<p>Agree with mountainhiker. My S attended Interlochen for 3 years and the training was excellent. He was well prepared for auditions and was admitted to several BFA programs. A PG year was done by a number of students; those who were new to the school and those who perhaps were there for only their senior year.</p>
<p>Mountainhiker; Funny you should mention a post grad year. I have never heard of this but did think to myself without mentioning it to my daughter or anyone else that if for some reason she did not get into the few choices she “feels” at this point she fits into that maybe we should contact UNCSA and ask if she could audition for their senior program. I was not even sure if this would be possible but thought they may take what I call a 5th year senior if we were willing to pay. My daughter seriously thought of auditioning for them this year for next year, but decided she did not want to attend her 5th high school in three years. (I am not sure if you read any of my earlier posts but we have lived all over the US for the past at least 7 years and my daughter has been to many schools during this time. At the beginning this year her junior year we decided it was best for her to attend a boarding school for the next two years and hopefully “catch up”.) I would be hard for her to go to another new school for senior year so she is going to stay put, and for the first time since elem she will attend one school longer then a year.</p>
<p>I am not saying UNCSA has this opportunity but since she did do their summer pogram we at least know what the program is like.</p>
<p>I am also familiar with Interlochen as my daughter was accepted into their summer program a few years ago. I was also unaware they had this progam and feel it would be worth looking into.</p>
<p>Walnut Hill and Idylwylld are also known to us due to their dance programs. I know nothing about the acting department. Thank you for letting us know they may have this option.</p>
<p>I think for someone like us having a specific progam during a “gap year” would be the only way it would be beneficial due to a number of factors.</p>
<p>My daughter right now is not interested in a gap year, however, I think it is because she does not want to “waste” a year. If she was in a specific program I think she would be fine</p>
<p>CCMom2U; I have tried to encourage my daughter to make a list based on Good fit, Probable fit, Unlikely to fit, and Unsure, for programs we need to find out more information about.</p>
<p>I tend to feel that my daughter is similiar to Mommy5 and MKSP. I have done tons of research on many of the BFA programs mentioned on CC, schools we already heard of, and schools already on my daughters radar. I have read through what many of you on CC have suggested we look at such as curriculm, four year course sequence, etc. There are not alot of programs I feel she is going to fit in or want to go to, and that does concern me as I am trying to help her cast this “wide net” spoken of quite often on CC.</p>
<p>This is very difficult to do if you have a child that does not fit into most of the BFA programs. </p>
<p>When you have a child that is not at all interested in academics and is only really going to school for the acting courses it becomes much more difficult to go through this process because there are very few true conservatories. which is where someone like her will thrive. (Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong in this, but that is what it looks like to me in the research I have been doing.)</p>
<p>It has been very comforting to talk to MKSP, shacherry, and a few others because sometimes when I read posts on CC I feel quite lost because my daughter “seems” so different in how she wants to go about this.</p>
<p>I think if my work and family situation were different she would be the perfect candidate for not going to college and just training with someone and taking the best courses we could find. This is not happening though and therefore we will have to work hard at this college process and pray that she makes it into one of the programs that will work for her. Right now I can honestly say that number is low but we are still researching, will be visiting over Spring Break, and are making calls and asking questions.</p>
<p>Threed, I responded in a private message. I hope you got it, I really don’t know if I did it right! I’m clueless!</p>
<p>It says I have no sent messages…weird.</p>
<p>Sent messages are not saved unless you turn them on to save.</p>
<p>Threed, there are a variety of training programs that are not colleges. Have you looked into Circle in the Square, Stella Adler, and AMDA? I have seen these mentioned elsewhere in this forum. A two-year conservatory program might be right for your daughter. </p>
<p>If you haven’t looked into University of the Arts in Philadelphia, you should.</p>
<p>Prodesse, we have looked into some of these and I believe it was actingdad who mentioned this to us early on when I first started coming to CC. </p>
<p>Unfortunately even though I think some of these programs may be good for her, they are just not going to work out due to a number of things. She is going to need some of the neccessities that come along with an actual school program. </p>
<p>UARTS is a school we are looking at but I am not sure the training is at the level she is looking for or we feel she needs at this point, however, we will check this program out extensively ourselves and see how we feel about it. </p>
<p>If a gap year comes into play we may have to think hard about where she will continue her training.</p>
<p>If you and your daughter are really having so much difficulty, threed, you might want to also think about looking at programs outside of the U.S.</p>
<p>Maybe if you told us what some of these “necessities” are that you mention we could be more of help.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>I’m going to take a stab at the reality of some of the necessities.
Maybe I’m wrong.
Probably a college campus with a dorm attached and a meal plan for starters?</p>
<p>TheRealKEVP; I am not sure I would classify it as difficulty yet. I am most likely going through early panic mode:)</p>
<p>Someone on CC suggested to me that I maybe over analyzing and that person is most likely right, as I tend to do that sometimes due to my job.</p>
<p>I also sometimes find it quite hard expressing what I am thinking and feel that maybe it does not come out how I was hoping it would, this leading to a possible misunderstanding to the reader. Usually when I come onto CC I am very busy with work and so I rush through reading posts, responding, and posting my own thoughts. Probably not good.</p>
<p>What I meant I guess from “neccesities” is that I do not feel that we have what it takes for my daughter to be able to go off on her own to NY or LA or wherever is best and live on her own, take acting classes, get coaching, and all over the other things she would need to do to attend some of the great programs many on CC have recommended to us like Stella Adler. Someone else early on also mentioned putting together some things of our own in CA and it was a great idea but I doubt we would have the time or resources to pull this off.</p>
<p>I have tried to look into the international programs as they seem to have more of the acting only programs but I struggle with wanting her to have a degree. As a female that wants to be an actor for the rest of her life and does not want anything else, period, I think this will benefit her in the long run. If you know of any international programs specifically that you think we should look into please let me know.</p>
<p>Even though school is not high on my daughters list I think it will give her things that right now may be good for her. She will be able to live in the dorms, will have a meal plan, and will be taking classes with others close in age. </p>
<p>I know others may be reading my posts and thinking well if she is not going to listen to our suggestions then oh well, but it is not that, even when I might be hesistant and disagree I still look into what someone says. I am not sold on casting a wide net to a bunch of schools that my daughter will probably not want to go to but I heard this from many on CC and so over spring break we are going to visit some of these schools and next fall we will visit somemore.</p>
<p>I guess it is just trying to figure what is best knowing my daughter and then being able to present her to those I am asking for advice from in a way that enables you to provide the best advice possible. Everyone’s kids are different and so your advice for my daughter might be very different then your advice for someone else’s son or daughter.</p>
<p>I wish I had the words to explain my daughter and my thoughts on where she will do well and why I think this, but it is hard. I also hesitate sometimes to share my opinion because I do not want to offend anyone. The bottom line is I am the one that will have to kick out the $120,000 - 200,000 for a four year education and I am not going to give that money up without fighting to give it to the program that is the best fit. I do think where you go matters and I may be wrong but I “feel” that it matters even more so to someone who is not as trained and does not have the level of experience that others may have. The schools do not give you talent, they develop the talent you already have. Not just anyone can do that and not just anyone can do that with everyone. I hope this makes sense.</p>
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<p>I am not paying anywhere close to that for my D’s education. She will leave college with a BFA degree. Along the way, she will have gained an amazing new assortment of friends and colleagues, received exceptional training, been given terrific performance and tech opportunities, been blessed with a greatly expanded network of actors, directors, choreographers, music directors, writers, technicians, etc. </p>
<p>If you had told my D her junior year of high school that she would be spending her college years in her program, she would have laughed. We had never heard of the program until I wandered onto CC one day. And the school didn’t even make her original top 20 list. Keep an open mind, be flexible, and something tells me she will find her “fit” just as my D did.</p>
<p>Where does your daughter attend?</p>
<p>If you don’t qualify for any financial aid and your kid isn’t high on the academic charts (so no academic merit aid), getting by for $120K would be a major bargain.</p>
<p>Aye, poppy.</p>
<p>Muttle - My D is a junior at Coastal Carolina University.</p>
<p>threed - So many of us really get where you are coming from. I can’t say anything that will give you any real answers, but I just want to get a couple of thoughts out there:</p>
<p>1) No one blames you for worrying about the cost of college. I hope for anyone’s sake that they can find some nice scholarships and not have to fork over mega-6-digits for any of these kids. BUT try to remember the big picture - lots and lots of kids go to college for a fairly typical overall cost of $100K. Lots of them major in subjects that have absolutely no guarantee of any kind of job. Lots of them who major in subjects that do have decent job prospects don’t get those jobs … or they decide they want to do something else. We can’t get any kind of value certainty on a college education, of any kind, at any school. Now, I’ll spin that more positively and say that in my opinion - and I’m guessing yours, too - getting a college education is just plain good for people, and worth the money. Trying to think beyond that is, as you say, overthink.</p>
<p>2) What you are saying about preferring that your kid go to college makes tons of sense. Lots and lots of us - including the students here - think that at 18 being at a college is a good place to be. You get to take classes, meet people, have a safe environment to live in, have your basic needs met, get career help, gain experience - it’s a great “package.” We’ve seen kids here take gap years, go into training programs, give the business a try (at least for a while). We’ve also seen kids transfer. I guess all I can say as a fellow parent is that in the end we all have to “go with the flow,” and remember that no choice is necessarily forever. As parents, we can decide what we will or won’t pay for - that’s about it. I hope that getting a lot of information will give you and your D the opportunity to have productive conversations and make a plan (at least an initial one!) that is right for her, and for you.</p>
<p>3) Making a list of schools is absolutely a very personal process. I bet your D can come up with 4-5 characteristics (both in the theatre program and otherwise) that really matter to her. Maybe she’ll find 5 schools that meet those criteria - or 15. There are no rules. Applying to more schools usually means you have more choices in the end, but if you don’t like the choices, they aren’t useful. And I agree that no one has to justify to anyone why they love their school. The goal is to feel fulfilled, productive, and supported when you’re there, and to leave feeling like you are moving forward. No one can tell you that you’ve picked the wrong school if you have that feeling. </p>
<p>It’s hard to predict where you will get that feeling - but focusing initially at least on your personal preferences helps. This site is really great for learning about schools and hearing about a lot of varied experiences. It gets better and better all the time. Keep asking questions and we’ll be there for you as you wade through this process. Good luck!</p>
<p>Great post, Emmybet, and I hope lots of people really internalize the message. :)</p>
<p>To add to EmmyBet’s post, if you haven’t already done so, I would highly recommend you and your daughter visit as many schools as you possibly (affordably and easily) can. By visiting, you can see the campus, the facilities, and perhaps most importantly, the other students who would be her contemporaries. As much as I tried to explain to my D the difference between a “large public” compared to a “small private liberal arts” vs “conservatory”, none of it clicked with her until she started getting on campuses. After doing this, she immediately eliminated stand-alone conservatories even though NCSA and Purchase had been her “dream” schools for her for over a year.</p>
<p>Wholehearted 2nd to AustinMTmom-- until you’ve visited, talked to students, studied the curriculum, felt the ‘vibe’, you just can’t know.</p>
<p>Yes, for both of my D’s, the visits - even “sample” visits to schools that seemed at least like the schools they might want to go to - have been incredibly valuable. And they definitely bring big surprises. </p>
<p>My D absolutely loves NYC and it was her dream to go to college “there.” But after staying in the city for a couple of nights in middle school, she didn’t even want to consider living there 24/7. So in two college visit/audition trips, she couldn’t even LOOK at any of the Manhattan schools - which as people on the site know eliminates a lot of great theatre programs. Instead we had gone online, drawn a line about 30-40 minutes’ travel away from Manhattan and made a list (I think we started with with 15-20 strong theatre BAs and BFAs). She picked her favorites from that list, visited 7, applied to 2 (her other schools were either a bit farther out, or near/in another great city). </p>
<p>She, too, had to learn about what being in a conservatory meant, what BFAs really were like, and BAs, too. She knew a ton about what she really wanted by the time decisions needed to be made spring of senior year - but even then it was a very hard choice among several great schools, including one of them that was near NYC (Adelphi University on Long Island). In the end, the combination of its program, location and cost won out. She’s right now having a terrific sophomore year.</p>