It can be done with parental help, win the lottery or full ride scholarships, but those aside how is it possible? The horse had one last ride…
Yeah that’s super wrong.
What the OP chooses as his career absolutely makes a difference in the amount of debt he racks up and how easily he can pay it off. You’re doing that kid such a disservice in order to promote your own agenda.
@halflokum, I understand why they’re objecting, I just disagree with it. Kids don’t always like to hear reality. Plenty of parents don’t either. It doesn’t help them to shield them from it.
My nephew is a theater major. His dad and all his family objected to it. His dad refused to help pay for school, so he’s attending a less expensive program that his divorced mom can afford. Could he have pressed his dad for money? Sure. Would he have gotten any? Nope. Parents don’t have to pay for college and they don’t have to pay for degrees they don’t think their children can make a living on. It doesn’t matter if OP’s dad would pay for the school if s/he were majoring in something else, or majoring in something else and minoring in theater.
If the parent won’t pay, kids’ choices are limited: choose a major (or combination of majors) the parents will pay for, start at cc then work their way through the last 2 years, find a full ride somewhere, or start in community theater. I think going to auditions for public theater is a great idea. Going to an audition at a school the parents refuse to pay for is good experience, but my concern is that it could be more discouraging than the experience is worth.
How does the chosen major make a difference on how much debt you exit college with…I’m confused…an art major has more debt than a finance or engineering major? How is that possible? I thought all schools charge the same amount no matter the major. So If x college costs $100,000 for 4 years and you have NO help from parents and you are an art major you will have more debt than the finance major? I am not talking about how quickly the debt is paid off after graduation.
I have wanted to respond to this thread since last night!
@40yearoldvirgin, as practical as I am in certain ways, I - too - am in the camp that NOW is the time to try and live your dreams. If you don’t do it now, when will you?
Sometimes we have to move outside the blessing of our parents. It is a risky thing to do (our parents DO have a lifetime of accumulated experience and generally they love us and want what is best) but it’s occasionally necessary. None of us parents are infallible. A few of us have been wrong every once in a while. 
And now for the realism. Your dad has no obligation to support something (emotionally, financially, whatever it is) that he does not believe in. Just as you have no obligation to live your life his way.
My oldest is in performing arts, and has been paid for his acting. It’s not enough to live on, but he’s working on it. He never went to college. He lived at home for a few years, worked his tail off (I mean every weekend straight for pretty much two years, notwithstanding a couple of short vacations) and went a couple of months where he worked every single day of the month. He saved money, and went out on his own in another city. He is fully self-supporting at 21.
He has my blessing because I saw him walk the talk. He doesn’t drink, party, or carry on excessively in any way. Yes, we let him live at home which saved him money. We were not obligated to do that but we wanted to. He bought his own beater car and carries his own auto insurance. We will be here if he needs a place to crash for a few months, but we expect both our sons to be working (hard) should that ever happen. Otherwise we’re enabling laziness.
Decide what you want and figure out how to make that happen. Who knows - you may end up making your dad a believer. And if you don’t, at least you will have lived your life by your own values. Success on anyone else’s terms but your own is failure. My biggest suggestion is don’t be your own worst enemy. Don’t get caught up in partying, sex, etc. Focus on your dream but be real at the same time.
As far as auditions, you should be able to handle that on your own for the most part, and it will be good practice for down the road.
Wishing you luck and cheering you on.
I am really open minded, honestly. And although I don’t know how it feels to be “drowning in tons of debt” I do know how it feels like to be tight on money, or let me rephrase-- living a broke life. Our family has overcome so much to get to where we are today. So please don’t act like I don’t have financial literacy.
I guess I should also mention that Pace is not the only school I applied to, I am asking my dad to let me TRY and audition, not to pay the tuition this second. I have applied to my share of Virginia schools.
And if by “make it” @MotherOfDragons I hope you mean being a working actor-- I am not chasing fame. It’s my passion.
You should.
Graduating with 100k in debt with no job prospects and insane competition in an industry that does not require a degree for entry, vs graduating 100k in debt with a 80k job lined up already makes a huge difference in quality of life and opportunities right out of the gate.
However, I"m not advocating choosing debt, ever. But for the parameters of your argument.
Also, according to the Hamilton Report, kids in certain majors take on more debt just to graduate:
Guess where drama falls? Yeah, not on the good side of that scattergram.
@austinmshauri , I have the impression from posts 11, 16 and 21 that the situation with the OP’s father is not entirely cast in stone and this young man/woman is trying to see if he could manage merit money at one or more of the schools he is interested in and if he did, then perhaps his father might meet him half way on it. (Correct me if I’m wrong @40yearoldvirgin.)
There are theatre programs that are very generous with merit and god knows, there are schools like NYU that are not. But schools like Montclair and Texas State that are not that pricey to start off with and give in state tuition to out of state students at least in MT, (not sure about acting but maybe?) are less expensive options for the degree which don’t necessarily have to break the bank. But sure, if his father will not pay period for any kind of a theatre major, and he certainly has the right to decide that, then the OP’s options are more limited because as already stated, he/she cannot currently afford to pay for it without help.
So I’m not in disagreement with what anyone is saying about money and I am in VIOLENT agreement about the no significant debt thing. Where things went sideways for me was the suggestion that this kid is behaving as if he is entitled. He/she got more than a little roughed up on that and it was a bit unfair. I think some of his wording initially was confusing but she/he did try to clarify it several times. I’ve read enough obnoxious entitled kid posts in CC to want to react to them as well. This just isn’t one of them. This is a kid with a dream that they may not be able to realize and they are struggling.
I’m not sure everyone contributing here knows the amount of disbelief and skepticism people who decide they want to study this field are up against. @toowonderful hinted at it earlier with her daughter’s story. If everyone gave into it without trying to make it work, the world would be a far less interesting place.
I know several families that got their best FA offer from Pace so that seems like a good one to try. Pace also encourages outside auditions to an unusual degree (and it’s convenient), so you may be able to gauge your ability to work professionally while there. There are other programs that are less expensive than average – I mentioned Montclair State and SUNY Purchase, but also U. Minn/Guthrie, UNCSA and Ball State are reasonably good values.
I agree that one should not go into crippling debt for ANY major. But I’m curious what major guarantees “an 80k job lined up” after graduation?
There was a time that being a lawyer meant you were set. Not anymore - there are tons of unemployed lawyers. Similarly, I read an article recently about nursing students who graduated and can’t find work. They went into nursing specifically BECAUSE it was supposedly a “safe” field with high demand. But so many kids had the same mindset that now there is a glut of nursing graduates, and they complain that all the hospitals that are hiring require 2 years’ experience, so they can’t get their foot in the door.
In this economy, NO major “guarantees” you a job. That being the case, I am ALL for following your passion and your dream (WITHOUT going into significant debt). If it doesn’t work out, you can always do something else. But if you don’t even try, you might be haunted by “What ifs” and “If onlys” your whole life.
Also, majoring in theater does NOT mean “if you don’t end up being an actor, you wasted your degree.” I read a piece recently by a guy who has had a very successful career in public relations for the past 10 years. He majored in theater, and he feels that he uses that degree every single day, because it helped him become great at public speaking, at truly LISTENING and responding to others, at “reading” people, at communicating his ideas effectively, at speaking and writing articulately, at projecting confidence, at collaborating with others and “thinking outside the box,” etc.
Likewise, on the MT forum, a dad wrote about his daughter who graduated with an MT degree, and also got certified as a fitness instructor, thinking it would be a great “survival” job while pursuing theater. As it turned out, she became SO successful and so in-demand as a fitness instructor that she put theater on the back burner for now and is pursuing her very successful fitness career.
So if someone majors in theater (WITHOUT incurring significant debt), spends his college career immersed in the thing he’s truly passionate about and LOVES it, then graduates, spends several years pursuing acting, is not successful, and ends up in a different career…was that college degree “wasted”? Personally, I don’t think so.
There are very few jobs that REQUIRE a specific major. Most employers just want to see a college degree, regardless of major.
My husband hires kids out of Georgia Tech with 4 year computer science degrees starting at 80k with a LOT of sweet benefits (like REALLY good health care). And they’re hard to get because they’re getting lured away with even higher starting numbers at small startups that offer more (but are sometimes a riskier proposition because they’re new). My husband works at a fortune 50 company.
If this were my kid, and they did not have the stats to get some serious merit money to do a theater major, I’d cash out their 529, give it to them, and let them go do what they need to do. Not every profession needs a college degree, and I’d rather see them burn through that 529 in direct pursuit of their dream rather than giving it to a college that can’t offer, in all reality, any concrete advantage over actors going right into the field.
Good computer science majors make over 100K right out of undergraduate school. But being great at programming is a skill set not suited for everyone. You can’t just decide OK I guess I’ll do that then if you aren’t wired for it any more than a programmer with zero acting talent can expect to be the next Meryl Streep never mind just get hired to act for barely a living wage.
I’m trying to think of who I know that is doing exactly what they studied in college. I guess I know a couple of architects I could say that about but I would have a much easier time rattling off a list of people that ended up doing things entirely unrelated to their major. I assume some skills transferred that explained the path.
@40yearoldvirgin Go to NY and audition like your life depends on it! In April when you have your acceptances and financial aid /scholarship packages you and your dad can sit down together and figure out what your best path is. For moral support to help you get through auditions, callbacks and the long wait for acceptance letters you have the CC Theatre forum regulars that are kind & extremely knowledgeable. Trust yourself and knock’em dead.
@40yearoldvirgin, what are your parents saying about going away to college in general? Is your anemia under control? Will you graduate from high school in May or is that still up in the air? You said in another thread that your dad thinks people should only go to college for engineering or medicine, so are you having a problem because your chosen major is theater or because it’s not engineering or medicine? Are they comfortable with you attending school far from home right now?
@austinmshauri I’m glad you found the way to my other thread. Not that it’s any of your business, but my anemia is under control and I just transferred to home bound learning-- so yes I will graduate and have it all sorted out by the time college comes around. Things are already looking up. And yes my dad would be totally fine with me attending a college elsewhere if it was well regarded and I was majoring in something other than theater.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: If a poster has written about his or her circumstances in other threads, it’s perfectly OK to inquire about them. If it’s something that’s “nobody’s business,” then don’t write about it in a public forum.
I’ve deleted several posts. Please remain civil.
What a weird thread this has turned into. @40yearoldvirgin, you can definitely do theater at any number of places. My S has a mentor who teaches it at MIT among other institutions, many of them much better known for theater. So if you do end up at a regular college in a regular major, you can still do theater even if only as an extracurricular.
So your dad is, what, letting you have one audition just to see if you’re good enough? We did a very similar thing, though a few more auditions and a lot of BA schools, and it turned out that my kid’s options in theater were really MUCH more compelling than his BA options. So what do you do? You do the work that’s in front of you. You’ll probably have to do something else for money, but what the heck, who in the arts doesn’t have a survival gig? And what kind of world is it if EVERYBODY has to be a computer programmer?
I always grit my teeth when people make this sort of disparaging comment. Like somehow people who know how to code are soulless drones, and only the actors and artists of the world give it meaning and beauty.
It takes all types to give the world meaning, and if you’d read the thread carefully you would understand that using CS was to illustrate a debt point only; not to suggest that this kid should become a programmer.
Being a good coder is as much of a gift as being a good actor.
I want the OP, and kids thinking of a theater career, to have more than a “survival gig”-and in my opinion, it takes some creative and honest thinking about your college choices, and some hard-nosed looking at finances to get there.
I inquired about what I can do about my grades, not my ability to attend college due to my circumstances. Anyway, I’ll give it a rest. I guess it’s safe to say we agree to disagree.
@Jkellynh17 I was initially looking for non-auditioned BAs which I have applied to some, and also ones that need acceptance academically first in order to audition. I just want to say thank you for staying on topic and still trying to give meaningful advice. Although it might not seem like it, I am definitely taking into account what you said and appreciate it very much.
I think it is obvious that there is not going to be agreement on this topic.