Most people apply to 3-7 (from what I’ve seen) when applying to non-acting programs, but for those it’s obviously more stable and predictable (obviously not entirely, but it’s more so than acting). Since acting programs are less predictable, what’s the range of the number I should apply to? You can also say how many you chose to apply to, as that is also very helpful.
How much money do you have? Haha, but seriously, it is a lot of money to travel around to auditions and pay for all the expenses. If you can afford it, I would say that 12-15 is a reasonable number. Regardless, err on the high side. The numbers and the talent make this a really intense process.
My d did 18 – a mix of conservatories, LACs, and safeties. All the conservatories she applied to were very competitive. She worked with an audition coach and is at her top choice BFA program now at CalArts. Some do more, some do less. Do I wish she had applied to fewer schools?YES! But at the time it seemed so random and she wanted to get in somewhere!
I second @VASkydog. We spent a lot of time in the beginning looking at the programs, with a mix of BFA and BAs. Then I “got real” about how much we were willing to spend per year, per kid, learned about the net price calculators each school had on their website, and that informed the final list. We realized that for us, we needed to be within a 4 hour drive, with only 1 outlier. If I were to do it again, I’d start with the $ first, list second.
I applied and completed the audition/prescreen process for 7 MT programs, 6 acting programs, and 2 nonaudition academic admits only. I got rejected from all of the MT programs (I am definitely an actor first-MT programs, at least, for girls, seemed to have been looking more for singers and I should’ve pursued acting from the beginning) and was accepted to 3 and waitlisted at one of the acting programs, and accepted to one of the nonaudition programs (the other was Northwestern-not a safety!). I did not work with a national coach or any sort of coach (unless we count the director of my acting ensemble who worked with me on my monologues a few weeks before auditions.) For MT programs, I think at this point, esp for girls, at least 10 or 11. For acting, I’d say 6 or 7 is probably fine depending on where you apply. My acting schools (w the exception of CCM and NYU) were all smaller programs with ties to Chicago rather than NY so my purely statistical odds of admission were higher than someone who had applied to 7 acting programs but applied to CMU, CCM, NYU, Juilliard, Purchase, MN/Guthrie, and Rutgers. I think this may have ended up being more of an admissions process description in an attempt to be comprehensive (sorry!), but I hope this helps at all!
My daughter applied to 23 schools, 15 of which required an audition. For a girl the average is 14-17 schools. If you read through this year’s BFA acting thread you will see that there were many heartaches this year…kids who got into no programs or just one or two. As they say, “cast a wide net”. Six or seven as someone else mentioned is nowhere near enough!
My daughter is a sophomore now, but a girl that was a senior at her old high school last year ended up applying to 15 different schools for Musical Theater or Theater/Drama. The first 14 schools gave her rejection notices and she was distraught and her parents were scrambling to find a few more places for her to apply. Finally, she heard from the last of the 15 - Syracuse - and was accepted. Agony to Ecstasy in one letter. So, I would say that apply to as many schools as you can afford - she certainly did not regret that 15th application,
There are so many variables that go into this question. Boys have it a bit easier than girls, if you have good academic stats- that will improve your chances, if your “look” is character-actor—it might be harder, MT is much harder than straight Acting, if you need financial or merit aid- apply to lots because the prices are very dissimilar (though you can research in advance which schools are more/less generous). We added BAs in as our safeties.
I would first start by saying that some of this information depends on what kind of schools you’re looking at. Those who recommend casting a wide web are referring to BFA conservatory-style programs which include a rigorous audition process and may only take 12-20 new students a year. BA programs, which are a more broad theatre education (though many offer the ability to focus on acting or musical theatre) tend to have a less selective acceptance process into the department, meaning if your admissions chances at the university are good, then your department acceptance will probably also be good.
It’s also worth noting that most schools require an application fee which can cost up to $100 a pop. And while it is possible to get Fee Waivers from schools, applying to 12+ colleges can start to look like over $1,000 dollars in application fees alone!
My recommendation is to really think about what your requirements are for a college, and build a list of schools that meet these needs. Don’t put schools on the list that you wouldn’t be happy going to! 7-10 is enough, especially if you have a mix of acceptance chances on there (3 good chance, about 3 middle of the road chance, and the rest are whatever you choose).
@marg928 do you mind me asking where those averages and numbers came from? Those numbers seem high to me and also very expensive.
Besides the $100 application fees, many schools have you pay an audition fee as well, if you are at Unifieds.
My D applied to 11 BFA programs (mostly MT) and that is definitely on the low end among auditioners. She also applied to 5 BA programs - 2 reaches, 1 match, two safeties. If you just want to study theater somewhere (BA) the number of schools you “should” apply to is much lower than if you are trying for auditioned programs (BM or BFA)
I know two kids from my son’s high school who only applied to top BFA schools. About 15 each. The boy got into only one - CalArts. He was waitlisted at a couple others. The other was a girl and she got a few waitlists and no admits. She got off the LIU waitlist, but the money wasn’t good so she ended up doing some last minute apps elsewhere and will be pursuing a BFA at a lesser known school. So I would say that you must diversify you list. Even 15 may not be enough if one only selects the very top schools. I would definitely add some safeties to create options. An audition program is not a safety. If you can an admit through early action, it sure makes ones life easier come February and March.
I also think there is a difference between boys and girls. I find the girls need to have more robust (and generally longer) lists. There are many more girls auditioning! 12-18 (including safeties).
I completely agree with @marg928 in that you need to apply to a large number of BFA schools if you want a chance at the top schools. My D applied to 18 schools, 17 required audition. Of those schools, 3 were USA BA (2 requiring audition), 3 were UK BA that I count as BFA schools (RADA, LAMDA, LIPA = to BFA here). 12 BFA were reach schools, 2 were safety (though really can’t count any audition schools as safety). All the BA schools were reaches academically, 1 was an artistic and academic reach. D was accepted at 2 BFA reach schools, 2 BFA “safety,” and 1 BA. You really can’t predict in advance which BFA reach schools will accept you, and, thus, no choice but to apply to quite a few. These numbers are consistent with what CC folks have been saying over the years. Males do not have to apply to as many, they have less competition.
In terms of cost, yes, pricey, but well worth it based on where D ended up. Also, D saved quite a bit of application money by going to Thespian Nationals and auditioning there. Schools that liked her waived application fees. Of course the cost of going to Nationals outweighs the application fees, but those auditions allowed D to know in advance what schools would be interested.
My son applied to 18 schools, and because of early acceptances, never applied to his two non-audition (initially) safety schools (they both held BFA auditions end of 1st yr and end of 2nd yr).
6 target schools (BFA & BA)
12 reach schools (BFA, BA, & BFA-conservatory)
6 MT prescreens, passed 5, with 2 redirects to BFA Acting
Results, 7 offers, 2 WL:
Target-BA Theater Perf, MT concentration; BFA Acting, MT concentration; 3 BFA MT
Reach-BA Theater Perf./MT; BFA Acting
WL (both reach schools)-BFA Theater Perf MT; BFA Acting
All program were audition programs, so they weren’t safety. S ended with a good mix of rigorous MT or acting, BFA or BA. He did not get any strict conservatory offers.
And keep in mind from some of the previous discussion of BA vs BFA, there are well known MT audition BA programs that are as competitive to get into as BFA programs - like, James Madison University, Marymount Manhattan College and Wagner College. I’m sure there are others out there, my S just happened to apply to these schools.
@“z.hillman31” sorry I just saw your question. I got that information from our college coach at MTCA.