Is it possible to get into NYU's Tisch School of Arts w/o any experience in theatre?

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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<p>im planning on going to go to community if i dont get into any of my top schools but i have never taken a theatre class in my life but i know i want to go into acting. i mainly didnt take acting classes in my town because its a small town and i didnt want to be acting with people i wouldnt have a good time with. i didnt want to take classes JUST to show colleges i care. people say to make sure u have fun while ur doing it. however, when i saw mamma mia in broadway it was realllllyyy good and inspiring and so was maude apatows performance of memory from cats. </p>

<p>also, what is the audition process like?</p>

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<p>“i didn’t want to be acting with people i wouldn’t have a good time with.” no offense, but that’s going to happen eventually, if you ever become an actress. actors act with people they dislike all the time. there are many people on my dorm floor who are in Tisch acting or musical theatre, and i can’t count how many times they’ve come back to the floor FUMING because they can’t stand someone in their acting class. but they make it work. </p>

<p>also, are you interested in musical theatre or regular acting? one is in Tisch, the other is in Steinhardt, so their audition processes will vary. </p>

<p>Tisch is one of the most renowned performing arts schools in the whole country. it would be VERY difficult to get in with absolutely no acting experience. you would be competing for already minimal transfer spots with people who’ve trained for years.</p>

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<p>My advice is get some experience. Also, theatre is the kind of activity that is very time consuming and requires a lot of dedication. I’m just throwing that out there because I remember you originally applied for CAS and were asking me questions about the Neural Science major, and literally weeks later you’re into Musical Theatre…and with no experience that’s going to be really hard. So your freshmen year at college, I would advice you to get involved, big time, in theatre, including classes and as an extracurricular. Without any acting experience, I would say your chances are slim to none…(no offense. I obviously don’t know how good of an actress you are, but like mac said, many of these students have been acting for years).</p>

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<p>Babygrl, I think it’s clear that seeing a Broadway show has inspired you but I’m not convinced you can really know that you want to go into acting without ever having experienced it. Acting is far more than a performance or having talent alone. It is studying and auditioning and rehearsing and putting yourself out there and being rejected over and over and over again. Then there is the “business” of acting which is a whole other ballgame that is not limited to, but also includes, marketing yourself and finding representation and paying thousands in initiation fees to join the unions, and again, studying and auditioning and rehearsing and putting yourself out there and being rejected over and over and over again. </p>

<p>Acting is a passion and a way of life. There is glory in performing and I think that may be what you see in it, but for actors, there is glory in the entire process. There is glory in lining up at 5am for a cattle call and, after waiting for hours, being summarily dismissed because you’re not their type or they stopped seeing people after the 1000th audition or they’ve hired the Executive Producer’s sister’s best friend’s niece. There is glory in showing up on set at 6am in another state to sit around for hours to tape a hundred takes of a PSA, all for a $500 buyout out of which the government takes their share and the agent/manager commissions total 25% basically leaving you with enough money for gas to get to the shoot. This is NOT the easy, glamorous life you see and read about. The bottom line is that there are many, many working actors who LIVE for this and can’t see themselves doing anything else. Few will end up on Letterman. Many will end up on someone’s couch. Maybe that couch belongs to a friend because the actor couldn’t make their rent. Or maybe it belongs to a therapist because having to manage attitudes and egos and being looked over and looked through has finally taken its toll and the doubts, and second guessing and the negative, cynical voice inside their head just won’t shut up!!!</p>

<p>So. You’re still sure you want to be an actor? There are many ways to go about this but they all involve acting. You can start by either taking a class or jump into auditioning for local theatre productions in your community or at the college you choose to attend. If you aren’t cast, volunteer backstage, help with costumes, usher, do whatever you can. To start a life in the theatre, you must live FOR the theatre and live AT the theater. Maybe you have the talent. Maybe you even have the drive. What you need now is a resume. </p>

<p>It will be very difficult for you to transfer into Tisch. First, it is a BFA program so you need to determine if that is the right kind of program for you as opposed to a BA program which may or may not require an audition. Also, as a transfer it is unlikely you will graduate “on time” as this is a professional training program. Your audition will count about 50% towards your admission and you will be up against people who have been training and performing, some even professionally, since they were very young.</p>

<p>I do not want to discourage you from pursuing a dream and I am not an actor…I’m writing this as the mom of an actor who started working professionally in all mediums at age 10 right here in NY. My S is fully aware of what an actor’s life is like. And he still wants it. We have met many wonderful people and he has had some amazing and beautiful life experiences as a child/teen actor. Some even kind of glamorous. But it’s the not so glamorous everyday life experiences that make up your life. Good luck, or rather, break a leg! :)</p>

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<p>wow first off, id like to say ur a really REALLY good mom for letting him pursue a career in acting and encouraging him if u did. i guess for me, doing ANYTHING, would be good, since my brother basically dropped out of high school and barely got his high school diploma (but he didn’t walk with his graduating class). my parents are able to support us if they wanted to and my brother lives at home and does nothing but stuff that isn’t exactly what most “smart” kids do. anyways, what im sayin is that even if i went into acting, failed and tried again, i’d still have something to rely on and try again. i wouldnt be broke on someone’s couch lol and i was thinkin…if i went to med school like i plan to right now, what are the chances of me passing the MCATs? if i currently have an 1850 on my SAT’s and a 4.1 gpa. it’s not exactly stellar. so, maybe a career in acting would be more worthwhile? idk…i was lookin for some opinions…</p>

<p>btw…where is ur son now in terms of careers? where did he go to college? NYU?</p>

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<p>I encourage both of my children to pursue their very different passions with their eyes wide open!</p>

<p>Honestly, I didn’t know anything about acting and believe me, everyone goes into it with stars in their eyes. It isn’t until you’ve lived it that you learn how very hard it is. Some people just HAVE to live it though and my S is one of them. But keep in mind, my S did not have the added burden of supporting himself through his professional pursuits. It was an extracurricular activity for him with the added bonus of providing some income along with fun and excitement…and plenty of disappointment, too. But we will not be supporting him forever and at some point he will probably have to get the typical actor/artist type job waiting tables, bartending, working as a temp, etc. while auditioning. And he actually looks forward to those “starving artist” days and thinks they will build character! He’s a HS Senior and waiting on several decisions. Sadly, he missed his NYU audition on Friday because he was sick and will have to reschedule. But he holds no illusions and he knows that even with a pretty impressive resume and experience, it will be difficult to get into Tisch.</p>

<p>It sounds to me like you have a variety of interests. I don’t know anything about Med school or MCATS or what kind of grades and scores you need to have to get in but there are many, many different careers in the medical field that will provide you with a steady income and a stable job. And isn’t that what’s really worthwhile? Don’t just go into acting on a whim or because you think you can’t make it in another field. If you’re not entirely sure about medicine either, perhaps you could take a liberal arts curriculum that will allow you to try courses in several different areas before you need to declare a major. Start by discovering your passion, then figure out how to make a career out of it and what kind of education you need. And it doesn’t have to be done overnight either! There are few 17 year olds who have their entire career and life mapped out…and those that do may just find that their plans are likely to change.</p>

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<p>that’s really nice of u. and that’s smart of u too. if my parents were as smart as u, they would’ve done the same instead of watching tv right now in the room next door. : / and putting their kids down continuously : / when their kids have talent. one has already gone down the hole. and they see it. and constantly say “we have done SO much! how could this have happened…” when they ignore us and care more about their money. lol but anyways…yeah we live four hours from Los angeles so we could’ve had a great opportunity. </p>

<p>and i chose medicine at first because i have a personal mild psychological disability u can PM me to ask what it is, but its not major, and i just thought id like to prescribe medicine for other people but now it seems like a lot to pass MCATs and get into med school. to get into a “good” med school, like NYU or USC, you have to score pretty high, and work REALLY REALLY hard. and some consider a diff major. so it is all worth it in the end? to study it and change majors?</p>

<p>i guess i dont have to have it mapped out right now…after all, i already declared my major in science, and i cant change it now. and if i want to change it later, i can do it in college, i just have to get in somewhere for now. im considering going to community if i dont get into any of my top choices. </p>

<p>yeah…my mom would encourage me to act if i really pursued it on my own and was serious about it but when i wanted to model when i was younger, she always said that i might get raped and there’s bad ppl out there : / lol but theyre really cautious…and i dont even live in new york. i live in a town where the crime rate is like 0.01%. but anyways id love to stay and chat cuz u seem really nice but i g2g get a move on with my life or my acceptance letters might be taken away! if i slack now : P</p>