The American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles

Date: Jan 28 2013
Major: Unknown (This Major's Salary over time)
I attended AADA/West several years ago and I agree with what others say about the school. It's true majority of the teachers are former actors and dancers that have not worked in 25 years or more. I went for one year and the year started out really good, but went down hill after the first semester. Some of the teachers try and scare students with their bad experiences and personal horror stories from working in theatre and especially television. It seemed that this school always has fresh pickings of high school students who audition and get in… students who actually don't want to be there and who spend all their free time partying all night in L.A. clubs and nightspots when they should be rehearsing scenes with fellow students for class. I saw firsthand, many students worked hard, including myself, and worked and produced material homework of research for roles that was challenging. But, the kicker was, there were so many students who did not care, partied all night, and did drugs as often as they could and they were the ones that got asked back for second year. So the moral of the story concerning AADA/w is that it's not about the homework or what you learned first year, it's how much drugs a person can do and how to make themselves look good and make shit shine during exam plays. And honestly, I'm glad I did not get asked back, because 2nd year classes would have been hell with all the drug users who never did any homework, nor put any effort toward first year classes. Also, from all the students I knew, I have not seen one person on television or in feature film.