I need help choosing college plan

I am a senior in High School with passing grades and a good amount of experience to back me up. I want to go into Technical theatre as a profession. Now the time has come that I need to decide what school to go to and what degree to get. I want to try and get the best paying job I can in the future without a crippling student debt afterwards. I want to get a BA in technical theatre and theatrical design, however most of the schools that offer that are $$$$$$. I live in the chicagoland area and would like to stay in Illinois and in the chicagoland area if I can. I am looking for advice on what you think I should do to best help benefit me in the future and help me be successful. so if anyone wants to share what they did, what they think is the best plan to choose or maybe have some reccomendations as far as schools or programs I would really appreciate it.
 
Bryce, welcome to the Booth!

I hope that you have at least read the top three pinned threads in this part of the forum: Recommendations about college education, How important was your college degree, and Getting a job in the industry.

If you have already scoured these threads as well as used the search function to find even more on the topic but still have questions, please be specific about what you are looking for. What have you been doing to prepare for college already? Have you visited any of the schools? Have you talked to any professionals in your area? What kind of design do you want to do?
 
In the area, College of DuPage is a great place to start, and most credits transfer to Columbia College Chicago so you can knock out an associate's and bachelor's degree in 4 years. I'm doing just that for television production/broadcast engineering.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Well, you have about another 6 months before you actually have to decide. Apply to everything you would ever want and see what comes down the pike.

With that though... Illinois is an interesting place right now. Lots a theatre schools. Lots of questions about the state government and how they will fund education.

There are the usual private schools in Chicago. Depaul, Columbia, etc. Downstate you have Millikin (my alma matter), Weslyan, and a few others. Then you have a massive state system. U of I, ISU, SIUC, SIUE, eastern, western, NIU.... all have good programs. Best bang for your buck for undergrad would be SIUC without a doubt. SIUE would be your budget friendly choice. Apply to the private schools though, you will be suprised what kind of financial aid they offer. Millikin gave me a half tuition talent scholarship... which sealed the deal for me.

College costs money. This industry won't pay crap for the first few years if ever. Do your living calculations like you will make 400-500 a week for the first few years. If you will rack up more then 30k in student loans DON'T GO TO COLLEGE. You will never get out of that hole. Added to that, if you stick to an Illinois state school you could see massive tuition increases as the state figures out how to pay its bills.

Your "passing grades" comment kind of bothers me. If you are sitting on a C average you really need to bust ass and get that up. Your financial aid will depend on it.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back