<p>My daughter is serious about acting and does not have the strong academic stats or performance background as many who post. She made this decision during sophomore year. We live in metro-Chicago. If you have some advice on appropriate schools based on the following, I would sure appreciate hearing from you:</p>
<ol>
<li> Interested in a program with a good reputation in the industry that will give her exposure to film acting, will offer good alumni connections, has a senior showcase, etc.</li>
<li> Interested in either BA/BFA, wants a well rounded college academic and social experience and doesn't just want to be with her acting co-horts (leaves out CCPA/Roosevelt). She wants the depth of a BFA but still wants some intellectual exploration outside of theater.</li>
<li> Geographically undecided, may want to stay close to home but if she leaves the area wants to be in a warmer climate.
Would like a nice campus (also didn't like CCPA for this reason), prefers not too large of a university.</li>
<li> She is in the bottom 25% of her class, goes to the public equivalent of a prep school where 95% go to 4 yr colleges and most are in honors level coursework. She may have a 3.25-3.4 GPA, predicted to have ACT 18-22. Has some learning issues but no IEP. Has become a good student.</li>
<li> Would need scholarship to attend a private school, but that won't happen on the above stats.</li>
<li> Theater teachers think she has potential but she has had few roles. Very competitive high school theater program; more famous actors than most college acting programs can boast. She will have taken Theater 1-4 in HS, classes at quality programs outside of school including monologues/cold readings. She has had one part outside of musical ensemble, likely will have 1-2 more before graduation. A lot would rest on a good audition for her.</li>
<li> Personality - Not the 'look at me' theater personality, has social anxiety but has to perform. Whenever she reads or watches something, she imagines how she would portray the character. An hour of acting class goes by in a minute for her. </li>
<li> A few extracurriculars, summer camp counselor, not big into leadership.</li>
<li> Would like a warm and friendly campus, supportive faculty, mostly smaller class size.</li>
</ol>
<p>So far our list includes:
1. Muhlenberg
2. DePaul
3. Columbia College Chicago
4. Webster University
5. University of Texas
6. UNCSA (but sounds like pressure every semester to stay in program?)
7. AMDA (family member is a current student, but not a broad education, aggressive admission reps?)
8. Southern Oregon University
9. State schools in Illinois
10. Peck School for the Arts - Milwaukee (?)</p>
<p>Suggestions? Feedback? California schools that may be a fit? We are also looking at pre-college programs for the summer; won't bore you with that list but suggestions are appreciated.</p>
<p>Yes, we will be making a visit to ISU. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I can’t tell if you are familiar with their program or the quality of their graduates. </p>
<p>No I’m not. I just l looked at their web site and I was impressed. I went through this process last year with my daughter so I’ve looked at a lot of theatre colleges and web sites.</p>
<p>I’m also impressed that, among many, many others, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise are grads.</p>
<p>I have seen a lot of both Western Illinois and Northern Illinois in Chicago playbillls – they must have pretty good theater programs. Columbia College Chicago can be okay if your daughter is motivated, but the entry classes are very large and kids who don’t push can get lost, I hear. Ball State and/or Evansville in Indiana might be worth looking into, also. </p>
<p>U of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s BFA Drama has all of the things you listed above. And they don’t look at grades, just at the audition. At CCM, you have the freedom to have as many “academic” classes or as few as you want as you make your own schedule. Some people stay with their own cohorts but many branch out and meet people outside of the program and of CCM.</p>
<p>It’s great, because you have the CCM building where you spend most of your time, but you also have the resources of the University of Cincinnati at your fingertips so you don’t get too caught up in the “bubble”</p>
<p>We also are starting to get experience in film acting. This year we will have our first annual 48 Hour Film Festival, we also have the opportunity to audition for the E-Media Majors student films. </p>
<p>Another program to look at would be the Guthrie program at U of Minn. It is EXCEPTIONAL training - and the audition process is quite selective- but the overall university (being a large state program) is more welcoming of a variety of scores/grades etc. It is also a bargain- out of state costs were quite reasonable - low 20s. D has two friends who are juniors there- one declined Carnegie Mellon to go there. They love it, but I guess the biggest downside would be the lack of a warmer climate… Also, if not accepted into the BFA program (which only take 20 kids a year) there is the option to begin as a BA student, and then re audition at the end of Freshman year. My D had another friend (she want to a PA High school and has seen kids going off to do BFAs for 4 years) who did that, and got into the Guthrie program that way. </p>
<p>@arwarw - I don’t know that it does- a number of states are now offering reciprocal in state tuition - especially for states that are nearby. I have no idea what Illinois policy is. Also, some schools “out of state” tuition is quite reasonable (lower than some in state) As I stated above, U Minn was not pricey, nor is TX state. I think the OP needs to research tuition policies at schools where her D meets academic criteria and is interested in the program</p>
<p>Maybe Texas State. Not a huge academic requirement and in-state tuition if you are accepted in to the (super selective) BFA program. Worth a shot, though!</p>
<p>yeah, Texas will probably be out of reach unless you are in state. i went there undergrad and even back then, it was very competitive academically for out of staters. i know it has a strong theatre program so i would assume BFA entry is very competitiive too. plus it’s insanely expensive for out of staters. i have heard about getting in state costs for Texas State so that;s worth looking at but in think its crazy competiive to get into BFA program. if she gets in, San marcos would not be a bad place to spend 4 years. i think north texas state, or whatver it’s called these days is easier to get into than Texas State and it is not as academically select as Texas. thsi school is in Denton and would be fairly warm. lmu(loyola marymount) is in LA and could be an option. there are several colleges in orange county, calif and san diego that coulld be worth looking at. i just looked at your post more closely. lmu is def worth taking a good long look at. also, look at Texas Tech and TCU, which are in Lubbock and Fort worth respectively. also, in Florida, tehre is univ central florida, which is around 35K for out of state, and u south florida. my son came very close to going to UCF on academic scholarship so i looked at theatre program some, it seems very supportive and although it does not have name brand recognition, it sounded like a decent theater program. also, if seh is willing to move to fla for a year and work, that may be enough to be a Fla resident for tuition purposes and UCF is a bargain for instaters. if seh falls in love wiht ucf, contact admissions. They were very up front wiht me for what it took to become a state resident for tuition. Gorgeous campus and huge but she shold be able to find smaller niche in theater dept. other possible southern options include ou, Bama, oklahoma city univ and carolina coastal. i know u said your daugher wanted warm so i am working on some warm schools if you will. my son was interested in Cali schools but they were beyond our budget. you may find teh same to be true. Shenendoah in va is alos possibility but i think competiive for admissions. there is other schools in Va too taht i am drawing blank on. James Madison maybe? katmt is teacher at one of va schools. you coudl look up her info and learn more about her school, which may be James madison. </p>
<p>Thank you. I know about the program but my D doesn’t have the courses to get in to U of MN. They pretty much require 4 years of most core courses and it wasn’t recommended she could handle that many a semester so will have 3 each except 4 English.</p>
<p>There is a Midwest Consortium with some schools offering reduced tuition-Webster in St. Louis would be an example. And I need to get a better sense of “talent” scholarship but I’m not sure she would qualify for those either with her scant performance history. Maybe that will improve in the next year. So I think you point is well made.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think you are expecting too much from any school, especially academically. Those schools you listed are top academically and the auditions are very competitive. If she clears the audition, she may not be accepted academically without 4 years of each core course, a foreign language, and at least a 21 ACT. I think you need more safeties especially if that score stands.</p>
<p>Wyoming has a nice program, non audition, but no film emphasis at all. She would probably be admitted on a probationary basis because of the missing courses and low ACT (if it isn’t at least a 21). It does admission on a rolling basis, so you could at least have one admission going into the audition season. Look at the South Dakota schools, North Dakota, and many more of the regional public schools. Out of state tuition is not bad at any of these, often cheaper than Illinois instate tuition. Unfortunately, one must enjoy the cold.</p>