<p>I guess the title pretty much explains itself. I've narrowed down my acceptances to these two schools, and was wondering if anyone could help me with their input... ANYTHING you know about the programs!</p>
<p>p.s. I'm in Adler at NYU</p>
<p>Becca, you may want to pm NJTheatreMom. Her son has narrowed it down to BU and NYU (Alder) and is going through the same thing. </p>
<p>You may want to consider location, cost, etc. I would go with your heart and that’s really the thing that will matter in the end.</p>
<p>NJTheatreMom here! Becca, when you originally posted were out of town on a trip we took to Boston so that my son could visit BU. We just got back.</p>
<p>As early_college said, my son is also trying to decide between Tisch/Adler and BU. When I told him about your being in the same boat, he said he would love to communicate with you. I will PM you his contact info.</p>
<p>A few thoughts and observations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I saw on another thread that you got a really good financial aid offer from Boston University, Becca. Congratulations!! In our case, NYU’s aid package was a bit better than BU’s.</p></li>
<li><p>In our view, the greatest plus of BU is the flexibility of its program and the greatest plus of NYU/Tisch is its access to New York theatre professionals.</p></li>
<li><p>We attended Tisch Accepted Students Day and my son was not too impressed by the theatre students’ gathering. However, we visited NYU freshman dorms and he liked them a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>On his BU visit, my son really liked the students he met, and he adored the classes he sat in on…one of which was a 3-hour acting class. (He would be glad to provide you with details if you contact him directly.) He thought the freshman dorm he visited was so-so, but he loved the dining hall.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Based on his visit recent visit to BU, my son is leaning strongly toward that school. However, he does have contact info for two Adler students and hopes to be in touch with them soon, so that he can compare what they say about Adler to what he experienced at Boston University.</p>
<p>NJTheatreMom…BU just may be his favorite. But I would caution you to not make the decision based on these two visits alone because in some ways it is apples to oranges. At one school, you sat in on classes and talked to kids in the program and at the other, you attended an open house event. I would encourage your son to write down every aspect of each school and compare those factors on paper and then add in his “gut” feelings/impressions, rather than simply comparing the experiences on the two visits.</p>
<p>Soozie, I tried to get my son to talk to the Adler students for whom he has contact info <em>before</em> we visited BU, but he decided he wanted to do it afterwards. He figured he would have better questions for the Tisch students after visiting BU.</p>
<p>We have compared every single thing we have been able to find out about the two schools so far. I have been on CC for months and possibly have a better second-hand understanding of Tisch drama and its studios than some of the other parents of seniors. </p>
<p>Based upon all of the knowledge we have so far, it is impossible to make a final decision. </p>
<p>The one missing element is my son talking to Adler students and maybe attending a class at Tisch if possible (I realize that it is generally not possible to attend studio classes). He says he wants to do these things. I very much hope he follows through. Time is passing. It is up to him. You can lead a horse to water, but… :-)</p>
<p>If you can’t make a decision based on which school you *like * better, what’s the point of going to visit?</p>
<p>NJTheatreMom…either your son’s mind is made up and that is fine…these are both great programs and maybe he is not contacting the Adler kids as he wants to to go BU? Since he has yet to talk to Adler kids, I hope he will contact my student whose information I passed onto you and your son as that student said he was very willing to be contacted. </p>
<p>Sometimes, though I can’t promise you this, a current student may be able to ask their professor if he/she can have a visitor for the day who was admitted. Ya never know. My D had a friend in CAP21 and was able to visit some classes as the friend got permission directly from her teacher. But at the least, before your son decides, he should compare apples to apples and he has only spoken with students at one of these schools and not the other.</p>
<p>My point earlier is that it sounded like he liked the BU visit more than the Tisch visit but my contention is that what you did on the two visits was very different to make it hard to compare. And it is more important to weigh every aspect of each school and see which one’s list fits the student’s own criteria for college selection, and not rely entirely on how he liked each visit (though the visits are important and add the “gut dimension”).</p>
<p>I agree that the Tisch Accepted Students Day and shadowing a freshman student at BU are completely different. I realize now that we should not have attended Accepted Students Day at Tisch, blithely assuming that my son could meet people from his studio there. We should have checked closely with the school about whether this would be possible, and when the answer turned out to be “no,” or “not necessarily,” we should have simply declined the invitation. </p>
<p>If my son had liked the event, it would have been okay to attend it even though it was not useful in the way we hoped. But he actually didn’t like it. Now we have to counteract that perhaps unfair negative impression the only way I know how…by contact with students.</p>
<p>What we should have done, as soon as we knew my son’s studio assignment, was to set up a day during the week when my son could meet with Adler students and have in depth conversations with them, plus attend whatever classes he was allowed to attend. I am going to try to push to see that this still occurs if at all possible.</p>
<p>The one thing that would be a shame is if your son judged Tisch by the open house event which is not really like the experience of attending the school, if you know what I mean. It reminds me a little of judging a school based on a tour guide. The event was an overview and a celebration of sorts. When we attended, we already knew our D was attending NYU and we were not really looking for the event to inform us about new things that much. If you can get your son up to Adler, that would give him a better idea and meet with staff and students there. It could turn out that he likes BU better though, and he really can’t go wrong at either school. Both are really great places to train as an actor. They are just different.</p>
<p>It sounds like her son just really does like BU better. I don’t think their judging on just one open house either. I don’t see the point of going back. But it would be a lot more possible since their in NJ. Most people only get one impression of a college, unless they live close to it. I know some seniors who only had one shot at a college visit.</p>
<p>Its funny but my daughter (Who is at Adler) Would not get out of the car when we visited BU. She just didn’t like that school at all for no reason.She always had her heart set on NYU. We talked about that yesterday and she said she is so glad she picked NYU. Even though she had some rough days at the beginning. I had second thoughts because I thought she missed out on a real college experience. I can’t wait for NJTheatremom’s son to talk to my daughter. She really loves NYU and Adler. I think it will give him a different perspective on NYU.</p>
<p>The most basic question in making this decision that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is the type of training you want. Have you read Stella Adler’s books and do you think you’d be satisfied spending the first two years working exclusively on her approach to acting plus whichever voice & speech and movement approaches they use? In contrast, BU most definitely espouses a toolbox approach. I’m not sure of everything they bring to bear, but I understand it to incorporate Stanislavski, Meisner, Chekhov, Grotowski, Brook, Brecht, Linklater, Laban, Suzuki, Viewpoints, Lecoq, and probably many others. There’s a big difference in philosophy there and it’s definitely something to look into and consider if you haven’t already.</p>
<p>I agree with fish that examining these differences is very important. </p>
<p>While Stella Adler may be one approach …the beauty of Tisch is that you can do a different studio for the second two years and be exposed to other approaches. Hey, the person who wrote Viewpoints is in my D’s studio (ETW) and she has been taught by her. By the end of four years at Tisch, you can have a toolbox approach if you want as well.</p>
<p>LOL, actressmom, it’s funny that your daughter was repelled by BU based on a “windshield inspection.” I can understand that in a way, now that we have visited. The university is all strung out for miles along Commonwealth Ave. Certain of the buildings are towering and cold-looking, and students have to wait for the “T” at a windy surface station where packed surface trains sometimes shoot right past the people who are patiently waiting (happened to ME!).</p>
<p>Best to dig a little more deeply of course. 
</p>
<p>People have posted here about BU’s College of Fine Arts building looking shabby. Granted, it is not a new and glittering structure, and it had some vines on it that looked kind of dead but perhaps have not just leafed out yet…but the inside was cheery and unpretentiously appealing, I thought.</p>
<p>The main “problem” I see with NYU/Tisch is that there is only a certain amount of research that one can do about the studios before being accepted and receiving the studio assignment. It would have been so much better if Accepted Students Day had provided an opportunity to talk with students and faculty from the studio my son was assigned to.</p>
<p>There are lots of statements on CC about how caring the faculty is in the studios and how supportive the students are of one another, etc, etc. But I don’t think a prospective student is necessarily going to believe that without talking to students and faculty members themselves.</p>
<p>My son is curious about how exclusively the Adler studio focuses on the “Adler technique.” During the acting class he attended at BU, the teacher seemed to be incorporating elements of Meisner. My son would be interested in knowing whether such things might happen at Adler too, or whether it is perhaps more dogmatic and narrow in its acting instruction.</p>
<p>Some people say the Tisch drama program is “too big.” I don’t really think it is. It certainly provides a fabulous opportunity to students who are declined by the tiny, über-competitive BFA acting programs at places like Juilliard, CMU, Rutgers, NCSA, CalArts and Purchase. However, because of its size and popularity it perhaps does not have the resources or incentive to make it easy for prospective students to get access to information.</p>
<p>My son likes the idea of NYU because it is nearer home than BU and offers a high quality and very highly regarded BFA in acting, with many opportunities to develop contacts in the New York theatre world. He would be thrilled to live in New York and avail himself of its unparalleled cultural opportunities. NYU offered him more money than BU, and from talking to financial aid people at BU, BU will not be able to match NYU’s offer because it is to a considerable degree a talent grant, and BU’s offers are based more exclusively on need.</p>
<p>In a way, I was hoping that our visit to BU would make up my son’s mind 100% and that we could finally be done with this crazy “taffy pull.” 
However, based on the considerations above (and the fact that he really liked BU but does not necessarily regard it as perfect), my son still wants to give NYU a chance by providing Adler people with the opportunity to woo him. The problem is, a fair degree of assertiveness is going to be required on his and/or my part in order to for this to happen.</p>
<p>My son and I very much appreciate your providing your daughter’s contact info, actressmom, and we also much appreciate the contact info for another Adler student that Soozie has provided. My son says he wants to communicate with these two students…says that he fully intends to do so, this weekend…but I honestly think he is feeling a little shy. <sigh> However…IF we were able to set up something up through the school where he could talk to Adler faculty and students in New York, I am sure he would jump at the opportunity.</sigh></p>
<p>There is an incredible amount of work involved in researching schools, applying, auditioning, visiting, etc, etc…as everybody on these forums knows. We are on the home stretch now. I, for one, am pretty exhausted. But we cannot flag. We must press on. Once more into the breach!</p>
<p>Besides talking to these two students, and given how close you live to NYC, I would call Adler up and explain what you have here…your son is deciding between Tisch/Adler and another school and you don’t know enough about Adler and would like to come for the day and talk to some faculty or administrators and some students (and ideally see a class but they may deny you a chance to see a class…though as an ADMITTED student and not just a visitor, maybe they would bend? or else ask the two contact students if they can ask a teacher to have a visitor for a class). That would be a good thing to do.</p>
<p>I posted before I saw the last few comments. Good point about the Adler books, Fish. We really should get our hands on them pronto. My son did read a long explanation about Adler that he found on the internet and was fairly impressed. In fact, he made the observation that he believes he said something during his audition that gave the Tisch people the idea of the Adler placement for him.</p>
<p>The toolbox approach is actually the major factor in my son’s leaning strongly in the direction of Boston U. Thanks very much for your informed list of…um…what’s the right word?..pedagogies??</p>
<p>Soozie, the only thing about switching studios is that they mostly accept third and fourth years students by audition I believe.</p>
<p>Yes, switching studios is by audition but can be done for third year and again for fourth year. I don’t know how impossible it is or not. Your son sounds talented (given his scholarships). My D and many of her friends have done more than one studio while at Tisch. She has several close Adler friends and some are with her now in ETW and I can think of one now in CAP21 even. Fish listed several acting approaches in her post upthread and my D has been exposed to several of those while at Tisch in fact. While your son got into Adler, the fact is that he got into TISCH and he very well may not be just in Adler while attending Tisch. I’d examine ALL of Tisch if I were your son.</p>
<p>Soozie, with regard to examining all of Tisch, we have done that to the best of our ability but it is hard to know the answers to some questions from the outside.</p>
<p>For example, given that my son is interested in classical acting, would he be better off availing himself of the third year classical instruction at Adler, trying to get into Tisch’s classical studio, or trying to spend at least a semester in London through Tisch?</p>
<p>Given that he is interested in directing, would he like to spend all or part of his junior/senior years at Playwrights??</p>
<p>HUGE questions and I don’t think he could begin to answer them until he was already a student at Tisch. It’s nice to have many options but perhaps it could be confusing at times too, despite the excellent advising that you have mentioned.</p>
<p>On the other hand, at BU there is a semester of classical studies in England built into the program, and if he chose the BU BFA in Theatre Studies option, he could do most everything in the Acting BFA curriculum and still branch out a little into the study of directing, etc.</p>
<p>In my view, since the options exist, there is no need to plan it all out in advance. He could study in Classical Studio at Tisch. He could do directing at Playwrights. He may be able to do both. He could go abroad. If you told me four years ago that my D would be in ETW and not stay in CAP21 all four years, I would have thought, “no way.” Things evolve in college and the possibilities at Tisch are endless and need not be all planned out in advance. Many options abound there. BU also may have just what he wants and so that’s good too.</p>
<p>My son knows somebody locally who has a MFA from Tisch and highly recommends Boston U because of how much Shakespeare they do. </p>
<p>In addition, I heard from another knowledgeable source (a working actor who graduated from a top BFA Acting program other than BU or Tisch) that BU’s reputation is in general much better than Tisch’s for classical acting.</p>
<p>This and the “toolbox” issue discussed above are probably going to be the things that tip the balance…</p>