<p>I have been reading some of the other posts in other forums and am concerned that even with a great audition some of the colleges are academically out of reach. The kids seem to have amazing stats. Anyone else worried about this?</p>
<p>What schools? Most BFA programs are audition first and grades seem to be almost an afterthought. Certainly “amazing stats” are rarely required.</p>
<p>USC UCLA CHAPMAN NYU Carnegie Mellon</p>
<p>I’m concerned about that. So I’m steering my son to the schools that appear to care less about grades. It’s helping to shorten his list.</p>
<p>Okay, I was accepted to USC with good but not stellar stats. CMU is audition first and they take many students with much lower scores. NYU says it’s 50/50 audition and academics but people who are not at the high end do get in. UCLA is more academic than some other programs but I’m pretty sure the audition is still the key to acceptance. I know nothing about Chapman.</p>
<p>For the most part if there is an audition that trumps everything else.</p>
<p>That’s good to know. These kids seems to be over the top. I thought my D’s stats were decent until I saw what some of these other kids have LOL</p>
<p>I think I have also seen parents look at a college, and then compare their kid’s grades to the average FOR THE COLLEGE AS A WHOLE. That’s a mistake, because the kids we talk about here are applying for specific programs. In many of the schools we talk about, the stats for the theatre program average less than those for the college as a whole. We also hear stories about theatre departments advocating with the admissions department when they have had an INCREDIBLE auditioner with otherwise low stats.</p>
<p>Bisouu: has your D changed her mind about only apply to CA. schools? You all should check out Roosevelt/CCPA. They have less stringent academic requirements because of the philosophy of the school itself. On the flip side however they don’t offer merit $ to the theatre kids, just talent awards.</p>
<p>She is applying to CM and NYU we will check out Roosevelt…thanks!</p>
<p>Where are you seeing kids stats and CMU? If you are looking at general admission stats for CMU as a whole, those numbers are irrelevant. In addition to all the other info you see here about CMU, my daughter got it straight from a couple of faculty when she was there over the summer – they basically don’t care about academic stats.</p>
<p>My D has GPA 3.0 and will be lucky to score 1,700-1,800 in SAT. So yes, I am very worried about her academic stats. My D seems to be fine though. She is much more concerned about auditions. Or maybe that’s just because she knows she is not able to improve her academics?</p>
<p>Notactingmom,</p>
<p>It all depends on the specific programs you daughter is applying to. Some will emphasize the audition primarily, or possibly even ENTIRELY! It may be absolutely correct for her to be working on her auditions.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>Do you think the non audition schools will be as flexible? Do they look at intended major and give some wiggle room?</p>
<p>If it is a non-audition school I imagine the student will be held to the same standards as all the other applicants.</p>
<p>Non audition schools will not be nearly as flexible as audition schools in respect to grades…</p>
<p>It’s always good to try to stay realistic. Admission to highly academic schools are often impossible to gauge in advance, since there is an emphasis on the audition, yet the overall admissions office is involved. The top schools you mentioned, like NYU and USC, will only admit students they feel will also be able to thrive in their academic required classes and while they may allow a few in with scores/gpas below the lowest 25 percentile listed overall for the college, who knows how many the theatre BFA will get through? In the case of CMU, for example, the auditors at the Los Angeles auditions 2 years ago told my son quite clearly that as much as they may love a particular candidate, if their HS record is iffy (and what does THAT mean?? They did not specify!!), they will be denied by CMU Admissions. So… that seems to directly contradict what ActingDad found out, but I just wanted to make sure no one reassures their student one thing and gets a rude awakening later.</p>
<p>It’s still worth auditioning and in many cases, I firmly believe talent will weigh heavily in decisions. But… I’m not truly sure scores and so forth have <em>no</em> bearing on decisions for some of the schools you mentioned.</p>
<p>It will vary school to school, but it’s good to understand that there will be many applicants who will have excellent academic stats as well as talent.</p>
<p>Yup - cast a wide net. Include reaches, matches, and safeties. It really is the only way to ensure that your D will have some nice acceptances to choose from.</p>