<p>My son wants a BFA in acting. As mentioned in an earlier post, he did get accepted at U-Minn for their BA and is willing to do this if everything else falls through. He has applied and has auditions for at Unifieds:</p>
<p>Rutgers
Purchase
UNCSA
Boston U.
U-Minn/Guthrie</p>
<p>SMU (audition in Dallas)</p>
<p>Last year, he applied to UNCSA's high school drama program and was wait listed (our understanding is they only accepted 2 out of state boys). He is interested in doing a few more walk-ins but I feel like these need to be at slightly less competitive schools. He is in the top 10% GPA, with SATS in the high 1800's. Financially, we could see affording the state schools on his list, but places like Boston U. would only be affordable with significant aid. I've spent many hours over break reading here and it seems like he is doing everything he can with the local resources to make himself competitive but it is still a very scary process. Any suggestions? I also understand that walk-in opportunities vary but if he had some places to focus his attention. We only have one audition each on Thursday and Friday...</p>
<p>Montclair State’s Acting BFA program is extremely selective; its BA program is not terribly selective. They provide little, if any, aid to out-of-state students, although the tuition would still be less than most private colleges.</p>
<p>I would make these suggestions to deal with expanding his audition list and looking for merit aid:</p>
<p>1) He should read up on some of the programs that are at schools where his academic stats are above their typical accepted students. Some schools award quite generous merit scholarships almost automatically. From looking at this year’s Unifieds list, I would guess that his stats (you don’t list his GPA, but top 10% suggests at least a 3.5) would help him financially at Viterbo, Point Park, Northern Illinois, Hartt, Roosevelt, and several others.</p>
<p>2) The admissions stats for all of the Unified schools are pretty low - under 20%, closer to 10%. Since most BFAs accept fewer than 100 for a 20-40 student yield, the fact that any of those schools is likely to audition hundreds, or even a thousand (and more), kids pushes their acceptances into a very small range.</p>
<p>3) I can’t remember everything about your son and his wants and needs, but I would suggest that he look at some of non-Unified schools, where the numbers of applicants aren’t quite so high, to round out his list. Many schools out of the spotlight have excellent programs and also have very generous merit and talent scholarships. Lots of them have rolling admissions and quite late on-campus audition opportunities if Unifieds don’t work out as well as he hopes.</p>
<p>I just want to say thank you to all the responses. It is so helpful to get information like this. His weighted average is just over 99—not sure how that translate on the 4.0 scale. We will definitely look into all of your suggestions.</p>
<p>Yes, and they will often accept DVD auditions if you’re far away. UArts is one at Unifieds that gives a lot of $$ for a high GPA/scores. And Adelphi-- not at unifieds-- Emmybet’s D is there and happy. (Though I don’t mean to speak for her-- EB can say more!)</p>
<p>In terms of program, I think any student who likes BU’s approach would also like the Adelphi curriculum. They have a lot in common. Other things about the school are different, obviously. My D does have a very generous scholarship at Adelphi, which is categorized as “merit/talent.” I would never degrade her artistic ability, but we were assured when she applied that she would get a large award because of her academic stats (compared to TX’s S, probably a little lower GPA, and comparatively higher test scores; she didn’t take SAT, but ACT and SAT2).</p>
<p>We don’t have a financial aid thread in this forum, but it is an issue that gets discussed a lot. The “hot” theatre schools - Carnegie Mellon, BU, Michigan, NYU, etc. - are very costly, and not well known for financial aid, especially merit aid. Purchase and Minnesota are still reasonable, even for out of state, but their acceptance percentages are probably in the single digits.</p>
<p>This is a really tough question - and I don’t have any real answers. I do hope for any kids that they can understand that a rejection from the “top” schools is not a personal slight, but as much a question of numbers working against them. And I hope they can understand that going to a “lesser known” school and getting terrific financial aid could be the best thing that ever happened to them.</p>
<p>My D worked her butt off this fall, in both her Theatre and liberal arts classes (she has chosen to take Honors College classes instead of easier Gen Eds or placing out with APs). She was proud to get the GPA her scholarship requires, since it was just as hard to get As in Theatre classes in a rigorous BFA as it was in Honors liberal arts.</p>
<p>Just wanted to mention Hartt’s merit aid policy (unless they’ve changed it this year?). If you’re admitted to the conservatory, you will only be considered for a talent award. You will not be eligible for an academic scholarship, even if you qualify for one based on your grades/test scores. Also, even if you don’t receive a talent award at all, (they’re not known for being overly generous, but they do give a few large talent awards to select candidates), you will still not get an academic scholarship, regardless of whether or not you qualify. A very peculiar way of doing things, but that’s how Hartt has always operated in the past.</p>
<p>^^this is what was explained to us at the 12/10 audition, so I think it’s the same. Though we do know someone who’s there on a very nice merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Perhaps add UArts in Philadelphia? They might award sizable aid as his stats are possibly on the high end for their admitted class, however, it is an audition-based program and has a solid rep. and is fairly competitive. They may be at Unifieds? However, I would suggest definitely visiting it to get a “feel” for whether it’s a good fit. It’s a city school- on a wonderful theatre row in downtown Philly- but it’s a different vibe than the others on your list. Temple, also in Philly, could be another choice. I think it’s non-auditioned (someone correct me) and gives solid aid. Muhlenberg is a non-auditioned program, also in Pennsylvania, with an excellent rep for the theatre program- which is non-auditioned, however, there is an audition for scholarships. Your son’s academic stats would make him competitive for the regular admission side of the equation. Since you are looking at east coast schools, you might look into Coasltal Carolina- I am not familiar with it but it has been very popular on the theatre threads. I second the reccomendation for Montclair- great program at a reasonable price, but highly selective audition. James Madison University in Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth U might be good choices in terms of more reasonable tuition, even though you are out of state. Look for posts by KatMT who is on faculty at JMU.</p>
<p>Re: walk-ins, my DC did not do any, but I seem to remember every school had a sheet on the sign-in table and I think if someone didn’t show up they allowed a walk-in. I would suggest going to the school’s table you are interested in and letting them know you were unable to get an audition slot and you would love to do a walk-in and see if they will fit you in. Make sure you bring extra head shots, resumes, and any other materials that would’ve been brought to a campus audition or that were requested to be sent ahead. Come prepared with everything-dance shoes if needed, etc</p>
<p>TXtrsnsplantmom - are you talking about the NYC Unifieds? I’m confused because the title of your post says NYC, but your post talks about auditions on Thursday and Friday. I thought the Unifieds are on Saturday and Sunday. If he’s auditioning locally near NYC (Rutgers, Purchase) and you want to pop in at the NYC Unifieds while you’re in town, why do you want to do walk-ins? Wouldn’t it be a safer bet to apply to the schools and actually book an audition at the NYC Unifieds? I will echo the sentiments of previous posters that you should try for Montclair State, which has an excellent program, also try for LIU Post which has an excellent program. Syracuse is holding auditions across the street from the NYC Unifieds as well. Pace is also a great program.</p>
<p>My daughter walked in to Rutgers unified last year. There are definitely a number of schools that do if they have a cancellation or extra time. Bring extra head shots and money to pay the fee at the auditions.</p>
<p>Oops! I guess I should change that section of my resume that says I’m “detail-oriented”! Anyway, my current advice on great acting schools that could be done at the NYC Unifieds would still be the same. Check out the schools I recommended thst are at, or near, the NYC Unifieds.</p>