<p>How many schools do you recommend auditioning for? I'm a junior so I'm working on my list now and I have ten schools so far. Some bfa some ba and some ba to bfa programs. I know from the fact that the programs are so hard to get in to that ten is not too many schools, but is it too little? My current list is,
USC
Ucla
Chapman
Loyola marymount
Calarts
Pepperdine
Emerson
Bu
Fsu
Ithaca
Additions? Subtractions? Any information is helpful! I'm going to take campus tours soon!</p>
<p>Just make sure you also have non audition schools, admissions and financial safeties and that you would be perfectly happy attending any one of them. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Lauren, good job! You’re getting there! Your list is very good and pretty nicely balanced. I don’t know your stats or exact interests, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a couple more slam-dunk safeties on there. I’m guessing you’re either from CA or just really want to be out there - there are a lot of very nice, less selective schools with lovely theatre programs in CA, and certainly in other parts of the country, too.</p>
<p>I think it is very common for an auditioning kid to have 10-12 schools. It depends on the person, but most people would like a choice when they get to the end of the process. If you look at the group from this year (which resembles groups from past years), you’ll see that results vary wildly, but that a nice outcome is based on a varied set of options that looks something like this:</p>
<p>Auditioned schools -
- Highly selective: usually accept 10-15% of applicants, or even less
- Less selective: usually accept 20-25% of applicants
There are no safeties here. 25% is a low acceptance rate by any standards, like a “top 50” college, so you can’t count on any of these schools.</p>
<p>Non-auditioned schools (all based on academics):
- Reach: again, anywhere from 10-30% acceptance rate, where your stats are below the top 25% of applicants
- Match: at least 40-50% acceptance rate, where your stats are at least at the 50th percentile
- Safety: over 50% acceptance rate, and where your stats are solidly in the top 25%, AND you know you can afford it</p>
<p>Take your list and see if you have a couple of schools in each category. Of course no one is required to do the highly selective or reach schools, but many kids want to give those schools a try. I really recommend having at least 2 safety/likely match schools; most kids really hate having only one acceptance and no choices at the end of the process.</p>
<p>If you look at the results for most of the kids this year and in previous years, they have done a good job of having a couple of safety BAs (even BFAs - there are a couple available), and have gotten into some of their match schools, plus some of their less selective auditioned schools. Many kids get into one reach school or another, but some do not. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that - it is like getting rejected from an Ivy.</p>
<p>I found it helpful to keep our list organized in this way - split in two, then again into levels of selectivity. Of course, within each list my D had her preferred schools (often one school was a backup for another one she liked a bit better).</p>
<p>I reminded her the other day that the only schools she was rejected from were in the less-than-20% acceptance rate group (mostly 10% or less) - and she was waitlisted at one of those. I hope she understands she has a lot to be proud of. She certainly had lots of good and varied choices when she was done.</p>
<p>I’m going to post this on the other new thread for Juniors, too.</p>
<p>really wonderful post, EmmyBet, and I echo the idea to have non-auditioned match schools, and not only safeties on the list: the reason being, that only having “safeties” might make the student feel like they’re settling on a school because of rejection (but even the safeties should be picked with the idea that the student likes the school and not just because it appears a likely acceptance).</p>
<p>Yes, I was trying(!) to be brief, and didn’t even get into how you decide you like a school. I just wanted to respond to how to make a list and the “am I being realistic?” kind of question.</p>
<p>It’s hard not to feel like your “safeties” or even lower match schools aren’t less exciting or impressive, but that’s a challenge that all college applicants deal with. Absolutely I wish for all kids to love all of the schools on their list.</p>
<p>The very first - and very best - piece of advice we got in the college search process was:</p>
<p>Only apply to schools you really want to go to, so that in the end you will be guaranteed to be happy with your results.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! Do you happen to know if you get rejected from a theater program do you get rejected from the school too? Even if your academics are high enough to get by that alone. Odds are I wouldn’t go to a school that I didn’t get into the program at but I was just curious for reference.</p>
<p>Laurenkes, whether you can be accepted to a school academically and still attend if you are not accepted by the theater department varies by school. You can do that, for instance, at several schools, including Fordham University: kids who audition for their performance major (acting) can also check off a little box saying that they want to still be considered for the school if they are not chosen for the performance major. University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) requires you to be accepted academically before you get to audition for their BFA with Guthrie, and if you don’t make it into the BFA, you can still go to Minnesota. Other schools, like NYU Tisch, function as “all or nothing.” So you really need to do your research and make a chart or list, school by school, so you know.</p>
<p>And Minnesota, for example, has a very solid BA in theatre (non-auditioned) that you can do if you don’t get into the Guthrie BFA. It has its own department, faculty, productions, etc.</p>
<p>If you want to apply to a school with an awesome theatre department that doesn’t require an audition, look at UC Irvine! I auditioned for almost all of the same schools as you, but still had schools like UCI, USF, and others as back-ups. You have an awesome list thought! Just make sure your audition dates don’t overlap or get too crammed. I had to fly to Chicago for UCLA (long story), and had to fly back to my home in Cali to get ready for NYU, BU, SUNY Purchase, and Chapman that same weekend. It was crazy, but wasn’t impossible. Just be careful and plan ahead ;)</p>
<p>I was looking at uci but I don’t live in California so uci would be such a hard school for me to get into because it’s like 90% in state. So I think I have to find a school near me for my non audition safety.</p>
<p>laurenkes – if you feel comfortable sharing the state in which you live people on the board may be able to offer suggestions. :-)</p>
<p>I live in Florida. I’m applying to fsu. They have a bfa and a ba program so im hoping I’d get one or the other. But I really want to live Florida. That’s the problem. Hahaha</p>
<p>lauren - you’re doing a good job, and it’s nice that you can do some visiting. Do you and your parents have an idea of where you can go on some tours?</p>
<p>A lot of kids from the South go to Unified auditions either in Chicago or NY. That would give you a chance to audition at many schools from many places, fairly conveniently. Although I will say that I think the Unified Schools end up being pretty competitive, simply because they can draw on hundreds of auditioners, and it’s good to have some schools where you can audition on campus.</p>
<p>The mid-Atlantic has some very nice schools - Savannah College of Art and Design, Coastal Carolina, and several others where CC kids have gotten in and gone. You should check the past couple of years’ acceptance threads and read the decision threads also. You can get a view of schools around the country that way and what people have thought of them.</p>
<p>We are going to visit all the schools I want to see in california and hopefully see the ones in the northeast as well. Pretty much as many as we can visit. That’s why I was hoping to get a pretty long list of schools to visit.</p>
<p>If you’re still making your list and need suggestions, can you put down a little more information for us? Such as:</p>
<p>About where do you stand academically?
Do you have a strong desire for certain aspects of a theatre education (certain acting techniques, any focus on areas other than acting, what kind of performance opportunities you prefer, etc.)?
Do you want anything else out of a school? “Rah-rah” college, or low-high emphasis on liberal arts, kind of campus, city access, etc.</p>
<p>For example: My D knew before we visited colleges 1) what her general admissions chances were, since very few schools are “practically audition only”; 2) that she would prefer that there not be an MT program or MFA Acting, that she was OK with more classwork and fewer productions, that she preferred a “toolbox” approach to Acting, and that she wanted some foundations in directing, design and tech; and 3) that she wanted a “real college” experience as much as possible, did like liberal arts and might want to minor in something else, liked cities but did not want to live IN Manhattan for school; and other details. She also hoped to have a great theatre study abroad built into the program.</p>
<p>Some of this might be unclear yet to you - because you haven’t visited yet, and college visits are a great way to find out your preferences. But if there’s anything you can lean toward, we can help you narrow down (or expand) your options.</p>
<p>PS - She got all of these things at her chosen school: Adelphi!</p>
<p>I am much more focused on acting as opposed to tech and stuff like that. I don’t want a musical theatre program because I don’t sing, believe me, I’ve tried. Haha. I want a school that also has a strong film program because my passion is film acting. My dream school would have a theatre program that gives me all the skills I need to be a good actress and also has a strong film program so that I can take part in student films and maybe even take a directing class or screenwriting class. I go both ways with the rah rah school. I would love a school with a football team and all the school pride but I would be able to look past it if the program was worth it. I want study abroad for sure. Also, a school that has some sort of industry showcase senior year to introduce you to agents would be a huge bonus to me. Besides that, anything goes. Thanks a lot for the help!</p>
<p>UPDATE! I have been thinking and thinking in the past few weeks and I have edited my list. Some are the same, I added some, and got rid of some. </p>
<p>USC
Ucla
Chapman
Loyola marymount
Pepperdine
Ithaca
Elon
Fordham
Boston university
Emerson
Fsu
Washington university in St. Louis(non audition)</p>
<p>As of now, I feel like this will be the official list… But that could change!</p>
<p>Do you have high grades and scores? Wash U certainly is pretty much a reach for anyone.</p>
<p>I know I sound like a broken record, but are you prepared to end up with ONLY the FSU BA when this is over with? I’m guessing that’s your “fallback,” and since you say you don’t want to stay in Florida, and I don’t think anyone wants just one choice at the end of the day, I really urge you to find at least one more safety.</p>
<p>And this will sound harsh: You are in love with “top name” schools. Everyone, everyone has to have schools on their list that they can count on getting into, and that means giving up ideas of prestige and possibly a hang-up that only the most prestigious schools can give you what you want and get you where you want to be. That is a fallacy, and can lead you to a lot of disappointment in more ways than one.</p>
<p>Please add some more lower match/safeties. If you are a high-stat student, there are dozens of schools that have BAs that you would really love. If not so high, then in the NY area, have you looked at Hofstra? They have a lot of film and broadcasting. In CA, I believe someone might already have suggested UC-Irvine, and there may be other non-audition, higher acceptance schools there, too (I believe Cal State Fullerton is worth looking at).</p>
<p>I’ll stop nagging about this (maybe), but I would say this to any and every kid who is making their list. We’ve all just come through the results phase, and it’s not pretty when you end up with one last school at the end, the one you really didn’t want to go to. That is SO easy to avoid, if you’re thoughtful at the beginning of this process.</p>
<p>Grades wise, yes I have all as and bs and I am in four AP classes this year. Wash u sends me a lot of information about their school so I thought I’d apply just to see. And I consider some of the other schools not a lost cause because a lot have bfa and ba programs if one doesn’t work out. Is that wrong to assume? I thought some schools would allow you to audition for both. Thanks for your help! It’s not annoying, I definitely want to be prepared.</p>
<p>I forgot to put this, I definitely want to find more safety schools it’s just tough because hard or not I still want to audition at the schools on my list because you never know if your the one their looking for and I’d be mad if I didn’t try. So it’s just tough because if I have all these safety schools I’ll need to apply to like 15+ schools, which is a lot of money and time. So im at an awkward crossroads :/</p>