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My DD is looking at applying for 2016 entry to drama school. She's looked at pretty much all of them and had narrowed her choice down to 5. She's then had a meeting with head of drama at college who's said she would tell them if they (in her opinion) had no chance. She's told DS that she needs to improve her grades (we know), do more drama out of college (trying) and that her selection of courses is a 'mish mash' of choices and she needs to 'focus'.

It might be that I've gone acting course blind but they all seem fairly similar to me - year one 'learning your craft, voice & movement'; year 2 'honing/perfecting your craft, more voice & movement'; year 3 - applying what you've learned - public performances and showcases'. We've been to 2 open days (LIPA & Manchester Met) and they seemed similar again. There are small differences - some have more Stanislavski, others more Shakespeare; some do experimental theatre, others don't but essentially they all look the same to me.

Can anyone give me any guidance on what to look for? I know very little about acting but would like to be able to help DD make this difficult choice. We could go to 10 open days but I'm not sure I've the time or money for that

DD has just graduated from the BA Acting course at LIPA. She had a great time there, learnt a lot and has come out of it with a good agent. A couple of her coursemates have already landed v. good roles ... one performing in The Shriker at the Royal Exchange in Manchester with Maxine Peake and another in rehearsals for The Titanic Orchestra with John Hannah. We found that you get a really good feel for a school at the audition and DD auditioned for as many schools as she could. LIPA was her first choice and fortunately she ended up there. She also really liked Man Met and Central and got recalls for both but no place. I do think its a case of finding the best fit for the individual student ... there is probably little to choose in terms of actual course although there will be differences in terms of amount of singing/dancing etc between straight Acting courses and of course some schools are seen as being more prestigious (RADA, BOVTS, Guildhall, etc). When DD started at LIPA all the acting students did a LOT of dance and singing as well as acting classes, but I think the course focus has changed and there is a bigger component of TV/radio/voiceover training in all years now rather than just in 3rd year. Hope this helps ... feel free to PM if you want any more info!