<p>My daughter wants to attend a smallish liberal arts college in California, and seek a B.A. in theatre. She loves to act, but also wants training in directing and stage management. She hopes for a career in the theatre industry, but does not yet know in which capacity.</p>
<p>She has been accepted to LMU, and is waiting for responses from Santa Clara and Chapman.</p>
<p>Any opinions?? Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi David, I just found this post and I am very curious to hear what your daughter decided. My daughter will be applying to all three of these schools next year along with some BFA programs. To my knowledge Santa Clara probably has the best academic reputation, however last year we spent an hour with the theatre department head at LMU and were really impressed. We also just did a tour of Chapman and spent an hour with the theatre department and were likewise impressed. LMU does a showcase and is in LA which can't hurt! Chapman likewise offers close proximity to LA and also offers a BFA program sophomore year. They are planning on doing a showcase in the next couple of years. Both have awesome Film/TV departments and use the student actors. Has your daughter decided yet?</p>
<p>She got accepted to all 3 schools, but followed her heart and went to Santa Clara, which had felt the best to her over the span of several visits. She has been very happy there so far. She's majoring in Theatre, and is really enjoying her Acting I class and Intro to Production class this first quarter. During her first week at school, she signed up for the Assistant Stage Manager gig for the first mainstage show of the season, which opens in two weeks. She's been given a lot of responsibility and has really enjoyed it. I have to believe that this is the kind of opportunity that brand-new freshmen would never get at one of the bigger-name programs. We are all very happy with her choice, but I think all 3 of the schools we're discussing are similar in many ways, and she would likely have been happy at either of the others. Good Luck in your search!</p>