Current Tisch Drama Student answering questions

<p>My daughter is finishing her first year at Meisner and could’nt be happier. she originally auditioned for MT. There are about 15 students in each section and maybe four sections. They stay together for two years in that group. Meisner is a primary studio so she will audition for an advanced studio next year. She may try out for ETW or New Studio but this will probabaly change a million times. She was able to take voice through Steinhardt. She takes movement but not dance through her studio. She could have taken classes at BDC or STEPS but is way too busy. She will probably do that during the summer to keep up with dance. She has found Meisner to be intense, emotional but very rewarding. She has 2 acting teachers, one of whom is Vicky Hart, the foremost interpreter of Meisner in the US. She loves her teachers and feels very close to them. For more background on all of the various acting studios at NYU, read Arthur Bartow’s Training of the American Actor. It has chapters on the theories of acting of Adler, Meisner, Mamet ,etc.</p>

<p>Sorry, but just to clarify some things that Molly’s Mom said:</p>

<p>1) There are three section, each originally starting out with 17 per section, but some people left. The numbers vary slightly (Maybe 18, or 18) from year to year
2) You don’t necessarily need to audition for an advanced studio. You must audition for the Classical Studio. But not Stonestreet (The film acting studio). I don’t believe you need to audition for any of the Primary Studios (Playwrights, ETW, Atlantic, Adler, New Studio), however MT might be a different story.
3) Vicki, not Vicky. I only point it out because she has actually taken up a good 5-10 minutes to talk about how people mess up the spelling of her name ALL the time.</p>

<p>You MUST audition to do ETW studio for advanced studio. The first semester of it is called Transfer Track in ETW. In fact, it is very competitive to get into it. I say this with 100% accuracy as my D did it.</p>

<p>While I know for a fact that to do ETW for advanced studio (coming from another primary studio) requires an audition, I believe it is not the only studio requiring an audition for advanced studio if coming from a different primary studio. But I don’t want to give the wrong information as to which studios require an audition, but here is a general statement from Tisch Drama’s site:</p>

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<p>[Advanced</a> Studio Training: Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/dr_curadditional.html]Advanced”>http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/dr_curadditional.html)</p>

<p>PS, I also found on Tisch’s site that Adler studio, for transfer track (advanced studio coming from a different primary studio) requires an audition.
<a href=“http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/H28.0206Stud.html[/url]”>http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/H28.0206Stud.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also, to do Playwrights Horizons for advanced studio for DIRECTING, coming from a different primary studio, requires an interview.
<a href=“http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/H28.0256Stud.html[/url]”>http://drama.tisch.nyu.edu/object/H28.0256Stud.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For the record, here is where it shows that to do ETW for advanced studio transfer track, it requires an audition and interview:
<a href=“http://www.nyu.edu/tisch/drama/etw/transferTrack.html[/url]”>Drama;

<p>My apologies to Vicki! Sounds like you love Meisner! So does my daughter!</p>

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This is why I said ‘I don’t believe’ as opposed to ‘I am 100% certain.’ Wise choice of words on my part, apparently</p>

<p>SmokeandFire, you wrote:</p>

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<p>Then, you wrote:</p>

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<p>Yes, you never said you are 100% certain. I am not criticizing what you wrote. But since you wrote what you believed (that one doesn’t have to audition for an advanced studio except at Classical), it was important to then share information that is more accurate since what you believed is not actually the case. Nobody is criticizing you and you never said you were CERTAIN. But it makes sense that someone with accurate information posts to counter what ended up to be a misconception and there are many members reading these posts and so it only makes sense to provide the correct information and not let wrong information stand, even if you were not purposely misleading people (you weren’t). </p>

<p>Let’s say, someone posts that they BELIEVE that NYU/Tisch offers a BA, and not a BFA. Those who are familiar with Tisch know that it only offers a BFA in Drama, not a BA, and so would want those who are reading about schools to have correct information and thus would post the more accurate information rather than let wrong information stand. It only makes sense to do that. It is not saying that the original poster with the wrong information meant to mislead or was 100% certain of their information. But it helps if someone DOES know the right information, to then post it and correct any misinformation that was posted.</p>

<p>Cheers.</p>

<p>As a current student currently auditioning for Advanced Studios, let me clear some things up.</p>

<p>Here are the advanced studio options that you do AUDITION For. The auditions generally include monologues/songs along with written essays and interviews on why you want to transfer into the studio.</p>

<p>ETW Transfer Track (Monologue + Song) *Very Selective</p>

<p>Classical Studio (Monologue + Callbacks) *Very Selective</p>

<p>Playwrights Horizons Musical Theater Practicum/New Musical Theater Collaborative (Monologue + Song)</p>

<p>Playwrights Horizons Acting Practicum (Monologue)</p>

<p>New Studio on Broadway: Musical Theater Transfer Track (Monologue, Song, Dance, Piano, Music Theory Test, Voice/Speech Evaluation)- This replaces the old CAP 21 Transfer Track, and people accepted will be put into the New Studio 2nd year program.</p>

<p>Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute Advanced Practicum (Monologues and/or Song)</p>

<p>Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute Musical Theater Track (Monologues, Songs, Dance)</p>

<p>**For 2012-2013 year the Meisner Studio will add a third year in it, it is unclear if students in other studios can transfer into it, however rumor has it that if you do the Meisner intensive during the summer you will be able to transfer into it.</p>

<p>Here are the advanced studio options that do not require an audition, but do require an interview:
Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop
Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute Transfer Track- Directly into the Third Year</p>

<p>There is no longer an Adler Transfer Track.</p>

<p>Thank you so much clay for the real skinny on this!!</p>

<p>By the way, I now recall when my D transfered into advanced studio for ETW, she also had to write an essay.</p>

<p>Yes I actually just auditioned for ETW last week haha and besides the monologue/song there was an essay. Along with an interview that was quite extensive actually.
I know that Classical studio also does individual interviews with people along with the audition.</p>

<p>My son is looking at a lot of BFA Acting programs for next year (he is finishing junior year of HS now). He has a strong theater background, shaky/mixed academic record in other areas, decent PSATs (hoping to improve a little, will take SATs, SAT subjects, and ACTs, hoping to score well on some). NYU/Tisch is his “reach,” and he will probably apply for an Early Decision. Can he go ahead and apply to any other programs before he hears from Tisch, or will he have to wait until December 15th to send out other applications (if he is rejected)? There are advantages to auditioning and applying early to some schools with rolling admissions, and we’ll do that if he can.</p>

<p>I’m not a Tisch student, but am a college counselor. Yes, if your son applies ED to Tisch, he can apply to other schools and not wait until December 15 to do so. In fact, I STRONGLY advise he sends in all his applications and lines up his audition appointments before Dec. 15 and proceed in the same way an applicant would do who did not apply ED and assume he may not get into Tisch. Then, IF your son is admitted ED to Tisch in mid December, he will be required to pull all his applications and cancel his auditions as he has to commit to attending NYU. This is the normal procedure that I just told you. I have worked with many students who have applied ED to Tisch and other schools and once accepted, they let all their other colleges know as well as canceled their forthcoming auditions. </p>

<p>However, they did not wait until Dec. to do all their applications. They proceeded with all their applications and lined up audition appointments for the winter, as if their ED might not come through. When it did come through, they canceled everything. Had their ED college not admitted them, they would have been in a huge bind if they left all their applications and other essays until late December, and also would have had difficulty getting audition appointments at that juncture. So, that is how ED works (at any college, not just Tisch), along with my advice.</p>

<p>Also, I don’t know what a shaky academic record is, but please be aware that at NYU/Tisch, academics counts 50% of the admissions process and the audition counts 50%. NYU is very selective academically speaking and you should examine the stats of admitted students (along with the low acceptance rate) to gauge if your son is in the ballpark academically before deciding whether to apply.</p>

<p>Be aware, though, that applying ED to Tisch means acceptance or rejection – no deferral. In RD, there is the possibility of being put on the Waitlist. </p>

<p>I would imagine, but this is only my guess, that an applicant would have to be particularly strong in the ED pool to make it through. Some schools need ED to rely less on the RD pool and lock in admits, but Tisch has such a strong yield that it probably can afford to take only the top applicants ED.</p>

<p>Soozie, what do you think about this?</p>

<p>I think that at very selective universities, which NYU AND Tisch are, the ED applicant pool tends to be stronger overall (more concentrated) than the RD pool and so the competition is stiffer and it can be more difficult to get in during the ED round. </p>

<p>Also, if you are hoping for financial aid, then applying ED is not a good idea as it is a binding decision and you can’t weigh FA offers.</p>

<p>Lest Soozie be misunderstood, if the financial aid offered with ED acceptance is insufficient to support attendance, the ED offer can be declined, and RD applications sent elsewhere.</p>

<p>vossron, while that is true, I feel strongly that if someone needs to compare FA offers or if their ability to attend a college is dependent on the FA offer, they should not apply ED as it is meant to be a binding commitment. As you are well aware, due to your longevity and frequent participation on CC, there are lots and lots of threads on the other forums within CC (not the Theater one) on that topic and so I don’t wish to rehash it here. You are correct on what an applicant CAN do, but it truly is not the intent of the ED process, and I think backing out of an ED commitment is not a good thing to do, nor does it bode well for others coming from that high school who apply in the future. Rescinding an Early Decision acceptance doesn’t sit well with the colleges and can hurt future applicants who apply to that college from your high school. The idea behind ED is being 100% committed to attending if accepted. I understand if the FA offer is not good enough, there is an out. But if that is a consideration, then RD is the way to go, in my view (and that of many others). As well, ED doesn’t allow one to COMPARE offers and so if you back out of an ED school you are admitted to, you have to kiss it good bye and who knows if you will even get a better FA offer from another school you are as interested in attending. With RD, you get all the cards on the table in April and can make an informed decision among the options and the FA offers.</p>

<p>In my view, backing out of an ED commitment should only be a last resort.</p>

<p>But thank you for pointing out that one can renege on the commitment to attend if accepted ED if the FA offer is not suitable to them.</p>

<p>One further point for those who are considering ED and whose decision as to where to matriculate is very dependent on a FA offer…</p>

<p>When you apply ED, it is possible to wind up with less financial aid than RD applicants because colleges believe ED students are already committed to attending the college. Therefore, some colleges assume they can offer ED applicants less attractive financial aid packages.</p>

<p>D just admitted to the Classical Studio for junior year. She loves PHTS and would have been very happy staying there for the third year in the Acting Practicum but excited to focus on Shakespeare and classical training for a year. Stats were–72 auditioned for 20 spots.</p>