<p>I'm a long-time follower of CC's musical theater forum and all you have seemed extremely helpful and I love hearing about everybody's college decisions...so I registered and am now hoping someone might be able to give me some insight! I've read ALL the threads, believe me.</p>
<p>I'm deciding between Ithaca, Emerson, Boston Conservatory and Webster. I realize that BoCo would probably be top-notch training but I'm concerned it isn't enough of a "college" experience for me. I want a meal plan, haha! So I was leaning towards Ithaca?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance! And congratulations to everybody for everything!</p>
<p>Those are lots of wonderful choices. If you have visited all of them then you should follow your instincts. If you haven’t visited you should! Consider how many do they take, how many graduate, what is important to you (like the college experience). </p>
<p>I can only speak about Webster because my D is a junior in that program. She had a lot of great choices too but chose Webster after visiting and deciding that their acting program for Musical Theatre majors was so strong. She was torn between an acting major and a musical theatre major so Webster was the perfect choice for her and she has been very happy there. She just came back from NYC after watching the showcase and is now very excited for her senior year and showcase!</p>
<p>The campus is beautiful, the faculty is caring, the opportunities (st. Louis rep & the Muny to name a few) are abundant. It’s worth looking at.</p>
<p>Let me know if you would like me to put you in touch with my D. I also have a former student at BoCo and he is happy there. They took a lot more students, 55 I think where as my D’s class has 13. But he does love it at BoCo.
Marianne</p>
<p>Rest assured BoCo has a meal plan admittedly its at North Eastern University but you wont starve and my daughter loved going there with her friends to eat even when it was snowing. I have a junior at BoCo and its been 3 years of good hard work. Honestly feel and fit will solve your question . If money insn’t a factor then choose where you feel the most comfortable and challenged. Where will you thrive the best ?</p>
<p>Out of those four, Ithaca is the only one I have actually visited. We had lunch in the student union, and the food was outstanding! The campus is beautifully situated on top of a hill, overlooking the town of Ithaca. It’s a fairly small, self-contained campus. It gets pretty cold there in the winter, but it’s possible to go from one end of campus to the other without actually going outside very much! It’s definitely a college, not a conservatory.</p>
<p>Onstage brings up a good point; are you looking for a conservatory. I can only speak for Webster, but it definitely a conservatory with only 12 units of liberal arts. My D is a freshman and loves it.</p>
<p>If you are interested in a conservatory approach I would not go to Emerson. I posted on another thread (on the drama forum, poster asking same question about Emerson and other schools) some negatives we observed while there last week.</p>
<p>BoCo has a meal plan…I just ate at the caf with my D this morning! It is NOT a traditional campus, but neither is Emerson. I am typing this from atop my D’s bed in her 5-person “dorm” room at BoCo.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Ithaca as well, and am not sure how I now feel about it. I’m worried that it is going to be too isolated. Can anyone rate the academics there?</p>
<p>As important as rating the academics may be, don’t forget to look at the curriculum to determine the extent to which a BFA MT major even takes any academic classes. If memory serves me right, it’s only about 2 or three classes outside of the BFA track so the quality of the academics in general may not have much applicability to a BFA student.</p>
<p>After reading about your daughter’s dilemma between MT and acting, I wondered if you (or anyone else) could provide your thought about pursuing a BFA in acting, but continuing to study voice and dance at the school? My D was accepted to BU for acting and waitlisted at UMich for MT. She has visited both schools and loves both, but is trying to weigh the advantages of an acting foundation vs. a MT curriculum. We also know that getting off of UMich’s waitlist may be nearly impossible! But just in case, any thoughts?</p>
<p>Cozette – I’m not sure exactly what you are asking. Regarding Ithaca’s location, it is a small town, but there’s a pretty big population there if you include the Cornell campus. It’s not a big city, that’s for sure. There are some nice restaurants and shops, plus a pretty active local theater scene, surprisingly. But believe me, as a BFA student, you will not be bored, and will have little free time to go exploring. </p>
<p>As far as academics, you will have some opportunities to take electives. Is that what you meant by your question? MichaelNKat is correct, in ANY BFA program, your academics will be somewhat limited compared to what you could take in a BA program.</p>
<p>Just have to chime in that Ithaca is a WONDERFUL college town. I was at Cornell as an undergraduate thirty years ago (yikes!), it was great then, and it’s even better now. There are fabulous restaurants, clubs, shops and entertainment venues. Granted, the IC campus is much smaller than CU’s, but a quick trip into town gets you together with thousands of students. No isolation at all, unless you choose it!</p>
<p>One thing to consider with regards to Boco. It IS in a conservatory setting but it is also in the biggest college town in the country (over 250,000 students). You will find a very diverse group of kids. You also have you meals at Northeastern. Boston is an awesome city.</p>