Hey all. After being rejected ED, I am now trying to figure out a plan for the next part of my college application process. I am looking to major in Theatre at a BA program, and minor in PoliSci/English/something like that. I am primarily interested in Tufts, Brown, and WashU, and am also applying Barnard, Vassar, and Wesleyan. I am trying to figure out if I should apply EDII to Tufts, and a lot of that decision rests on the quality/environment of the theatre program there. Can anyone who goes to ANY of these schools (but particularly Brown/Tufts/WashU) give me some insight on the theatre program there, as well as some general things you like/dislike about the school? Thanks.
Here are some very basic stats:
White F, Texas
attend performing arts HS; very strong academics; I’m in a competitive class
12/168 (automatic to UT)
4.36/4.55; school doesn’t calculate unweighted but I’d estimate about 3.8/4
Taken most advanced courseload/all APs
2230 SAT I (750 CR, 740 M, 740 W)
I have very solid activities all related to comedy/theatre/writing in some way, and am also very passionate about education reform with activities that reflect that passion, too.
Let me know if you need more details. Thanks again!!
Can you be more specific about “education reform” ? Does it involve children?
Why WashU? It doesn’t strike me as comparable to the other schools on your list in terms of strength of theater community and department - but I could be wrong.
@Mastadon specifically on the high school level - I live in a city with over 100 high schools, which of course, comes with a huge disparity in quality of education between the high and low performing schools. I run a show on public radio that highlights these issues by interviewing students, and gave a TEDx talk last spring at Rice University about the importance of arts education
@arwarw Frankly, I liked the student body and found myself to be a fit academically/socially. It seems that way to me as well, but I’ve heard mixed things from other people that have posted
My daughter is a 3rd year TAP’s major at Brown and loves it - the Brown theater community is very busy and vibrant. Although D has supplemented her acting with outside summer programs and a semester abroad. I asked D and her friend this evening what they like and dislike about Brown, and they told me the complete freedom and acceptance Brown offers. They said both qualities can be a double edged sword - good and bad.
D has a high school friend at Vassar who loves their theater program. Also, I went to a play at Brown last year in which a transfer student from Vassar was cast, and about a half-a-dozen of her former Vassar classmates drove all the way up that evening to see the play and support her. That said a lot to me about how good/tight the Vassar theater community is.
Hope this helps. Best of luck with your applications.
Between 2 theatre daughters, I have been on all of these campuses. We did not feel that Wash U’s theatre dept was as strong as the others. When at Brown, we were given a tour by adminstrators to the theatre department. She was so nice and helpful. She really went out of her way to teach us about the department. We have a good friend who is involved in the theatre department at Barnard. We saw her in a show last year and we were very impressed with the quality of the show. She is very happy with the department. She explained that there are a lot of internships that get passed down through the theatre department from one student to the next so they really try to take advantage of the NYC accessibility. Our tour guide at Tufts was a theatre kid who elaborated on all of the theatre department activities. He also made it seem like a great environment. Vassar seemed perfect on paper for my daughter but she just didn’t “feel” it while she was on the tour. I made her go back a 2nd time because it really was so perfect on paper. She didn’t feel it and didn’t apply. Both of the girls loved Wesleyan. There is a terrific theatre scene happening there. You can’t go wrong. Hope this helps.
@arwarw @bwaygirl1 thank you so much to you both! very helpful responses, and definitely will help me make a very informed decision!