Resources/advice for applying for more artsy major?

[Anonymous]

I was your daughter, BFA in Video/Film and MA in Motion Media Design. I work as a Multimedia Specialist and do just fine.

I went to SCAD, very expensive but for the field I was in they had some of the best facilities and kept up with the equipment. Most of the other schools I looked at couldn't compete. In the end, the grades and the degree won't get her a job, but her experience, and portfolio when she is finished will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how crappy is the GPA?

2.94 weighted after sophomore year; theatre tech; will take 3 APs in junior year

Are you in Virginia? Christopher Newport has a good theatre tech program that graduates kids that get jobs in theatre. If he can raise his GPA a bit this year and show interest in the program he might have a shot there.

Have you asked his theatre teacher at school for suggestions?

Yes, we are in Virginia. Looking at VCU and CNU as possible schools. If he does well in junior year, he could raise his weighted GPA to roughly a 3.4 and therefore the BFA instead of BA question. He really likes JMU but I think it is too much of a reach.

Theatre teacher is anti-conservatory in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how crappy is the GPA?

2.94 weighted after sophomore year; theatre tech; will take 3 APs in junior year

That's pretty bad. Are you sure that a year or two at community college is not the way to go? If he/she can manage a better GPA at community college, there will be a LOT more choices. If the GPA cannot be improved at community college, at least the student won't have spent a lot of money to find out that college was a bad idea.

Community college would not work well for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you loaded? Because otherwise sending your kid off for one of these types of courses is a total waste of time unless you can continue to support them for about a decade thereafter.

I'm not OP but this is a stereotype. Arts majors can apply their education in plenty of ways that get them real jobs and the arts themselves are real jobs--there are just fewer of them.

--Friends' kid did theatre tech in college and now manages a regional theatre. Has had a succession of solid theatre tech/stage management/theatre management jobs; he's not rich and never will be but has always supported himself. He too had people telling him he'd never get a "real job" with his degree.
--Another friend's DD did an art degree and works in computer graphics.
--An art major we know now uses her art background in her work with troubled kids.
--We know two full-time actors making a living after getting theater degrees. Neither lives with mom and dad.
--Another friend had a theater and English degree and has long worked in proposal management for tech firms (because she can deal with all sorts of people thanks to her theatre skills, and can write, and many of her tech colleagues are rotten writers). She's been headhunted by firms wanting her skills.

Those are just anecdotal and I'm sure PP could say there are many cases of arts majors who are living in mom's basement at 35. Sure there are. But to say all arts degrees are always a waste of time is too huge a generalization.

I seriously doubt they have not had financial support from their parents and had to do other crappy jobs around the acting jobs. I'm sorry but that is just the reality.

[Anonymous]

No one said "all arts degrees are a waste of time" you are imagining that.

But the truth is that unless you are wealthy and able to support your kid into their 30s potentially (esp if they choose dance, sculpture, painting, as a career) then its going to be a dead end for your kid unless they are prepared to give up their dreams and do these weird computer related media careers noted by some posters above. And frankly who spends 4 years+ studying theater to work in admin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And frankly who spends 4 years+ studying theater to work in admin?

Apparently no one mentioned in this thread.

[Anonymous]

DH works with lots of BFA and MFA grads in the multimedia dept for a federal agency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And frankly who spends 4 years+ studying theater to work in admin?

Apparently no one mentioned in this thread.

People who work for arts non-profits, particularly some of the amazing nationally-recognized regional theatres we have in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how crappy is the GPA?

2.94 weighted after sophomore year; theatre tech; will take 3 APs in junior year

Are you in Virginia? Christopher Newport has a good theatre tech program that graduates kids that get jobs in theatre. If he can raise his GPA a bit this year and show interest in the program he might have a shot there.

Have you asked his theatre teacher at school for suggestions?

Yes, we are in Virginia. Looking at VCU and CNU as possible schools. If he does well in junior year, he could raise his weighted GPA to roughly a 3.4 and therefore the BFA instead of BA question. He really likes JMU but I think it is too much of a reach.

Theatre teacher is anti-conservatory in general.

I would not rule out try JMU, especially if grades go way up. 2nd the CNU suggestion. Also suggest looking at OOS publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how crappy is the GPA?

2.94 weighted after sophomore year; theatre tech; will take 3 APs in junior year

Are you in Virginia? Christopher Newport has a good theatre tech program that graduates kids that get jobs in theatre. If he can raise his GPA a bit this year and show interest in the program he might have a shot there.

Have you asked his theatre teacher at school for suggestions?

Yes, we are in Virginia. Looking at VCU and CNU as possible schools. If he does well in junior year, he could raise his weighted GPA to roughly a 3.4 and therefore the BFA instead of BA question. He really likes JMU but I think it is too much of a reach.

Theatre teacher is anti-conservatory in general.

I would not rule out try JMU, especially if grades go way up. 2nd the CNU suggestion. Also suggest looking at OOS publics.

How likely is it really that a kid with a 2.9 GPA (weighted, the unweighted has got to be abysmal) after 2 years of HS is going to make a massive improvement in his junior year? Has he got a real plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how crappy is the GPA?

2.94 weighted after sophomore year; theatre tech; will take 3 APs in junior year

Are you in Virginia? Christopher Newport has a good theatre tech program that graduates kids that get jobs in theatre. If he can raise his GPA a bit this year and show interest in the program he might have a shot there.

Have you asked his theatre teacher at school for suggestions?

Yes, we are in Virginia. Looking at VCU and CNU as possible schools. If he does well in junior year, he could raise his weighted GPA to roughly a 3.4 and therefore the BFA instead of BA question. He really likes JMU but I think it is too much of a reach.

Theatre teacher is anti-conservatory in general.

I would not rule out try JMU, especially if grades go way up. 2nd the CNU suggestion. Also suggest looking at OOS publics.

How likely is it really that a kid with a 2.9 GPA (weighted, the unweighted has got to be abysmal) after 2 years of HS is going to make a massive improvement in his junior year? Has he got a real plan?

Who knows? It is possible.

Maybe you know His Real Plan?!

[Anonymous]

My mom is a theatre teacher at an all-girls school in a big Midwest city. She makes $85K. She has always worked in theatre: theatre production, arts education, nonprofits.

I have a cousin who went to SCAD and works as an illustrator.

Another cousin went to the Art Institute of Chicago and is a photographer who has a huge portfolio and whose work is used in advertising.

A third cousin is a visual merchandiser for a major brand. She went to Pratt in NYC.

My parents really wanted me to pursue dance in college, at a conservatory, but I didn't think it was practical. I have a girlfriend who developed and patented a ballet workout and has a chain of studios.

My sister majored in arts management. She works at the Kennedy Center.
I'm glad I had the parents and family I did, who value art.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom is a theatre teacher at an all-girls school in a big Midwest city. She makes $85K. She has always worked in theatre: theatre production, arts education, nonprofits.

I have a cousin who went to SCAD and works as an illustrator.

Another cousin went to the Art Institute of Chicago and is a photographer who has a huge portfolio and whose work is used in advertising.

A third cousin is a visual merchandiser for a major brand. She went to Pratt in NYC.

My parents really wanted me to pursue dance in college, at a conservatory, but I didn't think it was practical. I have a girlfriend who developed and patented a ballet workout and has a chain of studios.

My sister majored in arts management. She works at the Kennedy Center.
I'm glad I had the parents and family I did, who value art.

This is all very nice but I'm sorry, teaching theater at an all girls school is not "working in theater" - its teaching. There is a difference and its a pretty big one. Nice salary though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how crappy is the GPA?

2.94 weighted after sophomore year; theatre tech; will take 3 APs in junior year

How are the grades distributed? Does he get As in his arts courses and do poorly in everything else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom is a theatre teacher at an all-girls school in a big Midwest city. She makes $85K. She has always worked in theatre: theatre production, arts education, nonprofits.

I have a cousin who went to SCAD and works as an illustrator.

Another cousin went to the Art Institute of Chicago and is a photographer who has a huge portfolio and whose work is used in advertising.

A third cousin is a visual merchandiser for a major brand. She went to Pratt in NYC.

My parents really wanted me to pursue dance in college, at a conservatory, but I didn't think it was practical. I have a girlfriend who developed and patented a ballet workout and has a chain of studios.

My sister majored in arts management. She works at the Kennedy Center.
I'm glad I had the parents and family I did, who value art.

PP unfortunately, has the competitive "put other's choices and opportunities down" type attitude that you will find is very prevalent in the "art" world. Just ignore pp, there are some very sensible posts here, OP.

This is all very nice but I'm sorry, teaching theater at an all girls school is not "working in theater" - its teaching. There is a difference and its a pretty big one. Nice salary though.