I have done extreme amounts of research on the topic of my college and put a lot of thought into what I want to do with the rest of my life. After weighing the pros and cons, and a lot of research on this career, I think I actually want to go into theater, drama, acting, the like. I know that it can be risky and you really have to pour your heart and soul into it, and I’m willing to do that.
A little story/background info about me. I’m fourteen and am in the eighth grade in a small town. I’ve lived in this small town my whole life. Some say its a little too early to be thinking about college, but I say its never too early. This small town had absolutely NO drama or theater or even speech classes, so I had no idea about this whole other world. My whole life I have performed outstandingly in the academics area. I was even placed in the gifted program at an early age. I’ve always kept my grades and gpa up, always kept straight As. I also always thought i’d want to be a veterinarian, as I absolutely love being around all animals. That was until about a year ago. Recently, we moved to the city, where they had an amazing drama program. I didn’t pick drama as my elective right out, but I should’ve. I ended up picking cultural arts. Anyways, being transferred from my former school (where I was in the gifted program), the new school decided to place me in the gifted program. The new gifted program participated in something called Extempore. For extempore, we had to write and perform a play. I instantly fell in love with writing it, acting it out, creating the props, being up on the stage as everyone watched me, I just loved it. Since then I’ve done a few small plays in classes (nothing on stage, really, except for the school Christmas concert) but I took every opportunity available to perform in any way possible. Acting, play writing, props, even singing (well I TRIED to sing, little god-given talent there). Long story short, I fell in love with it, and have no doubt it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. I even waited, to see if this was a phase. IT"S NOT. After weeks, months even, of research, I’ve even decided the college I wish to attend, post-high school. I want to go to NYU Tisch. I know how competitive it is and how hard it is to get in and especially how expensive it is, but I’m willing to do anything to get into this school. It might even be my dream school. I don’t have a lot of experience in the theater area, but I plan to build an extensive resume and work my tail off to get into Tisch. I’m not really interested in singing or musical, but if I have to train my voice or whatever, I will.
I was just wondering if anybody had any advice in what they look for at Tisch, and how they got in. What the auditions are like, how they paid for tuition, how ANYTHING. Anything you can tell me is helpful! Keep in mind I am new to this site so please forgive me if I’m doing this wrong. Thank you in advance!
Hey @isitjustme, welcome here. You are getting started early but that is a good thing. Discovering your passion is also a good thing. You are ahead of the game. I would suggest that you continue to get involved in theater wherever you can – at school, in local youth theater programs, in community theater, anywhere. If you can afford to, take some classes in singing and/or dancing. Even if you’re a straight theater kid, it can’t hurt to have more control over your body and your voice. Read lots of plays. See as many plays as you can. Watch movies with great acting. You can learn a lot by observing others.
And also, while NYU Tisch is a great program, you should know that the odds are killer and setting your sights on any single school is unwise. Take some time – you have time, you are very fortunate in this – to explore some of the other schools we talk about here, both conservatories (all acting all the time) and BA programs (liberal arts with heavy theater components). By the time you’re a junior, you should probably have a list of at least 10 programs you’d be okay with attending, including at least one that you know you’ll get into academically and can afford financially.
Best of luck to you.
I agree with everything @Jkellynh17 says above- she is full of sound advice. The good news is that there are LOTS of great programs out there. And as you move forward, if theater is what you want, you will surely find a way to study it 
I would keep reading here, and start taking note of schools that peak your interest. Other schools with high academic standards and outstanding drama training would be places like: Boston, Emerson, Syracuse, Penn State, UCLA and Northwestern - just to name a few.
But back to your original question about NYU. My D is a current student at NYU - and she loves it. It was one of her top choices all the way through the audition process. One thing that helped make it her number 1 is that she did a summer program there the summer in between her junior and senior year - Tisch Summer High School. I believe you can apply for that in the summer between sophomore and junior year as well, might be something to keep in mind. I certainly was a big help to ME- the 4 weeks there helped me know that I could let my baby go off to college in the big city.
More importantly, I think the summer program has the potential to be really helpful in the audition process- because you get to know the faculty. On the day of my D’s audition, she had already worked with 3 out of the 4 people on the audition panel. So she felt much more comfortable, and they knew more about her than you would learn in a 4 minute audition.
Best of luck to you sweetie!!
@Jkellynh17 Thank you! I’ll keep all of that in mind!
@toowonderful Thank you, and congratulations on your daughter! I’ll check out that summer program.
Rutgers & UNCSA have summer programs that you should check into too. My son did the NYU summer program at Stonesteet (film acting studio) and loved it. These summer programs are a great way for you to get a taste of a what BFA Acting program is all about. My son did the NYU program because it was the only one that had film acting as a focus. He graduated from the UNCSA high school drama program and is currently at Rutgers. He feels all three schools have given him excellent training. As usual, @Jkellynh17 and @toowonderful 's advice is spot on. There are many parents on this board that are “drama school veterans” with great insights and a willingness to share their wisdom.