@pegski I think OKCU maybe is rolling for artistic decision, my D got her acceptance email the end of Feb.
Re Pace, my child auditioned for the BFA MT, BFA Acting, and BFA FTVC programs. We have only heard from MT so far (unfortunately that was a “no”). We got a letter from MT in the mail, but have not heard anything from the other programs yet. Hope this info helps others who are also waiting!
Syracuse is doing rolling admissions decisions every friday until April, still haven’t heard back for acting but a few others have. Anyone know if this is a bad thing?
Hi guys! Congrats on the acceptances thus far and for those still waiting, hang in there!
I have been watching two threads on CC relatively closely, but I wanted to get some insight from the source directly. My parents are not supportive of my career choice, so CC is basically the only place I can get needed feedback.
I have been accepted to the following programs:
UARTS (BFA Acting)
HARTT (BFA Acting)
POINT PARK (BFA Acting)
PACE (BA ACTING)
Still waiting:
NYU
I was wondering if anyone could give me some additional information on the preceding programs. I want to begin weighing my options, that way I won’t be taking a hopeful’s spot. My ultimate goal for the future is to simply be a happy working actor, but I want to get the most out of my training. If anyone could help me “pro and con” my acceptances so far, it would be especially helpful."
I’m trying to plan a visit to the NYC and Philadelphia next month. Will it be more cost effective to buy one way tickets from LAX to NYC, then NYC to Philadalphia, then from Philadelphia back to LAX?
Or is it cheaper to buy a round trip ticket LAX to NYC, and then fly or take the train and back from NYC to Philadelphia?
Boston may be a possible added city.
Any info on saving money is greatly appreciated.
@SceneStealer congratulations! Those are some fantastic programs and you’ve got great options. The big question would be which one is most affordable? As a young artist you really don’t want to burden yourself with enormous college loans. If one of those programs is substantially more affordable for you … make that your Top choice.
@love2share we did that exact route last year and the best price/efficiency combo I could find was a one way into Newark from LA, an Amtrak between New York City and Philly and a one way out of Philly to LA. I used expedia.
@love2share The only way to know for sure is to google each option - I just bought tix/hotel from West Coast to Chicago and priced separately on Alaska and United, then as a package deal with hotel on Expedia. Sometimes buying separately is a deal, others not so much. Tix were pretty pricey at the end of April for our route (almost $800 for two). As comparison for West Coast-NYC in Nov we paid almost the same while in Jan about $550. Best of luck!
@SceneStealer Congrats on all your acceptances! Tagging @actorparent1 as believe she can shed light on both UArts and Hartt (where her D is a freshman).
@love2share there are really inexpensive busses from NYC to & from Boston & probably Philly as well. Try googling them, they should be much less expensive than Amtrak. They have WiFi too. One company is called boltbus, there are plenty of others as well.
@CaMom13 @BettyBNYC2023 and @NYDreammom Thank you so much for the detailed info!
@love2share I have found when traveling there usually is no cost savings on round trips anymore. Two one way fares usually cost the same as one round trip. And when you are doing odd multi-city routes, you get more flexibility with one way tickets. Flexibility if you need to change or cancel a ticket, it can be easier to do with one-ways.
@SoCalPops Thank you!
@tlm333 regarding the social lives of the students- I follow the school on social media (Instagram) and it looks like they have lots of fun events planned for the students all the time. Take a look, maybe that will help!
@lovetoshare If you fly into Newark, look into NJ Transit trains to Penn Station NYC instead of Amtrak. Also, I concur that busses are the least expensive way to go from Philadelphia - NYC.
@SceneStealer, congratulations on your acceptances! (And thanks @NYDreammom for tagging me!) My D goes to Hartt, and was also accepted at UArts and we went to the accepted students day, so I will tell you everything I know!
First, I recommend going to both programs’ websites and looking at the semester-by-semester curriculum. One thing I really appreciated about both schools was that they laid out the curriculum in detail, which specific acting and movement techniques they learn each semester, etc. (A lot of schools just put “Acting 1, Movement 1,” etc. with no specific info.)
My daughter wanted serious, conservatory acting training with strong Shakespeare training and study in London, so Hartt was a great fit for her. She had attended a performing arts high school, so she already had a lot of acting training (which in her case was primarily Meisner), but Hartt’s “toolbox” approach has meant that she’s learning a lot of techniques that she DIDN’T learn before, so she’s really enjoying it and being challenged. First semester they did the Method, Stella Adler, and Atlantic Studio techniques; this semester they’re doing Viewpoints.
The movement training has been outstanding - that’s always been my D’s weakest area, because she has back problems and isn’t very flexible. The movement training first semester included Tai Chi, Alexander, Drozin (?), Laban, and something I can’t remember that had something to do with vibrations and my D called me up very excited about it, saying “I can see myself building a whole character around this!” So apparently it was good, LOL. This semester in Movement they’re doing ballet, which has really helped her flexibility and balance. Voice has been Linklater and IPA, and this semester they’re doing accents and dialects.
Junior year, the acting students go to London for 10 weeks to study Shakespeare, then come home and perform Shakespeare plays.
She says the teachers have been great, very experienced and knowledgeable and good at giving specific constructive feedback. She has also found that the other students are very serious about acting and very focused.
Acting students unfortunately can’t audition for musicals, but they do get Musical Theatre Chorus along with the MTs, and for an extra fee, they can take singing lessons, which my daughter is doing, and when you take singing lessons, you get a weekly singing masterclass at no extra charge. So she’s enjoying that.
The University of Hartford campus is a typical college campus, lots of trees and green spaces and a pretty brook with a bridge over it. The dorms are very typical. West Hartford is a quiet suburb, which my D was not used to (we live in NYC), but there’s a nice downtown area with shops and restaurants and a movie theater, and the city of Hartford is about 10 minutes away (they go there to see shows at Hartford Stage).
There are a lot of performance opportunities at Hartt. Freshman year you don’t perform, but you have stage managing and crew assignments for the upperclass productions. Sophomore year you do perform full-length productions, but only for the faculty and other students. Junior and senior year you DO perform publicly, and senior year you also get cast in “A Christmas Carol” at Hartford Stage and can also audition for other production s at Hartford Stage, Goodspeed, TheatreWorks, and other local professional theaters.
One good thing about Hartt is that there’s guaranteed casting - the rehearsals and performances are considered an integral part of the training. So you’re in rehearsal every evening from 6 - 10 pm and during the day on Saturdays.
That’s all I can think of - feel free to PM me with any questions!
Now, UArts. I have to stress that my D does NOT go there, so my impressions are limited to what I saw on the accepted students day. I am NOT an expert on that school, and obviously first impressions can be totally wrong, so I don’t want to mislead anyone! With that disclaimer, here we go. It looks like a great school, everyone so creative and enthusiastic and very warm and friendly. What’s interesting about UArts is that it’s an arts conservatory, but not just PERFORMING arts. They have majors in filmmaking and music engineering and all kinds of other art- and entertainment related fields.
The vibe I got at UArts was that instead of focusing on one thing, you’re encouraged to branch out and try all kinds of other things, whatever interests you. Our tour guide was a senior acting major who told us that during her time at UArts, she had come to realize that she doesn’t want to be an actor after all, but a filmmaker. She had taken a filmmaking class freshman year as an elective just for fun, but really liked it, so she kept taking more and more filmmaking and directing classes, and that’s what she’s going to pursue. She also took classes in knitting and ceramics and other things just for fun.
So UArts is a great place if you want to explore a variety of different creative interests in addition to your major. They also have an MT minor that acting students can audition into. And of course, there’s a lot of cross-pollination and networking between the majors: for example, since they have filmmakers and animators, the acting students have lots of opportunities to perform in student films, do voice-overs, etc. They have a lot of performance opportunities as well.
My D felt that UArts was not the right fit for her because she is 100% focused on acting, and wanted the most serious, in-depth acting training she could get, and especially wanted strong Shakespeare training. One turn-off for her was that she sat in on a senior acting class, and the teacher was handing out Shakespeare monologues for them to learn and admonishing “Make sure to read the play your monologue is from!” and some of the students groaned. They didn’t seem into Shakespeare. Likewise, our tour guide (the acting major who wants to be a filmmaker) mentioned that she had to find time to read the Shakespeare play her monologue is from, and she wasn’t looking forward to it because she’s not into Shakespeare.
My D LOVES Shakespeare, and her Hartt classmates do too (she told me that one night, they were all hanging out in someone’s dorm room having fun imagining casting Shakespeare plays with their classmates, like “So-and-so would be perfect as Lady Macbeth!” etc.That’s the kind of thing they do for fun!). So she was a bit turned off that the UArts students she saw weren’t into Shakespeare.
BUT 1) that was only ONE class, so I absolutely am NOT making a blanket statement about UArts as a whole! and 2) if you’re primarily into TV and screen acting, then obviously it’s not a dealbreaker if people aren’t into Shakespeare.
I have to say that location-wise, you cannot beat UArts! It’s right on the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia, which is an AWESOME street lined with professional theatres. My D loved it. If she had been making her decision based solely on location, UArts would have won hands down!
Also, UArts has great connections with the Philadelphia theater community. Many of the students stay in Philly after graduation and launch their acting careers there.
Again, that’s all I can think of! Hope it was helpful!
Does anyone know when NYU Tisch admissions decisions will be?
NYU (all schools) releases decisions before April 1, @tlm333. That’s all you know until it gets closer. Last year is was on 3/28 so this year 3/27 or 3/28 is a good guess.
@tlm333 I believe that Tisch is on the portal on March 28th.
Also, has anyone gotten a snail mail letter from Pace for any of the acting programs?
@dramama3 I can see that my S will be receiving something from Pace in today’s email. I presume that is a decision for either BFA Acting or BFA FCTV program. It is a letter sized envelope so I am bracing for bad news.