Back in 2014 I decided I wanted to be a professional, working actor. I knew it would not be easy, but I did, however, have a plan. It was Senior year of high school, and I remember thinking that the reason most actors struggle is due to poor finances when they begin their hopeful careers. I knew I needed to do more than just hope for success, I had to plan and work for it. So I decided in 2014, at 17 years old, to forgo all the 4-year colleges and universities I was accepted to, and I changed my life forever. The goal was to be like Bradley Cooper and go to The Actors Studio Drama School for my MFA degree in Acting. (Watching Silver Linings Playbook inspired me to be an actor. It’s a long story). To get to ASDS seemed impossible. How could I afford 4-years at SUNY Geneseo AND spend 3 years in Graduate School? The truth is… I couldn’t. I come from a working class family. I had no connections at all with the acting industry. I had no way in. No mentor. But I had this plan. I had to get a 4-year degree as cost efficiently as possible. So my first decision was to attend community college. A wise teacher once told me, “most people who transfer out of school say they couldn’t afford the first year of college, but it’s actually that they could not afford the second.” By choosing to go to community college, I was able to take the time to test the waters, take classes and develop my plan without the pressure of ridiculous student loans. I also knew that the more classes I took, the faster I could finish my undergraduate degree, and the faster I did it meant fewer semesters I had to enroll in, which meant I saved thousands of dollars in the process. After community college I obtained my BA online in 2016. It took me 2 years to get a 4 year degree. The plan worked. But then the hard part started. Auditioning for Grad School. Over the course of the next few blog posts, I will take you through the auditioning process of each MFA Program I auditioned for in the 2016-2017 year. Each blog will highlight my experience at each school, and will be released as a series, once per week. If you are interested in getting into graduate school, I hope that what worked for me, works for you as well.
Thanks for reading and be on the lookout for my next post: Auditioning- The Yale School of Drama.
-Dan Pavacic
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Twitter: @danpavacic
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