@jessieburnett - thanks, that is what Dave told my D also, just wondering if any of the current students have experience between the two departments.
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@Eliza806 How was your visit this past weekend?
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Just letting everyone know that there is a Facebook group for accepted BFA students. Long name, but here it is:
LIU Post BFA MT/Acting/Theatre Arts Accepted Students Class Of 2021
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@missnypizza I am sorry to say that we never made it to LIU this past weekend. We were heading there from another school visit, stopped to get some food and my daughter got food poisoning (or a virus) and just wanted to be home. I will let you know if we are able to reschedule!
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My son was accepted to the BFA Theater Tech program. We live close by and have visited the school many times over the years for various things. It’s a lovely campus and everyone we met and interacted with was lovely. My son chatted with a young lady who is an international Acting student (not sure about MT) who chose LIU-Post over Carnegie Mellon and Tisch and was very happy.
However, for financial reasons and because my son wants to be further away from home, he is going to go to another school. If we lived further away, the program would be higher on his list.
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Thanks @techmom99 It is nice for us out-of-towners to hear someone local say good things about our kids’ prospective home for the next 4 years. A lot of people in the area have said that it is not a great college. I’m sure that it has it’s downsides and not all degree programs may be top notch, but the Theater department is working hard to produce well-rounded artists and the faculty is certainly passionate about the program.
But I hear you about the wanting to be farther from home. At least, if he ever changes his mind, it’s good to know he has another option closer to home!
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@daughtersdreams The issue with LIU is that it is “not a great college” in this particular geographic market. Which is different than saying it would not be considered a better college when compared to many schools outside of the area.
Many of us “locals” got our degrees for very low cost-- or tuition free–at either SUNY or CUNY schools both locally or upstate NY. And their academic benchmarks were always more difficult than the private schools remaining on Long Island like Hofstra, Adelphi, Molloy, LIU, or Dowling ( that recently closed.)
Many of us also went to private colleges that are in NYC or within a 5 or 6 hour drive, which encompasses many great options.
So when compared to those options, LIU has had a problem finding its niche. In recent years they have been trying to appeal to out-or town students and international students more than ever for their undergraduate programs. I think their graduate school numbers draw well from the local population who want the convenience of a nearby school while working or raising families.
I’m sure the theatre and MT program is an area where the school is focusing its resources, as it can appeal to out of town students in a very competitive field. And I have no doubt that they can draw excellent faculty and programming.
So my concern would not be over the quality of their theatre program.
I would want to research the viability of the college as a whole though. I know they have had awful financials in the past and LIU’s campus in Southampton was closed. The campus in downtown Brooklyn is doing poorly as well and buildings/ dorms are being gobbled up by NYU Tandon.
The other consideration is that NYState is going forward with free tuition to NYS residents with incomes ip to $125,000 at all SUNY and CUNY schools.
https://www.suny.edu/smarttrack/types-of-financial-aid/scholarships/excelsior/
I’m afraid that this could be a fatal blow to floundering private colleges throughout NY. This is really far reaching as there are 64 SUNY campuses and 24 CUNY campuses throughout the city. When I attended Brooklyn College in the mid 1970’s it was tuition free and you needed a 90+ gpa for its more elite schools due to demand.
Best of luck as you make this decision!
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@uskoolfish You make a good point about the future viability of private colleges in this new “free education” system. I’m sure it will hurt their local enrollments to some extent. As to LIU overall, its financial statements are looking better than previous years (which weren’t spectacular) but at least they do seem to be moving in the right direction. But this new free tuition plan might reverse that trend. Considering what may happen in the next 2 to 4 years, it’s almost enough to make me rethink allowing my daughter to attend ANY college in New York.
@daughtersdreams Personally I think the colleges that are going to be effected the most are those that don’t offer the prestige factor, very high academics or a truly unique program.
I think it is going to be harder than ever to get into certain SUNY locations–particularly the larger universities that offer so many options. I think many more students will chose to go to a SUNY rather than out of state, state universities. It will help many of the SUNY colleges since they will get the overflow of students who don’t make the higher standards of the universities.
I think it will make some private schools like Ithaca, Skidmore, Syracuse or even Rochester a harder sell among NY State residents, but since those schools draw from a national pool and have some really prestigious departments, they will probably do ok. Plus most of those schools are in good financial shape.
I think “prestigious” schools like Cornell, Columbia and NYU will be fine since they rely on their academics, name recognition and many out of state applicants.
I do think it will effect the numbers for less prestigious private schools that still rely on local students. I can see many more students on Long Island choosing to attend Stony Brook University or Queens college for free–if they have the grades–rather than pay for Hofstra or LIU… And students without the grades will probably attend smaller local colleges like SUNY Westbury or Farmingdale for free–or Nassau Community College. And since there will be higher demand, the quality of the students will go up, making those schools even more appealing.
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I grew up in NY state and attended college at a private in-state university mostly on merit and need-based scholarships and grants from the state. My brother attended a SUNY. At that time, there was a world of difference in quality of education received. My brother transferred to my college after a year at his SUNY. I will say that NY has always been good about grants for low income families. No way I could’ve attend college otherwise.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next 4 years. I have to say, that it seems a bit like a monopoly move - with big business (NY State) essentially wiping out all competition by offering unheard of low/free prices. After the small competitors (private, non-profit colleges) go out of business, it would not surprise me to see NY re-instate tuition.
@daughtersdreams and @uskoolfish -
When we went to a special scholarship dinner for accepted theater students, most of the kids were local, meaning Queens and the Island, and they seemed more well-to-do than my family. The vast majority of parents that I spoke to were not even considering SUNY schools, even Purchase, which I don’t think has an MT program, just other private schools. I think we made it onto this list because our zip code is high income, even though we aren’t (we bought the cheapest house in the best area we felt comfortable mortgaging in). I think they viewed the invitees as potential full pay minus merit scholarship people or those who would not qualify for need based aid but would be able to pay the difference. My son was offered $22,500/year, a mid-level scholarship at the school. He opted for the SUNY so we didn’t try to negotiate for more.
The program at Post seems very good but not for the projected 8 -10K gap per year which I would have to take out loans for.
I also agree that Post is marketing its grad programs very successfully to working commuters.
I have a friend whose son went to Post as an athlete. He is always touting the alumni network and thinks I am crazy not to send my son there even with all the debt. He is in his mid-60’s and still paying parent loans for his sons, who are in their 30’s (they pay their own). That is my reason for not sending my son to Post.
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@techmom99 Definitely avoid as much debt as possible. LIU initially gave my D some academic scholarship $$ and other smaller awards but we needed a bit more help so we contacted them and they were willing to do what they could to close the gap. Haven’t heard a final number yet, but they were certainly open to helping make it more affordable. I have heard however that they are more generous with out of state students, so that might be a factor.
So your son is attending SUNY Purchase for Tech Theatre – with free tuition? Good for him! Best of luck!
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There is an interesting op ed piece in the NYT about this today. Anyone interested might give it a read.
@sbc I can’t find it. Can you PM me the link?
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The article says everything I said about the ramifications of free tuition over on the sharing, venting board. I should’ve submitted my post to NY Times. LOL!
Here’s an article about LIU Post’s College of Arts from Mar. 2016
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My D sat in on a couple of acting classes this week at LIU. She was especially impressed by the class taught by Dave Hugo. While she has decided not to attend LIU, she did come away feeling like the training she would receive at the program would be very good.
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