<p>I received a $12,000 Tisch scholarship (per year), and I know it’s not much, but I still want to do it. I want intense B.F.A. training in a professional acting studio and not a “safe” education in a B.A. program. I know I can find success regardless of where I go, but I still want Tisch. Anyone else in the same boat with me?</p>
<p>I dunno, but isn’t everyone who has chosen to attend Tisch in the "same boat’ insofar as “attending Tisch regardless of the price?”</p>
<p>I mean “in the same boat” as in: “You know you want Tisch more than anything and you’re willing to take on huge financial responsibilities to follow your dreams.” To be clear, I the question applies only to students who are still debating over whether or not to choose Tisch. I guess I should double check my posts! :)</p>
<p>Also, I’m not trying to generalize here with all of this talk of “dreams,” but I’ve been to Tisch and I’ve researched it since I was in the eight grade, so I know it’s the fit for me. I guess that’s all I can know, right? I just don’t want to be alone as the only “poor” kid attending Tisch. Thus, is anyone in the same boat with me? :)</p>
<p>You won’t be the only “poor” kid at Tisch. I have quite a few friends who are financing their education without aid from their parents, through jobs and loans. While it is true that there are quite a few very privileged and wealthy students at Tisch who can go to an unlimited number of shows, clubs, etc and go shopping every week or go on a vacation to some foreign country every break, it really won’t affect you that much. You will definitely find people who can’t afford to do that. However, that doesn’t mean that you will be missing out on a lot of things. There are a ton of cheap/free things to do in NYC, and NYU Ticket Central is really good about discounted tickets for Broadway Shows. I myself have two work-study jobs, and there are definitely those here who work more than I do, and go out to see shows less frequently than me.</p>
<p>Thank you claydavisdbc! My FA letter says that work-study jobs are not guaranteed, but do I still have a good chance of getting one if I apply? It’s great to hear that you have two work study positions. Do you think most Tisch students have a huge financial burden upon them when it comes to paying off loans and trying to find a job in “the business?”</p>
<p>Agree with what clay wrote. </p>
<p>Are you taking on large debt yourself or are your parents paying all or some of that debt? That would change my answer. Make sure the debt is a reasonable amount YOU can pay back if it is YOU taking out the loans. </p>
<p>For us, as parents, we are taking out the loans. It is a hardship but we feel it is worth every penny. Tisch was also my D’s dream since age 12 and it lived up to that dream (has since graduated Tisch). But that is not the same as a student paying off large debt. </p>
<p>My D has been out of Tisch less than a year and I am happy to say she is working in the industry and earning her living. But she would not be able to also handle college loans on top of that at this juncture.</p>
<p>But there will be kids at Tisch who are very wealthy who have unlimited spending accounts. There will be kids who live there on a budget. And there will be kids who have to work while in college and have little extra money and will have to pay some of the loans back themselves after graduating. There are a range of kids in various financial situations at Tisch.</p>
<p>To be honest with you I was really lucky with work-study this year. Not many Tisch Drama Freshman students were able to get work-study jobs because most of them are already filled up by current students because offices start to hire for the next school year before the current one is over.
Because of the Drama schedule it is also hard to have a schedule that allows for a work-study jobs, because many (not ALL but many) are for school offices that are only open 9am to 5 pm on weekdays, and because you will have studio three days a week, the only other days you have open are Mondays and Wednesdays, and half of those days are filled by WTE and ITP/ITS. So your hours are already limited compared to other applicants who might be able to work 15-20 hrs a week, etc. Also, some offices don’t want freshman.
But not getting a work-study job is not the end of the world, I know many people who have non work-study jobs working as babysitters, chaperones, working at movie theaters, and yes, some are waiters and waitresses. But I do have some tips to getting a work-study job.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Schedule your academic classes back to back, with a 15 minute break. don’t schedule a class in the morning and one like 2 hrs later, it will make your schedule less attractive to employers. I had a class from 9:30 to 10:45 and 11-12:15, then worked 12:30 to 5:30 Mondays and Wednesdays. 2nd semester you have a lecture component added to writing the essay so I scheduled that from 12:30-1:45 on Mondays and then worked from 2-5:30.
Just so you know, there are classes that start at 8am but I knew if I did that I would never show up for class, lol.</p></li>
<li><p>In order to access NYU Career Net (NYU’s job search engine, which is the main way of finding and applying for a work-study job), you need to first activate it by going to the Wasserman Center for Career Development. This was not possible for me because I am from CA and could not fly to NYC until move-in day, but if possible for you then you should do it ASAP. It would give you an advantage in terms of searching for the limited number of work-study jobs still available in the fall.</p></li>
<li><p>The Tisch Career Development Office will probably send you an e-mail in the summer about its office and services, and if you surf the page you will find a document called Jobs at Tisch or something like that, basically it is a sheet with all of the Tisch offices hiring work-study students. Once again, most people will have already filled these positions, but it’s worth a try. I called every single office and all of them were already filled but one, and I managed to get hired for that.</p></li>
<li><p>The Residential assistants at the Residence Halls are supposed to work a certain number of hours at the resource center for each hall. once the school year starts they figure out their schedule, and since RAs only work a limited number of hours in the resource centers, they usually hire a couple of students to work there. This will probably be posted a couple weeks after school starts, but make sure you also go to other residence halls and go to their resource centers and ask about this, because it is not advertised in the e-mails, and they definitely hire students from other halls.
Some of these applications are also available during late summer on NYU Career Net, you just need to have activated your account.</p></li>
<li><p>Keep on the lookout during the regular school year by going on NYU Career Net every couple of weeks, some people leave their positions and then offices start to hire.
Also, many places have “Temp positions”. For example, the Wasserman Center was recently hiring people to work 4 hours a night for six nights to be phone surveyors, calling undergrads about their experience. Often times schools will need more people to staff their special events, and this will be posted on career net.</p></li>
<li><p>Check out the NYU Phone-A-Thon. It is NOT work-study but does have flexible hours. Google it and you can read more about it. Although they will send you an e-mail in the fall regarding applications. Basically you call NYU alumni and ask them to donate money to the school, lol. </p></li>
<li><p>This is not work-study, but I’ve seen quite a few small bookstores, cafes, etc with signs looking for cashiers. </p></li>
<li><p>Always send a cover letter, even if the employers don’t ask for it. I’m not sure what your previous work experiences are, but I had a very thin resume. And many upper classmen with much thicker resumes will also be applying for these jobs, and providing a cover letter is a valuable way for you to market yourself, and give more info about your skills that a resume would not. I specifically acknowledged in my cover letter my limited work experience, but also wrote about why I would be a good candidate for that position regarding skills, interest, personality, etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You should try to take advantage of your freshman year when you have more time to get these jobs and make connections, and yes, money. I know that next year there is no way I have enough time for two jobs, so I will only be working one of them. But I know that these jobs provide awesome connections, and even if you won’t have enough time to work after your freshman year, these jobs will help your resume when you can and do need to work. For example, applying to be an RA, or you may be available to work during winter break and could call these people up. My employers have offered to write letters of recommendation for me, and I’ve found out about other job positions through them.</p>
<p>I just want to say thank you to clay. He is someone who came to CC often asking for advice about MT colleges, Tisch, etc. when he was an applicant, and now as a college student, he has stayed on to pay it forward. Posts by current students are invaluable. I really appreciate what you bring to CC, clay.</p>
<p>My parents can handle about $15-20K per year (most likely $15K), and they will start paying off on the unsubsidized loans right away. They will support me and help me out, but the majority of what I owe will be put on me. After graduation, I’m sure they will still support me here and there, but I will have plenty more to pay.</p>
<p>I second that, soozievt! Clay, thank you so much. That is some awesome information. Jobs seem really competitive at NYU, and I understand. You have really given me a leg up with all of this info. I do need to get started on a non-theatre resume for times like this. I’ve worked at one restaurant for two years and I could get a great recommendation from them, so maybe that would help? Thank you again.</p>
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<p>Billy, I don’t know about most but certainly some do. This is why so many of the parents here warn prospective students not to take on too much debt. We would give the same advice regardless of what school they’re planning to attend, but since Tisch is one of the most expensive and NYU does not promise to meet financial need, it’s an even more important consideration for prospective Tischies.</p>
<p>Like Susan’s D, my daughter graduated without any debt and also like Susan’s D, she has worked continuously since graduation. Even at that, it would have been a burden if she had had loan payments to be making every month. Also keep in mind that getting work upon graduation and working continuously is not a situation that is the norm for graduates, or for experienced actors, for that matter.</p>
<p>One thing that every student should be doing before making their final decision as to where to matriculate is to determine the amount of loans that are going to need to be paid off upon graduation, then plug that amount into a loan calculator and determine what your monthly payments are going to be. It’s also an eye-opener to calculate how much in total you’ll be paying with interest included. I think the average debt at graduation, nationwide, is about $20,000 and for those with undergrad and, for instance, a JD, it’s in the $80,000 range. No one training to be an actor should have anywhere close to the debt that a graduating lawyer has. Financial aid guides tend to recommend that you be able to devote 10% of your gross salary to make your monthly payments. When you calculate how much debt you’ll have and what the monthly payment will be, even in approximation, you’ll see what income you’re going to need to support that.</p>
<p>Thank you, alwaysamom. The loan calculator has been a great eye-opener for me, and I also recommend it to anyone “in my boat.” I know what’s best for me when it comes to my college decision, but it’s nice to hear outside opinions and to see what other people are doing.</p>
<p>It is my pleasure to give back! I remember how nervous/anxious I was in high school, and I guarantee once you get here everything will be ok. Things always work themselves out somehow.</p>
<p>yes. absolutley.</p>
<p>Hello everyone. This is my first time ever posting on CC! I recently got into Tisch as a transfer student. I can graduate in 2 and a half years from NYU. The problem is that I am paying for school myself with NO family help. I received $15,000 in scholarship and gramts but that is it. I received a $42,000 parent plus loan which I can change into a student loan. $15,000 is NOTHING compared to the $54,000 tuition. A few friends at Tisch say that $15,000 is a good amount of scholarship from the school, because most don’t get anything.</p>
<p>NYU has always been my dream school and I got into the studio that I really wanted. Should I take out the loans they gave me to pay for my education? I would have to take out a $36,000 loan per year. Should I do this? Keep in mind, I also owe $26,000 from my prevoius college attended. I know that’s a huge amount of money. </p>
<p>My plan is to go to NYU, graduate, then move to LA to begin auditioning for commercials, tv, etc. I understand this is a great financial risk, but I want the best of the best and I feel NYU is the best. </p>
<p>What do you all say? The other option would be to attend a Junior college then apply to UCLA. Two things about that is: A, I dont feel I will get as good training and B, I may not get into UCLA after a year of community college, in which case I wouldn’t know what to do. My GPA as of right now is a 3.0, I’m hoping come this spring it will be a 3.4. Also I want to graduate relatively soon, I don’t want to start somewhere where I have to start as a freshman for example at a school like Juiliiard or CALARTS.</p>
<p>So what do you all say?</p>
<p>I would be very concerned about those high debt numbers.</p>
<p>[Your</a> Money - Another Debt Crisis Is Brewing, This One in Student Loans - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Another Debt Crisis Is Brewing, This One in Student Loans - The New York Times”>Another Debt Crisis Is Brewing, This One in Student Loans - The New York Times)</p>
<p>What an eye-opening article–thanks for posting! In this link, the girl profiled responds to the over 600 comments the article received in the NY Times:</p>
<p>[More</a> on Cortney Munna’s Student Loan Tale - Bucks Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/more-on-cortney-munnas-student-loan-saga/]More”>More on Cortney Munna's Student Loan Tale - The New York Times)</p>