Academic DD wants to go to the Brit school

[britsornot]

Long story short, DD has always had a love of drama and in particular singing. She is rather good and has represented all of her schools in some way, either in the choir or as a soloist. She spent 9 years at our local stagecoach drama school on Saturdays and is currently part of a youth theatre. She was lucky enough to be part of a show at The National Theatre.

She is also very academic and has always wanted to become a vet. She is doing really well, and I feel has a good chance of getting the grades she would need for veterinary.

She has now decided she would like to try for The Brit School musical theatre strand. My main worry is that the academic side to the school is maybe not that strong, and veterinary would be totally out the window if she does this!

I am in a real dilemma, and if anyone has any info on the pros and cons of Brits I would be really appreciative...we have until Jan 2nd to decide!

How old is she?

My dd is 13 & either wants to be a musical theatre performer or a physiotherapist.

She is currently at Hammond, she turned down a place at a highly academic independent school to go there. She is doing very well academically & will take 9 GCSES. However we are not sure whether she will stay there for A levels as she will only be able to take 2 A levels on their Upper School Musical Theatre course which will rule out physiotherapy.

However she will keep her options open until Year 11.

If she's planning on applying to vet school she need to start racking up work experience in vet practises, on farms, in stables, boarding kennels etc now. She doesn't need to be 16 for this. It sounds as if neither of you are clear on what the entry requirements actually are do I'd suggest spending some time researching both routes and seeing which is a best fit. If she 'wants to be a vet' but has no actual experience if veterinary practise, then it's likely the reality will be very different from what she might expect

OP it is. a dilemma.

DD used to talk about attending a performing arts school post GCSE. DH was completely against it, wanting her to get good A levels first to keep every avenue open.

Fortunately what happened was she got a part in a West End show and while she loved it she made a decision to complete her academic education.

In fact she had chosen an obscenely academic school for sixth form.

What happens after 18 is up for debate but at least for now I feel more comfortable

OP,
I am not sure I agree that a year 9 needs to go out and get animal work experience but I think she needs to start doing so by say year 11 if she wants to apply for entry at the end of year 13. My daughter only decided to be a vet at the end of year 11/beginning of year 12 so she deferred a year to build up work experience.

Bear in mind that a lot of work experience places are "booked up" a year in advance. It is difficult under the age of 16 to find places to take you in London, many prefer 18 and over. Quality and variety is better than say working at the same kennels for 3 years. Perhaps arrange to shadow a vet during the next school holidays and see if she still likes the idea. As mentioned above Student Room has everything you need to know about work experience and entry requirements.

Re the Brit School, I mentioned above that my 15 year old daughter got in during year 9 for the Art strand but turned the place down. She does now regret it - we talked about it last night.

I would say to let your DD apply. If she gets in she can make the decision then. I don't think being restricted to fewer GCSE subjects would destroy a potential scientific career but it might make it a bit more tricky. One of my DD's friends is doing a scientific degree with very competitive entry and did not do GCSEs OR the foreign equivalent at all because of very unusual circumstances - just AS and A levels.

Your DD is still very young. Let her follow her dreams for now. Perhaps agree that if she wants to follow the musical path/theatre she will need a backup plan. I think if she gets into the Brit she and they will be realistic about her chances of a musical career and point her in the right direction.

I saw people at Vet School open days who were at least in their thirties. I imagine the retirement age for your daughter will be 70 at least. There is time to follow more than one career should she wish to do so.

OP
Please don't send your daughter to an elephant project in Thailand
www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/24/tourism-elephant-trade-burma-thailand

The vet schools want to know that applicants are serious and have an understanding of the work they'll be doing ( very few Thai elephant vets in the UK) Farm and vet practise placements are much more valuable.

Also it's never too early to start work experience. Yes some students don't start until later, but those that start earlier are often able to get a wider variety and this is an advantage

How many gcses do they do at Brit.

Dd will do 9, the same as the academic private school.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. Sunshineandshadows the place in Thailand I was looking at is for retired/rescued eles 'apparently' and looks like a very special place - Boon Lotts. We will look into shadowing at our local vets, or maybe the RSPCA which is very close. Maybe she will be the new Dr Dolittle...the singing vet!! She is currently looking for a GCSE music student at school to team up with for working towards the Artsmark awards they are doing in Y9.

Does she know that many of the best actors and singers didn't go to the Brit school at all? Does she know about the Royal College of Music and RADA?

That's good Brits Boon lotts is one of the very few good ones. However it still won't really be classed as work experience by many vet schools as it's not relevant to the role of a vet in the UK. Good from a social development or travel point if view though, but if costs are a concern you'd be better off spending the money on train fares and B and Bs in the UK to allow her to get a variety of experience here

What about Blue Cross? Or Battersea?

Blue Cross minimum age is 16 I think and Battersea 18. If OP or any other Londoner wants to PM me about the work experience DD did I am happy to share the info. DD was about 16 when she started though. We are in central London.

You don't have to have gone to the Brit School to have a career in the theatre. If you want to be a vet, though, you do have to have very, very good academic results (as well as appropriate work experience). Put bluntly, if she went to the Brit School she would be limiting her options; if she stayed on the academic/university track she wouldn't. I had several university friends who went on to enjoy variously successful theatre and film careers after having graduated in very different subjects from university.