as someone who went through this just two years ago...here's my advice. You're 17, and you KNOW what makes you happy, but if you don't have to drive to wake up at 3 am and stand in line for a Non-Eq./or Eq. call that doesn't even start until 2 o'clock the next day and you might not even get in...don't do it. This business is HORRIBLE! It's made for those who enjoy rejection it seems...:) But seriously, look at schools that let you major in Poli. Sci. and still audition for shows. I would consider a Second tier school, not a school like Juliard or NYU or Syracuse. I would go to a school like Western Michigan (Where I go....a lot of non-theatre students have great auditions and surprise the **** out of us!) or Webster University in St. Louis, or UCLA (they have a REALLY good up 'n coming theatre dept. and they'll let you audition without being in the dept.)
Anyway, my advice is that you look up all the schools you wanna go to and see if you have to audition to be a theatre minor, and if you can audition to be in shows without being a minor/major. If you need a list of really good theatre schools i have this amazing list of like all the good ones. but if you're looking into it as a minor,i can give you a few suggestions.
if you need any help, let me know!
"Love is stupid and it bleeds, it satisfies my needs, I think it's wonderful..." ~Bill Finn is God!