Looking for input - my son’s first choice was always NYU 's Tisch (where he was going to apply early decision), but then he heard too many stories from past students who weren’t happy with their assigned training studio and transferred out. Now he’s thinking about applying early decision to SKidmore because they apparently have a less rigid, much more inviting theater program and also Emerson/BU (but he does keep hearing that these programs are very competitive and that there are not a lot of opportunities for freshmen to act). Any advice from parents whose kids are happy/thriving in any of these theater programs (which I know are very different and hard to compare!) is welcome.
Thanks!
My D is at NYU (Stella Adler Studio) where she is a happy/thriving sophomore. She was accepted to BU- but felt NYU was a better fit (and we got better aide there- BU had us paying pretty much full sticker) Studio placement was a key element for D - and did keep her from considering ED there. What (I think) was key for D was doing a LOT of research on the studios - so that she could talk about/ask questions about them at the interview portion of her audition. Also- let me bring up an important (and valuable) point- not all people who change studios do so b/c they are unhappy. After 2 years you have the opportunity to move studios to study a different style, and there are “advanced” studios open only to upper classmen. D has a friend who left the MT studio this year to study film acting with Stonestreet studio. @soozievt 's D was also an MT who switched to ETW (Experimental theater workshop) in her upper class years so she could focus on developing new work.
@Eswell , it sounds to me like your son should not be applying binding ED anywhere because he is still sorting out what he wants. Emerson I believe is early action, not early decision and therefore is not binding. Perhaps if he wants to know early from any school, he should only consider early action and then take more time to sort out what he wants. There is little if any advantage in applying ED for Tisch Drama and if he gets in, he’ll still have to wait until studio assignments come out in April to know where he was assigned. In the meantime, if he decides to apply ED anywhere else and gets in, he’s making the decision right now that he doesn’t want to attend the school that up until now he thought was his first choice. He sounds like he is in flux. Be careful about ED.
I have a friend who left NYU because he did not like his studio assignment and did not want to wait 2 years to switch. Listen to the advice above…have lots of options and do your homework.
I know people who have left Ithaca, Boston, NYU, northwestern, and Emerson in the last 4 years. Doesn’t make any of those programs less worthy. In some cases it was about fit (transferred to other programs) and in some cases people decided theater wasn’t for them. Don’t let other people’s experiences be your determining factor- base your research on what is right for YOU