@madbean My D was admitted to USC but received no FA whatsoever. The double major thing was appealing. She was told at CMU (which is only still an option if our FA appeal works) that there were so few grad students that it didn’t interfer with the undergrads’ work, but that didn’t seem to be the info you got from the students, which makes us wonder. It would be nice to have a way to connect with a couple current students from each place to get a student’s perspective since the admissions people seem to sugarcoat everything. They also claimed at the NYU interview that the grad students and undergrad students have their own projects so it’s not a problem having so many grad students there, but don’t know if that’s true either.
Hi! Just thought I would give some info on NYU. My D is currently a sophomore p&d major there, and I can tell you that she has had plenty of opportunities so far. This year she has assisted the designer (usually a jr p&d major) on two shows through Tisch. Also, this semester she did sound design on a show that was produced at Skirball. I would agree with what you (or your D) heard at the interview that the grad students have different projects, and there are projects for the undergrads.
@BigCityLight Has your D felt like she has learned a lot so far? I don’t know where you are from, but was adjusting to NYC in general hard? Also, is she enjoying her time at NYU? What part of production and design is she interested in? My D is feeling very stressed right now trying to make this decision. Even though she attends a very large high school, only one other person from there has gone to NYU, and they decided it wasn’t for them and were home by Christmas. Just want whatever she chooses to hopefully be the right chose.
@bearlife - sorry you had a less than stellar guide for BU. Please know that the kids work at MANY theaters at BU, so you really can’t refer to “the” BU theatre. And the theatre company that shares space on Huntington Ave is the Huntington Theatre Company which won the 2013 Regional Tony Award - calling it “community theatre” is like calling Harvard a community college! LOL!
She feels she has really learned a lot, and I’m amazed at how much she has learned! Her focus is Light and Sound, but all P&D students have to rotate through all specializations their freshman year. So they all learn a little about costuming, set design, etc.
Adjusting to NYC and NYU: that is a tricky one. NYC first: We are from a northern suburb of Philly. Small town, but a big high school. My D has always known that she wanted to live in the city. For her, she loves it! And is very comfortable there. But it’s definitely not for everyone. And it’s expensive (not just the school part, either). Figure in Metro card and some additional living expenses.
NYU: It’s a tough school. They don’t mollycoddle anyone. And between classes and production work, she is very very busy. When they are working on a show, she can expect to be working until midnight. But she wouldn’t trade it for the world. And although it’s a BFA, you do get “academic” opportunities as well and have to take a number of non-theater classes.
I understand that for other kids, it’s not for them. It’s not a traditional college experience. The city is big. I don’t think I would have been able to handle it at her age. 
I’m sure that what ever your D decides it will be the right choice for her.
@Marbleheader Didn’t mean to insult anyone. It seemed like an impressive program. Just repeating what we were told. And the spaces that the design students worked in seemed to be outdated. Maybe just had a tired, disgruntled guide.
@BigCityLight Thanks for more insight. At least your child was fairly close to home. We are in Texas, and the vast majority of kids here go to school in Texas or Oklahoma. It never even seems to occur to them to apply anywhere else, especially since if you’re in the top ten percent of your class, you are automatically admitted (except at UT in Austin where it’s the top seven percent). I’ll show her what you said when she gets home from school, and we will think some more.
While we are still waiting to hear back from CMU, does anyone have first hand knowledge of their scenic design undergrad program? My D was told at her interview that they only had a couple of grad students in each year, but I just discovered a contact sheet with all the scenic designers on it from a couple years ago and one year of grad students had 6 students alone. There were actually more grad students all together than undergrad students which isn’t what we were told at all. Can anyone comment on how much undergrads actually get to do as far as number of shows, and how many shows will be in their portfolio when they graduate? They really downplayed the whole grad student thing to us when we said we were told it was possibly better to go to a school without grad students, saying that the undergrads had plenty of opportunities. Their last big show they just did was designed by grad students, so how much do undergrads actually get to do while at Carnegie, and is going to school with so many grad schools a detriment? Any opinions before we have to finally make this huge decision would be appreciated. My D has had four other colleges contacting her at least twice a week asking for her decision. TCU just sent a very nice email telling her that she would probably design six shows, plus more outside shows as well with one professor or another. She still insists that its too close to home and won’t provide enough contacts. This is very stressful.
One more question about CMU. Do the undergrads take classes that are taught by grad students?
bearlife, may I suggest that your daughter call CMU (if she hasn’t already) to ask to email with (speak to) a current undergrad scenic design student. They should be happy to provide her with someone to answer questions–student to prospective student. She may get very straight answers from a student in the program. Good luck.
@bearlife I agree with @madbean that you should have your daughter talk to a student directly. However, I have heard this about CMU and other programs with MFAs. Kiera heard this more than once at unifieds. They weren’t from CMU specifically, but they were from directors and students of other programs, one with an MFA program. Hang in there! This process is maddening. Talking with someone directly from the program should help.
@bearlife I sent you a PM
On our recent tour of CMU, they said that roles were assigned by faculty and it was just as common to have a undergrad Stage Manager, for instance, with a graduate Assistant Stage Manager, as the other way around. They said they make sure everyone gets their fair share.
I definitely agree with @madbean and @vogelpitts that your D should ask to speak with an undergrad in scenic design.
Hi all,
DD is really at a stalemate about where to commit (scenic design). It is down to CMU or BU.
Visited CMU two weeks ago - truth be told we were actually underwhelmed during our visit. Daughter was offered a presidential scholarship - very, very nice, and thrilled to receive, and hard to pass up. (But was offered about the same in grants from BU). Purnell was ‘okay’, but not what I expected, it seemed, small? The campus itself just didn’t seem very vibrant either, I wanted to love it, but I really didn’t, daughter felt same way. The students were great however, very friendly and warm, but obviously very self-contained on campus, wonder if it could actually be stifling. Couldn’t get a feel for how many production opportunities there would be, not sure if there are enough. Not really worried about the grad situation, I get the impression that works itself out. Daughter thought the technology and shop facilities were top notch, but it just seemed kind of flat; there really wasn’t much going on, even though it was a week away from show week. She sat in on a couple classes, thought they were fine, nothing terribly good or bad. I was surprised no scenic design faculty reached out to her or met with her (she did let them know she was coming). we ate lunch at a hot dog cart :), and we had actually specifically asked for a lunch with a student. Other schools seem to have done more in that regard. She did meet with the costumer design prof who was wonderful and very welcoming, so that was reassuring. Also didn’t seem to hear of any students getting internships or summer work when we asked, which was in stark contrast to the students we spoke to at BU.
We visited BU for admitted students weekend (last weekend) - we had only a general tour in November and hadn’t seen the Huntington theater. We did not have a perfect day at BU either, but after we saw the theater space I think everything changed a bit. We loved it, and though DD is a little concerned the technology isn’t as good as at CMU and sure it is older/dated, she really loved the size, feel, history. location of it. Even with it being off campus - still felt very connected to BU but so PART of the Boston theater scene, it was very energizing, and it was abuzz when we got there with a rehearsal in progress, scene shop and paint shop very busy. The amount of work and productions seems to be more in line with what she wants, and every kid we talked to had work lined up for the summer. The faculty panel discussion in the morning was really wonderful (if maybe a bit too long).
So - is the prestige and rigor of CMU that much higher than BU ? Does one have significant advantage over the other for connections etc, I can’t get a feel for if one has better/more supportive network? Daughter ultimately wants to design on Broadway, I also have read CMU design grads tend to gravitate toward television, movies and entertainment lately. My D seems to think design is perhaps more innovative at CMU but more work opportunities at BU, does that make sense? I think I also saw a post that CMU has quite a high attrition rate, which also makes me curious.
There are certainly worse situations to be in, any thoughts welcome.
Ugh. We are in a very similar situation as @upstate13. My D has not been good about getting more detailed info so I took the initiative and did a lot of emailing this weekend. The head of theatre at CMU talked to me on the phone. At times I felt like I was talking to a very good car salesman because he was very convincing. We are hoping to find out about our FA appeal today, but he put in a good word for us. A design professor also emailed me. Here’s what I learned: they spend their first three semesters taking a little of everything in production and design. They declare a specialty the last semester of their sophomore year. As juniors they work with grad 1 students and assist on productions. As seniors they work with grad 2 students and design their own production. The BFA students do not usually go on to get grad degrees because their training is so intense, that they basically have the training of most grad students by the time they graduate. They said they have showcases in LA and NYC their senior year, and have 100 percent employment. The only thing I didn’t like is I don’t feel like they are very helpful with internships. He said they expect students to take the initiative in that area because they will have to learn to network after they graduate. It all seems very intense to me, but my D keeps saying it’s her first choice because of the job placement. Oh, he also says the theatre students spend a lot of time at school because it’s Pittsburgh and there are not many distractions ( his words, not mine). He didn’t recommend NYU which is my D other option. He said it’s too big, but he obviously is not informed about their design program. Yes, they have way too many acting students, and I probably wouldn’t send my child their for that, but I learned that they have about fifteen design students every year. The grad students have separate everything-facilities, teachers, etc. I don’t know if that’s actually good or bad. First year students spend all their time together taking the same courses. Second year students go into their specialty and make have anywhere from 3-7 students in that specific area. When we were there for an interview in January, one girl told us she was the only scenic designer for her year. In their last two years, they have a personal mentor and do internships as part of the curriculum. Now is it better at CMU where you are interacting with the grad students, or at NYU where you are doing your own thing? Which place gives you better connections and opportunities after graduation? I still don’t know. We just wish one person would be perfectly honest with us about this, but they’re all too busy selling their own school. NYU did give us the name of a student to contact but my D hasn’t done that yet. CMU didn’t give us the name of a student. I did, however, find a CMU website that shows the resumes of all the graduates they are showcasing this year. We may try to email someone off of that. That is also how I found out that they had more grad students than I thought. She maybe should have applied to BU as well. We toured this summer, but the student leading us around the theatre told us the head of design hadn’t really embraced modern technology yet as far as learning computers to design with. I don’t know if that is true, but that, and the fact that the theatre wasn’t on campus, made her decide not to apply. We also couldn’t fit an interview into our schedule. TCU here in Texas also really wants her. They just emailed this morning offering full tuition and practically begging her to come. Oddly enough, the more they want her, the less she wants them. The deadline is fast approaching, and we are stuck. NYU where she will get a good education, good internships, and maybe have some fun? Or CMU where she will work her butt off getting a good education with good connections after graduation? I have a headache!
Of course there is still the money thing. NYU is very affordable with their scholarship. Is CMU worth a lot of extra money?
All that you say above is the same that we heard about CMU when we were there, we have no concerns about the program itself - and thanks for reminding me of these details I am forgetting.
My D connected with students on the facebook page too, encourage your daughter to do the same. And your comment about the BU head of design may be true, we have heard the same and he even somewhat admits it (though I really hope they use computers :). It is troubling that a student would say that while showing someone the facilities though. ARGGGHHHH!!!
Also would love to know what CMU folks you reached out to, I encouraged my daughter to do the same this evening.
Crossing posts here, honestly to me if BU and CMU weren’t in the same ball park financially there would be no issue. I would go with the cheaper option, I would say the same with the NYU also. These schools are all great schools.
I emailed the head of the theatre department Peter Cooke. He gave me his phone number because he didn’t want to communicate back and forth through email. He answered us immediately. We were impressed by the to-scale 3-d models of shows that the students at BU had. They did tell us that they were expensive to make though, and that the students had to pay for materials themselves. Maybe that’s true everywhere though. They were designing a show when we were there. Everyone seemed to be doing very specific tasks. Like one was conceptualizing the design, one was drafting it, one was coloring it, etc. I’ll admit I don’t know how an actual professional design team works, but my D didn’t like that. This was in August, and maybe it’s not always like that, but she just thought everyone was doing too specific a task. My daughter is very outgoing and loves to socialize (sometimes too much). I’m torn between if the intensity of CMU would be good for her to keep her focused, or if it would start to wear on her. Wish your D had applied to NYU too so we could discuss that too! Have she spoken to any students at CMU about life in general on campus?