I am a little new to how college confidential works, but I hope that the community of theatre people might be able to help me with this question! Just a little background, I am an Asian American female and have only been doing theatre for about 1.5 years. Which college is worth going to more? NYU Tisch or Chapman for Theatre Performance?
This might seem like a no brainer type of question, but here’s the problem: I just got off the waitlist for NYU Tisch and was ecstatic to hear about it…until I saw there was no FA and it would leave me in debt for about 220k. On the other hand, I received scholarships and grants from Chapman that will basically leave me in debt for only around 20k. I know that Chapman is a great program, but I feel like NYU blows it out of the water in terms of opportunities, solid training, networking, and altogether reputation. DO you think NYU would be worth the debt of 220k? In my mind, I see lots of debt, but I feel like NYU would set me up for a better career in the long run. But with the debt, I would be bogged down with working odds and ends jobs in order to pay the debt. This is quite a hard decision and I would genuinely appreciate anyone’s input! I apologize if this question has been asked so many times already. Thanks!!!
I’m sure others will chime in who know more about the specifics of the programs, but do not go into that much debt! There are multiple posts here and in the musical theatre forum where people say over and over don’t take on a lot of debt. You will be an actor and the large majority of actors work job to job and have survival jobs in between. Not all, of course, but there is no guarantee. And even if you get acting work the jobs just don’t pay that much. No school is worth over $200k of debt!
No degree is worth 220k debt. That amount of debt will severely limit your ability to thrive once you graduate.
I just ran an online debt calculator at Studentloanhero.com, and at 4.45% (is that about correct for an unsubsidized undergrad loan?) you’d have to make payments of $2,275 per month to pay off the loan in 10 years; you’d be paying about $53,000 in interest in addition to the principal of the loan. Maybe you’ll have a different rate or a different loan term, but, yikes, I can’t imagine the stress of facing anything like that upon graduation. It’s sort of making me queasy to think that people do this sort of thing. This is why some states require personal finance courses in high school, by the way – many people don’t realize what this amount of debt means, and how repayment actually works.
A degree from NYU doesn’t guarantee you a job. It doesn’t even guarantee that you’ll come out of school as an amazing actor, quite frankly – that’s going to come from YOU and what YOU make of the opportunities you have. Tisch graduates tons of people every year, and, yes, many of them go on to do amazing things … and plenty of them are sort of mediocre, quite frankly (this isn’t exclusive to Tisch, by the way – I doubt there’s any U.S. program that has 100 percent star-quality graduates – but for some reason the weakest actors at the local Rep this season tended to be from Tisch).
Chapman U is a good school with great facilities and a lot of opportunity - you won’t regret going there. Tisch may be a “dream school” but graduating with that kind of debt is the stuff of nightmares. Take this as an encouraging sign - you were good enough to get into one of your dream schools - now go make that talent shine at the school you can afford. So much of what you get out of a school is what you put into it.
My kid attends and loves NYU … go for less debt. Chapman is an excelllent program. Is theater performance a BFA or BA? What are your eventual goals? Do you see yourself in LA after graduation? Chapman has great connections out there
Go to Chapman. It’s a great school! Going into that kind of debt for a performing arts degree will inhibit your ability to actually perform. Don’t do it.
No student should graduate with $220,000 in debt, regardless of major, but especially for theatre. You wouldn’t be working “odds and ends jobs” to pay that debt. You’d need a very high paying full-time job and even then, you’d be carrying that debt (which with interest is going to be far higher) for many, many years. It wouldn’t matter how great an actor you were at graduation, no new theatre grad is going to be able to pay the monthly amounts to satisfy that amount of loans.
I don’t know much about Chapman but I would not recommend attending Tisch without substantial financial aid that you do not have to pay back. And I say that as a mom of a Tisch grad. Don’t do it.
p.s. And I wish that we could have a Tisch discussion here that doesn’t involve someone feeling the need to insert negative comments about the school.
@alwaysamom - PREACH. @“Jamieand Winthrop” - I am sorry you feel that you have been subjected to mediocre performances by Tisch graduates. One hopes that you experience all excellence in the future
@alwaysamom@toowonderful@jbtcat@stagedoormama@CaMom13 @“Jamieand Winthrop” @MTmom2017 thank you all for your input! I SIRed to Chapman just a few days ago and I am really excited to see what will be in store. It was quite sad thinking about how I wouldn’t be able to go to my dream school, but logically speaking, I now see that Chapman is a far better option for the long run. Thank you again!
@kalpallol - that’s awesome! You made the smart choice, and good thing for you is that Chapman seems like a great program. Please come back and let us know how you’re doing and what you think of the program. Seems like there’s a lot of info on here about the east coast schools, but not as much on the west coast. Congratulations!
@kalpallol my cousin is graduating from Chapman in May. She has had a great experience. She is a first gen college student who also struggled with choosing between a school that would require lots of debt and Chapman. She couldn’t be happier. And she will graduate with about $26,000 in debt. You made an excellent choice.