<p>so i have all of my acceptances and rejections and i am absolutely torn!! I need some advice!
i'm choosing from point park, uarts, boco, and nyu tisch
i know its a personal decision... but if it wee you.. which would you pick?!?</p>
<p>What studio in NYU? And you have 4 big cities to choose from- which interests you the most? That should help in your decision, too.</p>
<p>legal_blonde - Congratulations on such wonderful acceptances first of all! I hope that when my D is in your shoes at this time next year she will at least have one of those to choose from.</p>
<p>First off have you actually visited all of the schools, toured campuses and sat in on classes? I think that everyone is different so some people may like different things about each of the schools that may be important to them and not to you. Have you spoken (or emailed) any students currently in the programs to get their feedback on the training and the school environment? Do you need to worry about the cost of the school or is this not a consideration for you and your family?</p>
<p>These are just some of the questions that I would ask if I were you.</p>
<p>Best of luck with your decision!</p>
<p>legal_blonde, congrats to you on your wonderful list of acceptances! That is quite an accomplishment.</p>
<p>One thing that can help you in your decisionmaking at the outset is to know that NYU Tisch is a conservatory program with significant liberal arts course requirements, which to my knowledge the other three programs do not have. I know that kids at UArts take liberal arts, but I am pretty sure that they don’t take them to the extent and rigor that they do at Tisch. (Please know I am NOT knocking UArts: it was my D’s first acceptance last year and she loves the program and was thrilled that they wanted her. We visited twice and she sat in on classes, etc. Great place, fabulous kids.) I think the same goes for BoCo. (I don’t know about Point Park.)</p>
<p>So if you are a person who would really rather not <em>have</em> to take liberal arts classes in significant number throughout your MT education, eliminate Tisch. If you are an academic kid and see the virtues in being more well rounded, keep Tisch in the mix.</p>
<p>thank you all 
i don’t know what studio i’m in for tisch yet, i should find out in a few weeks…
i plan on visiting these schools all again in the next month before i make any decisions and my grandparents made it so the financial aspect is not an issue.</p>
<p>Congrats, blonde!</p>
<p>A correction/clarification - Pittsburgh definitely doesn’t qualify as a “big city,” especially not as compared to Boston, Philly, and NYC! However, as a PPU student, you would be spending a lot of time in the college-heavy area of Pittsburgh known as Oakland, which houses Pitt, CMU, Carlow (a small Catholic college, used to be all women), Chatham, and the Playhouse (PPU’s theatre), and is also just down the street from Duquesne U. These schools are literally all on the same parallel street (Forbes and Fifth Avenues), one right after another. It’s always busy when school is in session - but the actual city of Pittsburgh isn’t hopping like your other 3 choices. However, we DO have the 6-time Superbowl Champion Steelers… :)</p>
<p>CoachC (“Burgh” born and bred)</p>
<p>Pittsburgh is an especially liveable city, like my home town of Philadelphia, and affordable, too. Let’s compare and contrast cheesesteaks, sandwiches from Primanti Bros. with the fries IN the sandwich, John’s Pizza in NYC, and whatever they eat in Boston (beans? seafood?) (who can afford to eat in Boston?). </p>
<p>(Off-topic, it’s Saturday morning, and I haven’t eaten yet.) </p>
<p>PS: Good going, LB!</p>
<p>Skwidjymom, what a novel idea: picking a college because of the food! I love it!! I’m down with Chicago (deep dish pizza, etc.), Boston (sea food, beans), and New York (well, we’re not called the world’s melting pot for nothing!). But what the heck is Syracuse known for??!</p>
<p>This is much more fun than comparing curricula. <g></g></p>
<p>You have 4 wonderful choices from schools that all offer top notch training. As others have said, it will really boil down to which one you ultimately conclude is the best fit for you. Visiting each school again and sitting in on classes, talking to students and walking the neighborhoods will give you a good feel for life at each school. Digging into the curriculum at each school and comparing them side by side may also give you a sense of whether the schools differ in their curricular emphasis in a way that’s important to you. Keep in mind that as you go through the decision making process, you not only are looking at the schools programatically but also from the perspective of what it will be like to live at each school for the next 4 years. </p>
<p>As to my own subjective opinions (since you asked ), I will offer the following thoughts, not about the schools themselves, but about student life in each city:</p>
<p>Boston - I went to college in Boston and have visited several times since. It is a city that probably has more students per square block than any other place in the country. Because of the number of schools and how they are spread throughout the city and surrounding communities, Boston can also have a sprawling feel to it based on the diversity and locations of the multitude of restaurants, clubs, stores and attractions for students. (The incomprehensibly chaotic system of roads adds to this feeling. There’s an old joke that Boston designed its system of roads by paving over every cow path it could find. 
). It’s a city with a lot of history,culture and art and can be an incredibly fun place for a student to live. You will become intimately familiar with the public transportation system, which is excellent, because using it is a necessity to get around the city to places too far to walk from BOCO. You also better like winter weather although it’s not as intense as upstate New York.</p>
<p>NYC - Haven’t lived there but have spent a lot of time there for family, social and business purposes. Little needs to be said about it, it’s well, NYC. Those I know who live there tell me that it takes a certain mind set to thrive living in NYC - in fact when we visited Tisch, similar thoughts were expressed by the school reps. This was not said in a pejorative sense but simply to convey that there is a distinct “atmosphere” to living in NYC and either you are going to love it or you will not. It is a constant high energy place to live and that is appealing to many but is not to some. From students that I have spoken to, if that kind of atmosphere is your thing, NYC is a mecca. If that kind of atmosphere is not right for you, it can be easy to feel lost and overwhelmed in the multitudes.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh I have visited on several occasions but don’t know as well as the other cities. Because of the concentration of schools in the Oakland area, I would think it can have a small town feel for students since they spend most of their time in that area. The Oakland area is a neat area with lots of shops and restaurants. My son, who is just graduating from college, is in a metal band and has friends in Pittsburgh. He loves it there and thinks nothing of taking frequent 5 1/2 hour road trips to get there from Philadelphia. He tells me the music scene is great with lots of very good cutting edge small venues, lots of great restaurants. One of his favorite cities.</p>
<p>Last but not least, Philadelphia. I’ll admit it up front, I’m biased when it comes to Philadelphia, it’s where I’m from and where I’ve lived and worked all my life other than my college years in Boston. Philadelphia is perceived as a large city but in a sense, that perception is misleading. Philadelphia is not just the “city” but is really a county consisting of a broad diversity of neighborhoods and sections that could take you an hour to drive from the most southern to the most northern reaches. When you talk about “center city” Philadelphia where UArts is located, it is really a much smaller area in which most of the restaurants, shops, historic, cultural and artistic attractions that would appeal to students are within a 5 - 20 minute walking radius. You basically have 3 concentrations of students. There is the UArts area (in the center city/theatre district) and a 20 minute walking radius from there, the University City area (west Philly) where Penn and Drexel are located and which requires a 15 minute public transportation or a taxi trip to get to from UArts and the Temple area (north Philly) which requires about a 15 - 20 minute public transportation trip to get into center city. Center city Philadelphia and its immediate environs are like a mini version of NYC. Cultural, historic, artistic, social and recreational opportunities abound through out the area but on a smaller and more “manageable” scale. Within a 5-20 minute walk from the center of UArts there are no less than 9 major performing arts venues/theatres, a gizillion stores and shops and a multitude of restaurants on almost every block. There are additional theatres a short taxi ride away and then in the University City section, you have even more restaurants, stores and performing arts venues. Add to this the historical and cultural attractions of Philadelphia and it really offers something for everyone. The streets are laid out in a grid system and it is easy to know your way around.</p>
<p>Four different places, each with its own unique feel, each which is appealing in its own way. Tough choices for you to make but what great ones to have.</p>
<p>I knew to expect a great geographical post from you, MichaelNKat!</p>
<p>If my kid were picking a school based on food, she would have never left home…mmmm, cheesesteaks…</p>
<p>Michael…great analysis! Perischack…ha ha…I hear you. Syracuse? Been there three times…it has…well…snow? Great school though.</p>
<p>Grew up in a burb of Syracuse. We sometimes went trick or treating in snow boots.</p>
<p>And Syracuse is also well-known for Dinosaur Barbecue – yum!</p>
<p>LOL onstage… I was JUST going to say that!!!</p>
<p>Aha, you’ve been there too!</p>
<p>Well, to answer your question - if it were me, I’d go to BoCo. Point Park is in da Pitts and Pittsburgh is hellish to get around in. New York is where you are going to be your whole life, hopefully. Might as well go to college elsewhere. UArts is in Killadelphia 
Boston is a great town with great theater and BoCo is a great places
This is ALL just my opinion - what I would do. What matters ultimately is how you feel at the school. Visit. Ask Questions - important ones - to students. Join last year’s facebook groups. Look through threads - find people who had to make similar decisions (trust me they are all out there) and ask them why they chose where they chose.
Good luck and congrats!</p>
<p>But Operasinger: What about the food? :)</p>
<p>Haven’t you heard yet that musical theater students don’t eat? They just attend class, rehearsal and work on their music theory homework when not in class. No time for food. ;)</p>
<p>Operasinger…as far as location…that is such an individual choice. Saying not to go to college in NYC because you are going to live there your whole life is a reason that understandably may make sense for some kids such as yourself but not all would feel that way. For instance, YOU chose a college in NYC…you go to one there now, right? And perhaps you regret that choice of location because you have grown up in NYC your whole life. So, from your perspective, I can see how you want to try a city where you have not grown up or attended college for freshman year as well. But for some kids, like mine, who for example, grew up in a rural area, NYC is a big change. Perhaps you are seeking such a change…such as to Boston. That makes sense. For other kids, NYC represents a change. While NYC is not the best setting for what all kids want by any means, I can’t imagine telling someone NOT to go to college there, just like I can’t imagine telling someone not to go to college in say, Vermont (where I live). My kids didn’t want to go to college in VT as they wanted to experience a more urban environment that was very different from where they had grown up. Likewise, I understand your desire not to go to college in NYC, though you picked your first college that was in NYC. NYC is not for all. But it surely is a great place to go to college for those who would like it.</p>
<p>All that aside, I went to college and grad school in Boston and loved it and my kids have always enjoyed Boston a great deal and one of my daughters is a grad student there now. It is really a fun city for a college student. I grew up outside of Philadelphia and that would be a neat city for a theater student too. Pittsburgh, while maybe less cosmopolitan of a city, has several colleges there and would be fun. Frankly, BFA students don’t have a ton of free time anyway, no matter the school’s location. </p>
<p>The schools the OP is considering are all quite different, though all are good, in more ways than location. I think she should visit each school. She also should put down everything she knows about each school, including its curriculum and compare and contrast them and then also see which one most closely aligns with her own selection criteria. For example, does she care about a conservatory within a university or a stand alone consevatory? BOCO and NYU/Tisch differ greatly in this respect. Does she care about taking some liberal arts? This varies alot between her schools. Does she care about the level of challenge/selectivity of the greater university? She may or may not but this differs between her options. She needs to explore each aspect and see which school’s aspects match her own preferences. It hardly matters which school anyone else would pick as each person should have their own selection criteria.</p>
<p>“UArts is in Killadelphia”. Oh pahleeze, not that tired old tripe again! Do you really know how many people where killed in and about the area where UArts is located in 2006, 2007 and 2008? 0. How about assaults? You can count them on one hand. Total. I just came back from seeing a show at the Walnut St Theatre located at 7th and Walnut Sts and walked from there to 15th and Locust Sts, right past Broad and Walnut Sts where the Terra Building is, where most of the MT classes are held. At 11 pm, I couldn’t have been alone on the streets if I had tried. The part of the city where UArts is located was teeming with night time social life. It’s one thing to have an opinion based on personal preference but another to make a maligning misstatement of fact couched as an “opinion”.</p>