<p>Hollie, a DH who is handy enough to do plumbing is definitely a major plus–the only thing better I can think of, is that every year I think more and more how great it would be to have a spouse who is general practice doctor, to explain all my new aches, pains, skin blemishes (after all those years when a pediatrician would be perfect, followed by when a child psychologist would be).</p>
<p>[Alfred</a> University - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Performing Arts - Major/Minor](<a href=“http://las.alfred.edu/performing-arts/major-minor.cfm]Alfred”>http://las.alfred.edu/performing-arts/major-minor.cfm)</p>
<p>Check out Alfred University’s performing arts, wonderful school ! </p>
<p>Yeah, OK, I do have somebody there! 
</p>
<p>I’ll say that having a physician spouse has been all but useless around our house. His answer to everything is “Go to the doctor!” He hates thinking about any of us being sick. </p>
<p>My D does not want to be as remote as a (wonderful I know) school like Alfred. She has some great matches and plenty of auditioned reaches, and right now we need a 100% safety for her. I think she’s close - but she does want to be within an hour or so of a good-sized city, and particularly in the east (NYC/Boston preferably).</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Muhlenberg is less then an hour from Philadelphia and about an hour and a half from NYC…</p>
<p>Queens College, one of the CUNY schools, seems to have a major in theater…and looks like it’s non-audition<br>
[QC</a> Queens College](<a href=“http://www.qc.cuny.edu/ACADEMICS/DEGREES/DAH/DRAMATHEATREDANCE/Pages/default.aspx]QC”>http://www.qc.cuny.edu/ACADEMICS/DEGREES/DAH/DRAMATHEATREDANCE/Pages/default.aspx)</p>
<p>Also has a music school…need audition, at least for classical performance degree.</p>
<p>Very nice performance hall on campus - Kupferberg Performing Arts Center</p>
<p>One of the few CUNY schools that has dorms.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions! It is always helpful to have a few schools in the bag when the list gets shaken up!</p>
<p>The next two weeks will be a time to get this more settled. For the time being I’m sending her websites and hoping she likes some of them.</p>
<p>Slumom- just visited Alfred yesterday with D!!! She loved it! Met for an hour with a theater professor. Great guy. Gave us a tour of the brand new theater . Great facility. However I think Emmybets d would not be happy with the tiny town ( I think I recall she wanted closer to urban area). My d loved it and will apply. Not certain if she will get enough merit aid for us to afford it. Kind of right at the top of what I am comfortable with.</p>
<p>holliesue, I am so happy for the 2 of you!</p>
<p>EmmyBet, I know that it is not NYC, but your D might also want to look into Otterbein:</p>
<p>[Otterbein</a> College - About the College](<a href=“http://www.otterbein.edu/about/]Otterbein”>About Otterbein University - Otterbein University)</p>
<p>Well, holliesue, don’t forget 10k or 12k off the sticker price per year is a possibility! </p>
<p>Alfred is not a “50K-ER”, more like a little under 40K, depending on program being private or public. I will add to that, going from freshman to sophomore year, very little increase.
Some cuts were made & so there were no huge increases in tuition or room & board, which some schools are very good at doing, once your child is enrolled! </p>
<p>You don’t need to make two “lump sum” payments, you can pay 10 months or 8 months at a time. We have always done this with our 4 kids for college. Just like doing the budget payments for oil heat.</p>
<p>Based on what he has seen on their website and from dozens of studentblogs and student-made youtube videos, as well as wanting to be near NYC, taking family budget constraints into consideration (whew --LOTS of disclaimers!), my son has decided that Purchase College would be the best fit for him. He is a bright, compassionate, good kid who wants an academic and social fit that we can afford. If we DO go OOS, SUNY is still manageable. It’s comparable to the cost of a UC, which son’s stats would likely not allow him to get into.</p>
<p>We live in California and although DS has spent time in Manhattan and with family in Westchester (who have since moved here, to CA) and Connecticut, this was all before Purchase was on his radar, so he’s never visited the college. He knows the campus buildings are notoriously ugly and doesn’t care. He’s interested in some variation of International Relations or Global Studies as a possible major. He knows that Purchase is best known for performing arts, but that’s not his thing. He’s happy to be in the audience, but not on the stage. He wants a liberal arts degree and may go on to puruse some sort of entertainment business path after that, but honestly, who knows…</p>
<p>So, we here in CA have had programs and services decimated by our state’s bankruptcy. I teach at CSUN and see first hand how badly the students are affected by not being able to get classes they need, etc. What I don’t know is how budget woes might affect the SUNYs, Purchase in particular. Anybody know? Any other input would be welcome. If he is accepted, we’ll schedule a visit, but I’d like to get the lay of the land from you who know whereof you speak!</p>
<p>Hollie, congrats! And congrats to Slumom, too, as I know when a cyber friend visits a school we have praised, especially a remote one, there is some anxiety.</p>
<p>Calv1n, NY has significant budget issues, but I have not read of major problems in SUNY as a result. I have heard that SUNY Binghamton is taking more OOS kids at stats well below in state, perhaps because they pay higher tuition. It was, however, dificult to tell what he likes about the school, amid all the caveats. There may be a Purchase forum or starting a Purchase parents thread may yield good information.Given your geographic diversity, private NYC area schools might give you good merit aid.</p>
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<p>Privates could still cost more than SUNY Purchase (I think that it would depend upon need and some luck). Some SUNYs also offer merit aid to OOS students. If I recall correctly, Oswego has a merit chart online for their school.</p>
<p>I agree, northeastmom, SUNY Purchase is more affordable, even though there are certainly some area privates that look wonderful in all respects except for tuition (for us). Realistically, I just don’t think that my 3.0-3.3 kid with a 1730 SAT (will retake ACT on 9/11) has the stats to be awarded merit aid that will render an expensive private affordable. DS has been in touch with Adelphi, which I think he’d get into, he likes the look of, and has a good Global Scholars program, but is more than we can afford.</p>
<p>Calv 1n, is your son into theatre/arts? Is this the reason for Purchase?</p>
<p>I agree with you about the privates in the NE. They will probably not offer enough merit aid. It is easy for them to offer 12,000 when the sticker is around 50-55,000. I know that we could not afford that, and we don’t have the transportation costs from Cali!</p>
<p>^S is more into theatre-type friends than theatre per se. He is a quirky neo-hippie into the indie music scene (as a listener/appreciator, not a performer)and may want to get into the business side of the entertainment industry one day down the line. For now, he is interested in global studies. He wants an LGBT-friendly environment where he will find structure as well as creative opportunities. He wants NYC. So for various reasons, Purchase seems a fit. For a while there he was quite enamored of Eugene Lang, but 1) WAY too expensive and 2)seems too unstructured and loosey goosey for the type of student he is. Back to Purchase!</p>
<p>Okay, then Purchase does sound like a good fit as long as the majors that they offer will work for him. I don’t know what type of package Adelphi might offer, but that school may work too.</p>
<p>Adelphi and Purchase sound on target–and Lang is as you think</p>
<p>If he doesn’t mind the very ugly campus, he sounds like a good fit for Purchase. We’ve read up on it quite a bit and did drive through last March, although they were on break, so the campus looked even worse - empty and in the rain. But for indie, quirky kids it sounds terrific, and plenty of artsy kids for him to be friends with. For us it doesn’t work because the theater program isn’t a good fit for my D.</p>
<p>We spent quite a lot of time at Adelphi, and I’m happy to see people talking about it. It’s my D’s 2nd choice right now, after BU (both auditioned programs, Adelphi’s only slightly less selective - about 20% instead of 10%). My D’s overall GPA is a little high on this thread, more like 3.6, BUT if you take out arts classes she falls right in the 3.2-3 range. Her ACT is pretty good at 27 (not sure how that compares with SAT - maybe around 1800 or a bit more). Adelphi told us she was way over their threshold for merit aid, so maybe ca1vin’s S would get some, too. I think a 25 on ACT is what they look for.</p>
<p>We thought it was a charming campus; a lot of commuters but still a great college community. The arts facilities are stunning, brand new. Easy train ride into NYC; many profs commute.</p>
<p>Yay for holliesue’s D on the Alfred visit! Keep it up! How terrific to have a great feeling at a wonderful school and a good solid bet for admission.</p>
<p>Alfred has rolling admissions, too, they start notifying in mid November! I always think it is a good feeling to have an acceptance in hand before the holiday vacations start!</p>