<p>Jamimom, coincidentally, in today's mail, my D got a package from Muhlenberg's theater department (saying thanks for her interest....not sure where they heard that, but whatever)...anyway, it really looks quite good and I think might be a good option for your son's friend. My D has a friend who got in ED there and has a strong theater and dance background, also from a private high school. She did not go for BFA programs either. She is also Jewish and went to a religiously affiliated prep school.</p>
<p>Your friend is in the upper range of the SAT scores at Muhlenberg. While his GPA may be cause for concern, perhaps he has other things going that in total might allow him to be considered.....his grades are at a demanding prep school too and he may have taken rigorous courses prior to this year and sounds like he has decent ECs too. Might be worth a try there.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, everyone. I really did not want to get involved with this one. S has been bringing it up periodically. I think they had just hoped to get him into the state U here-he does not live that far from us but the boy boards whereas my son commutes. I think they left too much up to the college counselor. He applied to a few rolling schools where they hoped he would get in with combination resume and strong three years of college prep courses at a tough school--did not happen. I do not believe that the Jewish element is very important; the boy just doesn't want a school that is catholic or otherwise church affiliated and I understand. (we are catholic and my sons do not want catholic or otherwise church affiliated schools either). Many of the state flagship schools have pretty strict gpa standards as they have found out. His SAT scores are not going to keep him out of any place really, and his resume is pretty good. It's just his grades which are on the low end and even with the prep school label, it does not cut the mustard. Personally I think the boy could easily get close to a 1350 if just retook the SAT; I can usually gauge that pretty closely, but he is just done with all of this, and frankly, I 'm not sure if a 1340,1330 is going to make that big of a difference over a 1290 with that gpa which is the killer. Am going to go the school with the mom on Wednesday to get transcripts and such mailed to few schools before the holidays. </p>
<p>I believe Emerson is audition only for their drama program. In fact the literature I have for my son says that kids who do not make the MT program can also indicate that they also want to be considered for the drama program, though S says that that the auditioners there said otherwise. And I don't think a large state school would take him if they go gpa plus SAT formula as he has been rejected to a few of them which is what has brought the situation to this point.</p>
<p>At somewhat less selective schools, GPAs aren't always the dealbreakers we might think. S's best friend, with mayb high 1100s SAT, and a transcript sprinkled with Cs and a few Ds, is now very happy at RIT. Schools with strict formulas, of course, are different.</p>
<p>Click on Prospective Students and Parents - then click on Guide to Jewish Life on Campus. You can input any college or scroll down to search by other criteria (geographic region, religious services offered, etc.)</p>
<p>Univ of Redlands in So CA has a theather major. I couldn't find anything on the website about auditions. They are very into the whole person and allow for mistakes if you learn from them. One site said it was a place for parents to have rich kids babysat. I really haven't seen rich being flaunted the times we have visited campus. They had a "let's be a Jew or it's fun to be a jew" week recently. All week they had info and stuff to introduce the campus to the Jewish religion. Son went to the one with free food. He celebrated a Jewish holiday early in the year with the floor-I had hoped he would learn something but it was more hey it's a holiday lets's celebrate. I have found Redlands to be very caring. It's is closer to Palm Springs than LA but son has been to LA several times on school sponsored activities.</p>
<p>jamimom, I second the suggestion of Muhlenberg. My older son goes there now and likes it very much. It has an excellent support system and the drama is superior. You said that religion wasn't a major factor, but just fyi, it is 1/4 Jewish, 1/4 Catholic, 1/4 Protestant and 1/4 undeclared. Please ask if you have any questions about it. It's also 1 hour max to Philly so not too isolated. And the student body is more varied than the college guides give credit for.</p>
<p>I hate to say it, but I think Muhlenberg is going to be a big reach for this student. Average GPA there is 3.5 and 95% of accepted students rank in the top 25% of their class. His SATs are in their range but they are one school that doesn't count SATs very heavily (in fact, they are optional). One other factor: Muhlenberg fills about 57% of their freshman class in the ED round - acceptance then is about 60%. For RD, the acceptance rate is only 31%. Of course, it never hurts to try but I personally wouldn't push Muhlenberg as a possibility for someone with a C GPA, especially if, as Jamimom says, he's already been rejected from several similar schools. There are other schools he should/could focus on.</p>
<p>Haven't posted in a while because I haven't had anything to add. I think the state u. might be a good idea here but see what you mean about GPA hurting at places like SUNY. What about Wyoming or Hawaii? (Think "go west, young man"). Both schools are pretty forgiving of past performance. I'm not sure you'd want to put a kid who needed "growing up" that far away from home (assume he's in the greater NY area, but maybe I'm wrong). I went to Wyo. long ago and they have a fairly strong drama program. One nice thing about a place like that is you really can easily get involved. On the other hand, many students at a place that far from their known world don't survive - too cold, too windy, too much to drink. Hawaii might present other problems. Good luck.</p>
<p>What about DePaul in Chicago? They have a theatre school - which requires an audition, but it sounds like they are not so selective. From their website, "If you are a beginner, we do not expect all the materials described here. More than an extensive portfolio, we look for evidence of artistic and craft achievement along with practical involvement with theatrical productions. If you are willing to make the commitment to a professional theatre training program, we can turn your raw talent into the skills necessary for success." There's a rich theatre scene in Chicago. Not quite New York, but vibrant.</p>
<p>Carolyn, I agree with you about Muhlenberg. It seems to me that some pretty top flight kids apply there. Our neighbor's daughter goes there and she was an honors student at the public school, and lifelong dancer. Also, I had considered the school for S, and seem to remember that the kids who got in there historically from our school were good students as well. Indiana U is also probably a long shot this late in the season being a flagship state school. </p>
<p>DePaul has an outstanding theatre school. S auditioned there and was told that they are very selective. Can't remember the stats offhand, but they are competitive. We have not heard from them and they were a very early audition for us. More schools than I originally thought do require auditions and many schools that are not very selective overall are selective for the departments that hold an audition. We had looked at American and Hartwick as safeties for S early in the process and ended up scratching them from our list when we found out that both schools do have an audition requirement for theatre. You do get some leeway on the gpa and test scores with an audition, but that audition then becomes all important. This young man has never auditioned for anything other than school productions so I don't think jumping into an audition is a good use of time right now. I am not so sure that my son is going to have a lot of choices with 20 schools on his list and he had prepared for his auditions over a period of time and has been studying independently for years. The kids I met on the audition trail are really high calibre. This kid does not need any more failures at this point. A tough story, that I might relate later in the year, as there is much to discuss about the situation, but right now I want to get some irons in the fire for him. I have a gut feeling that finding a good drama program would give him a good start--he needs to be away from school and he just is not going to do it academically for a while. I see this a lot, and a saving grace is an interest outside of straight academics for some of these kids.</p>
<p>I am of no help in recommending schools for this kid. But, don't lose sight of the fact that he is apparently a "full-fare customer". </p>
<p>I would imagine full-fare would overcome a lot of reservations about GPA at most, if not all, second and third tier private schools. These schools are, in the final analysis, commercial enterprises. Unlike the big endowment elite schools, they don't have the luxury of ignoring the bottom line and staying in business.</p>
<p>My step-sister-in-law is Professor of Accounting, and also Dean at Ursinus. She is also the advisor for a very large Hillel group. It is a fine, very diverse place, non-religious, with a small but quite active theater and dance department, with a nice, historic campus, close in to Philadelphia. And I think it better than 50-50 he'd get in.</p>
<p>Jamimom, two other thoughts: Hendrix in Arkansas. It's a great little school with an active theater department (no audition.) Campus is beautiful, student body is very liberal (don't let the Arkansas address fool you in this case) and very tight knit. Faculty is supposedly very supportive and really try to help kids succeed. It has a good rep with grad schools. About half an hour from Little Rock. Most kids I have talked to who have visited have been surprised at how nice a school it is - I've heard it compared to Grinnell in terms of feel. They do have Hillel. Anyhow, they have a very high acceptance rate and are often open to lower GPAs because they have a small yield (Arkansas is a tough sell.) Just a thought.</p>
<p>Another small school that might fit would be Ripon in Wisconsin. Again, very supportive, lots of chances to get involved with the theater department. Not overly competitive in terms of admissions. Oh, and you might mention that alumni include Harrison Ford and Spencer Tracy. : )</p>
<p>But I still say Goucher would be a nice fit (very high percentage of Jewish kids there as well).</p>
<p>Jamimom, did you share any schools on the list I researched that have BA programs (non-audition) in theater? I thought there were some possibilities...a wide range but some were reaches, some matches, some safeties, based on what you shared.</p>
<p>I would second Goucher. There are kosher dining options there too, if I remember correctly. Goucher has a HUGE Hillel group. With the scarcity of male applicants, he has an advantage in admissions.</p>
<p>I'll post a thumbs up on Goucher, also: cousin's S. is in Junior year there now and just loves it. Sounds like similar stats/situation. He was in a rock band in H.S....and that was his main love. His first term was not so great at Goucher, but then second term Freshman year he connected with a professor and is blossoming now. His experience there has been wonderful.</p>
<p>My S.'s guidance counselor has told us that Muhlenberg is her current favorite school, too, for what that's worth. She visited and just loved it.</p>
<p>jamimom, my s has no interest in theatre. However, we have become near expert in NONselective very nice colleges. For perspective, we toured Muhlenburg, have family alums, current student is a friend, had a great meeting with the dean of admissions, and did not apply because we felt it was just a little too selective. </p>
<p>So, checking the websites of some of our top choices, it looks like they have very nice theatre programs at Lynchburg, McDaniel, and Ohio Wesleyan.</p>
<p>You know, I forget to mention the most important thing about Ursinus, which was why I recommended it. They have something that neither AWS nor virtually any other LAC can boast. After biology (they have a ton of pre-meds), the biggest major is media and communications. They have their own cable tv station, they set up lots of internships with local and regional tv and radio stations, have their own production facilities, and even encourage the study of communications in their abroad programs. Someone with a mild interest in theater but looking for potential career options might find that particularly attractive. Usually, such departments are confined to the big unis, but Ursinus has carved a true regional niche.</p>
<p>For those of you who may be interested...DePaul is not all that selective on an academic basis - avg SATs of only about 1100/Avg GPA 3.3. They'll give this kid some points for his competitive private school so he might have a shot. Can't speak for the audition situation, of course. Perhaps it's possible to participate in productions and take classes without being a major. Just a thought...</p>