<p>I would be happy to hear thoughts/opinions about SUNY Purchase vs NCArts in general. Tehnical theatre info would certainly be a bonus....</p>
<p>Our son has started looking at technical theatre programs - he'll graduate in 2007. He knows he wants a BFA program that has a concentration in lighting.</p>
<p>We did a quick SUNY Purchase visit and plan to go back to see more. We spent the day at NCArts. He went to classes, spoke with students and the department head. He was impressed and has a strong interest in that school.</p>
<p>We've been trying to figure out pros and cons between the 2 schools. SUNY Purchase has the close geographical connection to Broadway and we've been told the professors work in Broadway and the students can make connections there as well. As interesting as that sounds we have concerns that the professors might be more involved with their professional jobs than teaching.</p>
<p>NCarts seems to be very dedicated to their students and the professors are also working professionals. The location is in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>So - any thoughts or opinions to share - all are welcome.
Thanks</p>
<p>I live in Westchester County, about 10 minutes away from Suny Purchase. As someone who is pursuing musical theater in college, I can't tell you everything about their technical theater program, but I can tell you some stuff.</p>
<p>Westchester County is a nice area, but it's really hard to live there without a car (or a parent who drives you places hehehe)...There is a Metro train about 35 minutes long that goes into the city which is of course very helpful. Purchase is not exactly a fascinating city. Of course there are pizza places, supermarkets, etc, but if you're looking for a lively area full of people up late, etc, NYC is the place for that.</p>
<p>Another benefit of Suny Purchase is how many performances there are throughout the year of singers, music groups, etc. I don't know if that is any interest to your son, but they get great performances from top performers.</p>
<p>I'm sure both programs are great....and like I said, I'm not qualified to say which school has a better program, but I know Suny Purchase's acting program is REALLY well-regarded, so I can only imagine their production program is the same! </p>
<p>hi techiemom,
My daughter, also graduating 6/2007, is a passionate theatre techie too. She did a 3-day continuing ed seminar in digital sound design at NCSA this summer, living in the dorm with summer school students. She learned so much, loved the professor, the campus, the facilities--and was recruited at the end of the workshop. BUT, 3 days was about all she could stand in Winston-Salem. Not only is it in the middle of nowhere, but the student population is heavily NC and as such, everybody goes home on weekends because there is nothing going on at NCSA. She won't even consider the school as a safety because of its location. I should probably qualify this by saying that my daughter has grown up in a large city and can't imagine living in a small town.</p>
<p>When we visited NCArts last spring they made it sound like a lot of kids stayed during the weekends because there was work to do on performances. We even talked about longer breaks like Thanksgiving and were told the students only had Thursday off because they started load in for the Nutcracker on Friday. We didn't see too much of the area but we did get the same impression that the school was pretty much in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>It's still a school on our son's list since its one of the few BFA conservatory programs around. What other schools is your daughter looking at?</p>
<p>We have a pretty short list and now that its application time I'm starting to question whether or not we need to look at more schools.</p>
<p>My daughter wants *a BFA tech/ non-conservatory program, study abroad, major urban environment, and facilities that are better than high school. This is amazingly hard to find!</p>
<p>We visited the first 5 on the list. She found NYU too demanding, BU too conservatory, Emerson just right, Syracuse and Ithaca "facilities inferior to high school" and too rural. NCSArts too conversatory and too rural.</p>
<p>So her list is even shorter than your son's: one school only! She will be applying to Emerson early decision, with crossed fingers.
Good luck.</p>
<p>My son will be a junior this year so we are jut starting the process of thinking about schools. He knows that we will want to go to a BFA program with an emphasis on stage management. He also has an interest in lighting. What other schools have you found in technical theater? I wasn't sure which discussion group this type of question belongs in.
I also have a question about when one does the audition. Is in in the senior year after the applications are in or in Feb of the junior year?</p>
<p>Just as a point of clarification for casual readers ... Winston-Salem, NCSA's location, has a population of 185,776 and is the fifth largest city in North Carolina. I suppose it must seem awfully small to somebody from a big metropolis, but it's definitely not "rural." It's actually larger than the state capital where I live and is about nine times bigger than my home town. :)</p>
<p>JudyL--BFA with emphasis in stage mgt and lighting will require a portfolio submission, not an audition. The audition is for performance majors. A portfolio is submitted just after the general application; there is often an interview too. Be sure your son saves all notes, marked up scripts, lighting design plans, photos, etc for his portfolio next year. We didn't do this and we are scrambling now. As for schools, I listed the ones I know above...sorry to be so East Coast. When we visited schools & theater depts my daughter found that she was always the only kid interested in theater tech...all the others were performance. Hopefully, this will play in our kids' favor.</p>
<p>fishbowlfreshman--I did not mean any offense...I grew up in Raleigh. But my daughter has grown up in Paris (10million) and Tokyo (23million); In her eyes all of NC is "rural".</p>
<p>well I live here!
WS is not a flashy metropolitan city but it does have a thriving arts community - some of which stems from NCSa but some just on its own. Agreed the campus which is very cool, is not located in the most scenic of areas, but the very nearby downtown is having a renaissance with a lot of lofts being built and renovated, restaraunts, galleries. We have a symphony! Lots of outdoor music festivals downtown, swing dancing, bands downtown outside three seasons of the year. NC Shakespaere Festival is 20 min away- Several local and regional theater companies. All the Broadway traveling shows come to Charlotte (1 1/2 hrs) or Greensboro (30 min) If you were in a HUGE city it would take you that long to get around the town!</p>
<p>One of the cool things iis that you are 45 mins from great mt hikes and only 3 1/2 hrs from the beach!</p>
<p>One of my sons friends who was offered money (rare) to go to Depaul, chose NCSA b/c he felt like Chicago would be a big distraction from the work at hand( the all time and energy consuming drama BFA). He and my son will probably be big city dwellers the rest of their life- waiting four more years is not a big sacrifice</p>
<p>It is not NY, chicago , even Philadelphia. but it is not a dead area by any means.</p>
<p>If a lot of external/off campus activities are necessary to your college experience, you might want to consider elsewhere. But if the training is foremost, then NCSA is absolutely top notch-- Go have your city fun in the summers!!</p>
<p>My son spent two summers at the NCSA's film program for high school students. My wife and I both went to grad school at Chapel Hill so we're somewhat familiar with the state. While W-S is a city it's not a great college town, and NCSA will not give you a full college experience. However, if your son wants a specific arts type of education it can't be beat. If he wants collegey stuff he could also get season passes to Wake Forest's football and bb games.</p>
<p>My cousin is a NCArts grad and I know from her there is a real rivalry between Purchase and NCA - they consider each other their strongest competition. She graduated in stage management, minor in lighting and has been working since graduation 2 years ago. She actually turns down jobs. What I was amazed with is the supportive community NCArts has in New York - -they all really help each other find jobs, housing, etc. From my view from afar, it seems to have been a very good experience and training. She is from a large city and managed fine in NC, not coming home frequently and being very busy with shows on weekends. My son is pursuing jazz music and I only hope he ends up with this good of start on his career. By the way, he may very well end up at Purchase. Hope this helps....</p>
<p>Soon we'll be traveling to NSCA for our son's interview - probably sometime before the end of this year. We're planning to drive and take a little extra time to get to know the area. </p>
<p>Can anyone suggest places we should visit - we'll be coming from Maryland and we're happy to make stops along the way. What beach is 3 1/2 hours away? I'd like to hear more about the hiking trails too. What should we be sure to see while we're in Winston-Salem?</p>
<p>What theatres are in Charlotte or Greensboro?</p>
<p>The beaches would be near Wilmington, NC Wrightsville Beach for one. Mountain (small) hikes: Pilot Mountain, Hanging Rock, Stone Mountain(NC).
A greeat way to come down would be to take the Skyline drive ( or Route 81) through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, which then becomes th eBLue Ridge Parkway as it continues into NC- Beautiful scenenry-wow
Stop in Asheville and see the Biltmore House. Go over to Chimney Rock ( where last of the Mohicans was filmed)Then travel east on 40 into Winston-Salem</p>
<p>Theaters- NC Shakespeare in high Point
Triad Stage in Greensboro( accalimed regional theater)
lots of community theaters
I am sure there are great companies in Charlotte- My son is seeing a traveling broadway series at the Belk theater there this year 5 shows Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sweet Charity, Spamalot, Doubt, and Putnam County Spelling Bee</p>
<p>In Winston Salem, you should see the trade street arts district, hello Betty vintage clothes, Cafe Gelato( authentic-yum!), and a Wake Forest University basketball game( ACC!!!). There is also a historic town section called Old Salem that you can tour( must go to the bakery there!)think Williamsburg junior.</p>
<p>Nice restaurants in downtown. Also you MUSt get Krispy Kreme doughnuts- they were invented here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>We also have a GREAT zoo about 1 1/2 hrs away in Asheboro</p>
<p>What area is your son studying? My son is a freshman in drama there.</p>
<p>He's really interested in technical theatre - specifically lighting design. He has a short list of colleges he's applying to because he wants a BFA conservatory program. On a positive note he's been working on his portfolio forever so its in pretty good shape. All he needs to do now is update it with new shows. etc. His resume is done and he's about 90% done with his college essay. It's written -he's having a few people read it and give him feedback.</p>
<p>Is your son happy with the school - it's program and the location?</p>
<p>Do you remember when he found out he was accepted? Waiting for me is the worst part!</p>
<p>My son did his senior year in the NCSA high school program and a lot of the college teachers teach in the HS so he feels he already knows the drama prgram very well. He loves it! He loves the intensity(it is very intense in all areas across the school- but also very nurturing) He likes the campus - they have very nice facilities.</p>
<p>He is from WS and so that is a slight drawback for him. He could have been in Chicago, Dallas, even Liverpool right now- but b/c he believes in the program THAT much- even though the drama kids don't perform until their third years, and he is in WS and not AWAY to school, he wants to be here</p>
<p>NCSA although in NC is always bringing in guest artists from NY, etc to do special teaching- A lot of the profs do professional work in NY in the summers early fall, and come in for the school year - so they are idoing current work in the field</p>
<p>The buzz is that the technical theater people have NO problem gettting work- after college.</p>
<p>As to acceptance- that seems to vary among the various divisions. I think it was April 15 or so before he heard. the waiting was indeed very hard</p>
<p>If he gets in you'll have to think about moving to NC!!- It is a state supported school.</p>
<p>I have a daughter who is pursuing a BFA in tech design, probably with an emphasis in costuming and I was wondering what other schools you were looking at besides Purchase and NCArts. My D was looking at Purchase, UConn, Otterbien and CCM. Also have you heard of Ryerson in Toronto?</p>
<p>We didn't look at any schools in Toronto - I'm not familiar with Ryerson. We looked at a lot of schools, most are on the list you wrote. Also Ithaca, Emerson, Florida State University, Rutgers, University of the Arts, Penn State, Virginia Commonwealth, University of Maryland, and DePaul. There were some good programs but he really wants a BFA conservatory so that limits the options.</p>