<p>Hi! Im a freshman theatre major at St. Edwards University and Im seriously considering transferring at the end of the year. Last year, I made the mistake of applying to three schools: NYU and Emerson, which are audition-only and accept few theatre majors, and Northwestern, which is well, Northwestern. I got into UT but it was just too big for me and they don't have a great undergrad theatre program, so here I am at St. Ed's.
So the problem is that most non-theatre majors are here because they couldnt get into UT. No matter how many friends I make here or how much I like the program, I just dont feel challenged academically. Also, the theatre program is well-known in Austin, and can provide some great connections here, but not so much in the rest of the country. It was really my dream to be somewhere in the Northeast. I love the program here, and Ive made a few great friends, but most kids here arent motivated, and unfortunately not very smart either. I'm trying to take the good with the bad, but I can't get rid of the nagging feeling that I could have done better, and as petty as it sounds, it's driving me crazy. So heres my stats: </p>
<p>HS Weighted GPA: 3.94 (Eight APs), top 6% of class (very competitive high school)
SAT: 770 verbal, 610 math, 780 writing
ACT: 30
I was President of the Drama Club, Captain of the speech team, a NHS member, and I acted in 16 plays during high school.
As for college, I pretty much expect a 4.0 at the end of my first semester here. Im taking 16 hours right now. Im in Alpha Psi Omega (honorary theatre fraternity) and a Social Justice community that lives together and does a lot of community service. Ive also been in two plays here so far.</p>
<pre><code>So what are my chances of being able to transfer to a better school at the end of the year? Should I wait longer to build up a bigger college transcript or will my HS work be enough? Im looking for a school with stronger academics but still a good theatre program (hard balance to find). Im currently looking at Vassar and Davidson (even though its in the south). What do yall think? Thanks so much.
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<p>I’m a theater major at Cornish College of the Arts. I’m thinking about transferring as well. I don’t know much about Theater schools in the North East but here are a few theater schools with decent academics…</p>
<p>Depaul University
Boston University
Sarah Lawrence
Wesleyan</p>
<p>I can’t think of anymore off the top of my head. Good Luck! Email me and let me know if you find anything.</p>
<p>P.S. Cornish is a good academic school, it’s more so the social life (no dorms/sense of community) but feel free to check it out!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your input! Boston University is something I’m considering, but it’s hard for me to get together the money to fly out there and audition when there’s such a good chance I won’t get in. Wesleyan looks pretty on-par with what I’m considering… I’m not sure I could handle the 74% female population at Sarah Lawrence, but it’s an option. DePaul is, stats-wise, the same as the school I’m at now. I definitely want to take a significant step up in academics and prestige if I’m going to devote time to the transfer process. Middlebury has a good theatre program, and I’m looking into Emory as well. Bennington is also an option but the academics aren’t as strong. I’ll definitely keep you posted on what I find! Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Davidson (where I will be next August - deferred my enrollment for a year) has a really cool partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Members come to Davidson every year (it’s their only North American stop) and put on a few shows, and actually teach/work with the theatre majors for a few months. I know this partnership has been going on for the last three or four years and I haven’t heard anything about it ending.
Of course I think you should apply there because it’s my school, but I do think that’d be a really good thing to put on your acting resume.</p>
<p>Another school I know of with amazing theatre is Whitman College in Washington. I know that’s not the Northeast, but they seriously have one of the best programs in the country.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply! I’ve heard about Davidson’s partnership with the RSC and that sounds like a great opportunity. If you don’t mind my asking, do you think my stats give me a reasonable shot (based on your experience or other people you know who got in)? Is there anything else I can do to make myself a better applicant for Davidson? Congrats on getting in. </p>
<p>Whitman does look like a great school but I’m not sure I could handle being all the way in Washington. Does anybody have any experience with the school (visits, etc)?</p>
<p>I definitely think you have the stats to get in. What I noticed about the people I met at Davidson, aside from their academic talent, was their personality and spirit of intellectual curiousity and also true respect for everyone and everything around them. So make sure that in your application you show them what kind of person you are and what you care about and that you’re passionate.</p>
<p>I actually have a good friend at Whitman now and I visited the campus when I was applying to schools (I live in Seattle so it wasn’t a hard trip). The facilities are awesome across all categories - labs, dorms, athletics. Walla Walla itself doesn’t have much going on, and it’s really far from any major cities. But there seems to be tons going on on campus every night.
They seem to have a pretty vibrant arts scene, too. The theatre is seriously one of the coolest places ever - really professional yet tons of student involvement. The reason I decided not to go there in the end was that a) it was in Washington and I wanted to go far from home, b) Walla Walla didn’t have the music scene I desire (I go to as many shows as I can, and at Davidson, Charlotte is 30 minutes away), c) there seem to be a lot of smaller communities.. like the campus, which is already small, is broken down. There are Frats, lots of themed houses, and people live off campus. Everyone seemed to love their circle of friends and different groups interacted, but I wanted a really residential and more connected campus.</p>
<p>Hope that helps! I’d second the opinions on Wes and Vassar - both have good theatre programs. I never visited Vassar, but I visited Wes (was waitlisted in the end) and loved the vibe on campus.</p>
<p>have you ever looked at Ithaca College? the school as a whole isn’t publicized much but the theater program is among the best in the country. i know of many students there that turned down carnegie mellon theater for it, so, it must have some clout in the industry.</p>