Maybe CalArts?
A lot of kids from my area look at Ithaca and I have heard mixed things about it. I don’t know that he will apply as he is aware of it but hasn’t shown much interest. I am thinking of taking him to see UArts and Temple in Philly because we can do Amtrak.
Reckless - if you don’t mind my asking, how were your daughter’s test scores to get that money at Otterbein? My son is a 3.3 and 27 composite.
@techmom99 as far as transportation to/from JMU, I believe they use a charter bus on school breaks that takes kids directly from the school to the NYC area. Not sure which suburban area you are in, but this may help you in getting your kid home on school breaks
Lovetoact - Thank you. A friend from work whose daughter attended JMU told me that kids had to hire cabs to get to the airport an hour away, but maybe that was for non school break weekends.
@techmom99, she took the SAT and got 660 R, 610 W and 570 M. That works out to between a 27 and 28 on the ACT.
A diverse list of other schools to look at include:
CCM
Cornish
U of Northern Kentucky
Baldwin-Wallace
TCU
Lawrence
Willamette
Point Park
DePaul
Webster
Coastal Carolina
JMU is not the easiest to get to by public transportation, but during the academic year there are shuttles that run on school breaks… http://www.jmu.edu/transportation/regional-transportation/charter-buses.shtml
There is also a small airport that runs to Dulles… http://www.jmu.edu/transportation/regional-transportation/airports.shtml
and an Amtrak station in Staunton… http://www.jmu.edu/transportation/regional-transportation/amtrak.shtml
There are also shuttle services… http://www.jmu.edu/transportation/regional-transportation/taxi-shuttle.shtml
There is both Amtrak and an airport in Charlottesville (about 1 hour away)
Here is more information about transportation… http://www.jmu.edu/transportation/index.shtml
So, no the MOST convenient. but lots of options.
A 3.3 and a 27 ACT would not necessarily be a problem, particularly with a recommendation from the program to academic admissions.
Thank you. Those are alot of options. Unfortunately, I ran the NPC for JMU and I don’t think it’s feasible for us. If my son wants to write a 1000 word essay, I will let him but I am not going to push him to do it.
He is starting his SUNY app and once that’s done, he can pick some common app schools and apply to those.
@techmom99 – unfortunately JMU does not have a lot of institutional aid to give. 
There are scholarships through the theatre program, but, unless something changes, those are limited in number as well. The largest covering about 1/2 of in-state tuition… which ends up being about 1/4 of out of state tuition… for four years. After freshman year students are not required to live on campus, snd there are reasonably priced options close to campus that are much less than living on campus with a required meal plan.
There are great SUNY options… I am not sure, but does SUNY Courtland have a program? I know they do for Musical Theatre, but not as familiar with the Tech Theatre options.
I don’t believe that Cortland has a program. My son and I took advantage of a service offered by SUNY and went and met in person with an admissions counselor. After that meeting, we came away with Purchase, Fredonia, Oswego, UBuff and Buff State as the best possible options for him. Cortland didn’t come up in our search but I will check again. I’ve always thought of it as a jock school. I don’ t think that he can get into U Buff academically but if he likes the program, he can apply.
Looks like Courtland only has a major in Musical Theatre, with a minor in Theatre.
@CuriousJane not sure if this is what you are looking for but here is info on Marymounts tech concentration. It is under the BA in theater arts but sounds fairly in depth - not a general theater arts degree
I saw it mentioned someplace so thought I would pass it on as it fits the small urban school you first asked about.
http://www.mmm.edu/departments/theatre-arts/ba-program/design-technical-production.php
There’s Performance Production at Cornish in Seattle. A great little campus and Seattle is great. Boston University has a Design and Production BFA. A beautiful, but traditional campus smack dab in the middle of the city.
VCUARTS is not a small arts school. It has over 3,000 students not including its campus in Qatar. It is however one of the top art/design schools in the country. In fact its graduate program is ranked #2 in the entire country just behind #1 ranked Yale. The overall school being VCU is quite large but an unbelievable amount of resources goes specifically to the Arts school and it 100% shows. Richmond itself is a very cool college city. Our D will be starting in just a week.
I’d encourage your S to apply to UArts even though the numbers came back short for you. They tend to be a generous school, and maybe it would work out for your S. I’d just keep it as one of the reach schools because it is a reach artistically and financially. That’s what we did with D; a few schools on her list were too expensive, and some others would’ve been a stretch but maybe possible, but we thought we’d just see what happened. All but one of of her admitted schools turned out to be affordable, and UArts was one of the three cheapest. (UArts and another school matched, and one would’ve been cheaper.)
just to update, came back from VCUARTS after dropping off D. Spent some time at the Altria theatre on campus and I can say confidently its a beautiful facility.