I am currently torn in descion between Marymount Manhattan or Pace University for BFA acting. To me it seems as Pace is more selective, only accepting 18 as opposed to Marymount 90, or 50? I can’t seem to find much out about either program, specifically whether or not they are quality. Any help at all would be appreciated!
Selectivity doesn’t matter, as it doesn’t always perfectly correlate to the quality of a school. There are some schools that more people apply to for a variety of reasons. That doesn’t say much about the school’s actual quality. The student body makeup at Pace and Marymount Manhattan (in terms of high school SAT scores and position in the class) are pretty similar.
However, atmosphere is different. MMC is a small college with less than 2,000 students; it’s mostly female; and it’s a school focused on the arts, so 40% of students are majoring in a visual or performing art. Pace is more of a general interest university; the plurality of students actually major in business, and only 11% are arts majors. Do you want to attend a more general university or do you want go to somewhere where nearly half the students are studying the same thing you are? There are benefits and trade-offs to both. Pace is also over three times the size of MMC. So it’s whether you want a small college or a medium-sized university.
There’s also the program; MMC’s BFA program is a unique one. It’s still conservatory style, but there are fewer credits (60 instead of 90) because MMC is a liberal arts college and they want you to explore the liberal arts. Checking out the theater page, the emphasis seems very much on understanding theater as a way to interpret the world, to make connections and commentary on things around you. The last year of MMC’s BFA is a Shakespeare year. They also have an impressive list of campus visitors and speakers (Stephen Sondheim, David Mamet, Christopher Durang) and graduating seniors meet with invited panels of agents, casting directors, producers, alumni, and reps from the Screen Actors Guild to discuss the profession and prepare students for their professional careers. They also have a very impressive list of past internships from students. Professors are active professionals in the field as well as scholars - they study the craft, but they also participate in it and have connections to local, national, and international acting companies.
Pace doesn’t have nearly the same amount of information about their philosophy, their events or their outcomes. as MMC does, although you can look at their curriculum. You can also look at the faculty; the faculty at Pace lean much harder towards the purely professional side. They don’t do the same scholarship in the craft. Pace also has the Actors Studio Drama School there on campus. Although it’s a graduate program, the buy-in from the Actors Studio may mean increased contact from established actors. The MMC program focuses half on contemporary acting and half on classical theater (including that full year of Shakespeare) while the Pace program seems more focus on contemporary acting. Also, the MMC program seems more focused on theater, while the Pace program has a variety of different media represented and even has a special program for film, TV, voice-overs and commercials.
While both are in New York, Pace is in the Lower East Side/Chinatown near the Brooklyn Bridge. Marymount Manhattan is in the Upper East Side. The day-to-day reality of going to school there is going to be different. Are you commuting from within the city or are you going to be living on-campus (or near campus)? Both neighborhoods are expensive, but the UES is moreso than the LES. LES also has more stereotypical college kid things to do nearby (lots of relatively cheap bars and cultural events going on down there). But with the subway system that doesn’t matter so much.