<p>The term, Safety, is RELATIVE to each student. One kid's safety is another kid's reach. So, there is no way I could say which schools are safeties for YOUR daughter without a thorough evaluation of her stats and background. </p>
<p>However, in addressing some other things you bring up.....I would not consider any BFA schools a safety for ANYONE. Most BFA programs have very low admit rates and cannot be counted on (thus are not sure bets which is what a safety is supposed to be). That said, some BFA programs are more "elite" than others and the artistic selectivity and the applicant pool in it would differ. So, for instance, in that aspect, Pace is "easier" artistically to get into than CMU or BU. So, it is an easier BFA on your D's list. Same with Montclair State. But Pace, Montclair State, UConn, and Rutgers are ALL BFA programs. You've got two "easier" BFAs in there but no BFAs are safeties. By the way, Rutgers is one of the highly regarded BFA programs in Acting and so while the school academically is not very hard to get into (though I don't know your D's stats, but assume she'd get in academically if she is applying to a school like BU, which is a more challenging school academically speaking), Rutgers is nowhere near a safety. A safety would be a BA school that is non audition (though you may want to look into an audition based BA school which often is not as hard artistically to get into as a BFA....though I am generalizing). So, I have no idea your D's stats or college criteria, but an example might be Skidmore, Sarah Lawrence, or Brandeis as non audition BA schools. An audition BA might be American. An optional audition BA would be Muhlenberg or Conn College. There are some schools where there is no audition to get into the BA but then an audition at the end of freshman year to get into the BFA. An example you may wish to look into is Hofstra. I can't suggest the actual schools, and her odds of admissions (reach, match, safety) without far more information about her. Generally speaking, no BFAs are a safety, though having some less selective BFAs is a good idea (such as Pace or Montclair). Audition BAs may be a good option. A non audition BA where her academic stats are beyond the majority of admitted students, and where the selectivity (admit rate) is not very low, would be a likely bet, thus good to have one. </p>
<p>As far as BU, it is very hard to say what advantage, if any, a student who attended the summer theater intensive has. You'd have to look at the current classes in the program and determine how many or what percentage came out of the summer program. I don't have that data. I do not think attending a summer program will get you into a BFA, but sometimes if one stands out in the summer program, it could help since the auditors have seen far more about the student than the ten min. audition. Anectodally speaking, I worked with someone last year who had done BUTI and had received VERY favorable evaluations and strong encouragement from them to apply/audition for the BFA program. She applied ED, in fact, her first choice. She did not get in. She is now attending Tisch. By the way, my niece was in BUTI this past summer and must know your D! She also is applying to BU, among other schools. Due to how far she lives from BU, they allowed her to audition for the BFA at the end of the summer so she had her audition already. Academically speaking, she'd have no problem getting into BU. But one cannot count on the BFA. My D has a friend in BU's BFA program who loves it. Just to show an example of the unpredictability with BFA programs, I just mentioned a girl who didn't get into BU but got into Tisch, but this friend got into BU but didn't get into Tisch. Lots of stories like that exist! </p>
<p>Good luck with your search and with the admissions/audition process.</p>