Warning: lengthy read ahead!
Hello! I’m currently a SUNY New Paltz freshman Theater major and Music minor who wants to either double major, or possibly transfer. Let me say right off the bat that while their Theater program isn’t exactly what I want, that it is a GREAT program, and I am in no way trashing it. Academically, my experience at New Paltz so far has been great.
That being said, their Theater Performance program is a very acting-heavy program I know that after freshman year, a lot of electives open up, and many of them are voice and dance classes; I have NO idea how many of them are, that’s my problem.
I want to double major with Music, with Voice as my primary instrument. This would have me covered on Acting and Singing, my two stronger points. However, I only have around 2 years of dance experience, and I’m afraid that not immersing myself in dance now will only hurt me at auditions in the future. I am taking drop-in classes at BDC while home (I live in Queens), but the cost adds up over time.
On the contrary, my “back-up plan” is teaching, but not for the reasons most people consider it a backup plan. My own teachers have always inspired me so much, and I’ve even become very close to some of them. If I don’t “make it”, I would love to pay forward what my teachers have given me. Double majoring would only help me here, potentially qualifying me to teach both subjects, possibly? I’m not sure how that works.
I’ve heard that double majoring in Theater and Music is very hard, with both majors being around 50 credits, and I’m afraid that it might not be worth it, at a school who’s name isn’t very well known. That being said, I’d be willing to do some summer work, and I can’t really afford most well-known schools; the SUNY tuition was one of the primary things that attracted me to New Paltz. (And just before anyone mentions it, SUNY Cortland is out of the question. Personal reasons.)
As of yesterday, I’m very lightly considering transferring; that’s where I’m asking for help. I don’t want to be much farther from home than New Paltz if I can avoid it, since I live in Queens, and living near the city as a theater major has it’s perks, anyway. Two of my friends have recommended Molloy/CAP21 to me, but they are BFA, and I was unsure of how to work my “education back-up plan” into a BFA. My friend has told me that I could “get an education degree online” - I want to know how realistic this is, since it sounds like a good idea in theory, but might be too good to be true. If this is a practical option, I will be applying to Molloy. I have also considered American MT, where I was previous accepted and couldn’t afford, Temple, where I was accepted academically, Marymount Manhattan, because I keep hearing the name, and Buffalo for the SUNY pricetag and that one of my best friends may start going there this fall. Probably not the last one, but it’s worth a shot for the SUNY price alone.
Does anybody have any advice, any knowledge about the 4 schools in question, or any convincing enough reasons to get me to stay at New Paltz? It would be much appreciated! 