Hello! We live in Los Angeles, but my daughter’s dream is to study in NYC. She is applying to NYU Tisch and Pace, but we would appreciate recommendations on a safe school option in NYC. She is applying this fall.
Marymount Manhattan is very safe. A neighbor attended from TN. He was not very solid academically - not sure how, if at all, an audition mattered. You often read about TV actor bios who went there.
Good luck.
New School’s College of Performing Arts. I don’t know if it is safe but it could be on the list.
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safe in terms of acceptance or location? All of NYC is basically the same in terms of safety, mostly safe as long as you are aware of your surroundings. None of the BFA programs are safeties in terms of acceptances. New school is probably a little less selective, MMC for acting is a little less competitve than the others, Then Fordham, and then Pace and NYU. If she has excellent academics and is interested in a BA Barnard also has a good program.
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If you’re living in Los Angeles, then she’s likely familiar with urban environments, do’s and don’ts… how to stay safe. The same common-sense basics apply to Manhattan (and NYC in general). No matter where she might go to college, chances are she and her peers will eventually venture “all over town” at times, and like many of its residents (and daily commuters), it can be done safely.
If she has the stats (GPA, ACT/SAT, class rank) to apply to NYU, she could also consider:
https://theatre.barnard.edu/
https://film.barnard.edu/
Alumni include familiar performing arts names like Greta Gerwig, Cynthia Nixon, Suzanne Vega,…
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A safety school would likely be Drew, in Madison, NJ, about a half hour by train from NYC.
https://drew.edu/academics/theatre-arts/theatre-dance-department/
It has good connections & placement to city theater.
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Agree, Drew is a strong safety school with good connections and placement, but it’s more like 80-90 minutes on NJ Transit from the Hamilton Station to Penn Station. The audition is optional for a scholarship only. Also, just up the street from Drew is Fairleigh Dickson University’s Florham campus which has a Theater BA with concentrations in either Musical Theater or Acting. Another option that is about 30 minutes by train to the city is Kean University, which offers a BFA in Theatre Performance. Both FDU and Kean require auditions but they tend to make offers to a larger pool of students so your odds of acceptance are likely to be a little better.
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You might also take a look at Sarah Lawrence College’s BA in Theater. This program has a lot of flexibility to design your own curriculum. It’s in Bronxville, about a 45-minute train ride from campus to Grand Central, and it’s an academic-only admit - no audition.
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Also not safeties but Long Island University-Brooklyn and Montclair State University in NJ are other options to consider.
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The discussion was about a “safety” in terms of acceptance. I love NYC and spend a lot of time there. I was not referring to physical safety at all but was referring back to previous post(s).
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Thank you!
Thank you! We’ll look into it : )
Sorry I should have clarified, “safe” in terms of likelihood of getting accepted. She has an okay GPA (3.8 unweighted, 3.95 weighted), but won’t be submitting test scores. She’ll have to really nail her auditions. Thank you for all the info!
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Good luck to her! Unfortunately there are no safeties in NYC but she should definitely add the BA program at Fordham; New School, and MMC is a little less selective for acting but extremely competitive for MT.
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No audition based program is a safety/likely option.
Take a look at Hofstra.
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New School is in the West Village, which is a fantastic neighborhood in my opinion. It’s very close to NYU, so lots of college kids around that area. I didn’t know much about it before our college counselor put it on our list (other than obviously knowing its Parson’s School) but we were impressed with their curriculum and the opportunities there. They only hire professors that are working professionals (they’re not 100% full time professors) so the connections to the NY theater community are fantastic. Lots of internship/work opportunities for students. The list of people who have studied there is unreal. It doesn’t have as much of a traditional college feel (you’re not going to have a quad and frat parties) but the students that go there seem very focused on their chosen field and pursuing their careers. So it depends what you’re looking for.
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