<p>I hope to double major in English and theatre. I'm trying to apply to schools with a lot of options for majors (you never know if you will change your mind, and chances are you will:P), but also good theatre programs and hopefully good job placement. I'm considering working for a newspaper/magazine when I get out of college, but I don't want to major in journalism or communications because I'd prefer a less specific degree. I assume an English degree would be just as good, since I'm sure it's your skill/experience that is most important anyway.</p>
<p>Anyway, not taking into consideration whether or not I'll actually be able to get in, which of these can I take off my list simply because they're just not going to be what I need? My safety schools, in case you're wondering, are Indiana University and Valparaiso University. I'm trying to narrow the following list down to maybe 15-20 for now until I look into them further. </p>
<p>Here's the long list of schools I'm looking at:
Brown
DePaul
Notre Dame
Butler
Vassar
Northwestern
Williams
Middlebury
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon
Colgate
College of the Holy cross
NYU
Yale
Oberlin
Vanderbilt
Amherst
Wagner
Sarah Lawrence
Wesleyan
Rutgers
Emerson
Ithaca
Syracuse
Pennington
Whitman
Lawrence
American University
SUNY at Purchase
Skidmore
Rowan
Rochester
University of Michigan
Rhodes</p>
<p>I'm not worried about whether I'm likely to get accepted, since many of those schools are my reach schools, and I can easily look up which ones I have a chance getting accepted to based on GPA/scores and such.. I'm mostly concerned with finding out which have the strongest theatre programs (all of them seemed relatively decent) and offer the best education. Obviously they are all good schools, but I want to be sure there's more to them than just a prestigious name. I don't care too much about location and size or anything. My biggest concern is just being prepared for the real world once I get out of school.. that is, being able to find a good job and having a useful degree from a well-respected university. That's about it. The only real reason I want to apply to a couple highly selective schools is because I'd like the opportunity to attend some place where the majority of the students will be very intelligent, many much more so than myself :P That's the only problem I have with a lot of schools around here. I want to have a more challenging environment.</p>
<p>If you still want to know my stats, here's a few (and I realize with my current background I might not seem Yale material):
3.9/4.0 unweighted gpa, 9/413 class rank, 2030 SAT from my first SAT, jr year (600 math, 730 verbal, 700 writing.) I'm retaking it in hopes of improving my math score by actually studying/taking practice tests. I'm taking the ACT for the first time in December, as well as 3 subject tests. Can't predict how well I will do. I've taken most of the hardest classes our school offers, but we only have 5 APs. I took 4 of them (decided against AP Gov). Other than that I've taken all honors classes with the exception of electives, obviously. My extracirriculars aren't exemplary.. 4 years of German Club (secretary senior year), 4 years of theatre (we do 2 shows a year, I've been in every one since HS, I've had 4 leads so far), 3 years of school choir and 2 years of church choir, secretary of National Honor Society. I've also gotten Student of the Month for Foreign Language and for Science, and Exchange Club Youth of the Month. </p>
<p>Brown
DePaul
Vassar
Northwestern
Williams
Middlebury
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon
NYU
Yale
Oberlin
Amherst
Wesleyan
Emerson
Syracuse
Lawrence
American University
SUNY at Purchase
Skidmore
Rochester
University of Michigan</p>
<p>Well english and theater are 2 majors that are not the most pre professional. What kind of job are you thinking? </p>
<p>The better the school, the better your chances are of getting a good first job unless you do a trade oriented major at a lower ramked school. Or if you want to teach english, any of the schools would do. </p>
<p>So it's hard to advise you. There's too big of a range of schools here. You need to narrow them down by being more specific in what you want and by quality. </p>
<p>Teaching english and theatre is one option I'm considering, but that's mostly a safety job because it's not going to be so competitive. Just to clarify, I would not be one of those teachers that picked teaching because they didn't know what else to do, I really do have an interest with helping people and teaching people, it's just not necessarily my first career choice. I've also considered trying to get some kind of work at newspaper/magazine. Being a paid actor would also be fantastic if that ever panned out.</p>
<p>If you are applying to theatre schools with a required audition (Carnegie Mellon, DePaul, etc.) you need to get going ASAP. Make a list of deadlines for each school and its theatre program, if separate. </p>
<p>If you are thinking of entering as an English major and doing some theatre on the side, find out if that's possible. Some schools restrict their casts (or lead actors) to theatre majors. You may have to email the theatre departments directly.</p>
<p>As you go down your admittedly bulky list, try to decide if you would prefer a school if it came down to a one-on-one comparison between it and your favorite safety school. </p>
<p>Not that you need more schools, but Illinois (UIUC) has an exclusive program where a friend's son was accepted last year. He's really enjoying it. You already know about DePaul, which has a very strong network of grads running many of the little theaters in Chicago. And Northwestern is top notch. However, you don't need the biggest or best theatre program to be a successful actor. Some people make their own opportunities, like the group that started Steppenwolf Theatre and graduated from, I think, Illinois U at Normal, a middling state school.</p>