Hi everyone, newbie here. My son is a sophomore and wants to pursue a BFA in acting. We’re in NY area, and he’s very interested in California schools. I’m looking at acceptance stats and they’re very low. Do you think it’s worth visiting colleges before knowing if you were accepted? What if he falls in love with a place he doesn’t get into?
Thanks in advance!
This is a tough one, and finances definitely play a part in it. But, if it’s not a financial stretch (or maybe you’d turn it into a vacation trip etc) I don’t think it’s a bad idea. Remember, the reverse can happen and he can decide he’s not interested in the school(s) too, saving the application process.
I’d just focus on realistic expectations when looking, no matter where it is. It’s hard and there’s a lot of rejection, but that’s the nature of the profession.
Try to make pro and con lists of schools you visit so you have a reference later if you have an acceptance in hand instead of trying to figure out now if a school is “the one.”
Let’s face it, even without visiting, kids often fixate on one school over the others for some reason or other, and it’s not the end of the world. We didn’t get to visit many schools before applying due to covid, but one we didn’t even visit ended up becoming a favorite and guess what? My student never made it past the prescreen. It stinks if it happens, but you just need to move on.
Best of luck, it’s not easy!
Thanks for your reply! It’s so different from when I helped my DS1 look at schools. I like your idea of pros and cons list. It seems a lot to visit places at the end of all this in April to decide in May.
If your S can look at schools to see if a location is of interest or not then I agree with @OutOfMyMind21 that looking is not a terrible idea. But in this process do not fall in love with a school. I also think that excluding a school from a visit is not a great idea since this is such a competitive process that one school may be the only choice, and an acceptance will change perception. Another benefit of the pandemic year application was that my S21 looked at a grand total of 0 schools before applying and only visited his top choice after. If he is still interested there are very few schools that have late acceptance dates so you should have some time before May 1 to make trips.
Hopefully we’ll be able to tour a few in the fall, at least in our backyard in NYC. I’m leaning toward CA in the spring. Trying not to get too attached to any one place. Strapping in for a roller coaster!
It really is, I am so happy that my S24 will be applying to T20s and other regular schools since it is a 7-10% acceptance rate rather than 2-5 for the BFAs!