@Cotton2017 What about Towson?
@dfbdfb I tend to agree. I think we will only apply to 2 or 3 total schools - unless somehow he ends up with really high test scores - than maybe a few more.
I think it depends.
1 (min) financial and admissions safety that the student will be happy attending.A few matches admissions wise that may be a mix of financial safeties and financial reaches. Reach schools, to me, are only an option if theyâd be affordable. On the flip side, it depends on the student but in this gpa range, applying only to 2-3 can makes me nervous as âmatchâ is a moving target both for admissions and definitely for merit.
S17 had 7. Which may have been too many but there was only one true financial safety so we wanted to hedge our bets. I suspect S19âs list will be a similar number of schools to allow for merit shopping. S17 is telling S19 to apply to fewer as he found it overwhelming once accepted to all. However, there is also something to be said for being accepted by more than one school so the student feels like they have choices.
@OrangeFish that seems like too many to me, even with the BA/BFA complication. If all are affordable then I guess thatâs one thing but application fatigue is real and the number of essays on top of portfolio etcâŠjuggling that with actual senior year coursework is a hard thing to manage. Too many matches and safeties, if the student is accepted to many, can make decisions really hard and painful for all.
Thanks, @eandesmom! I am so outside my element as I do not have experience with BFA programs, and I have been listening and trying to learn from others at my Dâs school who have been down this path before. It seems the rule of thumb is 6 to 7 portfolio review schools for BFA programs.
So I did the simple math of 6 to 7 BFAs and 5 to 6 BAs for a total of 11 to 13.
Should we cut back the BA programs to 3 or so? (That will be hard as the BA programs on her list are all so different.)
Thanks for your advice!
11-13 apps is a LOT and I suspect really too early to call it. I think itâs a great working list if you already have it down to 12 of serious interest between the 2 program types.
But come application time Iâd really be looking at cost and how high the interest level is and try to cull it a bit. Iâd also dig into the actual applications to determine how much unique work there is. If, for example, the 6 BA programs are all common app and do not have any extra supplements/essay requirements well then itâs just a matter of being willing to pay the app fee. But if all have supplements you could be looking at 11-26 additional essays on top of the main common app one. Some kids can handle it, and churn out quality work. SomeâŠnot so much.
There is a cool tol, essay organizer or something like that, that can help. The common app wonât open for our kids for some time so it will be pulling this years data but it will still give you a feel for the volume or work.
Have others at your school submitted that many combined or have they been purely focused on BFA?
Thank you again for your advice! I found the college essay organizer tool â looks quite helpful.
Most of the kids at Dâs school are either all in for the BFA or all in for a (not-related-to-theatre) BA, and not split down the middle. Also, hardly any are interested in the technology side (theatre tech, digital/interactive media, etc.).
All of the BFA programs on her list have portfolio requirements that are the same (at least for this year). We wonât have a sense of the quality of her portfolio until National Portfolio Day next month. She has updated her portfolio based on what faculty have suggested at the various colleges, but thatâs not a real âreview.â Also, there are two schools on her list that have prescreens this year.
All of the schools on her list have passed the whatâs-the-cost review. We simply cannot afford going outside our budget, so anything extreme doesnât make the cut.
Posted a review of WVU & OU in the main 2019 thread but since theyâre apparently viewed as âlesserâ schools, I probably should have posted it here.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20893441/#Comment_20893441
Very helpful, @Gatormama! Thank you for the great details. (And I would not call them âlesserâ school, but I understand where you are going. 
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Thanks @gatormama ! Iâm not sure why D16 didnât look at WVU - sheâs been to the campus to visit some HS classmates and she liked certain things about it. She said that âS19 wouldnât like itâ but couldnât seem to elaborate lol! S19 will probably end up at a large public U within a few states of home so I should probably look into a bit more.
Maybe Iâll add Ohio U to the growing list of Ohio schools that seem potentially interesting (along with Ohio State, Denison, Cincinnati and Case Western as the potential ultimate reach). I do seem to recall that either Ohio U or Miami U is considered pretty conservative, but I donât remember which one (or maybe both)? Did you get a sense of how conservative (or not) the school might be?
@eh1234 â I do not think Miami is a conservative school. (I am surrounded by Miami alumni at work, and they are by no means conservative.)
@Gatormama OU alumnus here (for grad school)âŠdefinitely a great school! Just like @OrangeFish said âI get what you are sayingâ though.
Number of school to apply to is really kid and family dependent. With my oldest, he ended up applying to 8, three of which had supplemental essays. Three reaches, 3 on target, 2 safeties. In there were 2 inexpensive schoolsâŠI needed to make sure he had that. (Fortunately one of the reach/on targets was an inexpensive option for us.)
With child number two, it will be a one or two schools less. Though just a junior, he has two schools he really likes (he was dragged on most of the original tours), one of which is most likely a safety (but a really good fit). Of course, we will see what this looks like in a year. A lot can change.
I didnât get the sense that OU was conservative; I thought I had read somewhere on here that Miami was more conservative. That said, in the Fine Arts dorm, one door was plastered with MAGA/Trump stickers. I think as in all big schools you will find your tribe.
D19 setup a meeting with her high schoolâs career center specialist for early December â weâll have TWO HOURS (!!!) to settle out the colleges list on Naviance, make plans for finalizing portfolios, figure out how to best address the GPA/test scores disparity, start planning out interviews/portfolio reviews. (And she setup the meeting on her own!) D did share her September ACT score and that sheâll be attending National Portfolio Day next month, so her only homework is to update the âcolleges I am thinking aboutâ list on Naviance.
@Cotton2017, in addition to Towson and Salisbury, try Christopher Newport in VA, and any of the NC schools besides UNC-Chapel Hill. UNC-Wilmington in particular, seems to attract well-rounded students from the DC area. We also know happy students at NC State. With merit aid, they may work in your budget. Florida State is another option, but it is a big school.
@Cotton2017 â is Coastal Carolina too far south?
Itâs funny because Christopher Newport has been recommended a couple times to me now. We are even going to watch their field hockey team when they play St. Maryâs next week. @OrangeFish - I think that Coastal Carolina might be a tad far but I have bookmarked it as a place to maybe visit. @VAOptimist - do you really think the UNCâs are a possibility for a lower SAT person? I heard they take very few OOS and figured mostly high SAT/ACT people get in. I think she would really like NC State but I figured she couldnât get in (or I couldnât afford it). I donât think she would like Towson - she isnât a city person ( I donât think).
Hi! Iâm scared and excited to join this thread. I have been lurking around for a couple of months when DS decided he will go for a BFA in MT( oh the horror ). He is determined, and there is no âPlan Bâ, so here we go. Not only does he have to get into a college, he has to get into the MT program at said college, and ONLY wants to be in New York. Eek!
Welcome @PugsleyAddams ! On a good note, at least your student knows exactly what he wants out of a college.
Iâll be following your posts as I have lots to learn about the pre-screen/portfolio process. (My D19 wants either a BA or BFA in theatre tech.)
My kid is heavily involved in theater, but seems to have settled on getting an education in something else with a minor in theater so weâre not on the BFA track. But I am also very interested in what you find out, for the kids in his class that are determined to chase the dream.