<p>So I've been accepted to Emerson and Ithaca for BA theatre studies and I'm currently debating which one to attend. I understand these schools have very similar clout in the theatre industry and that they both offer fantastic undergraduate training. However, I have a few dilemmas. Ithaca awarded me a $15,000 a year scholarship while Emerson awarded me $0 in merit money. Unfortunately, I much prefer the location and academic atmosphere at Emerson. Does anyone have any light to shed on either school, or why one might be a better choice. Is Emerson worth paying full price (possible, but painful)? Is Ithaca better to begin with? Any advice/comments are appreciated.</p>
<p>I think they have comparable reputations academically, but Emerson is - quite understandably - more attractive to a great many students. Only you can decide whether the great Boston location is worth $15k per year; you are fortunate to have that choice, and (presumably, if you are asking in the first place) to have parents willing to give you the choice. If money isn’t a major consideration, I’d choose Emerson in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>I don’t think Emerson and Ithaca are truly comparable academically. Emerson is very clear that it is not an all-purpose liberal arts institution. They have no courses in many areas, and for departments they are missing, you have to take classes at other schools. This is not necessarily bad, but it makes for a very different college experience there than at a place like Ithaca, which is a self-contained, full-scale college. At Ithaca you could have broader academic experiences, and also you would be surrounded by students studying other things besides performing arts/communications.</p>
<p>I have no opinion about this, for you, but I do think you should think about that aspect in making your choice.</p>
<p>I definitely see the difference in school atmosphere, but is an urban location going to help my networking significantly?</p>
<p>Ask the financial aid department at Emerson if they will match Ithaca’s package!</p>
<p>Emerson claims to not match any other schools offers, but I’m still going to try. Also my sister attends emerson for writing and we’re going to ask about a reduced family tuition.</p>
<p>I second this. While we did not look closely at Ithaca (location choice by my D) Emerson is very clear that, while they are liberal arts, there are just some things they don’t do like math and science. You won’t have a research library - but you will have access to arts programs at their consortium schools. You won’t have sports teams and big greek presence - but you’ll have gobs of student led theatre, improv, music groups. You won’t have as large or diverse a student population, but you will have all of Boston. The quality of the school is only “better” if you are comfortably engaged in the institution.</p>
<p>My daughter looked at both of these schools, and decided only to apply to Ithaca. We felt Ithaca’s reputation for its BFA program was much better than Emerson’s. However, the BA program is more of a general theatre program for those more interested in academia and/or all aspects of theatre beyond acting.</p>
<p>If acting is your daughters focus, just remember that she will be competing against all the students in the BFA theatre and musical theatre program. And of all the schools we looked at, Ithaca was auditioning more students than any others. They told us at her audition they would be seeing 1300-1500 students for the 24 spots. My daughter did not get in, however, she did not interview for the BA program.</p>
<p>I would talk to both of the schools at length about what they do to help a student like yours find a job once they are out of school. This is the ultimate goal, and some schools are much better at it than others.</p>
<p>And if any other options become available, I would seriously consider one of those.</p>
<p>Also recognize that Emerson has a mandated cut policy for their BFA program. I can’t remember exactly what they told us in terms of numbers but I think it was signficant (I remember thinking it was between 1/3-1/2 of the students). They aren’t actually “cut” they are just moved to the BA program. But most of the BA students said they were happy in the BA program after they had been moved.</p>
<p>I agree with TheatreMom1024’s comments. if your D’s focus is performance rather than the study of theater and she is comtemplating either one of two schools that also support a BFA acting program, I would very carefully elicit as much information as possible on performance opportunities for BA theatre studies students. If the schools say that non BFA students can audition for productions, you may want to find out exactly how often such students are chosen for roles and what kinds of roles they re given (e.g., speaking roles or non-speaking ensemble roles?). You may want to explore how many productions each school puts on each year that are school sponsored and how many are student sponsored. You may want to find out exactly which plays the schools and students sponsored during the past few years (to sort out exactly how many roles for students there were in total for those productions). Student sponsored programs often are developed by students who know each other from acting classes or working on productions. Will your D have the chance to meet and interact with those students in classes? Perhaps each school could put your D in touch with one or more theatre studies students so that your D can find out the experience of non BFA students who are interested in performing. Best wishes to you and your D as she makes her decision.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where along the line people got I’m someone’s daughter but I am a male student posting for myself. Also, my interest is is playwriting/dramaturgy, programs neither school has a BFA for.</p>
<p>Since you’re committed to a BA, and you want a very specific set of of courses, I would look through each school’s catalog and see just what there is to take in those areas. I am sure there are plenty of supportive faculty and connections at both schools. A very important question to find out is what opportunities student plays have of being produced. And again, if you are more academically inclined, make sure you would be OK with the narrower focus at Emerson. I maybe be assuming too much, but I’m guessing a playwright/dramaturg might want a full liberal arts education.</p>
<p>rpraderio, apologies for skimming your post quickly in the early morning hours and misunderstanding your inquiry - and thanks for providing some details about your prospective course of study. I can understand your preference for Emerson’s location. It is ideally situated in a great city. When my S was looking at BFA programs, we visited Ithaca on what happened to be a cold, windy, snowy day - in April! The school’s location was not a plus for him. However, Ithaca has a great reputation - as does Emerson - and the $15,000 scholarship may be a factor worth taking into account, particularly if financial aid is a consideration for you. As many posters on CC have mentioned, it is vastly preferable for students majoring in the performing arts to leave college with as little debt as possible so that they do not have to pay off large student loans while they are trying to get their careers going. Since you want to specialize in playwriting/dramaturgy, it may be useful to try to touch base with current or former students at each school who have pursued the same majors and try to ascertain the pros/cons of the respective program and the kinds of positions graduates in those areas now hold. Since these fields also suggest that a background in history, English, and/or creative writing may be useful, you may want to look at each school’s course catalogue to see the kinds of courses offered in those fields. Don’t know if you will have the chance to attend any of the accepted student days at those schools - but it is possible that doing so may help you to decide.</p>
<p>I’ve posted about this elsewhere - and I’d really like to see current students post - but this does not sound accurate compared to the way it was presented to us by students at Emerson. One senior in Bfa Acting said most students who move to BA do so by choice and the few “cuts” are students who “don’t show up for class or try.” As a parent, I like the BA switch option…there is a way to adjust your study program if your focus changes AND I do think Bfa should be rigorous enough to demand attendance and committment. I don’t believe this is anything like what DePaul used to do.</p>
<p>From talking to current performing arts students who I know at emerson, everyone who gets “cut” is aware it’s going to happen, and usually shreds with the decision. They said it’s rare that someone who really wants BFA studio is denied without expecting it.</p>
<p>*agrees instead of shreds, damn autocorrect. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC</p>