<p>I'm trying to slim down my large lists of schools so that we can visit and I can begin to prepare for the ones I am most interested in. I can't apply to Julliard, or NYU because of the price tag, but I would LOVE to go to school in NYC. Marymount Manhattan is still a little too pricey, but perhaps with enough scholarships, a possiblity. I can only apply for one next year, and I'm curious what you all think the pros and cons are of both schools. I'm interested in hearing about the acting training, campus, student life, faculty, overall enviroment, ect.
Thank you for your help!</p>
<p>You can find plenty of threads about both schools, if you do a search of this forum.</p>
<p>Purchase is insanely selective due to the reputation of the program, the type of people who apply, the reasonable tuition, and the proximity to New York. You’d be competing against a huge pool of very highly qualified applicants. Anybody’s chance of admission is very, very slim.</p>
<p>Marymount is perhaps somewhat less selective. Some people love it; others who investigate it decide it’s not for them. You might want to research the school further to decide whether it would be a good fit for you. </p>
<p>As you probably are aware, Purchase is not in New York City. If you are interested in programs very near New York, I’d strongly suggest investigating Montclair State and Adelphi, both of which offer well-regarded BFA degrees.</p>
<p>Purchase is about 30 minutes from the city. It’s in Westcheaster county (the suburbs of New York City). </p>
<p>The Purchase program is a four year conservatory program. The first year company which can includes between 16-19 students; come from all over the world and come from different walks of life. The faculty are all working professionals and most shows are directed by guest artist from the New York City theater community. The tuition is reasonable and the campus is getting better and better each day. The school not only has a respected Acting Program but Dance as well. They’re in the same building. I would go check out the school and TALK TO STUDENTS!</p>
<p>There’s also Mason Gross at Rutgers, Wagner on Staten Island, Hofstra on Long Island, Pace, and Fordham in NYC.</p>
<p>Dramaqueen, check out this link for info about Purchase.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1010325-suny-purchase-bfa-acting.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/1010325-suny-purchase-bfa-acting.html</a></p>
<p>I think you will find Purchase to be more selective because of it’s prestigious reputation, but in my opinion, it is worth the risk. Good luck!</p>
<p>I feel terrible knocking schools on here, but it seems that Marymount is not even comparable to Purchase.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I have to agree. It’s a different caliber of work.</p>
<p>I must say, my D applied to and auditioned at Marymount as a safety, except it really wasn’t because she disliked it so much that she would never go there. And I disliked it so much I would never pay for it. But that’s just us. There’s a thread on Marymount where some people love it.
It’s very different from Purchase- not a conservatory, and definitely not in the same league.
Purchase is, from what I’ve seen, ranked among the top 5 acting conservatories in the country, right under Juilliard, and is for dedicated actors.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Looking for a College with a good Drama department, that’s not Purchase in New York and surrounding area. Thanks </p>
<p>It’s not all that easy, or inexpensive to get from Purchase to NYC. Purchase is really a good 45 minute drive from Manhattan, so if it’s the Big Apple you want, Marymount is a better choice. Purchase has highly rated departments in drama, but much of the rest of the college is commuter, and there isn’t much of a school vibe there. You go there to study the arts, and get a firm grounding there. </p>
<p>I can’t say much about Marymount as i don’t know anyone who has gone there,but for many who studied in NYC, it’s not just the school program but taking advantage of Manhattan that was the draw. i know a couple of kids who went to Pace, and they were well into getting roles and taking NYC opportunities while still at college. They picked Pace over NYU because it cost them half to go there, and they just wanted a base in order to start with the city, not so much go to college, though both did get their degrees from Pace. Both are working professionals now doing very well, because they did not involved as much with the school as they did seeking opportunities in NYC. It’s easy to get caught up in the school and forget that it’s not what it’s going to be like in the real world when taking these arts courses. </p>
<p>THough Purchase has all of the pieces, dance, drama and voice (not so sure about how much and how strong voice is there), how it can integrate into MT, I don’t know. I can tell you that my son turned down Purchase some years ago because he did not feel he could get well rounded MT training there. He said that at his own college, he also would have been shut out except for the fact that he was one of the 10 kids from that year accepted to the MT program. Some of these school depts are not cooperative about allowing cross registration in certain classes. My son was permitted to take certain courses in Dance and Voice, ONLY because he was MT and they HAD to take him. He knew lots of kids in Drama and Voice but not in MT that could not get a spot in a class. He really was not good enough to take some of those Dance classes and was true thorn in the dept’s side and they told him right out he did not belong there. But they HAD to take him without audtion and not on a space available basis as it was part of his prescribed program. Though he held his own in voice, certain classes, certain instructors, special classes were often reserved for Voice performance majors, and it was only through the way the MT program was designed that he could even get a seat in the prime picks. Just because a college has the classes doesn’t mean they are easily open to everyone, and if you aren’t set up to be first in line for some of the best goodies, the chances can be very small in getting them. </p>
<p>Look into Drew University in NJ not far from NYC…my daughter will be attending in the fall. Message me if you have any questions.</p>
<p>There are several MetroNorth railroad stations within 5 miles of SUNY Purchase. Travel time to Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan 40-50 minutes and fare $8.50, more during rush hours.</p>
<p>There are NO Metro North Railroads within what I call a comfortable walking distance from Purchase. Taking the Beeline bus service to White Plains is the easiest option, which means coordinating the schedules and can add a half hour to that time. Also weekend bus schedules are limited. My son spent a summer at Purchase and was miserable at how inaccessible it is to anything without a car, and he is quite intrepid with mass transit. The fare is $8,50 or so , train only ONE WAY, so paying for the bus adds another $4-5 bucks to the round trip cost and that fare is double. You try to get rides to the Metro north or subway or decent busline to get you into Manhattan the cheapest quickest way is what kids do. Believe me, my son is a wizard in getting around, bumming rides, mass transit, all of that, and he found it tough at Purchase to get out of there without a lot of advance planning. That killed any desire of his to go there, as excellent as their program might be, but it was not a fit for what he wanted anyways. </p>
<p>As someone who grew up in the NYC metro area, I agree with cptofthehouse. Purchase is pretty remote from Manhattan. Without a car, it is not easy to get into the city. Even with a car, it’s about a 45 minute drive (without traffic–and there’s often traffic, and people drive like maniacs). You’d go to Purchase for the reputation and training, not because it’s a hop, skip and jump to NYC. Of course, if you really want to, you can get to Manhattan, but it is not easily accessible.</p>
<p>You really need to consider what is the most important thing to you in considering training. For my own kids, being in NYC was not important. But if being in NYC <em>is</em> important to you, then you can focus entirely on that. There are several options in addition to Juilliard and Tisch–Marymount, Pace, Fordham & New School are all strong options. In addition, in NJ, Drew is fairly close and Montclair even closer. I think Rutgers Mason Gross is about the same accessibility time-wise from NYC as Purchase.</p>
<p>Also Malloy College in Long Island has just launched its new BFA in MT aligned to Cap 21 in NYC. And CUNY’s Brooklyn College has a reputable theatre program which would be at bargain prices since it’s a CUNY. </p>
<p>The accessiblilty to NYC was NOT a factor for my son. Had Purchase had a true MT program and had he been accepted to such a program, it would have been a major consideration. His biggest concern was getting into MT and getting specific training n that area. He wanted to learn all of the major dance forms, be able to take top notch voice classes and to integrate it all together with him having to fight the college rules in doing so. A good MT program will do a lot of that for you, but even among such programs, some are very weak in part of the triple threat prep, notably dance at some of what are considered the top programs. </p>
<p>For my son, MT Marymount would have been the easy choice over SUNY Purchase.</p>
<p>This post has been made in the theater thread not the MT thread so I am assuming the OP is not concerned with MT classes?</p>
<p>The original post is 4 years old so I wonder where the OP ultimately landed. </p>
<p>Her last post was in May 2012 when she got in off the waitlist at Smith.</p>
<p>Thanks, alwaysamom! Love to hear the end result of things. </p>