<p>Sorry supportive, I just saw your question. My daughter is a senior, she just started her last 10 weeks today. She could have graduated in December but chose to stay through till June, when I asked her last week how she felt about that decision she said it was the right thing to do. We did look at possible neighborhoods for her to live in come July and raised her excitement about the next phase of her life so I think she’s ready!</p>
<p>Thanks amtc! If she’s a senior, was she also a member of the 2013 Showcase? I know NU- both MT and straight acting get to be in a showcase during a senior year. I assume everyone gets to do this- or is it by invitation? Has that already happened? If so, how did she do in hers? My son has one more year of school and I don’t even want to think about it!</p>
<p>EmAil from NYU indicated that studio assignments will be handed out mid April. Re: Texas, they are graduating their last class of MFA students in May and focusing on what will be their new BFA program which looks fantastic. So we are waiting to see if my S gets financial aid from NU. He got fantastic scholarships at other schools. No FA is a big con for us. So that may help eliminate a school. One pro for my S is that NU, UT and Michigan are big sports schools. He loves all sports and would like that type of campus. So when I say Ok then lets eliminate NYU since we are New Yorkers and they don’t have that Rah Rah thing doing on, he finds unique pros about NYU. What I think the problems is…is that it is so difficult to say no to programs that just a couple of weeks ago he was praying so hard to get accepted to. Advice from friends in “the business” go wherever you will have the most fun since they are all good schools.</p>
<p>supportive, my daughter is only a Freshman at NU, but my understanding is that NU has showcases in both Chicago and NYC. Chicago’s showcase is open to everyone, but NYC’s showcase is by audition. THere were 20 something in the NYC showcase this year, but I have no idea what percentage that was of those who auditioned. There are 100 in the Freshman class, but I’m sure that decreases as the years go on and kids transfer out; then there are going to be kids who aren’t interested in auditioning in NYC. So amtc–do you have this info? I’m really curious!Do you know about what percent were accepted in the NYC showcase? And was it ever a surprise either for a yes or a no?</p>
<p>Muttle1. Your choices are fortunate and tough. Have you considered a dramatic adviser to meet with you and your S to determine the best fit ? They can be expensive but may be worth it</p>
<p>I can not speak to NU, save hearing that it is an excellent university.</p>
<p>I do believe there are a few common misnomers about NYU and Tisch.</p>
<p>One of my pet peeves is the assertion that NYU “has no campus”. This really comes down to how you define a “campus”. I am an alum, and many people who attend, and have attended, NYU think of Washington Square Park as pretty much the best university quad…EVER. NYU owns a near obscene amount of land and property throughout New York City, and the vast majority of the buildings clustered around Washington Square Park are NYU owned. So even though WSQ is not an “official” quad, spend just 10 minutes in that legendary park, and you know that it’s almost pure NYU. The major difference between NYU’s unofficial quad, and most school’s, is that your quad is pretty much open to the entire world.</p>
<p>There is school spirit at NYU. It’s actually quite potent, though admittedly nothing like the “spirit” that typifies more traditional campuses. There is this incredible pride at just being at NYU. Being young, in the heart of one of the greatest cities in the world, at a fine institution that so many dream of attending, does foster a strong sense of school spirit, of school pride. NYU is a very specific kind of place; it is a school that is militantly liberal, very open, with a strong emphasis on social intelligence, and cultural savvy. NYU is the kind of school that free thinkers thrive at, young adults who enjoy having a wide open world to explore, with very little hand holding, and almost no real overhead. I do believe many people require a more traditional, more structured higher education experience to truly thrive best. But if your child has always been the kind who marches to the beat of their own drum, the type who you had to watch a little bit closer else they spin off too fast into the world, alone, then NYU might be very appealing to them. When my family dropped me off, love them as I do, I felt almost no sadness. It just instantly felt like the place I’d spent my entire life trying to get to. There is a very specific kind of young adult who takes to NYU like that. If you, or your child, are the kind who really needs the enclosed, manicured lawn, frat party, sports pride, spirit based off cohesion type of uni, I would definitely seriously consider taking NYU off the list. I feel, more so than a typical university, that if you are truly not suited for NYU, you are likely to skip past indifference and head straight into full blown hatred. </p>
<p>I do believe the selection process for the studios is uncanny. I know that my studio, Atlantic, wasn’t even my first choice, and yet it was the right choice. Whoever auditioned me truly took into account everything I said in my interview, and my overall look, skill level, and talent, and put me in the place that spoke the best to those needs (not just wants). I know that almost everyone I knew at the time was very happy with their studio placement, even in the midst of the usual complaints and grumbles we all had about our individual training studios.</p>
<p>But having said that, there are always those who are unhappy. I knew two people in my studio year who never clicked with the training at Atlantic; one of them was particularly miserable. They left after the first year, auditioned for other studios, and ended up absolutely loving their new placements. And this is the strength of NYU’s studio system, versus most other places; the magnitude of choice. Typical conservatory training is linear in focus at nearly every other university and college; if you find yourself at odds with the training program on the whole, you are just SOL. With Tisch having such a rich, and varied, approach to theatre training, there is always the option of moving into a studio that might fit you far better than your initial placement. And even if you do enjoy your given studio, as I did, once your primary training is done there is always the option of securing additional training at the other studios to round out your conservatory training.</p>
<p>Iwishyouwell- Wow! You nailed it! Great post! I visited Columbia University to see the difference between that and NYU. It is beautiful but oh so quiet compared to the vibe at NYU. You’re right about the school spirit and that you feel like you’re on a campus near Washington Square (one of my favorite places). It may not be geared to to a football team but it is there. NYU also has a Greek life- so it’s there if you want. Having choices in studios is also a great benefit and it’s not frowned upon when you do want to change. In other programs, if you are not satisfied, you change colleges! Thanks Iwishyouwell!</p>
<p>Thanks supportive!</p>
<p>Regarding school spirit, let me give you an anecdotal story. The very first semester I transfered into NYU I, along with two other transfers, and one freshmen, attended my first, and last, school sponsored NYU dance. I grabbed a ridiculously cheap, but high quality, Nautica suit from a thrift shop down in the west village and we all checked it out.</p>
<p>I thought it was a real laugh. There were a bunch of students dressed up in tuxedos, and formal gowns, who were taking this matter so very seriously. Us four Tischies thought the whole affair was absurd, way too second-prom for our liking, stayed long enough to have a few chuckles, and split. </p>
<p>But here is the thing, while we didn’t get into it, THEY did. That is the difference between NYU and a lot of other schools. A dance like that, sponsored, catered, in a beautiful hall, full of well dressed young people, would have been a main event at many colleges. At NYU it was just an event, one of so many going on nearly every week of the year. There are no “must attend” events at NYU. I didn’t even go to the university wide graduation ceremony, choosing instead to view my Tisch graduation ceremony as my sole matriculating event, and I was not the only one (incidentally the Tisch graduation ceremony was incredible that year). There is so much going on at that school that you do have to be comfortable sailing on your own, setting your own priorities, finding a niche that works for you. There is so very little in the way of shepherding. You are expected, from the get go, to walk in with a healthy sense of independence and self sufficiency. </p>
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<p>This is such a vital point, beyond the boundaries of school comparisons. A lot of people just assume that one major university in NYC is pretty much similar to all major universities in NYC. It might be tempting to do a campus visit for a couple NYC schools, and not take the time to truly suss out sometimes quite glaring differences in the campuses. I have friends and colleagues who’ve attended NYU, Columbia, and Pace University. The schools are as incomparable to one another as each would be to universities in small college towns, or in rural areas, if not more so. It is rather uncanny, really, just how each school introduces a very different NYC experience to their respective student bodies.</p>
<p>It is not necessarily the need to have a manicured lawn that is drawing my son toward NU, it is actually the courses offered, the staff and the theatre program’s reputation. I agree though that there is no place like NYC. However as a New Yorker, that free thinking spirit, the world is our oyster thing, may be a bit different than for a non native. My son has been in student films at NY for many years and always couldn’t wait to go to NYU himself. Now that his chance is here, I suppose he wants to experience something he views as fresh. The choice was difficult because he loves the school and the program. But he loves Austin Texas too. So now we wait. He’s off to Chicago tomorrow. It will be Texas or NU.</p>
<p>Oh and by the way ActorFactor, I was curious and looked around a bit. I couldn’t find a single person who knows what a dramatic advisor is. Can you please explai. What one does and what type of qualifications one might have. Not that I intend to use one but I told my H about it and he was extremely curious. Maybe after all of this he intends to give up his law and go into dramatic advising. Thanks</p>