<p>I am new here and I am sooo glad I found this website. I really need your input and help/ Long story short, I have been accepted into DePaul and CCM. I was awarded a 10,000 a year talent scholarship to go to DePaul and I was awarded no Scholarship for CCM. However, CCM is in state. Total cost with living and food for DePaul is looking to be in the $34,000 range, and CCM is looking to be in the $18-$20,00 range. Again, that is per year, including housing and food.</p>
<p>A little about me, I discovered my love for Theatre only 2 years ago and since then have received an AA in theatre, performing in about 9 plays in 2 years and totally immersing myself in the world of acting. I want my life to be acting, be it film or theatre, and I want to give myself the best opportunities possible. I am 22 years old and living with my parents. They are going to help me pay for some school, but I ma going to have to take out loans for much of it. My dad makes quite a bit of money and I am really not getting any kind of aid, but it's hard because he is also supporting my pregnant sister and her husband until they get their feet under them\, and cannot really afford to help me as much as he would like to. To be honest, I really want to go to DePaul but there is a considerable price difference. I would really alike all of your opinions on both schools and feedback on what they do Well Etc. Keep in Mind this is for Drama, not Musical Theatre. This is a scary time in my life, and I feel like this decision will affect the rest of my life. I need it to be informed. I'm doing my best to research their teachers and techniques, but beyond that, I'm struggling to find good information.</p>
<p>I’m assuming CCM, but it doesn’t really matter, since my advice is going to be kind of general.</p>
<p>I have one question: your dad can’t help you that much now, but would he help you pay back the loans later, when your sister doesn’t need him so much? You need to know what the real deal with him will be.</p>
<p>Next, I would come at a decision like this based on the idea of “what would I regret more?” I don’t know that many details of either school, but they are both very well-regarded and will help you significantly, both in training and in future connections. It’s apples and oranges, in my opinion, and only the details of what really appeals to you personally would make a real difference.</p>
<p>What I think is important here is whether if you take the lower cost at CCM if you would have any reason to regret it. Would you like to get away from home? Would you like to be in a different/bigger city? Is there something about Chicago and DePaul that is really pulling to you? Are there significant differences in the program that matter to you - not which is “better,” but which is better for YOU? </p>
<p>If nothing really pulls you to DePaul, I would suggest that you go to CCM. Unless your dad says he’ll pay your student loans (which look they they would be more than $50K more if you go to DePaul), you probably will find those hard to deal with in the future, and you should have a really good justification to yourself of why you went into that kind of debt. I’m not saying a more expensive school is never worth it - very often it is, but anyone who takes on significant debt should feel confident that they did so for very good reasons. I think I can say confidently that graduating from college with no debt is always a very good feeling and usually makes up for small compromises in the school choice (especially if they don’t have anything to do with the actual education you receive - things like prestige, or certain quality of life aspects).</p>
<p>Thanks you so much for your help. In my heart, I feel DePaul is right for me. I’m really scared to make the decision to go there because of the financial issues. I’m afraid that if I go to CCM I will regret it but be in less debt. I know CCM has a good program, so i know the training wil lstill be good. I am also worried that CCM’s drama program will take a back seat to their musical theatre program. And yes, I do mean Cincinnati. How does one ever makea decision like this? It is the ehardest decision i have ever had to make.</p>
<p>Is there anyone - parent or student who applied to the Cherubs Program at Northwestern, got wait listed and ended up getting in? My daughter is new to theatre and heard about this one program. Since then we have learned that there are many programs she could have applied to, but this is the only one we knew about at the time of applications. Seems like most of the other popular pre college programs are either full or no longer accepting applications.
Her only apparent chance of a pre-college program is being accepted at Northwestern off the waiting list. I want to know how likely it is to keep hoping for this one or turn to the non college based programs at this point.</p>
<p>Cheekychee, find where it says “Theater/Drama Majors” in blue at the top left hand of this page, click on that, and that will take you to the page that lists all the threads. When you are there, click the button for “Start New Thread.” </p>
<p>If you do that, you will probably get some responses to your question. </p>
<p>When you are on the page where all the threads are listed, you can also “Search this forum” under “Cherubs” to find threads and/or posts about the program.</p>
<p>CCM Drama has an excellent program that produces wonderful actors. As someone who has seen their NY Showcase I can easily say the quality was outstanding. They may not have the reputation on this site that the MUSTH program has, but their work is outstanding, their faculty is fantastic and to the best part is they are all warm and wonderful people.</p>
<p>Likely the same is true at DePaul. But I’m not as familiar with the program.</p>