Hard choices

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>I'm new to this site and have been through this grueling process with my D. There have been a lot of positives and a day of devastation for her. She was rejected from CMU and waitlisted at UNCSA which she didn't seem to care too much about. Waitlisted at Juilliard which seriously caused a huge day of just crying and sadness as she thought the final callback had gone so well. </p>

<p>On a good note she got into purchase BFA acting, rutgers mason gross BFA acting, Pace BFA acting, Marymount Performance and MT minor, Fordham Acting. So she has great choices. Haven't heard from NYU yet but she's really not interested as she likes the selectivity of the other programs. </p>

<p>So she seems to be leaning toward Rutgers. Any thoughts on the programs in comparison to the others. Just want to make sure she's doing the right thing.</p>

2

<p>Wow, congratulations to your daughter on having wonderful choices! A couple of parents (including Glassharmonica) have kids at Fordham and can help, and there are others who are considering MMC. The study abroad program at Rutgers is a strong distinguishing factor. Will be interested to hear what she decides.</p>

3

<p>I responded to a similar question of yours on the Rutgers/Mason Gross thread, where your post made it sound like your daughter is trying to decide between Rutgers and Purchase.</p>

<p>Fabulous acceptances, for sure. :slight_smile: Please do let us know what your daughter decides and how everything goes.</p>

4

<p>Well- Rutgers can offer the whole college experience with a football team and Greek life. However, as a BFA student, there would be no time to participate in such things. Their program is very strong and they do get to study abroad. My daughter loved the admissions rep and it was her second choice of school. The London thing is a real draw. It’s close to NY and it is a public university that offers a great deal of diversity and a ton of other majors. It’s affordable.</p>

<p>I know a senior who is at Purchase and she loves it there. They definitely have a strong reputation and have been consistently on the “top tier” list. The culture is very different and they also get on the list for the ugliest campus.</p>

5

<p>Congrats on the Juilliard waitlist! (I did not know that Juilliard had announced results yet.) My daughter chose Fordham over Mason Gross (and NYU) last year. The programs are all pretty different when you look at the closely.</p>

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<p>Mason Gross would have been my D’s second choice after NYU. It provides the total college package: diverse academic programs, study abroad, a “typical” college social life with sports and Greek life. The acting training is Meisner-specific and well-known for being top-notch. We also liked that it was not too far from NYC and an easy place to travel to from our home. My D attended a PA high-school in a conservatory-type environment and specifically did not want that insular sort of environment for college. All the schools you are considering provide excellent training but have very different social environments and that part of the choice is very much a personal decision.</p>

7

<p>Yeah, my daughter went to a PA high school (studied MT but wanted to concentrate on acting) as well and did not want a conservatory at all. She wanted the full college life. Even though she entered as a BFA Acting student, she is now majoring in Communications and double minoring in theatre and dance. I have never seen her so happy to be able to fully participate in college life. If she had gone to a conservatory, she would not have had that option. She has been performing and sacrificing a social life since she was 4. Now, she has the best of both worlds and is thriving- both academically and artistically.</p>

8

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<p>The fact that your daughter was even waitlisted at one of the most difficult to get into acting programs in the world suggest that yes, her final callback did go quite well. I know it’s hard for an emotional teenager to look from this perspective, but please try and reassure your daughter that she achieved something rare even getting on the Julliard waitlist. She must be a very talented young woman.</p>

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<p>This surprises me. Now I am a proud Tisch alum, but NYU offers one of the best, and most selective, BFA programs around by any objective standards. Where did she get the idea that Tisch was not selective? Tisch Drama is extremely selective, admitting only about 15%-17% of applicants (the Drama acceptance rate is lower than the overall Tisch acceptance rate), offers unparalleled access to a variety of training methods, a study abroad studio option in London by way of RADA, is in the thick of the best theatre town in the world, and personally speaking NYU is an extraordinary institution to experience, IF it fits her personality. </p>

<p>If she’s lucky enough to gain entrance, I hope she seriously considers it. If she is thinking about giving Mason Gross a try, which has a comparable selection rate as Tisch, then it doesn’t make much sense to dismiss Tisch for not being selective enough.</p>

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<p>AMEN! Thanks iwishyouwell!</p>

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<p>Tisch admits many more students than most programs, which might imply “not as selective” to some people.</p>

<p>My son is a student at BU, which also admits larger classes than most of the conservatory-type programs…though not as many as NYU. Quite a few of his classmates were accepted at both BU and NYU. Not very many were also accepted at Rutgers, Purchase, or CMU.</p>

11

<p>NYU has multiple studios. They can admit more students because they are divided out amongst the studios. Their standards for admittance are pretty high as well!</p>

12

<p>Were the results by email or postal??
thank you!</p>

13

<p>Thanks for everyone’s input. My D still won’t talk much about Juilliard as she was distraught. I think she realizes how difficult the program is to get into but after giving all that she possibly could at the callback weekend she is still disappointed. </p>

<p>The problem she had with NYU is the fact that she knows a number of students that got into Tisch who are not the caliber as she would have thought. I know grades have something to do with acceptance and maybe that is why these individuals had been admitted. Is there one studio which is considered better than any of the others? </p>

<p>MSS1234: what results are you looking for?</p>

<p>At this point, I think my D is considering Purchase and Rutgers but she has gotten even more confused due to her getting callback notifications for London’s Guildhall and LAMDA. A director that knows her really wants her to go to London to study, but my D feels she’s too young to live abroad alone at 18</p>

14

<p>I think it would be helpful to help her realize she should try to not judge who is accepted. This is a very subjective process and she cannot know how auditions went for individuals, what the schools are looking, there is a lot in the mix that she is not aware. NYU is a fabulous program. The studios are all different. I am not saying that is where she should go, but try to move the decision away from being based on who she knows who got in…</p>

15

<p>There are students in EVERY program where one looks around and thinks how did they ever get accepted (either due to perceived lack of talent or academic “laziness”). That’s the problem with subjectivity. With Rutgers having a junior year of study in London- that would seem like a great choice. It offers the full college experience and it’s easy to get to NY.</p>

<p>There is no best studio at NYU. They are all different and the professors are pretty good about placing students in the “correct” studio. Students also have the option to audition for other studios at NYU if they don’t like their original placement.</p>

<p>My daughter turned 18 on the first day of her college classes. She said she is still young and so there is plenty of time to pursue many interests (believe me- she has tons of interests-tons-lol) . If your daughter isn’t ready for London, she certainly has some great choices of colleges. There are so many kids who would kill to be in her position. Good luck!</p>

16

<p>Your D’s misgivings about going overseas need to be heard. Her well-being as a whole person should not be sacrificed in the name of the training. What’s the use of the training if she drops out after a year due to unhappiness? My older D who had lived away from home and seemed very independent and capable went overseas during her college years with some negative results. The program was in Paris and required the kids to live in their own apartments (no dorms), so that may have contributed to her feelings of vulnerability. You D obviously is very talented and any of these programs can be wonderful for her as long as she is happy and therefore able to perform at her best. Her drive, persistence, energy level will be the added ingredients to her talent that will determine her success. Perhaps you should revisit the campuses and see how she feels about the vibe at each.</p>

17

<p>The problem she had with NYU is the fact that she knows a number of students that got into Tisch who are not the caliber as she would have thought</p>

<p>Thanks…I needed a chuckle today.</p>

18

<p>My D is a junior in a MT BA program. She is currently in Prague studying with a physical theater company. Even though she is 20, living abroad is tough. The first few weeks, she was giddy with excitement, but when the new wore off - she was cold, and lonely, and shell-shocked. She’s getting better, but still not “home” - and she goes to college across the country from her real home. The programs in London are good, but it is also very expensive to live there (we know - H just accepted a job there and we’re in the process of relocating).</p>

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<p>There are people who have won Academy Awards who some don’t think are of the caliber to have even been cast, much less locked in a nod and won. To a large extent this is a subjective business, and opinions on talent, and skill, vary wildly.</p>

<p>I really don’t want to judge your daughter, because I don’t know her, but if she’s already turning her nose up at a BFA program of the caliber of Tisch, she might be dealing with some extremely unrealistic standards. She might be surprised to realize that if she does make entrance into Julliard, or decides on Rutgers, that there will always be other students whom she doesn’t “get” as an actor, others she doesn’t think are good enough for the program she deems herself worthy. And, perhaps to her shock, she might find there will be people who view her in the exact same light. That’s the nature of this entire business, in every training program, and on plenty of sets she’ll encounter no matter what level of production.</p>

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<p>Tisch admits more students because Tisch has one of, if not the, largest applicant pool of any BFA drama program.</p>

<p>And it also has a large, comprehensive studio system. So unlike most programs, which have a singular conservatory study program, Tisch drama is splintered amongst several studios for conservatory training. So, in essence, there is Tisch-Drama-Miesner, Tisch-Drama-Atlantic, Tisch-Drama-ETW, Tisch-Drama-Cap21, etc. Each of those individual studios admit a relatively small pool of incoming students, making them similar in size to any other hyper selective training studio.</p>

<p>This does not make it less selective by any means, as you are fighting far more competition even with the greater number of slots. It still has one of the lowest acceptance rates for any dramatic bachelor’s level degree program in the world. </p>

<p>It is actually a huge positive aspect of Tisch Drama that the acceptance rate is low, but the student pool is higher; that means students admitted to Tisch are still experiencing the selectivity of a singular focused conservatory training program, while having access to a greater selection of training choices once they complete the initial two year studio training.</p>

20

<p>Since you are in PA, I would suggest your D become a student for a day at each of her top programs–even do an overnight if that is possible. That would give her a feel for the instructors who she will be spending A LOT of time with, and just as importantly, the type of student that attends each. If you are specifically looking at Rutgers v Purchase, it is a radically different college experience. Congratulations on having lots of great opportunities!</p>