<p>My daughter is determined to get to New York. She was accepted into Fordham's BA program, and BFA programs at NYU, UNCSA and DePaul. NYU is her top choice but I think that it is too expensive and has too many drama students. DePaul would give her the big campus big city feel. But I like UNCSA's training. Which of the three would be best for a young ingenue?</p>
<p>UNCSA, in my opinion! Incredible training, connections, and very low tuition!</p>
<p>UNCSA. </p>
<p>If you can, have her visit UNCSA and sit in on classes!</p>
<p>fun2beme – has she gone to sit in on classes since she was accepted? Any reservations my daughter had were completely gone after that. They also have a program in which you stay in the dorm with a current freshman. My daughter has a single and is often a host. The training is amazing. Feel free to message me with any questions. </p>
<p>UNCSA</p>
<p>NYU is indeed too expensive. As is living in New York on an actor’s salary which will plague every UNCSA graduate as well as every NYU Tisch graduate. from the moment they graduate and beyond. If your daughter is determined to get to New York, one path will get her there later, the other sooner. The sooners will have things locked down a bit earlier. Doesn’t make them better trained. Doesn’t make them more talented. Might mean they have dibs on navigating the subway and other essentials earlier, or not. </p>
<p>New York students (Pace, NYU etc.) will already have experience auditioning for things that happen in NYC or out of NYC but audition in NYC. Expect that to mean a world of hurt that they get used to earlier. Or not because they have a lot more targets to shoot at. Except they don’t have the time to shoot at the targets either.</p>
<p>That’s one big paragraph of what the hell did she just say? You decide.</p>
<p>Fun2beme, congrats on your daughters choices. She is a lucky girl! All of these schools are great, and didn’t she get into BU too? I thought I read that somewhere.
Anyway, if she has her heart set on NYU, would she be happy at UNCSA? That is the question that should be asked. These 2 schools have nothing in common, except that they are considered good programs.
If she wants to be at a university, not a small art school, if she wants to be in a cosmopolitan city, and not in a small town in North Carolina… Why wouldn’t she consider DePaul? It is also a terrific program in a fantastic city.
I have nothing against UNCSA, I’m sure it’s a great drama school and the fact that it is so inexpensive is a great advantage. But is that a fit for your daughter? My daughter didn’t apply there because that is not the college experience she was after. She is at NYU and having an incredible college experience, artistically, academically, socially. But if NYU was out of the question she would have wanted to be at another University. What will make your daughter happy? That is the question you need answered, and no one on cc can answer that. </p>
<p>Mommy5 – agree with much of your post. Ultimately, this is the question your child has to decide. UNCSA provides a lot of opportunities to sit in on classes so you should take advantage of that before deciding. Just one quibble with the post, Winston-Salem is a city of over 200,000 people. I suppose next to NY it could be called a “small town” but having grown up in Wisconsin where the 5th largest city had 60,000 people, I would not call it a small town. </p>
<p>I think you need to sit in on classes as well, and visit each school.They are each pretty different schools. The investment you make to do that is a drop in the bucket compared to tuition and is critical to your child’s learning. I do agree that if your heart is set on NYC upon graduation, then being in NYC for school could help if you establish connections while you’re there. However, if cost is a consideration, factor in that UNCSA is about $30,000/year less expensive than Tisch. </p>
<p>One good argument I heard for attending school OUTSIDE of NYC is, “You’ll have the rest of your life to live in a big city. In fact, you’ll have to. This is your time to learn and grow in a sheltered environment.”</p>
<p>Oops, sorry ActingDad! I admittedly no nothing about Winston-Salem other than that’s where cigarettes are (were?) made. :)</p>
<p>You will not be able to sit in on studio classes at NYU but I’m sure you can find current students that would be more than happy to meet with you.</p>
<p>Going to school in an industry city does afford you networking opportunities during college that once out of school will not be easy to duplicate. </p>
<p>UNCSA’s networking is supposed to be superb. So is DePaul’s, if you want to be in the wonderful theater environment of Chicago. And many other schools (Syracuse and Otterbein, just to name a couple) have semester-long internship or immersion experiences for seniors in NYC and LA. It’s still college…consider where you really want to spend the next four years. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about UNCSA but here are a few things about DePaul not mentioned so far:
- Chicago is a great theater town. It’s not the one your daughter had in mind, but it is one of a few places around the country where an actor can make a living outside of NYC.
- DePaul’s program is smaller than NYU’s with a single focus on the ability to express emotion. If this is something that would interest your daughter, then it does not matter how many other options are available at NYU. And, of course, NYU may not even give her the studio she wants.</p>
<p>Mommy5 - Yes she did get into BU’s BFA acting program, NYU- BFA (no studio assignment yet) UNCSA - BFA acting, DePaul- BFA acting, Webster - BFA acting, SMU - BFA drama/theater studies, Fordham- BA acting and Emerson- BA acting. She has narrowed the choices to NYU, UNCSA, and DePaul. She was able to sit in on studio classes at NYU in February 2013 because her drama teacher knows the dean. She is visiting DePaul and UNCSA in mid-April. She is worried about the dorms at UNCSA but loves the school. She would love to attend all three! I’ll keep you posted. Thanks so much. </p>
<p>By the way…if she chooses UNCSA or DePaul, she will finish college debt free. I can’t say the same for NYU.</p>
<p>ActingDad- How is your daughter handling the dorms at UNCSA? My daughter is used to having her own private bathroom and I think having to share and or live on campus for 2 years is the only thing that really has her questioning whether or not UNCSA is for her. Do they make any exceptions and allow kids to live off campus?</p>
<p>Sharing and the lack of privacy was a huge issue for my daughter, too. But, currently she is sharing a tiny room and bath with 2 others girls in NYC. No complaints. </p>