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Comment by hellbannedguy | Hacker News Reader

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hellbannedguy·

Drama classes should be free.

The odds of anyone breaking into that hollywood club is like winning the lottery.

I have respect for anyone who sticks with acting though.

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Theatre designer here. Just being accepted into that program is a winning lottery ticket. Make it through, and the worst life that awaits you is a tenured professorship, if not a Broadway and TV career.

Yeah, exactly, Yale Drama is just one of those places that will make your career. There are certainly great actors out there that go on different paths, but Yale is going to give you an enormous advantage.

Here is a list of some of their alumni: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Yale_School_of_Drama_...

I disagree. They have a couple hundred students there at any time and the percent of people who will make an actual career from it is still relatively low. Way better than moving to Hollywood with no connections but it is still extremely winner take all.

They only accept 15-17 people per year. They probably have a lot more in undergrad, but from what I understand this is for their MFA program:

https://www.drama.yale.edu/training/acting/application-requi...

Hollywood may be the pinnacle for some actors financially, but the stage is where many want to hone/demonstrate their abilities.

I disagree that drama classes should be free solely on the basis that actors, on average, are not highly-paid. That opens the door to income-based repayment for every other major/career combination.

Instead of advocating for drama school to not be free because every other school isn't free, we should be advocating for every school to be free.

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