Hi! I am a high school sophomore. I toured NYU over Spring Break, and one thing I loved most was the artistic culture surrounding the school. Just by walking through WSP and watching students, I could tell their is a huge love for a appreciation of the arts. I’ve heard NYU Tisch is amazing. Here’s the thing: I am passionate about theatre. I am really involved in my high school’s theatre program. I have worked as stage manager on several productions and am a member of International Thespian Society. We have a theatre in our city that brings touring productions, and I am a member of the guild (the only member under 18). I also help out with their theatre academy (I serve on the crew of many of their productions). As you can see, I am very involved in the technical side of theatre. I want to be a director (possibly a playwright as well because I love to write). I love the sound of Tisch, but I have two problems:
1.) Tisch Theatre requires an audition. Is the entire program solely based on acting? Don’t they have any programs that are meant for people who want to go into directing and production? If so, what do they evaluate the candidates on?
2.) NYU seems to be very structured, as in you must stay within your school. Is there anyway I could get a CAS English degree if I was a Theatre major in Tisch (as in double major outside of the school I was accepted into)?
Also, what is Gallatin about?
Simply for reference (although I’ve heard Tisch doesn’t care that much about scores or grades), my PSAT score this year was 220 (I haven’t taken the SAT yet), and I have straight As in both honors and AP classes. I’m in Thespian Honor Society, Speech and Debate (Vice Pres, OO competitor, went to state this past year and plan on doing it again this next year), Environmental Club (Vice Pres next year, probably President Senior year), National Honor Society, Leadership Camp, lots of hiking/climbing in the summer, and currently 600+ hours of community service since freshman year, hopefully 850+ by the time I apply to colleges.
Thanks so much! 
I asked the question about Gallatin because my tour guide didn’t do an awesome job of explaining what it was. She summed it up as a “do whatever you want” school. Is this true?
I asked the question about Gallatin because my tour guide didn’t do an awesome job of explaining what it was. She summed it up as a “do whatever you want” school. Is this true?
You should explore NYU’s website to get a solid idea of what program (even specific classes, if you want) you’re most interested in. Their website is easy to navigate and once you’ve decided on a program you can search for the course offerings relative to that major on Albert (to read course descriptions and stuff).
I’m not too sure of what you want to do, but it’s probably not their theatre BFA which you mentioned; that’s for people pursuing acting. They have a theatre production and design technical program, but I’m not sure if that can be accommodated in an undergrad degree (that’s for you to research.) They have a selective dramatic writing undergrad program, a business of entertainment, media and technology minor in Stern, and many more programs that, again, are for you to explore.
To answer your English major question - while you can’t get a separate degree from CAS, you can double major there as a Tisch student, so technically what you proposed can be done. This info can be easily found by googling NYU Tisch double major.
As for your Gallatin question… Google. There’s not much to say. You should apply there if you feel what you expect from an undergrad degree can’t be found in an already existing program or combination of programs (double majors, major + minor, etc.) which doesn’t sound like your case. You need to take several classes within Gallatin which makes the whole “do whatever you want degree” not that interesting if you want to be deep in the arts/theatre/writing.
Also, while you’re right in that academics aren’t considered as heavily by Tisch as are in other schools, a 2200 sat score (if you get that) is much more attractive than a, say, 1800 would be. I’m guessing this would also help come scholarships and financial aid stuff.