<p>I'm currently a 22 year old junior college student looking to transfer into a conservatory for Fall 2013. I applied to four schools last year as a MT Major (Hartt, Montclair State, CCPA, and Point Park) with no acceptances. So I have decided to give it another go, but with much more preparation and more options. I am also going to apply as a straight Acting major vs MT. I have been researching schools all summer and am really interested in programs that strive to create well-rounded artists out of their students (such as NYU Tisch). I am also extremely interested in the directing aspect, and have been looking into some schools that offer courses, or the option to minor in Directing. The problem I have is that my grades in school do not reflect how dedicated and passionate I am about theatre. In high school all the way into my college years, I have received poor grades in general ed classes (B's, C's, D's and unfortunately an F or two.) My current GPA is 3.1. However, I have never received anything lower than in A in any theatre related class. I took the ACT in high school, and received a perfect English score, with an overall score of 26. (Not too bad, yet not too good). I just wanted to reach out to the CC and ask for suggestions of schools I may look into that perhaps do not put as much emphasis on grades. Thanks!</p>
<p>You don’t speak to what experience you have had in theater/musical theater… NYU is probably out for you—ACT of 26 is pretty low for them and so is your GPA but it sounds like you really need a conservatory type program that won’t require you to excel in math/science courses. You don’t indicate what part of the country you are interested in but I would focus on programs where the selection process is mostly on the audition vs. your GPA/test scores. You sound like you may want a BA program if you are vacillating between directing and acting or a BFA theater arts might just be the ticket for you!</p>
<p>Another school I think you should look at is Columbia College Chicago. It has programs in MT, acting, and even offers an undergraduate major in Theatre Directing. And it has such a broad and inclusive admissions policy that many people put it on their list so they are sure to have at least one school that they will definitely be admitted to.</p>
<p>Ah yes Columbia is on my safety list already, along with some other liberal arts schools in NYC (CCNY and Hunter). I realize now I never did include any information about my theater experience/schooling, and that is undoubtedly a big factor in a case such as mine. </p>
<p>I have some experience, having taken a few master classes here and there, as well as all the theatre classes at my current school. I also worked at a dinner theater for nine years, and have been in most shows at my current school since I began attending. </p>
<p>I am also only interested in the east coast, preferably as close to NYC as possible. I received some very insightful advice about relocating to NYC (which is where I want to pursue my career) while in school, while you are still being financially supported by parents, or student loans; so that by the time you are out of college you will know people to possibly share apartments with, know the city, and maybe even have jobs lined up. I live in CA now, and am just not interested in sticking around here.</p>
<p>abtsmom - At first I did think that NYU was out of the question for me, but after further research I couldn’t find anywhere any list of requirements for someone to be applicable to the school. Maybe I am not looking in the right places though. </p>
<p>College Board lists stats for NYU as 68% have GPA over 3.5 and 57% have ACT over 30. This is not to totally discourage you–there are always students that are accepted you don’t meet the criteria. Our experience in visiting colleges though was NYU, Northwestern and BU were very specific about the importance of your stats.</p>
<p>Two from our high school applied to NYU for theatre. Girl had very high GPA and SATs and is quite talented - did not get in. Boy had okay GPA and SATs but is very talented and got in. So who really knows - they take so much into consideration, and also look at what kind of kid they actually need/want in that year’s freshman class.</p>
<p>You will never know until you apply/audition, as long as you go in understanding the odds!</p>
<p>Considering your age and how far along you are in school (junior this year), you might want to think about another approach. Perhaps you can finish up at your current college as quickly as possible and apply to MFA programs. You would find specialties in Directing, for example, and also in acting. And it would take you about the same number of years to finish both your current UG plus MFA as perhaps starting over in a BFA program after 3 years of UG already.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that MFAs that combine directing and acting are a growing trend. I don’t know if they are any easier to get into than Acting MFAs. Probably to get accepted into a directing MFA you would have to have a certain amount of directing experience before applying.</p>
<p>Acting MFAs are insanely selective and tend to favor people who have followed their college degree with a period of theatrical work. They are far more selective than auditioned BFAs; however, at some of them you can do TA work and receive stipend funds that help with costs.</p>
<p>Madbean does make a good point. However, a performance BFA would give you about the same amount of preparation for professional work as a MFA and might be the better option for you, if your non-theatrical credits would transfer.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how much your college grades in non-arts courses would count when applying to an MFA program. If you completed your college degree quickly and then applied to MFA programs, it would seem like a good idea to strive for good grades in all of your college classes from here on out.</p>
<p>And another outside the box thought… You might find it more productive to finish your current BA as quickly as possible, and then moving to NYC, getting a “day job” to support yourself, and taking acting workshops and going on auditions and seeing how that works. Many who succeed at acting do not follow the BFA path, necessarily, although the training is outstanding of course. At your age, though, you may need to think creatively how you can avoid spending another 4 + years in college, meaning you won’t actually be out in the acting world until you are 26 or more.</p>
<p>If you are interested in the stage, I don’t think waiting until age 26 or so to complete your training is such a big deal…particularly for directing, where maturity had got to be a plus.</p>
<p>Starting young is more important for film acting. When it comes to the stage, it’s hard to be cast if you are too young…unless you are in your 20s and look young enough to play a teen.</p>
<p>It sounds like the OP is getting a BA in theatre, but would like more training. I think we’re all agreed that training is a great thing, but that also many people are successful with BAs (even if they don’t even major in theatre). I agree that in this case starting over with a BFA, adding at least 2-3 years to UG, seems like an inefficient route to the OP’s goals.</p>
<p>I’ll share my experience, albeit in a different field. I got a BA in a liberal arts subject, with no real focus on preparing for a profession. I had been interested in a certain kind of work, but didn’t study it in college because I wanted to focus on pure academics. After graduating, I got entry-level jobs in that field, and got some great experience for about 5 years. When I understood what I wanted to do professionally, I applied to a Master’s for training and credentials so I could move forward. I believe my work experience made me a much more attractive candidate for the Master’s program, and I also believe I got a lot more out of it, having so much preparatory work experience and perspective.</p>
<p>I know every field is different, but I don’t see that in theatre you couldn’t start out with some excellent learning experiences at the BA level, and then either become a director through those experiences (not all directors have MFAs, I am sure), or decide then whether to get an MFA, or go to a different kind of training program. </p>
<p>One of my kids was considering a dual BA program at one point, that would have taken more than 4 years to complete. As a parent, my response was that if you are going to add years to your tuition commitment, why not get a Master’s?</p>
<p>I am currently at a junior college, and must transfer to a four-year college to finish my education, which is why I was looking at the exciting opportunity to audition and apply for BFA/BA programs. I understand that with many of the programs I am looking into, they expect you to start at year 1 so that they may work with you from the ground up, but after this year I will have received my AA, so hopefully much of my GE credits will transfer over. </p>
<p>I realize that as an older student I will not be finished with my schooling until I am at least 26, but for me, personally, it isn’t a race to get out as fast as possible. I am thankful to be able to have the opportunities to grow and learn as much as I can about theatre. Which is also why I am looking at schools that have theatre BFA/BA programs that are much more focused and thorough vs attending (and paying comprable tuition to) the local state college whose theater program is a bit lacking. </p>
<p>Thanks again for everyone’s input, it really is helpful to hear(read) about what other people who understand this whole process think. I don’t know many people with whom I can talk to about this!</p>
<p>This is my list as of now of the schools I have decided on applying to, in the three categories (reach, probable, safety). </p>
<p>Reach:
NYU
Rutgers
Julliard</p>
<p>Probable:
The Hartt School
CCPA
Montclair
SUNY Purchase
Ithaca</p>
<p>Aahhh - I think we were misinterpreting your initial post as saying “junior college student” the wrong way! You sound like you’ve given this a lot of thought and have great ideas.</p>
<p>I am going to say, though, that you really can’t call that middle group of schools “probable.” First, Purchase is one of the most selective theatre schools in the country. Second, if you look on the “freshman class size” thread you will see that Hartt, CCPA and Montclair only take a couple dozen students from the hundreds that audition. Ithaca doesn’t seem much better. Really you can’t consider any auditioned program to be “probable.” </p>
<p>If you are completely happy with your safeties, you have a good list, and with preparation and luck you will have some nice options in the spring. I would suggest that you consider just a few more schools that are actually “probable.” A couple that come to mind are SUNY New Paltz (auditioned BA) and URI (non-auditioned BFA). New Paltz isn’t a terrible stretch with your academic stats, and the acceptance rates are significantly higher for the theatre program. You could have the smaller, more personal feel of your reachier schools there. URI is a terrific backup if you like Hartt, Montclair, etc. You shouldn’t have trouble getting accepted. It is a quick train ride to Providence or Boston, and not too far from NYC, either.</p>
<p>Yeah, initially I had listed most of the “probable” schools under “reach”, but then I had a long discussion with an advisor, who suggested I moved them into the “probable” category. Perhaps that advisor was outdated in their information regarding those schools, or just assumed they were easier to get into, because a fellow classmate of mine auditioned for all of those programs last year and was accepted into every one of them (she was also accepted to Tisch, though, so it is very likely that she is just really talented and special). But thanks for the other school suggestions, I will definitely look into them!</p>
<p>We have found this to be very true. In fact, our own director knows nothing about theatre schools (other than a few of the top tier but not about applying/auditioning/interviewing). All of my information has been learned through this board, another board that I frequent (Disney board, but very knowledgable folks about all kinds of topics), and my own research. I get very annoyed that the kids’ teacher knows nothing and doesn’t care to learn anything about helping his seniors, either.</p>