Drama school applications: When your hobby becomes what you actually want to do

[Biscuitsneeded]

Posting here as opposed to Higher Ed, as I suspect there will be more parents in the know here than there. DS is nearing the end of Year 12 and is very sure he wants to apply to drama school. We know it's unlikely at 18. I am very unclear about how it all works, how it's paid for, which ones you can apply to through normal UCAS route etc. He wants acting as opposed to musical theatre. Does anyone have recent experience of DC applying, or is anyone else contemplating this same journey over the next 12 months? I think I feel anxious because my friends' kids of same age are all starting to head off to Uni Open Days, and I feel like we should be doing something, but really there's very little point going to look at a school and loving it if the chances of getting a place are about 0.00005 %. Would appreciate all advice or companionship!

@MomOfTwoGirls2 That's amazing news. Many congratulations to your DD. Will she keep auditioning or will she be happy to accept the offer she's got?

I don't know why that came up bold, sorry!

She will do a few more auditions.
We have some shows booked around auditions, so we will be travelling anyway 😊.

Fabulous news @MomOfTwoGirls2 !

@KnottyKnitting @TottersBlankly @FANTINE2 Please can I seek your advice? As I posted a few weeks ago, DS was offered an Acting place at a very good (I think) drama school. It would definitely rank in the top 10. He and I were thrilled. However, he has since been told he is on the reserve list at one of what he would deem the top 3 London schools. He went to see graduate plays at both and feels strongly that the place where he is a reserve is more the kind of place he wants to train at. It's not so much the prestige that matters, but he felt the training and the quality of the shows were incomparable. He's young still, so doesn't have to go this year - although his father won't like it! - but is saying he wants to decline his offer and try again next year. Is this wise, or foolhardy? I keep telling him that training at a decent school should be good enough and then it will be up to him to get an agent and be proactive with his career, but he thinks there would be a huge inbuilt advantage in being trained at the London school. All thoughts gratefully accepted.

Well done to your son!😊
First and foremost I would say go with your gut.
If he takes the offer knowing that he really prefers the other one, he may well be on a hiding to nothing.
Secondly, he is clearly talented and therefore if he did decide to wait, that extra time would do him no harm. It’s a long game and often the more life experience you have the better. Drama schools are harsh places, I speak from personal experience. They are not easy places to navigate. Time spent working in the real world etc can only serve to make him a more rounded individual.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the agent situation. It is a consideration , but the London schools do attract the better agents. Also there is nothing wrong with starting with a middle of the road agent. My D knows graduates who were taken by top agents, but who were dropped a year or so down the line.
Finally, don’t forget that the reserve lists are active right up until August and September. If he holds his nerve, he may well be offered a place late in the day anyway. People nearly always drop out.
It is a tricky one but I hope I have helped a little.

Having watched DD and her friends go through the auditions and now the first six months of their MT degrees. The vast majority of them choose places that really played to their strengths ( they are all at the big players Conti, Bird, Urdang and ArtsEd). The one person who is not quite so happy was made an amazing offer by one place as she was an unusual casting type for them and had another offer from a more expected school. She is finding it quite hard going as it doesn't focus on her strengths.
If any one is considering Conti as a parent I have been really impressed by the pastoral care at Conti and DD has been very impressed by her training. On the dance side she is a tapper, top set at Conti and taught by someone who has just come out of 42nd street.
Her friends who have gone on to do Acting have found the process more exposing in first year stripping you right back, but none of them are unhappy.

Hard to advise really but what I can say is that reserve places at the top schools very rarely seem to come up and it's not usually done on a priority order.e.g first on the list automatically gets the place. It all depends who has turned down the place. I think they will look for a similar person from their reserve list to fill the place.

However if he is young then he could get a job and try again next year. One of DDs friends took a place in a school where his heart really wasn't in it he dropped out after a term and auditioned the next year and got into ARTs ed.

Is there an option to accept the place he has been given and wait and see what happens with the reserve?

@FANTINE2 Very helpful, thank you so much. What you are saying tallies with what he is saying! @KnottyKnitting thank you - I'm also conscious that the reserve places for acting as opposed to MT rarely convert to actual places, useful to hear that from you too - and they have told him the reserves are not ranked, and it is about the blend within the cohort. We need to look into what happens if he accepts the current offer for now - whether that would mean the other place would no longer consider him, for example - they are both on UCAS. It's not straightforward! @Lonecatwithkitten thank you. I think it's a bit different between MT and Acting as MT reserve places come up more often - but I absolutely take your point that he should really think about where he fits.

I’d accept it and wait to see what happens on the reserve. If he hadn’t got this reserve place he’d prob be happy with with choice.

I’ve heard quite a few people not get in this year to any so he should be celebrating really not worrying

This is such a tough one! It says an awful lot that he's prepared to wait a year to get what he really wants - but there's no guarantees next year...
I would have a good talk about what he would do in that year, to make sure he's still learning and has the same focus - so that when he auditions again, he has something new to offer (and has, of course, enjoyed that year too!).

We know a super talented person who went off to ArtsEd, having been offered a foundation year there, it being her dream school. They were offered the full degree course elsewhere but it was their dream to go there so they went that way. A few months later they were home, it just didn't work out. A year or two later, having regrouped and plucked up the confidence again, they are now sitting on at least two offers to start again (full course) in September - I am sure ArtsEd is one of them. Sometimes time, circumstance and where your head is at all play a part.

I can only say if my 17yo stubborn DS were telling me he would rather wait a year than go to a certain uni (non performer), I doubt I'd persuade him otherwise - and if I did, he'd have a predisposed filter to the experience... So as always, you can only let him make his own decisions I guess! And not everyone is as downright stubborn and cocksure as my eldest!

Look into what happens if you take the other offer but then the reserve place is offered, and use that to decide - you can wait till whatever the deadline may be I assume...

Good luck! Well done to him, he clearly has the talent!

Try RADA, I went there, and it’s utterly lovely.
it was so many years ago I went there - but I felt so supported and still look back on those days with immense gratitude.

Ah I'm sure RADA is lovely - just a little difficult to get in to!!😉

@allhailthebrain You're very right - it has to be DS' decision and there's no point in him going off to a place he isn't sure about.

Best of luck to you DS in making his decision!!

Does he have a mentor that he can talk it over with, review Pros and Cons, etc?

Not quite the same but my DD applied for Dance Diploma 3 years ago, got several offers but she decided to stay in school. It was my preference but I left the decision to her.

She stayed focused and worked very hard, especially on her weaknesses. She reapplied for MT degrees this year and got even better offers. She received a wait list for her top choice but will be very happy to take one of her offers.

But she has already waited 3 years and does not have time on her side. And she could see herself very happy at 3 places on her list.

Hi there, not sure if this will get to you, but as you seem to know about drama schools, do you know anything about the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, my DS has been offered a place there, but also at Bristol School of Acting, neither of us know very much, he more than me!!!

There is a more active thread about drama school applications which might be more useful to you

Post here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5201969-performing-arts-2025?page=24&reply=144278179

Hello! I would encourage you to look at the thread mentioned above too, and also possibly the drama school 2025 thread on the Student Room. However, in answer to your question I would say Birmingham Conservatoire has a very solid reputation. Bristol School of Acting might be more of a gamble because it's quite new, but I've heard good things about the tutors. Which does your DS prefer?

Thanks I'll look at the thread. I think it's probably the thought of 'solid' which might be making him less enthusiastic about Birmingham, on the other hand he doesn't want a kind of alty place which is possibly Bristol. He got to third call back of Oxford but they offered him the foundation, not the 3 year. I've suggested he ask if he can spend a day at RBC, find out more. Yes he thought tutors at Bristol were great. He is looking for quality of teaching above all.