<p>I'm trying to find out if you felt it was necessary and if so still worth it to send a kid with an already extensive resume and decent contacts to a college program to study acting. My d is on track to go to an ivy and wondering whether it would be worth it to study acting. For example her ideal choice would be NYU. She can get in I'm hoping but it would be costly. Or go to Columbia and study something else but continue to work in the industry and end up with an ivy league degree while still acting. Anyone in this situation and what decision did you make? Why? And did it prove to be the right one?</p>
<p>How about Northwestern? A BA with great training plus great academics, in a great theater city. Of course you can’t guarantee admission but it could be on her list. But honestly, let her make this choice-- she can apply to Columbia and NYU and others and see how it falls out. Kids are changing so much at this age, what she wants in September may have changed by May. There are lots of paths into theater-- as long as she picks one she likes she’ll be fine, especially if she has great academic ability.</p>
<p>Mominneed,</p>
<p>I assume you are thinking about NY schools so that your daughter could still be in a market that she can audition in. </p>
<p>My son is also a working child actor and we have a similar plan. He has auditioned with students at Columbia so what your saying she would do is very viable. I would just let you know that even though Columbia comes with the ivy label NYU comes with a very large professional network that may be even more helpful in the long run then an ivy degree. </p>
<p>Does she want to stay on the east coast? If not USC is another school that she should look at. If her work is in film and TV being in Hollywood makes even more sense in terms of keeping her foot in the door professionally while in college</p>
<p>Maybe this will help. We are in Chicago now. My d has 8 yrs of solid work to decide if this is a hobby. It’s not. Northwestern would be her fall back and she knows she can work in this city.
Academically… She has straight As 4.0 uw over 5.0 weighted. She tests in the 99th percentile. Her school is ranked in the top 50 in the nation. She is a very determined kid. Professionally… She has not been unemployed in theater since her first job but her film experience is limited to a few low budget films. She’s worked with tony award winning directors, is in an ensemble at a theater with an oscar nominated actor and has had a play written for her by an emmy nominated writer who has had many successful plays go to NY. As far as connections…She has many many connections in Chicago, some in LA and some in NY. I’m trying to figure out and so is she…which would be the better option. </p>
<p>She wants to go to college no matter what even though some of her peers skipped college to work. She is worried about losing momentum by taking 4 years off with no work or auditions. I have no idea if this is a legitimate fear or not. Having worked for so long she has no illusions. She’s grown up with ppl equally talented where one is starring in a huge summer blockbuster and the other is struggling to pay rent. I agree from what I’ve heard the “tisch mafia” connections are as valuable as the degree. She feels moving to NY would be as much a next step in her real life education as college will be in her academic education. She has worked in all the major theaters here but wants to see what other opportunities are out there. I’m just unsure whether ppl who’ve tried each path think one was better than the other. It is absolutely her choice I’m just trying to help get her as much information as I can.</p>
<p>Excess money is not something we have. College expenses will be a debt for her her and for me. One I don’t mind taking on but I want to make the best decision.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is necessarily an either/or proposition. It sounds like your daughter is interested in studying theatre in NYC more for the connections/career boost than for the training. </p>
<p>If that is the case, she should probably aim for a school (like Pace, perhaps) that encourages students to keep on doing outside auditioning and performing while they are in school. It might be possible to do this at one of the BA programs in the NYC area as well.</p>
<p>Perhaps another angle would be for her to figure out what she wants to learn next, whether refining certain skills or expanding her repertoire. Different schools and/or experiences might be differentially helpful depending upon her specific goals.</p>
<p>Fordham’s academics are rigorous and their theatre department is great. What about Yale? Close to the city and your daughter’s academic stats and ECs are in line. As another poster mused, what are her goals-what does she want to do these next four years? It sounds like she will have a great selection of schools to choose from and so it will most likely be a process of her sorting through the various paths and figuring out what her goals are for a college experience.</p>
<p>I think both are viable options and agree with others who say that figuring out her goals for a college experience would be the main thing. I know professional child actors who went to schools like Yale, Brown, Columbia, or Princeton and were successful afterwards in pursuing acting. I also know some professionals who opted to go to a school like NYU and went on with their professional work post college as well. Northwestern would allow your D to stay connected to the Chicago theater scene, but I would not consider it a “fallback,” no matter how highly qualified your D is because the acceptance rate at Northwestern is very low and chancy even for the best candidates. Perhaps school in a place like NYC will let your D experience a new theater scene and all that entails, along with building new networks. If she wants the Ivy experience, applying to Yale and Princeton, along with Columbia, put NYC in striking distance.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the advice. She has been involved with Northwestern and started taking classes there years ago. She loves it there and many of her friends go there the acceptance rate from her high school is very high but she would like to leave the Chicago area for NY area. This is her first priority. I know people suggested other Ivies as being reasonably close. Can anyone tell me how realistic this is for pursuing studies and auditioning? I have no idea about travel or traffic. In Chicago we live right downtown so auditions are all available by the easy train. </p>
<p>Secondly in training she’s of the thought she can never get too much experience or training. In chicago she has trained with Goodman, Piven, Looking Glass, Second City, Actors Studio, AROT and others. She is an ensemble member at several and even apprentice teacher at one. She is open to all styles of training however she doesn’t wish to get a non training based degree in acting, theater or drama. So IF she does acting she prefers conservatory or conservatory style. If she is not doing that style of training I think she would prefer a different more academic degree and continue training outside. </p>
<p>Someone mentioned PACE as allowing outside auditioning. We have several friends who went to NYU and found it was very supportive of this. She looked at Carnegie Mellon and Rutgers but heard that they didn’t allow or encourage outside auditioning. </p>
<p>Also how different is the experience with or without a NYC agent? Did your kids who had LA or Chicago agents get NYC agents before going to school in the area? Is it necessary to work? Thanks so much for all your help.</p>
<p>Also if anyone can personally address the contacts you made at NYU and employment post college. Also anyone who can address employment opportunities with an Ivy or Ivy peer drama or similar degree? Is a yale drama degree of anymore value than a depaul drama degree (UNDERGRAD) and is it of any use at all in getting any other job?</p>
<p>Sorry for all the questions but I’m guessing if you are all here then like me you can’t afford to make wrong choices. Since I live in a city where you pick and apply to your grammar and high schools I wish there had been something like this to help that search. This time I’m going to make use of all the resources available. Thanks everyone.</p>