<p>While we’re on the subject of NYU-- would anyone be willing to talk about which studios your kids are in, and what the experience is? D would love to know more about the differences.</p>
<p>Gwen, here are a few threads that may be of help.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/798491-various-tisch-studios.html?highlight=studios[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/798491-various-tisch-studios.html?highlight=studios</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1194656-nyu-tisch-program.html?highlight=studios[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1194656-nyu-tisch-program.html?highlight=studios</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1081157-current-tisch-drama-student-answering-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1081157-current-tisch-drama-student-answering-questions.html</a></p>
<p>My D is an Atlantic grad and loved every minute of her time there.</p>
<p>OneToughMommy, I too would like an answer to GlassHarmonica’s question. I would think a kid with a high grades in AP courses and over 2300 on the Sat’s would not find the academic classes so challenging at NYU. Is it the actual academic classes or the pressure of the theatre classes AND the academics at the same time? Does what studio you are in make a difference to the work load? </p>
<p>Also from those of you who know first hand, they do not have to take any science or Math classes, right? At the information session, they said social sciences are aloud in place of science. That would make a big difference in the difficulty level for my kid. </p>
<p>My kid is a B+ student taking AP courses and has higher SAT scores than the average NYU student (but not 2300! wow) and a ton of extra curriculars.
SDonCC also brings up a VERY good point… Do they have fun? Do they have time to socialize? Do they have time for any clubs?</p>
<p>I don’t know if I should be worried my kid won’t get in… or I should be worried they will get in! : )</p>
<p>Good questions! My D is not giving me a lot of detail, but it does sound like it’s the workload/time management issues rather than the academics that are the problem. There is a required 4-unit (I think) essay-writing course, and she is a writer. I know she spends a lot of time on that, maybe more that a “normal” student would, because she gets really into it.</p>
<p>Plus, she is in fact in Playwrights Horizons, and they definitely have “homework” for that too. I was not aware until I read this thread that this is not the case for all of the studios. (I’m afraid I don’t know enough detail about what they do there to describe it for comparison to other studios, but I agree that there some very good threads on the boards on that subject. My favorite posts are the lightbulb jokes (some of the studios have been replaced since then - maybe someone can update):</p>
<p>How many Strasberg students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
- I touched a light bulb once and it felt warm.</p>
<p>How many Adler students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
- I am the light bulb.</p>
<p>How many Meisner students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
- How many Meisner students does it take to screw in a light bulb? How many Meisner students does it take to screw in a light bulb? How many Meisner students does it take to screw in a light bulb?</p>
<p>How many Atlantic students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
- ***** you and your *****ing light bulb.</p>
<p>How many CAP21 students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
- I don’t do tech.</p>
<p>How many Stonestreet students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
- It’s not about the light bulb.</p>
<p>How many Experimental Theater Wing students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
- Purple. </p>
<p>How many Playwrights Horizons kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Five.
1 to design a lightbulb, 1 to write a script about a lightbulb, 1 to direct the screwing in of the lightbulb, 1 to actually screw in the lightbulb, and 1 to run around naked saying that they’re better than ETW. </p>
<p>Here’s another version to the last one:</p>
<p>How many Playwrights Horizons Theatre School kids does it take to screw in a light bulb?
God. I designed the show. I directed the show. I’m IN the show. And now you want me to do tech? Well okay… does it have to be a light bulb?" </p>
<p>Best to all.</p>
<p>OneToughMommy, that made my day!</p>
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</p>
<p>I sometimes wondered how my D had time to have any fun but, honestly, she loved every minute of her time at Tisch. Her schedule was very busy because she was also doing a double major so her two academic days were chock full. Her studio days were 9-6 and of course, she had work to be completed outside of studio time in addition to her academic classes. Between classes, studio, homework, scene studies, rehearsals, tech responsibilities, etc., I honestly don’t know how she did it. She was also involved in a theatre company made up of pros and students for three of the years she was there. And lastly, she found the time to see every show that played on Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway and at NYU while she was there, which, in my opinion, was as valuable a part of her education as any studio class she took. There are many benefits to attending school in NYC, but that is probably at the top of the list, along with the incredible contacts they are able to make there.</p>
<p>So, yes, they do have fun! It may just not be what our idea of fun is. :)</p>
<p>That’s great to know! Thanks for responding!</p>
<p>glassharmonica - My D was borderline academically for NYU. She was a point under the mid-tier of ACT scores and though her GPA was 3.8, she took only a couple of Honors/AP classes in all of high school (and from a school known for having lots to offer at these levels which would have been very clear from the school profile). So I thought her odds of acceptance were quite low (though still being outwardly supportive of course). She auditioned and applied ED and did get accepted. I will never forget that day! So I am guessing she must have been one of those that the audition helped tip the balance. She is now a junior. Academics seem not to be a problem and the studio training has been awesome (she’s been in two of them so far). Trust me, I too sure thought this one should have been crossed off the list, but she wanted to try so badly, that I just took a deep breath and let her go for it and braced myself to handle the disappointment (and her older sis with much higher scores and grades was not accepted–to another program at NYU–so I’d even been down this road before and was not keen to repeat the experience). I’m still surprised after all these years at how it turned out.</p>
<p>Thanks ccsmom, your story is heartening.</p>
<p>ccs - good info to add to the mix. I think it’s important to remember that the midpoint is just that, and if an applicant is somewhat below that, but has something special to offer e.g., excellent talent, and if the university is satisfied that the student can handle the work, then the student has at least a shot at admission. </p>
<p>It may also be that applying ED also gave your D a boost, but who can say. I do think it is important to point out to those who are new to the process this year that ED to Tisch is an “up or out” process - if you are not accepted to Tisch after the ED auditions, then you are not going to be considered for RD admission to Tisch that year. For what it’s worth, I will share what a teacher at a summer program at one of the top university acting programs in the country told my D: “If you are interested in Tisch, I don’t recommend that you apply ED. You’re not a “ginger,” and you’ll have a better chance in the RD round.” To translate - when Tisch does the ED auditions, they are always thinking in the back of their mind of whom they might see at the RD auditions that they’d rather have. So unless the student is obviously exceptional or remarkable in some way, it’s going to be harder to get in ED than it would be RD (from an audition point of view).</p>
<p>Yep, choosing to apply ED was tricky but they seem to fill a noticeable percentage of their class from the ED pool. So our thought was the odds were a bit better. That being said, it also means you have to be prepared with your audition very early in the senior school year. We also applied in fall of her senior year to her safety non-audition school with rolling admissions, to another BFA program where she got an early academic acceptance (prior to the auditions), and to another one EA for a BA theatre program so she knew she was going somewhere! And again, because I thought NYU was such a long shot, we even had applications in to her ten other audition schools and all the auditions scheduled even prior to going to NYC for the ED audition. And those application fees do add up, it was kind of staggering. Seriously, going in to this process is like girding for battle and you want to give yourself as many options as you can because you just never know what is going to happen (we have heard too many stories of kids on waiting lists and/or having it come down to the wire of a single acceptance–no way could I have handled that kind of stress–even if my D could and she probably could have, I could not!). So if in the end it turned out we were way over-prepared, that was better than the reverse (kind of like the profession itself!) In summary, my advice is just try to think strategically about what will work best for your personal situation and plan for a big variety in outcomes. Kudos to the parents here who are helping their kids with this process. It’s a ton of work and they have so much else going on with school and performing. In the end, of course, it is up to them–their essays and transcripts and auditions–but there is this incredible administrative/travel planning aspect to this that if we can help, well we do it! Go parents!!</p>
<p>A rep from NYU did a master class at my school (so blessed!) and afterwards when we were discussing admission, he said that the way the process works is the Tisch faculty see you and don’t look at your grades or application. They then take the people they want and give them to NYU Admissions, at which they evaluate the academic rigor of an applicant. NYU Admissions then makes edits to the class and negotiates with Tisch on who to admit.</p>
<p>Thanks Kylebelieves, that is very interesting. So it makes sense that they let everyone audition and not eliminate by transcript, like let’s say, Michigan does.
Good to know!</p>
<p>Yes, Tisch has allowed everyone to audition, unlike Michigan. Keep in mind that the two schools are very different in many ways, including size and the number of students admitted. It’s easier to eliminate students initially when you’re only looking for 20 or 30 or 50, rather than 300. My guess is that Michigan doesn’t have 3000 kids auditioning, as Tisch does in some years. Although I wouldn’t be surprised, as has been discussed in another thread here, if all schools eventually get to the point where they prescreen by dvd. It makes sense, both for the schools and for the applicants.</p>
<p>@Kyle - I wasn’t aware of whether or not the people who do the auditions see the application file or not, but I expect you are correct - that is the way it is at many/most schools. I would add that at Tisch and some of the other schools (BU, for instance), there is an informal interview by the auditioner of the applicant after the audition itself; I think at Tisch it is one of the things they take into account for the studio assignment process - don’t know if it plays into the admission decision itself. I think it may play some part, and they are trying to get some sense of the applicant’s personality.</p>
<p>I think you are slightly mistaking studio placement for school placement. The question on the application (verbally confirmed during the interview) is for musical theater candidates only and they are asked if they would consider placement in a non-musical theater studio not in another school (like Gallatin or CAS).</p>
<p>VoiceProf, you seem to know whereof you speak. 
Are you saying that Tisch does not try to make an effort to place the Acting student in the most appropriate studio for him or her, based on what is learned during the audition? Is studio placement more random than that?</p>
<p>You know, I have wondered about this, too. I don’t see how a truly thoughtful decision about studio placement could be made based on the short interview time spent with each prospective student. They do ask MT’s if they would accept an acting studio but assuming they say. “Yes, Ill be happy with whatever you think is best for me,” then what? Is it random or close to it? No real craft-type questions were asked.</p>
<p>This subject is a bit off topic (it’s supposed to be about gpa’s) but it is definitely an interesting one. My belief was that they don’t just “randomly” place people, but use the entire application to place people. The audition might tell them something, but the applicant’s resume and essays tells even more. Do they write, do they dance, do they sing, do they direct, etc, etc could aid in deciding which studio would be a good fit for the Acting (non MT) kids. Also each studio needs to have it’s share of boys/girls, blondes, redheads, short, tall, etc. I would think.</p>