<p>I just finished 8th grade and this fall, I'll be attending a performing arts charter school for my high school career. I'm trying to look into colleges as early as possible and I figured signing up here would be a great start. Here's what I'll do: I'll list some requirements/wants and you guys can give me some suggestions.</p>
<ul>
<li>I want the school to be in New York City or no more than a 1 hour driving distance.</li>
<li>I want to earn my B.F.A. in musical theater, but I'd gladly take just Acting or Theater.</li>
<li>My grades are pretty good (around a 4.0), so academics for applying shouldn't be a problem.</li>
<li>I need a school with pretty nice financial aid.</li>
</ul>
<p>I already have some choices picked out. </p>
<ul>
<li>The New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts</li>
<li>The American Academy of Dramatic Arts</li>
<li>American Musical & Dramatic Academy</li>
<li>The Juilliard School (i wish)</li>
<li>NYU: Tish/Steinhardt (once again, i wish)</li>
<li>Columbia University </li>
<li>The New School for Drama</li>
<li>Marrymount Manhattan College</li>
<li>Barnard College</li>
<li>Syracuse University</li>
<li>Pace University</li>
</ul>
<p>Anyways, can you guys just list some other schools based off of my wants and maybe give me some inside info about the schools I've listed (maybe you had went there, knows somebody who went there). Thanks for reading and thanks in advance if you reply to this! :)</p>
<p>~ Ty Kunzelman</p>
<p>Ty - The New School for Drama is a graduate school. Eugene Lang College at the New School has a non-auditioned BA Theater major, but no BFA program (and no musical theater). Fordham-Lincoln Center has an excellent, auditioned Theater Performance BA, but does not have a Musical Theater major. They have heavier liberal arts requirements (including math and science) than many BFA programs, but if you are also considering Barnard and Columbia that wouldn’t be a problem. I would have guessed by your name that you are male; are you? If so, you should know that Barnard is an all-women’s college - it was the “sister school” to Columbia until Columbia began admitting women on its own in the 1980s (I went there). If you are willing to travel into the suburbs, you should also seriously consider SUNY Purchase, Montclair State, Adelphi, Sarah Lawrence, and possibly Mason Gross/Rutgers (although Musical Theater isn’t a principal focus there, either). You are still very young, with lots of time. You might well wind up dropping the non-degree programs (ie.NYCDA, AADA, and AMDA) from your list, or find that your “pretty good grades” and boards aren’t quite up to Columbia’s standards (they are almost as selective as Harvard these days).</p>
<p>p.s., ty - Syracuse is not within one hour from NYC; it’s about 5 hours away.</p>
<p>AADA, AMDA & NYCDA are not likely to provide much if any in financial aid. </p>
<p>Also, if you decided you want to pusue non-college training in NYC, I’d recommend broadening your search. We spent a lot of time looking at these non-college programs and there are several better options IMO including Circle in the Square, Stella Adler, Atlantic and William Esper Studio to name a few.</p>
<p>Fordham is a really good school for performing arts!</p>
<p>Also, University at Buffalo is a good school with musical theatre and very easy to get into…and SUNY Purchase</p>