I agree with everything that has been said about not needing to be in “the city” to create your network and forge relationships, etc. Assuming you want to live in NYC after graduation, the couple of things I think are advantages are: Getting to live for a year or two in college housing in the city while you figure out how to get around, where you might live with roommates without totally bankrupting your parents (and yourself after graduation), access to auditions for summer stock, and access to auditions during senior year to allow for a jump on getting work. That said - the big unified auditions visit some campuses in addition to auditioning in NYC so depending on the school, you might have those opportunities outside the city as well.
My D is in NYC (finishing up her Sophomore year) and being completely honest, I worried when people mentioned “distractions “ before she started school there. Yes, on days off, she can dance at BDC or sing at thousands of open mic nights but as far as being distracted from school, there is no time for that. Her NYU studio and academic classes all have strict attendance policies that don’t leave much room for skipping class to attend auditions. Spring Break, Christmas Break and all other holidays when dorms ALWAYS remain open, offer the opportunity to stay in the city and train or audition without paying to travel there or for hotels. As others have stated, training would be as good in many places but the access to industry professionals and relationships built with them is unparalleled in my opinion. Those connections can certainly be made through other school networks during and after college but being in the city certainly has some advantages.
@lisadianea - another advantage in NYC is the opportunity to SEE lots of theater - esp at a discount. There are organizations like tixs4students with discount prices… which could end up to be cheaper than a movie ticket - D often saw things for as little as $15. Sometimes schools have special access to tickets. Several years ago - NYU had Hamilton tickets right as it was opening (before everything got insane)… and had their OWN lottery - which my D won, and got to see the show and meet with the original cast. At other times specific studios have been asked in to be “pre preview” audiences for some shows. That happened with Farinelli and the King - and they got to have a masterclass with Mark Rylance afterwards. Or struggling shows will offer tickets to schools to “paper” the audience. D saw Margaritaville and Spongebob that way
Yes - totally agree with both @lisadianea and @toowonderful. Molloy also has very strict attendance policies. Miss more than 2 classes per semester and your grade drops - by a full letter grade, I believe. (And if you’re out sick or with a migraine, it counts.) The school often has $5 tickets for students though only a certain number. And of course all the lottery options and discount student tickets, etc. They often go and see their professors/teachers performing in blackbox/experimental theater too.
My D is a current theatre performance major (BA) at Wagner - I can tell you that tuition for this year was well over $60,000.00. They are generous with aid, but once you factor in the meal plan, housing, dance labs, voice lessons - it is expensive.
@LBSMOM so at Wagner do you pay extra for dance & voice? I seem to remember that from when we visited there…
@theaterwork - yes, lessons are extra and “dance labs” are extra. You still get a specific number of dance classes per semester, but many kids choose to take extra classes. Fortunately, my D will be a TA next semester for Modern I, so she gets a free lab. Again, they are very generous with aid and we do not pay nearly that cost, but it is very expensive.
One thing about NYU - no add-on fees unless you take over 18 credits a semester. But the going-in price is insane to start with. I’ll take my small silver linings where I find them. 
NYU has two schools offering MT-related training, i.e., in addition to Tisch there is Steinhardt.
Also, in addition to Rider mentioned above, other schools offering MT degrees in greater NYC area include: Montclair State in Montclair, New Jersey, Western Connecticut State in Danbury, CT and in New York, Manhattanville College, LIU Post and Five Towns. There may be others but those are the ones I recall.
@rickle1 - I think the opportunities offered by simply being in close proximity to NYC are a fabulous value add. This same benefit (although not on a Big Apple scale) would hold true for college programs in other theater/film-centric metropolitan areas, as well. Examples: Chicago (Roosevelt/ CCPA), Cleveland (BW), Philly (UArts), Pittsburgh (Point Park and CMU), LA, Washington DC (American), Cincy (CCM), Minneapolois (Guthrie), London, Miami (UMiami), etc. Other examples certainly exist, so due diligence would be needed to create an thorough list.
There are also benefits to “being off the grid” for those students who thrive when cocooned, and for the schools that have active masterclasses, “in the know/clique” faculty, and involved alumni networks.
^ makes sense. Trying to get D to understand there’s a whole world of theater, good theater, outside of NYC. So it’s not just having access to network to get to NYC, but consider making a life in professional theater in Chicago, Boston, DC, etc. Of course NYC is the goal.
It’s not that your D is mistaken @rickle1 - NYC is the center of theater in the US. More jobs, more teachers, more auditions… and more people competing for the same work. There is good work elsewhere but the overall activity level is lower. We live close to Hollywood and the same thing is true there - there’s plenty of film work outside of LA but most budding film actors end up moving here anyway, god help them.
The thing I think has been most useful for my kid is being taught by people who also live and work in the city. There’s nothing like having a first-hand role model who “tells it like it is” to prepare you for (or warn you away from) working in the biz. Our family has zero connections/friends in the industry so she needs that first-hand view. I honestly feel being in NYC has been a valuable part of my kid’s MT education and I’m really happy she ended up in an NYC school.
@beachymom add Dallas/FW (TCU) to that list.
NYC has much to offer. But I think if you look at what many consider some of the top MT programs in the country, many are not in or near a NYC or Chicago. (Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, CCM). There is also a second tier that I think are also highly desirable that are again, not near NYC or Chicago (Texas State, Elon, Baldwin Wallace, Ithaca, OCU, Syracuse just to name a few). There are many other schools not in or near a big city that also do a fabulous job graduating performers who work. You may be missing out on some incredible programs by insisting on being in a certain city. All of these programs have great industry connections, frequent master classes, programs offered in the city whether it be for a week, a summer or a semester. And they have big alumni networks to help once you do graduate.
Also, keep in mind that many actors based in NYC are working all over the country. Most of them are not getting performing jobs in NYC. Yes, it is nice to be where there are the most auditions. But many are being hired regionally rather than on Broadway or off-Broadway.
Also St. Louis/WEBSTER University is near lots of summer stock options and where auditions are held (Muny, MWTA Unifieds and driving distance for other prestigious summer stocks)
Thanks to everyone for all your input. Not trying to create a debate on what’s best as I don’t know that there is a best. Even if there was, that would be dependent on which school (s) accept her, if any. Assuming she casts a wide net and applies to 15 or so schools, I’m sure she’ll hit most of the major ones (although you could do at least 10 in and around NYC - within an hour or so commute).
Funny (or just plain reality check), most of her very talented friends from her Performing Arts HS are staying in state (UCF, UF, Florida Southern). Some got in other places and can’t afford to go. Others just simply didn’t get in. I know of one who got in to TCU last yr, didn’t want to go for whatever reason, took a gap yr to practice a ton, and just got in to Molloy / Cap 21 and NYU. So many ways to go about it.
Next 6 + months are going to be busy for sure.
@rickle1 Don’t forget The Theatre School at DePaul for Chicago- hands down awesome and one of the top acting programs!!! And Chicago has over 300 theatre companies, one of the best cities for Improv and also film studios (the film industry started there before moving to Hollywood) but still going strong after experiencing several revivals. Also Chicago theatre quality is not driven by the zeros in the budget- no matter how small or big a production budget is, quality is very high. Not a hierarchical community either, compared to other cities- you can work in a small theatre and then go to a more established one and you are not treated as if you have to start from the bottom.
We were also so focused on NYC (as you can tell from my handle 
) but a whole new super exciting world has opened up in Chicago after D’s acceptance to DePaul and we couldn’t be happier!
So many ways and so many options @rickle1 - and as you can tell from CC, if the students are happy at school, the parents are happy with their choice of program. I think the decision on a BFA school isn’t that different from the decision on a BA school - go where you can afford and make sure you’re using your own set of priorities to chose/apply/select colleges. It makes me crazy when people create posts saying “which of these 2 totally different schools should I choose?” because my response is always “Well - who are you? What do you want? Why did you apply to both of these schools anyway???” You only get one life - live it your way.
^ I know what you mean.
I’m hearing from parents with their young adults there that the Molloy / Cap 21 program class size is expected to be significantly larger than prior years. I don’t know if anything has been officially released from Molloy about this yet, but this is what they’re hearing / sensing.