International Acting BFA/BA Transfer Student Question : What else should I do?

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

So, I’m currently attending community college in Texas as an international student (this is my third semester, I came to America on May, 2017). And I’m planning to transfer to 4 year university in CA.

Calarts, UCLA, USC, Chapman, UCI, UCSD, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount are on my list.

My current GPA is 3.2, it’s a bit low but I’m working on it. And I did 4 theatre productions in my college this year; I got pretty strong supporting roles (like Annas in Jesus Christ Superstar). And I just went back from my first TV show as an extra. I’m planning to do more TV stuff here.

I’m preparing for my first IELTS test that’s on December 8. My goal is (overall) 7 (that’s the score schools want usually). And I have several Acting/Directing professors (PhD) who are willing to write a good recommendation letter for me.

I am very aware of that this business is very competitive, and the schools I’ve picked are very tough and expensive to get into. But I decided to headbutt anyway. USC is the first on my list. I looked up a lot of threads about Acting undergraduate/transfer here, and I have studied homepages of universities many many times.

I have another one year to prepare my school work, resume and audition, so I just want to know what else I should do in the meantime. Some threads and replies here says that nothing matters as long as you kickass your audition. Is it true? And I know I have to put my English and school work on the priority. But you know, sometimes I feel like going without a strategy is not really good. And I want to research on my own before talking to my professors about this. So… what should I do? Should I just focus on reading plays and collecting good monologues for me? Or should I do something else than that. Like, joining a club, preparing essays, you know. Whew… I’m so worried. Please help me!

2

Unfortunately, for most of the schools on your list, academics will matter. If you’re looking for schools where only the audition matters you might look at programs at performing arts-only schools or programs in colleges where academic bars are lower. Most of the admissions you have listed there are for strongly academic schools with either BA programs or academic-aware BFAs. Calarts is the only school on your list where I would be sure the audition is all that matters and they are a really top-flight BFA program so a reach for anyone.

TBH when you ask “what else should I do?” the answer that comes to mind is - Add some less competitive 4 year programs to your list. You want to be in Southern Cal, so you might add Cal State Long Beach, Northridge, San Diego and Fullerton. They still may not be “matches” and they aren’t safeties but you have a far better chance of getting in there than any of the UCs.