SAT/gpa combinations and various schools

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
41

<p>ActingDad, it is true that many of the schools on your D’s list are not very selective academically speaking. So, the list is balanced that way. The academic piece may be an issue for your D at NYU. BU is not as selective academically as NYU but still more so than some schools on your D’s list. But as long as the list is balanced, something will work out. </p>

<p>I agree with the poster who said that whatever a student’s academic qualifications are, choose schools within that range, even if some are academic reaches, matches and safeties…but the reaches should be conceivably within reach. Each student’s list of schools should differ based on their own academic and artistic qualifications, along with selection criteria and not simply choosing schools that offer acting degree programs. Even though admissions is unpredictable, a college list should be in realistic range academically and artistically for an individual student and not simply programs he/she likes. The odds are difficult enough but when you apply to schools not truly in range for yourself artistically or academically, the odds are even tougher. So, the list should be appropriate per an applicant’s qualifications. I would not discount the academic piece of that equation.</p>

42

<p>Alright, I don’t frequent CC anymore, but I wanted to set the record straight as far as BU admissions goes, because I have seen misinformation about this stuff time and time again, from the slightly off to the totally false! I am a current student in the SOT (School of Theatre) and I love it. I love it so much that I wanted to be involved with admissions so I could gush about it to the next generation, so I am familiar with the specific process of being admitted to the BFA. Here is how it goes:</p>

<ol>
<li>Student applies to BU and schedules audition.</li>
<li>Student auditions for SOT faculty. Based SOLELY on the audition, the faculty makes an accept/reject/waitlist decision.</li>
<li>SOT faculty passes on their decisions to general BU admissions and students’ applications are reviewed.</li>
<li>IF student is accepted by both the SOT and BU, YAY! They’re in.</li>
<li>IF student is waitlisted by the SOT and then accepted academically by BU, then they’re waitlisted for the program.</li>
<li>IF student is accepted artistically by the SOT but her grades aren’t quite up to general BU admissions standards, the SOT faculty will pull what strings they can to get her in to BU. Sometimes this works (YAY!), but if her grades are really terrible, then it probably won’t.</li>
<li>IF student is rejected by the SOT, even with a 4.0 gpa and perfect test scores, she is rejected from BU automatically.</li>
</ol>

<p>So, yes, your grades and scores DO factor in to your admissions to BU. BUT notice that in no scenario can they get you in to the SOT without a completely separate, audition-based acceptance from the faculty. You could call this “50/50” admissions, but that implies equal weight to the two categories, when one is really a prerequisite to even be considered for the other.
Low grades should not stop anyone from auditioning at BU. High grades cannot make up for a lack of potential artistically. Of course, the best case scenario would be great grades and great audition/artistic fit (and for high test scorers, BU does give good merit aid)!</p>

<p>As a side note, though the point of this post was to show that getting in to BU is not really about grades, I will point out that one of the things that is awesome about the SOT is that ALL of my peers are brilliant, sharp, bright people. But that has nothing to do with test scores.</p>

<p>I hope this has cleared some things up and not caused any further confusion or distress! happy hunting.</p>

43

<p>Yay! Thanks much. This is exactly how it was explained to us and seems to be the case at most programs. Although they may say fifty/fifty, it still means you have to pass the audition first. Syracuse is the same deal. Only if the theater department wants you do they send your app to admissions. After that requirements vary but MOST are not all that tough. Good luck everyone!</p>

44

<p>Thanks, Lillierose! It sounds like you have a handle on it. Perhaps the admissions officer told my son 50/50 because she was not fully aware of how it’s done? Who knows. </p>

<p>Well, then I am sticking to my answer to ActingDad that his daughter should still apply everywhere, because you just don’t know how it’s going to go!</p>

45

<p>Lillierose, I hope you didn’t read my post as critical of BU. What you’re saying is exactly what my son experienced–he was rejected from BU. I have no idea if he was rejected <em>first</em> from the BFA program, although that’s possible. What I said is that the academic rejection came FIRST, several weeks before he’d heard from the BFA program. </p>

<p>My post isn’t meant as a comment on BU at all–merely to say that college admissions are not predictable. As far as ‘talent’–it’s the same thing. Unpredictable. You write “High grades cannot make up for a lack of potential artistically.” But my son who was rejected from BU was accepted by Purchase and NYU among other places. Again, my point was NOT about BU–at all. I have heard from many folks it is an amazing program! My point is to say that the college process is unpredictable and that therefore you need to make as strong a portfolio as possible for you (acting AND academic).</p>

46

<p>

This wording is problematic in other ways than its syntax. Let’s just not make assumptions that a rejection from one of these programs means that the application lacks talent or artistic potential. My daughter was rejected by BU, but accepted to three programs that are arguably more competitive. Even if she had not been accepted to those (or any) programs, that does not mean that she does not have “potential.” I can think of a dozen other examples of acting students who were rejected from various programs, but accepted to others. As someone who has sat on acceptance committees (not for theater) I can tell you that these decisions are complex. You can’t read much into them. It would be a mistake to be discouraged by a few rejections.</p>

47

<p>I’m new to this forum (our DD is a junior theatre major at a performing arts high school) and I have a related question about “type.”</p>

<p>Is it correct to assume that the programs that accept a limited number of students (i.e. 12 girls, 12 boys as an example) are also looking to balance “type” in their admitted students? I would guess that your “type” (leading lady, ingenue, comic sidekick, character actor, etc), and your “physical attributes” (height, weight, hair color, ethnicity, etc.) influences admit decisions when a program is building a class?</p>

48

<p>“High grades cannot make up for a lack of potential artistically.” Yikes. That does come off as harsh, on second read. It was DEFINITELY not directed at anyone in particular, nor meant to imply that anyone rejected from BU or any program does not have talent or potential!!! At all!!! I was really just trying to not say “bad audition,” because that doesn’t really give the whole picture, either. Ultimately it’s about FIT, and I guess what I meant is what the faculty perceives as potential to grow specifically in this program. Oh, I am so sorry if I hurt or offended anyone with that. (connections- nothing in my post was directed specifically at you or in response to what you had written! No worries! And I’m sure your son is awesome!) Why, oh why, oh why can I not edit that post…!</p>

49

<p>It will NEVER hurt a student to repeat a SAT or ACT. Some students will improve (My S) and others may not (My D), but it is worth trying. My kids worked very hard in HS to attain top grades so they could hopefully, attain top scholarships. High test scores are equally as important in this puzzle. Here are my two examples with SAT prep…</p>

<p>My S first SAT score was good, but the written portion was especially low at 4/12, I think. He agreed to, and wanted to, attend small group prep classes and with each practice test his scores improved. In his 2nd real SAT his writing improved to 8/12 and his overall verbal/math improved by nearly 200 points. I asked him why he thinks he did so much better and it is because he has ADHD which makes it dificult for him to focus on material the first time presented. Prep classes forced him to review material which helped fill the learning gaps in for him and also, taught him HOW to take the test. His GPA and SAT/ACT scores landed him a very large scholarship award at his first choice college. BTW, he isn’t an actor but studies STEM.</p>

<p>My D first SAT was also good, but I personally felt she could do better because she was a better student than her brother. Like her brother, I sent her to a prep class that presented 5 practice tests and she did about the same on each one. She hated her SAT prep classes, especially since they began in the summer and she was writing college essays, searching for monologues and vocal cuts for auditions, AND in a show outside school. In her 2nd real SAT she improved her math score 40 points, but her verbal score went down by exactly the same amount, so her combined score was exactly the same! I was actually speechless. The reason my D didn’t see the improvement of my S is because she is “100% present” in class and when she learns something, she learns it. She learned nothing new in the SAT prep class, except a bit about how to really target her writing to the prompt. Her GPA and SAT/ACT scores got her many Presidential Awards and ultimately opened the door for her to interview for larger awards. She received a 4 year/full OOS tuition scholarship in Honors and pursues her BFA in MT.</p>

<p>Do we know kids in BFA Acting and MT programs with much lower test scores and GPAs, you bet! Some of them also just “weren’t good test takers,” (I wasn’t either back in the day!) but many who did use prep courses or simply bought a study guide and reviewed it on their own managed to improve their scores by some appreciable amount. Several of them still got some scholarship monies and managed to find a school that was a good fit for them. These schools included BU, BoCo, NYU, Pace, and Wagner just off the top of my head.</p>

<p>So, the take-away point is every student is different and these tests are simply one piece of a VERY COMPLEX admissions puzzle. Also, it is worth noting that some kids that don’t do wonderfully on the SAT, do much better on the ACT (includes Science and Social Science reading and reasoning in addition to Math, English and Writing.) It is worth giving both exams a try now that many colleges accept the ACT. Good luck…the college perfect for YOU is out there : )</p>

50

<p>Mountainhiker, the question of “type” has been discussed on this forum a lot. I would suggest that you search this Theatre/Drama Majors forum for posts with the word “type” in them.</p>

<p>This is one thread that might be helpful:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1303721-looks-matter.html?highlight=type[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1303721-looks-matter.html?highlight=type&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

51

<p>To the OP, do you have access to your High Shool Navaince site? If so, you should be able to get a feel for the minimum acceptable SAT score for most of the schools on her list.</p>

52

<p>Lillie Rose - again thank you for your insight to BU admissions. I for one did not read what you wrote as anything demeaning to others. As a matter of fact, we were all making the point that colleges are unpredictable as to how they look at applicants. So a very talented and smart applicant may be rejected for a lot of reasons, or really none at all other than the fact that they may have already accepted a student who is very similar. Or they just have too many applicants!</p>

<p>So don’t beat yourself up about it!</p>

53

<p>LillieRose, I second was marbleheader says. I’ve had that happen to me several times, where I write something and only later realize it could be taken another way than I meant. But thanks for clarifying. :-)</p>