<p>If a student with a pretty low GPA, like 2.5, wants to major musical theater in college, which colleges can you suggest??? He has been in MT for the past 3 years in high school, with both supporting and leading role. He is Asian, and his high school is very competitive high school in Orange COunty, CA.</p>
<p>All I know is that we were told at UCLA that if they want a student in their MT program they can go as low as a 2.0. That was 3 years ago and I was so surprised that I still remember it! Don’t know about other schools.</p>
<p>Musical theater is a fine-art, and entrance to many university/college programs requires an audition. I’d suspect, during your audition, that if you blew your competition out of the water and left the judging committee mesmerized, your GPA wouldn’t matter THAT much. Imagine an art school admissions officer looking through a portfolio of Van Gough, but Van Gough was terrible in math and English. Do you think that admissions officer would care?</p>
<p>I don’t agree with babyitain. For starters, at many MT programs, you must be accepted separately to the college itself and not just into the BFA program (examples: Elon, Indiana). Some even have an academic screening (example: U of Michigan). At all other schools where the admission is ONE process (academic and artistic), academics STILL count, even if they count a lesser percentage of the admissions decision than the artistic review. The student still must meet the academic requirements for admission. There may be leeway if the college wants the student artistically, but the student still would have to fall into an acceptable range of academic standards for that school (even if at the lower range of what they will accept). This is a very competitive process to be admitted for a BFA and if they have very artistically talented students who DO meet the academic requirements for admission, they are going to take that student over students who are talented but do not meet the academic criteria for admission to that university. </p>
<p>But back to twinzy…there is no way to evaluate your son’s academic chances at any of the schools with the little you shared. You gave his GPA (which is low) but not the actual grades he has received (colleges examine a transcript and not a GPA alone), and did not provide the courses he has taken in high school and the rigor of his courseload in context to his high school’s offerings (colleges examine this as what the student took is important to put the GPA in context), his class rank or percentile in his class (this is relevant as a 2.5 in one high school is not the same as a 2.5 in another high school), and you did not provide his test scores (not to mention we don’t have his essays, recommendations, list of activities/achievements, etc.). So, all that would be needed to recommend which schools may be academically viable options for your son. </p>
<p>You need to examine the stats of admitted students to the various colleges that interest your son. The academic level required for admission varies greatly from school to school. There may be schools willing to take a student with your son’s profile…I don’t want to list them all as I truly don’t have your son’s entire profile. As an EXAMPLE, Roosevelt, Hartt, Pace, Marymount Manhattan are some schools where the academic stats of admitted students are lower than at some other MT schools such as NYU, Michigan, Elon, UMiami, Emerson, and where the acceptance rate to the university itself is higher.</p>
<p>As far as UCLA goes, I find it hard to believe that they would take a kid with a 2.0 GPA. The statistics reported on accepted students to all of UCLA as a whole indicates that 0% of applicants with a GPA lower than 3.0 were accepted.</p>
<p>I would agree with Soozievt about UCLA. I don’t know that they are quite as rigid with MT as they are with other majors, but when my D auditioned there last year, they indicated that they would like a minimum of 3.0. It is a BA program, so students must be able to compete in non-theater classes as well as artistically.</p>
<p>It is getting increasingly more competive for MT students which only means that academics will probably start playing a greater role in acceptances. These school want smart actors and students who can prove they can juggle academics and their dance/acting/music extras.</p>
<p>I am glad that academics count in BFA admissions, honestly. Students are entering COLLEGE. This is not just some training program with singing, acting, and dancing, but it is a college where one is granted a DEGREE. Academics matter for several reasons. One is that when examining a student’s prior academic record for admission, it is not so important that the student is good at math but that the student has a strong or at least satisfactory record in doing well in the classroom because the student is going to be, well, a STUDENT at the college and so work ethic is examined to make sure the student has proper motivation, work habits, and ability to handle challenges in order to succeed in the CLASSROOM as a student. Next, the student’s academic background matters because at almost all BFA programs (ones that are situated within universities in particular), there are some classes that are not singing, acting, and dancing, and so the college needs to know if the student can handle the academic classes that are part of the degree program. Next, the strength of a student’s academic background matters when entering a BFA because a BFA is particularly intense and so students who have done well in school are more likely able to manage the intensity and time management and homework load and so forth of a BFA program. One can be a fantastic singer but not able to handle the demands that a BFA program requires. Another reason academics matter is that these programs are training actors. Good actors have to be knowledgeable about the world and be articulate and have some critical thinking skills and other skills that they bring to their acting besides the skill of acting. They need to be able to draw upon worldly knowledge and intelligence to act well. Being an actor involves interpreting text, for example.</p>
<p>In any case, since the odds of admission at most BFA in MT programs are in the single digit acceptance rates, there are more competitive/qualified (highly artistically talented) applicants than a program can take and so as they whittle down the most talented applicants, one thing that will set these kids apart will be who brings to the table a strong academic record. Since the colleges have a wide choice of very qualified and talented applicants, it makes sense to take students who the school has confidence in that will be able to succeed academically and as a student in a college setting and be able to graduate. (not to mention the many schools that require a separate acceptance into the university from the acceptance into the BFA program itself) If someone just wants training in acting, singing, and dancing, they can take classes at various studios and academics won’t matter. But with a BFA program, an applicant is entering a college degree program and that is an educational setting where academics and work ethic and all the rest do matter.</p>
<p>I too found it hard to believe which is why I remember that statement 3 1/2 years later!</p>
<p>I totally understand!</p>