I would not recommend Seneca College to anyone, especially the acting program. Before I started at Seneca, I loved acting. Acting was my favourite thing in the world and what I was best at. When I graduated from Seneca, I was going to quit acting becau...
I would not recommend Seneca College to anyone, especially the acting program. Before I started at Seneca, I loved acting. Acting was my favourite thing in the world and what I was best at. When I graduated from Seneca, I was going to quit acting because the teachers at this school convinced me I wasn't good enough. That's what Seneca does to you. It crushes any confidence you have and gaslights you into thinking you're the problem, when you're not. The teachers at this school, especially in this program, are all on a weird power trip. They don't care about educating you. They just want to break you. It's messed up. It is by far the most toxic environment I have ever been in.
Let me give you some direct examples. Instead of speaking to you, they yell at you and belittle you. Instead of giving you suggestions to improve your scene, they say you're doing everything wrong. You can't make one choice without the teacher stopping your scene to say you're wrong. Do you know what that did to me after I graduated? I couldn't look at a script or say a line without automatically assuming I was wrong. That's what Seneca trained me to do. I'm still unlearning that even years after graduating and finding success as an actor. I did not have anxiety before I started this program. By the end of first semester, I was an insecure, anxious mess. That's how toxic the teachers are towards their students. Conrad Coates is the worst for that. That man should not be allowed in any type of social setting. He cares so little for the well-being of his students. It's so obvious that he doesn't want to be in that classroom. That's his problem, it shouldn't be mine as a student. My friend told me she couldn't even make eye contact with her scene partner. That was how anxious and insecure Conrad made her feel in his class. That friend is now a stunning actor who books Hallmark films all the time. Her success had nothing to do with this program, but only came after she left and was allowed to feel good about herself again.
My first ever class at Seneca was taught by Chris Sawchyn. The very first thing Chris said to us was, "I am a serious actor. I just do this teaching thing on the side. You are not my priority. If I get a role, I won't answer your emails because I'll be too busy. You are not my priority. I am a serious actor." He referred to himself as a "serious actor" 7 more times during that class [I counted]. At first, I thought he was joking. After a while, it was clear he meant it, but was saying it for himself more than us. He never was unavailable during my 2 years in this program, so I guess he wasn't as "serious" as he thought. The point is, my first 5 minutes at Seneca were spent being told that I didn't matter to my teacher. That was my first impression of this school. I went home from my first day of college thinking, "Why the fuck am I paying so much money to study under a teacher who doesn't care? If he doesn't care, why should I?" That's so ridiculous to think about now. That should never be anyone's first impression of their college.
The absolute worst part of this program is their end of semester "conferences". The conference is the most fucked up situation I have ever been placed in as an adult. At the end of each semester you have to attend a conference where you sit alone in a room with all of your teachers from that semester. They tell you in class that they just want to talk about how the semester went and give you feedback to help with next term. So you go into the conference feeling excited and comfortable. When you enter the room, all of your teachers sit in a line across from a single chair. This immediately creates a weird power dynamic. On the single chair is a box of tissues. They make you sit there, holding the box of tissues during the entire conference. Gee, do you think maybe these grown adults are trying to make me, an 18 year old, cry? Then instead of giving you actual feedback to improve, they just take turns bullying you. One teacher told me, "Your writing is beautiful and creative, but you as a person are not." How is that helpful? What am I suppose to do with that? One teacher told my friend she was "too ugly to be on camera and could only do voice over work." Well since graduating, that girl now works full time as a model. Even last week, I met someone on set who said his teachers at Seneca told him that he was a "worthless, untalented, freak and they didn't know why he even applied to the program". He was stunned to hear a teacher, who was so nice to him all semester, suddenly attack him like that. For the rest of his time at Seneca, he didn't trust these teachers ever again. How could he when they were nice to him in class, only for him to find out at the conferences that they actually hated him the entire time? That's how I felt too. Why would I think anything they say is genuine or real after that? It's just insane! They don't say anything constructive. They just bully you for 20 minutes and expect you to sit there and take it. At the end of my first conference, I cried in a bathroom stall for over 2 hours!! I went home and didn't leave my bed for 4 days!! That's how distraught the teachers left me after my conference. HOW ARE THEY ALLOWED TO DO THAT TO EVERY STUDENT EVERY SEMESTER? WHAT KIND OF A SCHOOL IS THIS? I work full time in film and have since graduating. I have never been bullied like that on a film set before. There is absolutely no purpose or benefit to these conferences. I have mentioned these conferences to teachers outside of the ACV program and they had no idea it was going on! I think the only reason they're allowed to do these conferences is because no one knows they do it. It's a secret that they keep because they know how messed up it is. They do not want to help you. They just want to hurt you.
I have met so many alumni from the ACV program. Everyone has echoed my experiences. Everyone has shared horror stories with me. The Seneca acting teachers gaslight you into thinking you're the problem, so you're too embarrassed to tell anyone about what really happens in class. That's how they maintain this power dynamic. Now that I'm almost 30 and have talked to other people that survived this program, I know I was never the problem. The older I become, the more aware I am that I had every right to hate my teachers and this program. None of this is okay. It wasn't back then and it's still not now.
A lot of this could be forgiven if the education was there, but it's not. You learn so little about acting in this program. You just play games or get yelled at whenever you try to actually act in a scene. A lot of their acting games pit students against each other too. Like having your classmates rate you, make comments about your appearance; there was even a game where you had to ask someone for a kiss and were punished if they didn't want to kiss you. Those were all actual activities they made us do regularly. How would any of that improve my acting? They don't even explain what acting is or how to do it. It's like you're going in blind the whole time. They don't teach you anything you will use after graduating. The majority of people from my program can't find work and haven't acted since college because Seneca didn't prepare them for anything. My success did not come from Seneca. It came from work I did after graduating and from people I met outside of this program.
I was the only person in my ACV class who took the ACTRA credit when we graduated. No one else did because the teachers said not to. They didn't explain to our class what ACTRA is or how valuable those credits are. This is one of the biggest red flags to me, upon reflection. It's a big reason no one from my ACV class is working in film currently. They didn't even mention stand in work or background acting once in the two years I attended Seneca! Why?!?! You can make $32/hour as a union background actor. That's a living wage for a job within your field. Why didn't they tell anyone in our class about that? If they had, everyone would've taken the credit! Instead most of the people from my program work minimum wage at Ikea. They wouldn't be if they actually knew what an ACTRA credit is! Why would you push students away from an opportunity like that? How is that helpful?
There are only two teachers in the entire ACV program that aren't corrupted like this. That is Julia Paton and Brian Levy. Julia and Brian are the only teachers that aren't on a power trip and care about the well-being of their students. They actually try to be helpful and kind towards their classes. Brian's course is the only one that taught me things I've actually used since graduating. He seems to be the only teacher that actually knows what acting is and how to navigate the film industry. Brian should be the coordinator for the ACV program. He's the only person at that school that seems qualified to teach acting. He's also the only teacher that doesn't participate in the conferences. I never had a bad experience with Julia or Brian. Everyone I've spoken to has echoed this opinion.
In conclusion, Seneca's ACV program is awful and no one should take it. The only positive aspect of this program is receiving an ACTRA credit at graduation. [Even though the teachers tell you not to take it. Which still doesn't make sense to me.] Don't go to school here. I deeply hope that someone at Seneca will see this review and make changes. The students deserve so much better than what you give them. I was promised an education. Instead I was given a lot of anxiety. I'm still angry about it.
BE. BETTER. SENECA.
