Continuing the discussion from Parents of the HS Class of 2021 3.0-3.4:
I made new topic about this, but since no one answered it - I thought maybe this group might have answers.
My D has been accepted to SCU in theatre and dance. She’s also been accepted to several other performing arts programs that are more selective (her top choice at this point being Chapman - though that may be changing since a lot of accepted students seem enamoured of Greek life - not her thing).
At this point, no school has given us enough aid to make it feasible. SCU is interesting to us because it offers talent aid, but she is wary as there is no audition process to get into the theatre & dance department and she’d rather be in the LA area.
She has been severely depressed during COVID lockdown & her grades, never the highest, (though she is at a top and highly competitive high school) have dropped. She has highish test scores, especially considering she took the ACT at the height of her depression without studying- not that the colleges know that. But the scores aren’t slam dunk range. I post this info because I’m just not sure that she can get it together enough to raise her GPA and be in a better position to advocate for academic merit from Chapman. And I don’t think her prospects are great for many of her RD schools given the circumstances.
So, I say all that simply to ask what people know about the theatre and dance department at SCU. Do students have opportunities there? How talented are the students? Do they move on to acting, dance, etc careers?
Also, anyone have experience with either SCU or Chapman (Her father and I worry about Orange County)? She’s visited no schools and it seems unlikely that COVID restrictions are going to lift enough before the 1 May deadline. Although, this may all be moot if we can’t figure our how to swing tuition.
I don’t know anything about the theater and dance department at SCU, but I wanted to say hi and suggest a couple of things. Are there any past productions you can watch online? How about virtual presentations for theater and dance specifically? I would exhaust what’s available on YouTube, SCU social media, etc. and then maybe ask if your daughter can reach out to a current student or a professor with her questions. I’m sorry that her mental health has suffered. My sons have also had bouts over the last several months. How many schools did your daughter apply to? Can she add a couple more before the 2/15 deadlines? And I would also have her apply for any dance/theater scholarships you can find - no matter how small. It all adds up!
Hi there. Our D applied and was accepted to SCU this year. She’s a dancer and interested in dancing in college but not majoring in it. Have you looked through the course offerings for dance and theatre? I would start there. And then reach out to the theater and/or dance chairs. I’m sure they will respond. Honestly? I don’t think SCU has much dance for an experienced dancer so that’s a downside to SCU for D. I don’t know anything about the theater department. D hasn’t reached out to anyone in the dance dept because she’s pretty much eliminated SCU at this point and is focusing on other schools she got into for EA and waiting on RD decisions. Did your D apply to LMU? That’s where dance and theater is way stronger.
Yes, she spoken to both the dance a d theatre chairs at SCU. She liked them & I think bonded a bit with the dance chair as they share a love for Horton & Walt Whitman, lol. But she’s still worried about opportunities. I told her since it doesn’t seem to be a department that keeps one in strict silo (ie dance, musical theatre, theatre, film) that she might have more opportunities to perform in various types of productions. But I could be wrong.
She did apply to LMU & has been deferred. I think because of the dip in her grades this fall especially since the biggest drop was in her 2 strongest subjects (science & English). I’m hoping that she gets it together & we can get her meds right. But she just pretty much blew the A- she had in advanced English by not turning in her final paper. So we shall see. One of the chairs there does very much like her, but it’s not like with athletes they can’t “reserve” a spot.
What schools have 2/15 deadlines? She’s applied to a 2/1 that academically she should be okay with but it’s a dual program so she’s got a whole other artistic app to submit.
Also, she’s very wedded to the west coast. She’s only applied to one East coast school. I couldn’t get her to consider anything in the Midwest or even on the East coast that was near home. My sense is that she wants to be in or near a big diverse city that is not her hometown.
@Billb7581 congrats to you and your son on being done with this part of the process and to having some certainty (I think most of us would be glad for a little more of that these days)!
Congrats @billb7581. We had some tears last night getting the financial aid award letter from JMU (if you call $41,000 a year in loans financial aid! LOL). It was her #3 but if no merit comes, it’s off the list. Especially disappointing after she got in their Honors College a couple weeks ago.
Visiting Miami University in OH, which is poised to become the new #3 depending on the visit! Fingers crossed the snow/ice storm Monday is delayed for our drive home!
Any updates? Or are most of us in a holding pattern?
Other than virtual admitted students events for Knox and Kalamazoo next week, we’re just trying to patient.
The only three affordable options are: Kalamazoo, Knox (if D gets a bit more merit; waiting until March to ask), and Temple as a commuter.
I’m digging deep into Kalamazoo and Knox’s first-year programs and outcomes. Kalamazoo definitely has the strongest retention rates, graduation rates, and job placement rates out of all of her schools. I also love the experiential learning part of the K-Plan. Being in a small city also has its benefits.
I’m most worried these days about the strength of a school’s first-year experience. D has been fully virtual for a year now. The COVID thing might still be a cause for accommodations on campus in the fall. How will schools support kids through an even more complicated freshman year transition? Maybe it’s not even their responsibility. Idk.
All our decisions and letters are in, so not waiting for anything but the kid’s decision. It’s not easy for him to engage and decide especially after the isolation of a a full year at home.
He says his top right now are
Allegheny (best offer, good open house experience 15 months ago). I know he’d be just fine there but it is small and isolated. I think he could grow out of it before 4 years is up
Juniata (very comparable offer to Allegheny, even better open house experience from last February but lacks some music programs he would like, also seems in more precarious financial place possibly)
St. Olaf - magical school, better in most metrics including financial health than his other schools, great programs that are important to him (music, study abroad) and not quite as isolated 45 minutes to the big city somewhat more expensive for us and he’d be much farther away)
Temple-excellent financial offer, much closer to home, he couldn’t outgrow it, but it might be too big for him at the beginning. Fantastic city, but will he flounder? They do have a program that offers executive function (organization and study skills) coaching, and another with more robust advising (fly in 4) as well as opportunities for Living Learning Community.
And fingers and toes crossed for a snow-free and safe drive home!