Making Your Final School Decision (Relatively) Stress-Free

You did it! Your auditions were a success! Now there are multiple schools that want you to be a part of their program! It’s everything you could have hoped for. There is just one tiny problem… you can’t decide which school to choose.

Don’t freak out. This is an amazing problem to have. But if you are anything like me, sometimes making huge life decisions is incredibly daunting. So I want to talk you through a few ways to help you choose which school is right for you without freaking yourself out!

Let’s start at the very beginning… a very good place to start! (Sorry, that won’t happen again.)

Practicality 

When you first started this journey, you had a list of everything you wanted in your dream school. From where it was located, to the style of program, to the types of opportunities outside of your major… the list went on and on and got more specific. It helped narrow down your choices from a few hundred to 20 or 30. 

Well, now that you have your acceptances, it is time once again to make your list. The big difference here is that we aren’t talking about your dreams. We are talking about REALITY. So now the focus of your list needs to change. We need to look at it from a PRACTICAL sense. Now how you define what is practical and impractical is up to you. 

Here are a few questions that you should ask yourself:

•   How much am I receiving in financial aid and/or what kind of scholarships is a school offering?

•   Is the distance from home a bigger concern/challenge now than it was 9 months ago?

•   Do I really want to go to this school even though I was accepted in a different major than what I auditioned for? 

There are many, many other questions that you and your family will need to talk about. Once you can nail down answers to some concrete questions, your list is going to get a little smaller. Narrowing down your list means you are removing a little bit of stress from your decision making!

Feel

Ok. So your list is a little smaller. But you still have a few choices. That’s ok! Now that we have answered the practical side of things, we get into feel. This is that super mushy, ooey-gooey, gut feeling thing. As performers, we tend to be good at reading vibes. We are very aware of what feels right to us and, more importantly, what feels wrong.

Think back to your auditions for a second. Which rooms did you get that “Oh yeah, I want to work with these people,” feeling? Those schools should stay on your list. Which rooms did you get the “Wow, this is not the right atmosphere for me,” feeling? Take those schools off.

Having the right level of comfort with faculty matters! What we do as actors is incredibly vulnerable. If you don’t feel like you click with the people who would be teaching you, you don’t want to go to that school.

Now, if you were fortunate enough to visit the schools on your list, you have another set of feelings to explore: how did the school feel? Yes I know, to many of you the theatre program is the end all be all. But, remember you are going to LIVE HERE FOR 4 YEARS. How the campus, city, dorms, and everything else feels, matters! If things don’t jive, it’s probably not the right place for you.

This is the time when being a super intuitive, sensitive, empathic artist really helps. Our guts are usually pretty good indicators of what feels right and wrong. Trust ‘em. 

Coin Flip

Phew. So at this point, your list has hopefully been narrowed down even a little more. Maybe even some of you have been able to make the big decision! HOORAY!

If you haven’t- don’t panic. There is still one more thing you can do… flip a coin. I know, I know. That sounds ridiculous. But it is true. Flip a coin. Pick two schools, make one heads, one tails, flip it, and boom! Problem solved.

I’m not joking. Flip a coin. Because you see, it’s not about the outcome of the coin flip. It’s about how you feel about the outcome. My friends and I use this method whenever we are stuck on a problem. Because whatever answer comes up we get what we really wanted. If it’s heads, and we find ourselves disappointed that it wasn’t tails, then we know exactly what we should choose. If it’s heads and we are happy, then it confirms what we already felt. Science it ain’t. But it sure is an effective way of helping you figure out what you really want. 

But here is the big secret- you are going to end up exactly where you are meant to be. I know it is cliche, but it is true. So take a deep breath, make your lists, and if all else fails… flip a coin. 

You got this!