I am a high school junior who is currently looking at precollege programs for acting and I’m really interested in Emerson’s, but I don’t know If I have a chance of getting in and was wondering if anyone who has gone,been accepted or just has knowledge of the process could help me. I am wondering how competitive it is to get in,what did your resume look like, and how are the teachers, did any of them make someone cry, (I’ve seen it happen before), and anything that you think might be helpful.
My daughter is an acting major at Emerson. Yes, it is VERY competitive to get in but the program is wonderful. My daughter had only done high school theater, but did have several leads and a number of acting awards on her theater resume. She had also done the summer Gov School in our state. The teachers are WONDERFUL: very kind, very encouraging and her audition process was very supportive and helpful. Work hard in high school, do a summer program if you have the opportunity and read/ see lots of plays. Be sure to get help on your audition piece before you do college auditions. Good luck/ break a leg!
I think that Emerson’s pre-college program application is straight forward. I think it is most important to submit the required parts of the application in a timely manner- the sooner, the better. My D did it several years ago. Her resume was comprised of her high school acting and musical performance credits. She did not have a formal head shot, we cropped a recent photo we had. I didn’t sense that it was an overly competitive process at all. At the time she attended, the group was a blend of local kids who commuted and kids that were housed on campus. She has stayed in touch with many from that group, and most went on to complete BFA’s or BA’s. in acting or theater. So my take away is that the application should display your interests and seriousness about studying acting.
She commuted 45 minutes on the T, yet was able to socialize with her group in the evening before she headed home. The teachers were awesome and the experience was worthwhile. She did it as a rising senior and a little bit of time was spent on the college application and audition process. That helped her add a few more schools to her list. At first she only wanted a BA and we were steering away from schools that offered BA’s and BFA’s like Emerson. She also had attended UArts in Philly the summer before, and between the two programs she would say that UArts was a stronger program. No tears were shed in either program!
Does everyone have such impressive resumes, and what if you don’t have ton of leads partly because the way your theatre department is structured?