(If you’d like to skip my background, the part that I need help with is located at the bottom.)
Hi, I’m currently in my first semester of college and so far I’m not loving it. I do not have any more financial aid to cover the cost of my books and this is only the first semester. The school I chose was based on the theatre program which I had high hopes of getting into, unfortunately I was denied enrollment into the program because I was told that I did not have enough experience. This is true compared to some other students but it’s not like I haven’t had any experience at all. I’ve volunteered backstage numerous times in my community. I was onstage for two community musicals, and two in my church. I have helped build sets, ushered, etc. Unlike some students, my high school had a huge auditorium but no productions. I took two years of theatre classes in my high school but the teacher taught us absolutely nothing (turns out she was fired this past school year). I have also taken acting classes outside of school but this was not enough experience for the theatre department at my university.
Receiving the denial letter definitely hurt, so I changed my major and decided to major in communications, which I now realize I have no interest in. I’ve taken surveys/quizzes, etc. I find another major that I would be interested in, I’ve talked to friends and family members…I have tried various resources but acting is my passion. Spending some time thinking, I thought that dropping out of this university and enrolling in the community college back home would allow me to 1. save money, 2. get more experience because my hometown is in a big city rather than here, at my university, it is extremely small and only theatre majors can participate in theatre productions, and 3. with more experience, I can audition and transfer to a different college and major in theatre.
So here’s the thing: NYU has always been my dream school. I know the tuition is high but it’s the school that I truly would love to attend. If I transfer to a community college, I can get a job, save more and apply for multiple scholarships while getting more experience and even earning an associates degree. For anyone who attends Tisch or knows any information, how much prior experience do most students have before they are accepted into the program. (Please refrain from any comments saying it’s not just about experience, etc.).
I like your idea of transferring to another school, perhaps a cc, where you are eligible to do their plays and etc., just as you are. Absolutely you should do that, as your current school is not a fit.
Make sure that any school you look at, including the cc, offers productions, and that any student can participate in them. Also audition for community theater, and for summer stock. Build your resume.
Please know that NYU gives poor non-loan financial aid. I very strongly suggest that you not make it your dream school until you apply there and elsewhere, get in, and see what you need to take out in loans for each school.
You’ll need actual acting experience in productions to be able to get into most good theater programs. Most students who get in will have been in school productions all four years of HS. You don’t need four years - but you do need way more than you have. So start getting real on stage experience asap.
In the meantime, see if there are any community theaters where you’re going to school, and join up.
So you’re considering transferring a to community college, and then transferring to NYU, right? Tisch theatre is a BFA program with a 4-year curriculum of intense training, so if you were to transfer into the program after a year or two, you would most likely find trouble graduating on time, unless you were already a theatre major at your previous school and had transferrable credits. If it took you longer to graduate, it would be more expensive, and as a transfer (especially for NYU) you would probably not receive enough financial aid to make a dent in the tuition. And don’t quote me on this part, but Tisch seems to accept very few transfers, probably because they know transfer students might take longer to graduate. For your current situation, NYU might not be your best choice. I would look at schools with a BA in theatre instead of a BFA, I’ve heard those have a more flexible curriculum and would be more suitable for transfer students. The Musical Theatre / Drama forum will be helpful, too. The people there know a lot more about theatre admissions than most other users.
Yeah… I’m not going to not apply to NYU because you think it might not be my best choice. The community college I am going to has an intense A.F.A. transfer program that is specifically designed to help students transfer into a B.F.A program. I simply asked about experience, not if you think I have a chance or not, but thank you for your imput.
Thank you for the information!
FYI- you need at least 3 years in an acting studio at NYU to be able to graduate with a BFA in Drama. So factor that in your planning
At my daughter’s audition they stressed that everyone is at a different point in their acting experience/career and that some students will be accepted who are just at the beginning of their journey and others with a stack of professional experience, etc. Innate talent, ability to take direction, creativity, etc can earn you a spot over students with more experience, just as it does in auditions for acting roles.
They really do admit students who are new to it all, with little to no roles in their past, right alongside actors with over a decade of professional experience. Each person is reviewed uniquely and each person’s needs are different. For some, they truly need more experience before they are ready or before they can easily be judged.
For the schools with great acting programs that accept transfer students, some made it clear that transfer students would start over basically as freshman in the acting programs with exceptions only in very specific cases where the student was in a very similar 4 year acting program at another school… If you cannot get into the full blown acting major/curriculum at your current school you may need to plan on another 4 years of college to graduate in an acting program at a top school… So it’s up to you to figure out what to do with this year. You can work academically on prerequisites/liberal arts requirements while pursuing acting roles on campus and off, as much as possible. Or take a hiatus, try to transfer to a college with rolling admissions,go through rounds of audition later for a bigger program, etc.
You may wish to not only line up auditions and acting roles during the summer break, but also to work with a coach who can help you assess your personal level and which schools may be a fit for you, help you select monologues and songs, plan a list of colleges to apply to and a schedule for auditions (Unifieds can help you submit to more colleges in a short time frame in NY, LA, or Chicago, whichever is closer to you), and more. You will be submitting in just a handful of months.
Good luck!