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I was supposed to be famous by now. If the predictions of my friends and family were correct, I would have spent last year rubbing elbows with Christina Ricci and shooting my cinematic debut. The closest I got to Christina, though, was flipping though Entertainment Weekly, and I last used my video camera to shoot my puppy's first bath. I easily defied everyone's expectations when I was swiftly rejected from my one and only choice for film school and I haven't looked back since.

Many college-bound students are encouraged to make early career choices and select appropriate schools, especially when going into the arts. Often, these programs are very specific in scope and quite selective. Last year, The Juilliard School, New York, NY, a top school for actors, dancers, and musicians, accepted only nine percent of its applicants. The decision to apply to conservatory programs like Juilliard and New York University (NYU) Film School is a demanding one. For me, it seemed like the only choice, but the dreaded thin envelope I received from NYU was only the beginning of what would be a life--changing journey. I had to reevaluate both my commitment to film and the benefits of a broader college education. And, as with any college admissions letdown, it helped to realize that I wasn't alone.

Krista Williams, a student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, had her heart set on the acting  

college program

  at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA). She didn't have many backup plans, just like me, and ended up at an in-state school. "Rejection from that clear next step in your artistic training is devastating," she remembers. "You have ceased to be one of 'us'- - the artistically marginalized group of wildly talented kids who will become the next Oliviers, Mozarts, and Picassos. You suddenly become one of 'them' -- the struggling masses who make up the 99 percent of the statistics who dreamed about theater, explored it in their youth, and then settled down and got a real job." For many artistically-inclined students, there's no other option, and the idea of doing anything else is devastating.

Even for students who are accepted to that exclusive arts program, things don't always go as planned. "At the end of high school, I was so sick of reading and writing that I couldn't imagine going to a liberal arts school," says Zach Wallace, a double bassist who currently attends Bard College, Annondale-on-Hudson, NY. He spent two years at New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, before making the decision to transfer to Bard. "As I grew less and less focused on one type of music, I began to admit to myself that even though I love it, it had been easy to exaggerate my focus on it to provide a sure course through school and life. I am more interested in exploring all of my interests, and then making my art and music reflect that experience."

Looking back, Zach feels he made the right decision. "[Your] undergrad' [years] are a unique time, in that you are encouraged to explore a lot of different areas," he shares. "You can always specialize in grad' school, and - despite what people will tell you -- there is no hurry."

For Lauren Davitt, a dancer who was sidelined by an injury in her senior year of high school and rendered unable to audition for the college programs she originally wanted, the physical therapy college program at Boston University, MA, turned out to be just the right fit. "I think the most important thing to do when you look at college is to consider it your first adult decision," Lauren says. "College is a business. If you can see yourself leaving a program with an upper hand in the field you want, then by all means sign up. Otherwise, I think you're just living a dream."

I now see that I was lucky to get rejected. At the time I could do nothing but sob wildly and moan about my life being ruined, but now I realize I have the rest of my life (and graduate school) to get specific. As an English major at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, I have been exposed to a variety of subjects I would not have studied by just focusing on film as an undergraduate.

Betty Bushey, a guidance counselor at Interlochen Arts Academy, a renowned high school for the arts in Ann Arbor, MI, addresses that very point. "Students who enjoy academic study find a void when they are at a conservatory. I have spoken with admissions officers at some conservatories who have advised us to make sure the strong academic student understands there will be a lack of academic challenges at the university level." In other words, the required level of commitment to one specific art may become discouraging to a student with a wider breadth of academic interests.

Of course, for some lucky aspiring artists, a conservatory can be a perfect fit. "It's this remarkable machine that can take a wild and wandering artist, dismember him, and then reassemble him into a meticulous craftsman," says John Tufts, a senior at Carnegie Mellon's exclusive theater college program. "If he's willing, vulnerable, and only mildly self-conscious, the machine isn't so bad."

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