Agree that for a BA in theatre, Northwestern is hard to beat. NU students can easily double major in Weinberg arts & sciences. But if OP truly wants a city vibe, then Barnard / Columbia is a great option.
The first female head of a major motion picture studio was a Northwestern graduate.
re: OP:
"…Barnard girls don’t go out a lot "
That’s a hoot, when D2 attended she thought they went out too much !! Like all the time. They had to, their campus was like one square inch in size and there wasn’t much room to hang in the dorms, which after freshman year were themselves off campus… They were downtown like every weekend. So she said.
If you think that’s a good thing I would say +1 for Barnard. I’ve read here on CC that lots of Northwestern students actually don’t go into Chicago all that much.
Re #3:
" a lot of kids who are full of themselves "
Funny, that’s what D2 said about Columbia students. You think people who survive a near zero percent admissions rate are uniformly humble ??
I don’t know about “stage management”, but if it’s any good there I would pick Northwestern personally, YMMV.
I posted a list of working actors and dancers on broadway by school already. Hollywood reporter poll is not a replacement for actual data and facts.
There may be variation from year to year.
Here’s this one, look who’s at # 7
http://www.playbill.com/article/big-10-the-10-most-represented-colleges-on-broadway-in-the-2017-2018-season
And here’s this other one, look who’s at number 7 here too:
http://www.playbill.com/article/big-10-top-colleges-represented-on-broadway-in-fall-2016
Note these lists are not normalized for # theater graduates in their program in each case.
That’s just Broadway though, the number of actors they list from most of these schools is pretty low, a mere handful of individuals.
It’s a big country, there are other places that employ actors*. Even Hollywood.
I dunno, I think this is pretty impressive:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Northwestern_University_alumni#Arts_and_entertainment_(film,_TV,_and_theatre)
Well, that’s the whole point — the OP could use input from people who do know, rather than lists of famous actors or celebrities and where they went to school. (I posted because I have a little bit of parental experience, albeit dated, about the " vibrant social life against a great city" part of things… but I don’t have enough info to weigh in on the theater & stage management part.
Also, a career in theatre isn’t just Broadway – NU produces tons of grads who do comedy and straight theatre acting on stage and film. Amazing network there as well.
It seems to me by looking at the number and scale of student productions every year at Northwestern, there’s simply no comparison. It’s not like Chicago is lacking in theater scene in which NU grads have a huge presence.
Hi guys! I decided on Barnard due to its close proximity to New York theatres and its liberal arts curriculum. Northwestern was amazing when I visited, but I realized when I was there that I want to learn other things besides theatre, and Barnard’s Foundations curriculum allows me to do so. Also, I found myself loving the women’s environment at Barnard much more than expected. I’m super excited for the next four years!
Best of luck !