Do I stand a chance -- PLEASE help :(

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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<p>I'm currently a junior in Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>My dream school for the past few months is University of Michigan (and I mean DREAM SCHOOL... ever since I've discovered I've spent hours everyday looking into it). At the moment I have a 3.6 cumulative GPA.. I do take rigorous courses, taking all honors and an AP English 11 class. I want to double major in theatre and english. I have yet to take my SATs but I am in a SAT prep class. I don't know if I qualify academically for U-M.. next year when I audition, do I audition before being accepted? How much do they base your acceptance? Say if I was really good at the acting audition, would they look past my "eh" GPA? I just really want to go in there. I do plan on working extra hard the second half of my junior year.</p>

<p>Other schools I'm looking into are Penn State and Point Park. I still have time to search others. I am going to visit U-M in April though and HOPEFULLY set up an appointment with the head of the theatre department. I heard you can do that. :)</p>

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<p>Would you consider schools in NY or LA? I’m a big advocate for aspiring actors to get on with it and go to school where the action is</p>

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<p>paige - Here are the requirements for the theatre department:
[UM</a> School of Music, Theatre & Dance - Prospective Students](<a href=“http://www.music.umich.edu/prospective_students/admissions/ug/app_proc/acad_prep.htm]UM”>http://www.music.umich.edu/prospective_students/admissions/ug/app_proc/acad_prep.htm)</p>

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<p>@pacheight: I would, only NYU was very expensive and I was unsure how I would be in that type of setting (big city). I’m aware U-M is very expensive too, around the same as NYU, but I felt the acting program there was REALLY great and the setting was more what I like. I will look into NYU and possibly schools in LA (though that’s across the country for me) because I think I will have to audition for around 5-10 schools, maybe even more. Just because I know how competitive it is. Thanks :)</p>

<p>@austinmtmom: Thank you so much! I actually haven’t found that! Would that apply to me even though I want to double major? Cause I think I fit all those requirements - with the exception of SATs and ACTs just because I haven’t taken them. But thanks!</p>

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<p>I have no personal knowledge of the policies but here’s what the website says:

</p>

<p>I know there are a couple of students/parents who post in the UMich subforum on the Musical Theatre thread who are double majoring. You might read through that and check on those discussions:
[University</a> of Michigan MT - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-mt/]University”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-mt/)</p>

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<p>go to NY or LA and spend your time auditioning for real acting jobs, and get your undergraduate degree from any number of schools in those cities. And for actor training go to private coaches/classes, they’re better than most of the teachers at NYU, Yale, UCLA and USC. Go to college to get a liberal education, go to NYC or LA to be an actor!</p>

<p>Here’s the best advice you’ll ever get: you want to be an actor, start acting now! don’t wait four years. You’ll get better by going to real auditions and getting cast in real work.</p>

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<p>haha you guys are so helpful, so thank you :slight_smile:
@austinmtmom: I am for sure going to be spending a lot of time looking at the sites you gave me! They’re both up on my computer as tabs and will be for a while. I’ll have to show them to my parents. The only problem I really have is the price at U-M. Since I’m only a junior I’m SO looking into 2352343 scholarships next year. I do a ton of volunteer work and such so I don’t know, hopefully I can find scholarships cause thats the only issue I have with U-M!</p>

<p>@pacheight: Well the cool thing at U-M I saw on a video is that they bring in acting directors and agents and such to work intensively with you when you are in the program. And you spend a lot of time putting on shows, so that really interested me. With Point Park, one of my other choices in Pittsburgh, PA, they focus a lot on teaching you rather than performing. And I haven’t searched too much on PSU’s acting program. But I will look into LA & NY schools, it’s just far and probably pricey. Thanks :)</p>

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<p>There’s a really great thread about preparing to apply that you might want to check out as well. Once again, it’s over in the MT forum but the discussions are relevant to Theatre majors as well:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/477658-preparing-apply-information-h-s-juniors-seniors.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/477658-preparing-apply-information-h-s-juniors-seniors.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There are so many great programs out there. Only YOU can deide what you want from the college experience. Now is the time to explore options and come up with a well-rounded and well-balaned list. Best of luck with your research!!</p>

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<p>acting is a trade! you gotta do it to get better. and you’ll learn more in a week going to agent auditions on Wilshire or Sunset then you will in 4 years of acting class. For instance did you know you can audition for a lot of the third tire agencies? And believe me none of theses agents are flying to Michigan to talk to college kids.</p>

<p>It’s amazing how focused and good an actor can become while auditioning for agents and real jobs. I’ve seen actors go from lousy to employable after a couple weeks of auditioning for real parts. And you want good training? Be on the set with a real director, that’s good actor training!</p>

<p>Good luck to you!</p>

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<p>Gosh, you are just master of the threads!!! Thank you so much, I’m only a junior as you know so it’s quite a while before I have to think about applications (…only, not really!) so I will FOR SURE be checking all that out and maybe even preparing for all of it. Never too early to start getting ready. :smiley: Thank you so so so so much!</p>

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<p>hahah if only it was that easy. I would LOVE that but my parents really want me to get a second degree just in case acting doesn’t work out. and i figured while I’m getting my second degree, it wouldn’t hurt to major in acting too! I am kind of new to stage performances… I have done years of acting classes and am looking forward to going to college to actually perform and such since my high school is super focused on more music based (musicals… and for those of us who can’t sing, its rather unfortunate). thanks for all your help though :)</p>

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<p>Michigan is a top program for sure. But please be wary of getting your heart set on any one program; no matter how talented you are (and I am sure you are!), there is much one cannot control when auditions are involved. Please do yourself a favor and don’t spend too much time fixating on one program; instead, find a range of programs (audition and non-audition … everybody needs that safety school!) and you will be fine.</p>

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<p>I would recommend that you look into the University of Minnesota. Only you can decide if it’s a good fit for you, but it 1) has a fairly low cost, even out of state; 2) offers a great BA Theatre major that can easily be combined with a second major; 3) also offers an auditioned BFA that also can be combined with a second major (difficult, but it’s done); and 4) is located in a vibrant city with the second-highest number of theater seats nationally (behind NYC).</p>

<p>Your GPA should be fine to get you into their BA, and they don’t expect huge test scores, either. You are on the right track, and just keep doing your best.</p>

<p>There is room in this profession for all kinds of training and education. It is a personal choice, and there is “success” in all pathways.</p>

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<p>This has been said before, but it never hurts to have an occasion to say it again:</p>

<p>You mention that your parents (and you, too, maybe) would be more comfortable if you had a different major to “fall back on,” and you say that this other major is likely to be something like English.</p>

<p>I have an English degree, and while I don’t regret it for a minute, believe me, the major did not get me any actual jobs. Being educated got me most of my jobs, and a later professional degree got me some other jobs that I found I wanted to pursue. </p>

<p>If English and Theatre are what you want to study, neither one will be sure to get you a job. There are other second majors that might be more helpful - like education, accounting, nursing, etc. - but there are no guarantees these days, and you have to want to be in those professions for them to be worth studying. Whether you can manage to get any other degree along with theatre will be up to you, in terms of doing them in sequence, or with one as a minor, or many other options. There are always more options.</p>

<p>But if your parents think that theatre is the least likely to get you a job after you graduate, tell them all of the things that theatre majors learn. They don’t just sit around playing games and giving each other backrubs. They learn not only performance skills, but history and literature. They also gain tech skills, which are very employable. And in the big picture, they learn how to speak and present themselves, and how to manage a large-scale project with budgets, timetables, and teamwork. People in theatre, whether during school or in their work experience, also usually learn something about managing an organization, how non-profits operate, and other skills that can help in many, many other professions. It all depends on how you approach the training and the education.</p>

<p>I hope your parents can look at the curriculum that is offered in most theatre majors, whether BA or BFA. I think they’ll see that it is a real education. No one can promise you’ll move right into top acting jobs (by going to school or by any other means), but you can gain a lot of skills that can take you to many wonderful work opportunities.</p>

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<p>mamarose is right, don’t be set on one program, one direction. Acting is an exercise in rejection. Which I think is all the more argument to be in LA or NY where there are literally hundreds of good acting programs. And thousands of opportunities! What if at Michigan you don’t get cast in one of the limited good roles? then what?</p>

<p>Also, don’t interpret my advice incorrectly, I believe a liberal education, a college degree is important! I just don’t think college is where you learn to be an actor. Sean Connery said it was the reading of all the classics that gave him the intellectual range of story telling and character depth to understand character development in acting. He got that in English Lit class, not acting class. </p>

<p>And the trick to rejection is that as soon as the audition is over forget about the role, the opportunity. I mean before you get to the elevator leaving Jerry Bruckhiemer’s casting agent on Sunset you crunch-up the “sides” and throw them away. Don’t think about it again unless they call you back. This is key or you’ll drive yourself crazy!</p>

<p>One last thought for you: Acting is business not art. A role is a job to get done, like a carpenter building a wall. It’s a business and the entire acting community, outside of insular and often strange college musical theater programs, approaches it as a business…get in, do your role and take the paycheck and go home.</p>

<p>again, good luck to you!</p>

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<p>Acting, whether in film or otherwise, may be considered a business, I suppose…however, theatre is one of the arts. Often the very best students in college acting programs are those who are interested in all of the many creative aspects of making theatre. Many such students manage to find gainful employment within the theatrical world because of their love for this art form and devotion to its ideals.</p>

<p>There is a reason this forum is called “theatre/drama,” instead of “acting.” There is a lot more to many of these kids than a hankering after Broadway or Hollywood. Many fine actors have wonderful stage careers in regional theatre, which thrives in the US in places like Chicago, in Minnesota as Emmybet says, in Philadelphia, and in many other places. </p>

<p>In addition, some students may enter college theatre programs with acting in mind and discover that their greater strength and interest lies in directing or playwrighting or even design.</p>

<p>There may or may not be good pay in the world of theatre. Perhaps usually not. I think you have to distinguish between acting for the purpose of earning money and/or glory, and acting in order to participate in the making of art which has the power to change lives.</p>

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<p>You guys are all SO helpful! I really appreciate it!</p>

<p>@NotMamaRose: Unfortunately I do know that it is very hard and competitive. While University of Michigan is my dream school and I would LOVE to go there, I’m aware my chances are like 2% haha. But I do feel I have an advantage for finding out so much about it a year in advance. I have already thought about monologues and such. But believe me, I am very ready for rejection. I am going to audition for AT LEAST 5 other schools. Penn State & Point Park are just a few that I have already decided to try. I am still looking. But of course, I would not be upset if U-M accepted me ;)</p>

<p>@EmmyBet: Weird thing is I totally stumbled upon University of Minnesota the other day! And I thought it sounded cool! It is QUITE far away from me, for I live in Pennsylvania, but I’ll definitely check it out in my depth and possibly visit. Thanks!!</p>

<p>@EmmyBet second post: When I say English degree I mean English EDUCATION. So if the acting thing did not work out, I could always become an English teacher. Yeah I had a specific job I guess I did not clarify it so well! My english teacher currently got a double major in English and Acting at Point Park so that’s what made me look into the school and made me feel better about it all. My parents would feel better if I did that too. But yeah, I DEFINITELY want to go into a Theatre major, and, well, I honestly couldn’t picture myself doing any other job besides teaching (…rather than acting, of course!)</p>

<p>@pacheight: I wish I could just move to LA and start auditioning for roles the minute I turn 18, but my parents would have a heart attack. And I do want that college part in my life. I want to be able to make some solid friends and learn some new things and be out on my own in a college setting. I want to be able to explore my abilities in theatre and challenge myselfs with the help of professors. I wish I didn’t have that desire and could just pick up and leave for LA!! haha :)</p>

<p>@NJTheatreMOM: Oh, I’m sorry, I definitely did not mean to mix up theatre and acting. For me I just also refer to theatre/drama as acting, probably because every acting class I’ve taken is entitled “Acting __” and such. But I do love the ART of Theatre. I always have. I know that if I never make it to Hollywood, but I still continued to do Theatre in other ways, I’d be happy. Because it just makes me happy. And that’s another reason why I would rather go to college than just move to LA. Believe me I love Theatre for the art of it, I would never want to become an actress just for the money!</p>

<p>So, thank you all for the advice. It’s so so so helpful!</p>

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<p>paigegar7894, so glad that you are planning ahead and doing your research on various schools and their programs. That’s a smart thing to do! My D (now at NYU Tisch doing musical theater) did the same thing. By the time she was entering fall of her senior year in high school, she knew exactly which schools acting and musical theater programs seemed like a good fit (and we had visited a number of them) and was ready to really get to work on her monologues, songs and dance.
I would second the University of Minnesota/Guthrie program recommendation. Actually, from what you said about also wanting to be able to study English education, it is probably close to perfect for you. Minnesota’s program directors are very verbal about believing that an educated actor is the best actor, so if you did the BFA there, you would still have plenty of academic and general ed classes. I believe it would be possible to double major. (I don’t know that much about Michigan’s acting program. My D was only interested in their musical theater program.) You might also consider Fordham University (Lincoln Center) for their BA in performance/acting program. That is another program that also emphasizes the important role of academics in an actor’s training.</p>

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<p>Paige, you are so polite with all your responses. If you are in Pennsylvania, I’d recommend that you take a look at Temple University and UArts in Philadelphia. Montclair in New Jersey is also an excellent school for theatre.</p>

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<p>I’m so glad I found this website. I’m getting so much help from all of you, and I really appreciate it!</p>

<p>@NotMamaRose: I have been looking at colleges since about November. None of my friends have even thought about what they want to do, and here I am with a list of schools!! I am calling University of Michigan to set up a tour in April and am going to contact Point Park soonish for a tour. My sister and parents went to Penn State so I’m not positive if it’s crucial for me to get a tour there. I’ll have to look into University of Minnesota. I do know that they, like University of Michigan, have a thing called 24 Hour Theatre which REALLY sounds interesting and is one of the reasons I got interested in University of Michigan. I have a word document on my computer of colleges I want to research and such, so I’ll add it. Thanks :)</p>

<p>@NJTheatreMom: I’ve HEARD of Temple and my mom mentioned Philadelphia, so I’ll look into those. I haven’t really searched NJ schools, so I’ll add Montclair into my word document. I am extremely excited for college so that’s whats really fueling all this research and stuff. I mean I know auditions and such are like a year away, but that’ll go fast. Thank you!</p>