<p>My D15 has high academic stats (will be NMF) and intends (like the rest of the world) to go to medical school. This year and last her theater participation and opportunities have taken off, and she wants to continue in college by getting a minor in theater or taking classes and acting in whatever she can. Any ideas for schools (preferably ones that give merit aid) that have vibrant non-theater major acting communities. For example, we visited Fordham recently. She could not get into Lincoln Center as a theater major, but as a Rose Hill campus pre-med major we learned that she could take theater courses at Lincoln Center, and that Rose Hill has an abundance of talented non-theater majors who put on 3 productions a semester at Rose Hill campus, have Choral, Improv and Comedy groups, and stage productions in Manhattan at things like the NYC Fringe Festival. Any other schools with similar opportunities? I am not talking about trying to get into a production full of theater majors, I am talking about opportunities apart from the official theater major productions.</p>
<p>This probably isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, but I figured I’d mention: I’m in the same boat (probably won’t major in theatre but definitely want to continue my heavy involvement with it) and my top choice is Vassar. It has a really strong theatre community, and auditions for all of the shows are open to majors and non-majors alike. Might be worth checking out, though the surrounding Poughkeepsie may not have that vibrant of a theatre community… 
Good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>At the University of Michigan there are several groups on campus outside of the Theatre Dept. The most well known is Musket - they stage complete musicals.</p>
<p>Syracuse had a number of groups outside the BFA program as well. When we were there for accepted students day in March they were doing Rent </p>
<p>Look into those schools without a BFA program as that will give her the best chance to participate. You didn’t give any states so you can look into Northwestern, Brown, or Cornell if she’s got the grades/scores or Muhelenburg, Knox, Kenyon are a bit easier academically to get into. I second Vassar as our good friend’s daughter is doing amazing things in both theatre and medical research. Just a few ideas off the top of my head.</p>
<p>Thanks to all. Brown is on the list but we are focusing on schools that give merit aid.</p>
<p>D got really nice aide for Kenyon (though she went with a BFA)</p>
<p>If merit aid is most important, focus on that. Most any LAC that has a theater major (BA) will have productions during the year and it’s fairly easy for non-theater majors to get involved. Also, for the schools in which your D is interested, find out if there are student-run productions. There are often lots of opportunities for kids to get involved in productions. I know that Bryn Mawr/Haverford/Swarthmore all have student-run productions where students from all three can be involved. The three schools have joint enrollment through the tri-co.</p>