<p>My S is in the process of making his final decision amongst Emerson, BA theater, Muhlenberg, BA theater, American University, BA Musical theater and Fordham, English Major and minor in theater (he auditioned for BA in acting but did was not accepted into program). I know these schools vary in local, atmosphere, academics and price. Here is the run down: full scholarship and honor's college at Adelphi (but we live on Long Island and I (S's Mom) and D's dad are Adelphi alum - while we both enjoyed our days at Adelphi, we recognize that it really is a commuter school, and this might not be the best "college experience" for S.) S loves the vibe of Emerson and is so happy that he was accepted to the school based on his academics and audition. He loves all aspects of the theater and while he loves to perform, he also loves to write, design, direct, produce etc.. He loves the fact that he will be in a city and around like-minded "artsy" students. S got a $14,000 scholarship, but did not get into the honors program. I am concerned that he will not have access to academic subjects like science and advanced foreign languages, which he enjoyed and excelled at in high school. S loves musical so getting into American's BA Musical theater program was thrilling for him. We also like the fact he can double major or minor in another subject. He was also acepted into the Honors Program at American - and I'm sure he would enjoy that. The issue is the price tag - even with a $12,000 scholarship American is very expensive. The dark horse in the race is Fordham. If he got into the BA Acting program, I'm sure that would have been his top choice. He can audition again, but he knows the chance of getting into the BA Acting program is slight. He can also minor in theater and still audition for Fordham productions. The nice part is that he could dorm in Lincoln Center and he received a $25,000 scholarship. Any comments, thoughts would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>…as for Muhlenberg, S loves the campus and the notion he can minor in another area. S is not that crazy about Allentown (but does love Dorney Park). He received $14,000 scholarship and $3,500 talent scholarship. In the end we are very pleased that S has great options and good schools to choose from. The application/audition process was grueling (in the midst of school work and school plays) - feel like we are in the homestretch, but the final decision is really difficult.</p>
<p>disneymom: Good luck on your choice! You all have clearly done a lot of real thinking about this one, and your S has great options. At the risk of sounding glib, I really don’t think he can go wrong - he is motivated and excited and will make the most out of anything he can get.</p>
<p>What we did with a difficult decision last year was break it down into clear components and then rank them. It sounds kind of calculating, but it really helped put things in perspective. From what you’ve written, it seems that for him, these could be:</p>
<p>1) Theatre program
2) General academics
3) Cost
4) Location
5) Campus life/student body</p>
<p>Basically she rated each school on, say, a 1-5 scale for each component. She also ranked the components themselves - for example, whether the theatre program was more important to her than campus life, etc.</p>
<p>Make a chart, do the rankings, and see how the numbers turn up. I can’t predict, based on what you said, but if for example theatre, particularly musical theatre, plus location, particularly being in the city are both very important to him, and general academics, but cost not so much, then American will have the highest score. If he realizes that to him the theatre major is the most important thing, and more important than cost, he will drop his dreams of Fordham. The same thing with general academics and Emerson. You didn’t mention details about Muhlenberg - but depending on their FA offer and how important musical theatre is, or location, he’ll know where it stands, too.</p>
<p>One thing about cost: Look at the big picture. I know this is A LOT of money, but if you could afford the most expensive option, add up each school for 4 years, not just one. A difference of $10K a year is a lot, but percentage-wise in a total of over $200K it might not look so important, especially if he can’t major in theatre. Also, FA can change from year to year - $10K less for the first year can turn into $10K more in future years. So look carefully at the fine print on scholarships.</p>
<p>Thank you EmmyBet! we will be “charting” this week. We are also seeing another production at Adelphi this week, atttending Emerson’s accepted students day and seeing an Emerson production this weekend. Also, we will go to American’s accepted student day reception in NYC and finally Muhlenberg’s and Adelphi’s accepted student’s day next weekend (wheww). I am almost glad that a decision has to be made in less than three weeks! Fortunately, I think that my S will be very happy and make the most out of any school he attends. A big thank you to EmmyBet and all CC posters who have provided great information and insight.</p>
<p>Sorry - just saw the Muhlenberg post. I’ve been searching online for a website that did this calculation for us, but I can’t find it. Maybe it’s gone. But I would think you could just do this numerically yourself, or do it on a graph, table, whatever. It was an interesting process and she found it very helpful to see how the numbers turned out.</p>
<p>Just wanted to say that my S has really enjoyed all the English classes he has taken at Fordham and while it’s no guarantee, they do take kids into the major as late as sophomore year. One of my S’s suite mates came in as a minor after being rejected initially and he participated in productions and worked on his craft. He reauditioned twice but was finally accepted!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Sandkmom!</p>