Acting Conservatory or Uni Double Major? Hello I'm 22 and I just finished 2 years of community colle

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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Hello I’m 22 and I just finished 2 years of community college as Digital Arts major and took my first intro to acting class. Due to my indecisive nature I’m thinking of taking at least a year off before transferring to another college for my other two years. However, my mom expects me to transfer somewhere as soon as possible.

I’ve enrolled for several on camera acting class on and off thanks to Groupon prices. This is the second time an acting instructor noted to me “you have talent”. As cheesy as it sounds I would pursue acting because it doesn’t really feel like “work” and its fun. But everyone wants to be an actor, I mean the though of pursuing acting feels somewhat rebellious than going to college for a steady guaranteed job.

This brings me to my second point. I’ve been considering double majoring in drama and graphic design (which is what I’ve been doing at CC) but graphic design felt somewhat like chore. I figured I just like painting and drawing rather than commercial art.

Any how, I’m from the nyc area and upon deciding between college and conversatory I think taking classes at conservatory is a feasible option while I take time off from school and work a part-time job. I’ve looked into Neighborhood Playhouse, Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg and more. But for the sakes of getting a “degree” I’m also considering to apply for NYU as double major in drama and IMA (Interactive Media Arts) program which is more hands on. I understand nyu is super expensive so I am hoping i get some sort of transfer scholarship coming from a community college. I’ve considered many other CUNY universities for their digital arts programs like Queens College and City College but studying graphic graphic design or code just feels like a meh in my overall love for visual arts in general.

Any advice?

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Since you are in NYS, check out SUNY Purchase and SUNY Fredonia, both of which are known for their performing arts and arts programs.

By way of disclaimer, my son is at Fredonia in the theater tech (not acting) end. It has BFA Acting and MT, as well as a non-audition General Theater BA. It casts non-BFA students.

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A few thoughts. All jobs (including acting) have some aspects that are chores - many actors spend more of their time auditioning than performing and I don’t think anyone enjoys that. Most actors also need a non-acting job to support themselves at least in the beginning so make sure you consider that in your equation. If you can support yourself working part-time while attending and paying for a conservatory program that would be a good “toe in the water” so you can get the same kind of reality check on acting that you got for graphic design in CC.

FYI - don’t count on any special CC transfer scholarship to make NYU affordable - it’s not a state school, it’s a private school. Most the applicants for Tisch are already full-time drama students, admission is competitive and financial aid is not very generous - all scholarships are based on need, not merit. If you spend a year training at one fo the NYC conservatories and want to move on I second @techmom99’s suggestion of applying to SUNY programs.