<p>First off, I have zero idea what forum this would even belong in, so bear with me, please.</p>
<p>Recently, I've been thinking about gap years between high school and college and the like, and I started to realize that college isn't right for everybody. In my situation, I would want to move out to l.a. and try my craft as an actor. I understand how incredibly difficult that is to do and I'm barely even considering that as an option, but I just wanted to hear some of your thoughts on quitting school to try and "make it" in the real word.</p>
<p>Don’t quit school! Most of those actors out there that people idolize have degrees. By all means, go pursue your dreams. Though it’s always nice to have options if your plans don’t work out as they should have.</p>
<p>My D has two friends who have decided to go that route (sort of). Because we live close to LA they are attending the local community college but taking acting classes in LA and auditioning. But they continue to live at home so that safety net is still there.</p>
<p>Come on out and join the party! Are your parents going to spring for this? If not, you’d better start saving your money because it usually takes newbies awhile to get decent paying survival jobs. Got your own car? It’s possible to get around town without one, but not too practical. Plan on between $400-600 for rent if you live in a two bedroom apartment with three roommates in a not-too-seedy part of town. It doesn’t get much cheaper because you’ll be spending the difference on Kevlar if you do otherwise. </p>
<p>You’ll need classes in on-camera theatrical and commercial auditioning which are usually done in month-long to six week intensives that run from $300-500. You’ll need improv, too, which I believe is around $200 per month at the Big 4 schools one of which you’ll need on your resume if you want to get decent commercial rep. Of course, the theatrical audition intensive is for if you’re already acting on a professional level which you probably aren’t. If not, you’d be better off starting in a technique/scene study class 'til you’re ready to start auditioning for real jobs which will most often be in around two years or so. Those run between $200-$350 per month. And you do usually get what you pay for with those, so plan on the higher side. Decent headshots will run you between $300-600. And once you manage to get a Taft-Hartley either through a real job or the New Media Agreement, the initiation fee to join the union is now $3,000.</p>
<p>There are about a million other little expenses that add up, too. Here’s a link to an old thread the contents of which I blocked and moved from another forum. The parts regarding the union are outdated and some of the expenses may be SLIGHTLY exaggerated, but not by all that much …</p>
<p>That came from the Backstage.com message board, btw. You’d be better off hanging out over there than on a college board if you’re really gonna go for this now. </p>
<p>FBF I wanted to PM you but I wasn’t able to. Just wanted to say I love your posts! Thanks!
Question : If my D decided to enroll in the two year program with Stella Adler could she get student loans to cover the cost?</p>
<p>Glad you like my posts. I decided to turn off the pms a few years ago. I kept getting messages from random people who don’t normally even post on the forums asking questions that took a lot of thought to give an adequate reply and they didn’t say, “Thank you,” “You’re wrong,” “Kiss my ass” or anything. Some others don’t like some of what I have to say, either, and would occasionally come at me off list when I was least in the mood for it, so I decided it’s best to just keep it on the main board.</p>
<p>FBF I completely understand…so let me publicly say thank you and I appreciate your wisdom and willingness to take your time to be so helpful. :)</p>
<p>bisouu, can I just make a suggestion here? Fish made a pretty extensive well thought out post about the trials and tribulations of a high school senior getting out in the real world and trying to make it as an actor. Your question to Fish about loans and Stella Adler has nothing to do with this well thought out post. Honestly, I believe the question you are asking about Stella Adler and other 2 year programs has been asked and answered about a dozen times elsewhere in these forums. Did you know you can search a topic and find zillions of old threads where some of the best and the brightest parents and students in the history of CC have discussed these issues at length? At the juncture that parents of seniors are in this journey, they will benefit immensely by searching each divergent thought prior to posting. There is an excellent search engine on CC to search either by post or by thread. Another way of doing this is to put the topic in a google search and it will redirect you to specific posts in CC. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Hey don’t go getting so dramatic here, wait this is the drama boards right? lol No need to remove, its just there is so much cool info that has been created here by people who went through this process that some of the answers are spelled out for you. You can spend hours learning some really cool things. And btw, great post fishbfresh, hopefully, this will be read by many of the kids who have this question and provoke careful thought, because, the Gap, go out there and try to make it in the great big world of theatre and film, is right for some with the right kind of support, plan and resources, but can really be a disaster for others. Then again, they are so young, these trials and tribulations are what creates character. Its nice that someone young and in the business, rather than a parent, can share this wisdom.</p>
<p>To return to the original idea of the thread . . .</p>
<p>I say GO FOR IT!!!</p>
<p>You are young and energetic, and at the moment you have nothing to lose. When you get older you will have a family to take care of, a mortgage, etc. And you will be too old to play all those “teenager” roles.</p>
<p>College isn’t going anywhere. You can always go to college later if you decide you need a degree.</p>
<p>Your idea will mean that you will quickly be able to learn about the “realities”–good and bad–of being a struggling actor in LA. And then if you do decide to get some formal training, you will have a much better idea of exactly what skills you need to learn or work on.</p>
<p>I do think a high school diploma or GED is fairly important in the U.S. You are going to need a “survival job”, many struggling actors are waiters, you probably know. To get this sort of survival job you are almost certainly going to need your high school diploma or GED. (And to be a waiter in a nice restaurant you have to be at least 18, to serve alcohol).</p>
<p>There are of course also child actors. But these usually have tutors so they don’t fall behind in school, and they otherwise have a great deal of support from their families.</p>
<p>My mom died 10th grade year at the end and I didn’t get to take finals so I only got like 2 credits I made it to 11th grade but I moved to another state before finals and only got 1 credit now I need like 13 to graduate on time shoud I repeat 11th grade or get my ged by the way I want to be a pre med student …help please I’m so confused</p>
<p>To reply to Lookinga, I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and took my GED. Now I am an attorney who argues felony cases in front of juries.</p>
<p>If you want to do premed, you are going to need either a GED or a high school diploma. If you are certain you can pass the GED (like I did) there is no real reason not to get your GED. But some people find that the GED is too hard and so they stay in school and just keep earning credits until they have enough to get their h.s. diploma.</p>
<p>I agree that lookinga is in the wrong part of this website, but I know new folks have a hard time sometimes learning how this all works.</p>
It doesn’t look like it, but you might want to give them a call to see … [Stella</a> Adler LA .:. Hollywood Acting School](<a href=“