Hi!
I was looking at my current list for colleges, and I realized that I have a lot of top-tier schools. I’d really like to even it out with some schools that still have really good theater/acting programs, but might be a little less difficult to get into. I’m not particularly exceptional at academics (I have a 3.4 and my current ACT score is 27). I’d really like to go somewhere in a city or at least close by a city like New York or somewhere in California, but I know those are places tons of people wanna go, so I was wondering if there were potentially any safety schools there? I don’t mind if it’s audition or not. I’d really appreciate some suggestions (even if they’re not in the locations I stated), if anyone has any!
Thanks a bunch!
Marymount Manhattan, Brooklyn College, and Adelphi have strong acting programs (and are auditioned, so they’re not “safety schools” per se), but they’re not as ultra-competitive as the “everyone-in-the-world-is-trying-to-get-in” type of schools like CMU etc. So those might be good choices to add.
Hofstra allows students to enter as BA theater majors with no audition, and then you audition for the BFA starting sophomore year. So that might be considered a “safety” because if you get into the school itself, you’re guaranteed at least the BA theater major, with a chance to audition for the BFA later.
Columbia College Chiacgo could be a safety.
Drew University in New Jersey
Thanks so much for all the suggestions! I’ll look into all of them 
My D’s non-audition safeties are University of Alabama (Birmingham - acceptance came today) and Tuscaloosa as well as Hofstra.
Good suggestions above. I just want to mention that Brooklyn College has both an audition-based BFA Acting major (which seems to take a very small class) and a non-audition BA Theater major. If you want to look towards Boston, then Suffolk University would be a possibility, but their major is really not geared to people who want to go into performance careers. They are more about people who want to work with and around theatre, such as going into teaching or drama therapy and the like. At least that was the impression we got from our visit and discussions.
When my daughter was applying, one of our maxims was “there is no such thing as a safety school with auditions.” The audition process is so unpredictable based on the people involved that anything you want to use as truly a safety school should be a) in your academic range, and b) not have an audition. One parent’s opinion, anyway. 
My daughter applied to a few safeties, but her favorites are Columbia College of Chicago, Muhlenberg, and Hofstra. She applied to other schools that were offering either academic scholarships or free applications, so we figured why not? But the ones I called out are BFAs, which is what she prefers.
@CentralOHmomof4 - Muhelnberg was one of my D’s safeties 3 years ago… I thought it was a BA rather than BFA then, has that changed?
That’s what I was thinking…non audition school it can’t be a BFA
It can. Wyoming offers a BFA without an audition.
Ok this is weird…I visited Muhlenberg with my oldest (dance major) and knew it to be a non-audition BA. I assumed the same for theater. However I cannot find that information anywhere on their website. It just says “The Theater Program” and “Acting and Directing” or “Performance Studies” concentration. It’s not in their brochure either. I can’t find the info for the dance program either. However the fact that they tout you can double major tells me it’s a BA.
I know some kids that go there. They love it but it’s an academic admit. They auditioned for scholarship money.
^What she said. Any audition is only for scholarship money. D has a couple friends there.
That was the case 3 years ago. Btw- it’s a cool program, my D had 2 close friends go there and they love it
Muhlenberg is especially well connected with the Philly/NJ scene. If it’s your safety, you’re lucky!
CUNY Brooklyn doesn’t have much housing as it’s primarily a commuter school. My S17 looked at it for theater tech and couldn’t stand the location. Neither could my D, who took him to see it, and who lives in Brooklyn herself! My D felt that it was best suited to local students who commute and graduate students.
How about Emerson in Boston? Your scores/GPA makes them a Target for you.
I wouldn’t consider Emerson a safety school by any means. It is very competitive. But if you need another top tier school to apply to then it’s worth considering.
We have been advised that, no matter how talented one is or how good one’s stats are, if there is an audition, the school should not be considered a safety, period.