply to Bennington also apply to Bard. Know that it is intellectually rigorous, like Reed.</p>

<p>I don’t think there’s any college quite like Bennington…</p>

<p>But with your GPA I think you have a good chance of getting in. I’m pretty sure they’re a score optional school, so no one will even have to know about that 22 ACT. From the things you value in a school you sound like a perfect match. And since a great match is more important to Bennington than great numbers, things look… well… great :)</p>

<p>Hampshire and Sarah Lawrence are along the same lines as Bennington, though I don’t know about their drama programs or campuses.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your input, very much! I will check out those schools also. It doesn’t necissarily have to have to have an amazing drama department, my main concern is that it isn’t an after thought sort of thing. Thanks again!</p>