<p>I am a senior in high school and I chose a long time ago to pursue scenic design in college. I attend an arts high school for design and production, and I study scenic design. I have had the chance to build up a portfolio over the past four years, but am still continuing to do so by adding new projects to it. Last year I took two AP classes, and this year I'm taking three. My GPA was a 3.5, but has gone down (though I am trying to raise it with straight A's the first two quarters this year). I'm still nervous about my chance of acceptance into certain colleges, and I am wondering if anyone can shed any light on what colleges are looking for in a portfolio, and if anyone minds sharing personal experiences of his/her interviews, I would greatly appreciate it! </p>
<p>The colleges that I am applying to so far are:
NYU
Carnegie Mellon (top choice)
DePaul
Emerson
UNCSA</p>
<p>and I'm exploring
Syracuse
Ithaca
Rutgers</p>
<p>...and of course my fall back schools for academics.</p>
<p>If anyone also has recomendations of colleges with good Design and Production programs I would love to know!</p>
<p>Take a look at the Technical Theater thread on the next page or two for some more information on your chances. Your grades are a little too low for NYU at 3.5 but competitive at the other schools. However, grades also affect your chance of financial aid, which could make a difference at an expensive school like Carnegie Mellon. </p>
<p>Your best source of information on what schools expect in a portfolio is the schools themselves. Most tell you exactly what they want in a portfolio and it would be a good idea to tailor your portfolio to each interview or series of interviews. Of course, you should make it look good and it should be well organized. But more importantly, remember that your portfolio will not speak for itself. It is a prop for your interview. </p>
<p>Schools want to know where you are going more than where you’ve been. They want to know that you are capable of self-criticism and willing to learn. So don’t be afraid to tell them what you wish you could do over again. Or what really makes you proud and why, even if it’s not as good as you would like.</p>
<p>The only school I would add to your list is University of the Arts.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! I will definitely look into UArts, and I will keep the audition tips in mind! </p>
<p>Also, I figured that my GPA may be too low for NYU (Tisch), but I’ll try to bring it up and hope for the best! </p>
<p>Does anyone know audition/acceptance rates for any of the schools listed above?</p>
<p>Although it’s easy to find acceptance rates for the school as a whole and for actors in the “size of freshman acting class” thread, I don’t have any info for acceptance rates in tech theater. I’d love it if anyone could supply this information.</p>
<p>tough call…your grades are good enough for many schools. If you need FA, some of these will be tough to handle. I assume you a looking for a BFA program based on choices.</p>
<p>I recommend you visit [Mike</a> Lawler: Careers in Technical Theater](<a href=“Mike Lawler for Congress”>Mike Lawler for Congress) if you havent already…it is a great list of schools. </p>
<p>I may also shamelessly plug Cincinnati as that is where my son will start in the next 2 weeks…it was THE program for him!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I’ve recently been looking into Cincinnati, and it looks very interesting! I’m definitely going to keep looking into it. </p>
<p>Also, with Financial Aid, how generous are many of these schools for need based aid?</p>