My son plans to pursue a BFA in Acting for Fall 2018. He is working on the audition pieces he needs.
I have a question about the academic part of the admission decision. I know there are some school that do not require test scores for Performing Arts majors. This leads me to believe they may have different GPA requirements for theatre majors (vs. engineering majors). Does anyone know where I can find this information?
My son has a 3.0 GPA. Not great, but not horrible. He had always auditioned better than he has tested. I’m trying to figure out if there are some schools he should not even bother auditioning for (i.e. Northwestern).
Northwestern doesn’t require auditioning for the Theater (Acting) program. Your son just has to apply to the University and indicate what he wants to major in. I actually want to apply to Northwestern too, and I know that it is very competitive for that specific university. The GPA is very important and I think it might be a little low. I guess it depends on his extracurricular activities, SAT/ACT scores, letters of recommendation and essays. NYU has a terrific theater/acting program, and although it is also a very competitive University, it’s acceptance rate is around 35% compared to NU which is around 15%. For NYU you do have to audition for the acting department (Tisch School of Arts).
I think I accidentally deleted my answer while trying to respond
Okay, well I am hoping to apply to Northwester too! For the same major as your son. Northwester doesn’t require an audition to be accepted to the Theater program. Your son just has to apply and be accepted to the school, on the application he has to indicate that he wants to major in Theater (Acting). That university is actually highly competitive though, and your son’s GPA might be a little low. I guess it would all come down to SAT/ACT scores, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation and essays. If all those are fantastic meaning a 10/10, then he might have a chance. NYU has a freaking fantastic acting program. You do need to audition for that university though. It is also highly competitive, but the approval rate is around 35% compared to Northwestern’s which is around 15%. The average GPA for Northwester is not reported, but the average GPA for NYU is 3.7.
You can find admission requirements information on the official website of each university. I am under the impression that at least for Northwestern you are held to the same standards regardless of what you are majoring in.
Northwestern is 100% academic admit and a competitive one at that. A long shot for even top students. It is a BA program.
Most BFAs and some BAs require auditions. Some schools weigh academics 50-50 with audition, such as NYU, SMU, and USC. Others say the audition is the biggest factor in being admitted. This includes Carnegie Mellon - which some find hard to believe given the academic rigor required for most to get in there.
Most of the schools still want test scores that I am aware of. And test scores help with merit scholarships. Julliard did not ask for them. But other conservatories such as UNCSA do. And any program within a college or larger university will most likely want them too (unless the school is Test optional).
A 3.0 should be fine for many BFA programs. But again, good GPA can help with merit money at many schools.
Pace in NYC may be a good fit and gives a lot of merit money. Webster and Evansville have been generous to kids we know (and not all had great grades or test scores). Marymount Manhattan and the New School in NYC may be ones to look at as well.
Good luck. The audition is key to most audition based BFA 's.
SUNY Purchase or SUNY Fredonia have BFA programs and I think BA’s as well. My son was accepted into the BA Acting Program at Purchase but that was only because he never completed the portfolio review for the theater tech major. He isn’t an onstage kid.
Something I learned from my son’s guidance counselor - I needed to look at the scores of kids getting accepted from son high school (using Naviance). For example, son’s school is competitive, with many academic “rock stars”, so the bar is set higher for my son’s school. I had been looking at a school’s average GPA, and looked up the top 25% scores to increase chances of funding. When I compared that information to the information of kids getting accepted from son’s school, it showed 2 different pictures. What I thought was a slam dunk academically was no longer a slam dunk.
