Hi everyone! This is my first post as a member, but I’ve been lowkey stalking the theatre major discussions for a while in hopes of finding more about what BFA programs look for in terms of grades.
I’m a rising senior looking to major in design/tech most likely with an emphasis in scenic. My first year and a half of high school was really rough, grades wise-I’ve never been particularly academic anyway, but I had issues transitioning to high school and at times struggled with mental health, and as a result have 3 or 4 D’s on my transcript. I got my act together about halfway through the second semester of my sophomore year, but my GPA is currently sitting at a 3.1 weighted, 2.8 unweighted. There’s a huge improvement between the beginning of high school and now (my GPA for second semester junior year was a 3.5) but I’m aware that it’s very, very low. My test scores are on the opposite end of the spectrum-I have a 34 on my ACT and a 1470 on my SAT.
In terms of theatre, I’ve been doing tech work since my freshman year, and have a large and fairly diverse portfolio-in addition to sets I’ve helped build and/or design, I have numerous lighting designs for dance shows, art samples in both drawing and 3D metal work, and scripts from shows I’ve stage managed. I also work part-time in my school’s auditorium running shows for local dance companies who use the space. (My other ECs are limited-I play piano and violin outside school, and work on a student board planning school library events).
So far, I’ve looked at Webster, Otterbein, Rutgers, CCM, and Ithaca, mainly because I prefer a traditional college setting to an arts-only school. But my question is, how much do tech BFAs look at my grades? I already know not to apply to NYU or Northwestern because of my grades (I will likely apply to UMich and CMU because my family wants me to “apply and see what happens”, but I know I have virtually no chance of getting in because of my grades), but other than that I can’t find a ton of information about how much certain schools care about my academics. Will my high test scores help me at certain schools? Or do most high-level BFAs mainly care about my portfolio?
U Mich takes grades into consideration, so that would likely be an issue. But CMU is extremely lenient on grades for performance applicants (it’s all about the audition) so it stands to reason that the same would hold true for tech, though I have no concrete information. Another school to look at if you like Chicago is DePaul.
Your portfolio sounds terrific! I’d think the schools you mention are well worth applying to. The fact that you’ve been able to pull your grades up is likely to reflect well on you, but they’ll really like seeing that portfolio. 
My daughter is doing acting/directing and stage managing. Not sure if I can help but if so ask away
My son got into several schools with a 3.4 and a 27 ACT (28 composite) for theater tech. Quite frankly, his portfolio was nowhere near as extensive as yours sounds. He also was accepted into the Honors program at his college.
@toowonderful That’s good to know about CMU! I knew they didn’t place as much emphasis on academics, but figured there must still be some because it’s such a selective school otherwise. Do you know how much DePaul considers grades? It’s been on my list, but not really a priority because I live in the suburbs of Chicago and I’d like to get out of Illinois, haha.
@bisouu and @techmom99 where do your kids go? I have no idea if there are any other schools I should be looking at.
My son will be at SUNY Fredonia.
Stereotype or not, sometimes students who excel in the arts may not do quite as well in some of their academic subjects, and these schools know that and theatre departments often don’t weigh grades as heavily as others. I think that the difference in your GPA from then to now speaks volumes about your work ethic, so you have the opportunity to show that in a positive light. You could talk about this in your essay, or in your “Artist Statement”, which most of the schools require in addition to the application. Also, since virtually all of them require an interview and portfolio review, you have the opportunity to explain the situation in-person. I would address it up front and be open about it–that shows a lot of maturity.
FYI–DePaul’s incoming GPAs are not particularly high and they have one of the top-ranked tech theater schools. It’s one of the schools my daughter is looking at. Since you are so close, call the theater department and arrange visit. They will be happy to schedule something for you and you can introduce yourself to some of the faculty. That can’t hurt when it comes around to those interviews.
I’d suggest going to a DePaul performance, my son and I went and were blown away.
Techopeful: Two words - SUNY Purchase. And yes, your portfolio is a key part of your applications.
Your post is from several months ago, so I hope you see this. If you absolutely KNOW, without any doubt, that what you want to do is major in Design/Tech and work in tech as a career (and it sounds like you’ve known this since you started high school); if your fellow theatre students in school are your “theatre family”; and if you are looking for the best place to get professional D/T training from working professionals in an environment that will demand a lot but will open doors to working before you even graduate and that has a very strong D/T alum network that is crucial to working in the theatre or entertainment world - then you absolutely MUST look at applying to SUNY Purchase College. It’s part of the New York SUNY college system and is a smaller campus of about 5,000+ students, located in Westchester County, north of New York City; but it’s definitely a suburban campus set off by itself outside of White Plains, not an urban campus. My daughter just graduated in May from SUNY Purchase with her BFA in Design/Tech with a concentration in Lighting Design, and she is living and working in New York City after spending the summer on the lighting staff at Williamstown Theatre Festival. SUNY Purchase D/T’s are usually the kids who know their freshman year in HS that they want to “do theatre” for a career. The program is a Conservatory of Theatre and it’s not your typical college theatre program; it is a very rigorous and well-rounded program and many of the teachers are working professionals who in addition to teaching are also doing work on productions in their field. Alum of the program include Tony and Emmy winners, and other awards. Everyone in the D/T program takes the same design classes the first year, and then over the course of the program everyone takes a semester of costuming, stage management, lighting, scenic, etc., so you have an understanding of all the other concentrations. You have portfolio reviews at the end of each semester to make sure you are on track to succeed in the program. And you work on productions constantly, all four years, gaining skills and responsibility, and building experience and your resume. Starting sophomore year, you start classes in your area of concentration. When we were doing college searches, we also looked at Rutgers Univ. and other theater tech programs - SUNY Purchase D/T program is the ONLY program we found that had three full years of training in the area of design concentration. So if you want to do scenic design, I suggest you compare the programs in the colleges you are looking at and see what all the different programs are offering. A key deciding factor for my daughter was that she was going to get those three years of training in lighting design - NO other school had that that much. And it does make a difference. The proximity to New York, the program’s reputation, and the strong faculty/alum network means getting work and internship opportunities while you’re still in school. With all that said, it still is a typical college campus with other non-arts programs, different student campus life events and activities, etc. As for your concerns about GPA etc., it sounds like you can explain your lower grades, and if you have been getting better grades and increasing your GPA, that shows both perseverance and an upward trend - far preferable than the student with a good GPA who then slacks off during senior year. A key thing for applying to D/T programs - and certainly at SUNY Purchase - is your portfolio and interview, which will have a key part in weighing your acceptance into a program. So yes, high-level BFA’s will put a lot of weight on your portfolio. If you’ve not already done so, start also putting together all your HS theatre work into a resume - take a look at how professional theatre technical resumes are done and model it after that. Showing in a resume and in your portfolio all the work you’ve done in multiple theatre tech areas will count for a lot. Having one or more recommendations for college come from your high school theatre teacher(s) or others who’ve you’ve worked with on productions will also be helpful - they can speak better to your aptitude and work ethic in the theatre than academic teachers can. For parents wondering about whether their child should major in Theatre D/T, the answer is “yes” - if the student really loves theatre tech and is dedicated to their craft, and they go to a quality program and put in the work to get training, they can make a living in this field. One final shout-out for the SUNY Purchase D/T program - did you see the SuperBowl halftime show with Lady Gaga, and do you remember her ballad at the keyboard with big dome of lights? My daughter did that - she was an intern on the lighting crew and was assigned to put all the lights on that keyboard dome (as well as lots of other work on the crew and working on the field during the show). How did a college senior end up interning at the SuperBowl halftime show? The head of the D/T lighting design program at Purchase is an Emmy-award winning lighting designer who works the show each year; my daughter asked to shadow him and it turned into a two-week internship of hard work and an incredible experience. What other D/T program can offer that kind of opportunity for real-world training? If you are serious about becoming a scenic designer, apply to SUNY Purchase and go visit the college for a tour – if their program is the right fit for you, you’ll know for sure when you visit. Best of luck in your applications!