Those are all fantastic schools with solid theater programs, but you must consider what you want to do. A conservatory program along the lines of C.M. will not allow for much flexibility.
When I was dealing with high school students on a daily basis, I could not stress that enough. Yes, you love technical theater now, but how will you feel in 4 years? I know how I felt after 4 years, but I keep getting work and keep working!
A school like Full Sail, is considered by those of us who do the hiring, to be a
bit of a factory for mediocrity. Yes there are students who emerge from there with real talent, but they are few and far between and I was looking really hard for talented ones.
The school doesn't matter so much as the ability to LEARN. You could do theater in the boodocks, but if you are surrounded by people who are also willing, not just to 'teach' the art, but to be even more specific, to be surrounded by people who will
teach YOU.
Find a mentor, as suggested, is one of the primary ways to really learn in this industry. I was lucky to have one of the greatest broadway lighting designers as my mentor for many years and it benefited me far more than simple education. That and work. Lots and lots of work. And failing. Lots and lots of failing and finding a new way to approach a situation to turn that failure into a success before anyone finds out that you failed!
My advice is pick the school you like for what you want from it. One of the things I realized as I was graduating from my program was that I could have studied ANYTHING and still been involved in the theater department. How it took me 4 years to realize that is beyond me. In that way, not only do you have degree to fall back on, but you can keep a little perspective on this crazy theater life.
As for work outside of academia, find GOOD summer
stock, if you are in a big city take legitimate internships, even during the school year. I am a huge advocate of finding theaters and companies that are affiliated with the various trade unions (
IATSE,
AEA etc.) I have found that the quality of the work and of the people is greatly increased, especially in summer
stock which can be more like abuse some places.
Of course the conservatory life, you had better be 100% sure that is what you want because 4 years and $100,000 later, there you are.
I also can't place enough emphasis on the idea I also passed along to my students, whether they liked it or not: no matter where you go to school, what program you choose to study, like anything, you will either be good enough to make a living at it or you won't. There isn't any in between. If you want to feed yourself AND pay rent working in the entertainment industry, you had better be aware of that distinction and be aware of what to do about it.
The same theory holds true in every profession, that just because you went to medical school doesn't mean that you're a good doctor because 'C still equals MD'