How To Make The Most Of College When You're Pursuing Acting

First off, when I say don’t go to college for acting the main reason why I am against it is because of the debt aspect of it. I generally don’t think debt is a good idea, but I especially don’t think it’s a great idea if it’s in a degree that is pretty useless for most people. 

Again- there are some people where the degree came in handy for them for employment reasons, but in every case it was never useful to get an actual role on a movie or TV show is what I am saying.

You should watch my video on how not to be a starving artist to understand more of where I’m coming from with the debt thing.

But if you’re in college already or already paid to start, then here’s what I would do in your shoes.

Move To A Big City

Some reasons why actors decide to pursue a college degree in the arts is to have a reason to be in a bigger city that offers opportunities and because they are expecting to have great training. If you’re going to do this you need to take it very, very seriously. I’ve discussed this before that some actors when they are planning to get acting headshots have hard time finding a headshot photographer in their city, so they have to travel to the nearest big city and even then it’s still difficult! When enrolling in a college that moves you to a bigger city, it opens up more opportunities for high quality resources like acting headshots, acting classes, and bigger productions that pay more money.

So if you plan to invest in college and move to a big city, you also need to be super intentional about connecting with the right people who are serious about filmmaking, writing, and acting.

Get Acting Training

Whether you’re in college for acting or in Los Angeles for acting, you’re objective needs to be to get training. You need to learn to be a good actor.

A lot of that education can be through acting classes you can take privately in LA or through your college program that you’re enrolled in. But that training is still not going to be enough. You have to expect that YOU still need to do more training outside of these programs. 

You need to read, consume videos, listen to actors, directors, and writers, and be like a sponge to absorb all the knowledge you can to help you understand your craft so that you can be good. 

Make Acting Connections

When you’re in college you might think well everyone here paid a lot of money to be here, so they all got to be serious about this as I am right? Wrong. People pay for stuff all of the time that at the time they thought they cared about until later on they realized they really don’t.

You need to build relationships with students who have VISION. That’s honestly good advice for life. If you want to find someone who is gonna take you to higher places, it’s someone who has vision. 

These people will stop at nothing to reach their goals because they already have the destination in their minds. You need to build relationships with them and also have a vision for your life and career because then you guys can both help each other realize your visions. 

Participate In Your Acting Program

Another thing you should do is participate. When you’re being taught, you need to engage and participate with your professor and classroom. People remember those who engage with the classroom.  

Take advantage of the training you’re going to get and build on it. Another thing you should do is try to put yourself in a position to produce as much content as possible as an actor.

Whether it’s doing the most plays or participating in the most amount of student films, I would do everything I could so that I can be actively training my acting muscle, but also so I can leave the school with an acting reel that will get me a head start. 

Then if you move to Los Angeles, New York, or Atlanta the next step for you will be to invest in actor headshots.

Make A Good Impression

Most importantly, I think you should leave a good impression with the students and staff at these colleges. People are going to remember the most encouraging, supportive, and humble actors they worked with. Be intentional about uplifting other artists, show up for them even if they won’t show up for you, and encourage encourage encourage. 

It’s important to note that there are a lot of famous actors that did go to college for acting and they got an acting degree. But none of them became famous and successful because of their degree. These people would have made it as an actor with or without a degree and that is what you need to learn to do.

Make A Financial Plan

The only thing you need to have a plan for if you’re in college for acting AND you took out a student loan is how in the world you’re going to be paying that off because even if you truly benefited from college… the debt aspect of it is no joke and amount of actors who are currently struggling financially is honestly really sad… even though most of them put themselves in that situation… It's still sad. 

Plus, you’re still going to need money to actually move to the big city, pay for acting classes, and pay for new acting headshots. Being in student loan debt will slow down your progress because bills and expenses will always come first when your focus is on surviving.

Brandon Andre - Headshot Photographer

Brandon Andre is considered by many to be the foremost authority on Acting Headshots and the acting industry. He is dedicated to helping aspiring actors with his regular educational articles, videos, and guides about headshot photography and the acting business.

If you are in the Los Angeles, Phoenix, or Washington DC area and need professional actor headshots with an experienced top headshots photographer, contact Brandon Andre HERE. Brandon Andre is one of the best headshot photographers in Los Angeles and the headshot industry today. He delivers quality headshots that will get you booked!