<p>Allison, I'd say that you need to visit to make a decision... Schools are different for everyone.</p>
<p>Notmamarose- He wouldn't have met her as he didn't attend the call back weekend. He was in a show that weekend. I did see that thread that you mentioned, but I haven't found as much information on the Purchase College programs. We are concerned about the lack of a senior showcase at Guthrie whereas the Purchase program has a NY and LA showcase. I am also thinking that any "guest alumni" at Guthrie would be fairly limited as it is so new.</p>
<p>Moviebuff, I am about to visit this weekend actually! Thanks for the tip. I am just curious what other people's opinions are.</p>
<p>About the Guthrie program:</p>
<p>I am new to the board and would love some opinions. My d has been accepted in University of Minnesota, Rutgers, SMU, and Evansville. She really likes all of these choices, so this decision will be difficult.</p>
<p>moviebuff2012: congrats on your purchase acceptance. have you received a formal letter yet. many still waiting, wondering when letters can be expected.</p>
<p>cktsing--
Thanks for the insight. I kinda figured that MT programs in the East were discussed here. I know that there is a separate thread for MT posters. I just hadn't heard a lot about west coast theater programs.</p>
<p>mamamia-
Thanks ...that makes a lot of sense. I know there was much discussion on Arizona's program, but it really is a great program.</p>
<p>NotMamaRose-
I found the posts I was looking for. Professor Bagwell explained it quite well. It sounded like the 17 that were cut was very unusual.</p>
<p>Yes, that's what Prof. Bagwell said. You might want to talk to holly06 from this board, as her family has first hand experience with the cuts. I am sure that Arizona DOES have a great program for kids who are not cut. But if I were making such a decision, I would have to be convinced that Arizona was the ONLY place my kid could get such a great program to counterbalance the chance that she/he might be one of those culled. Even Juilliard has done away with the cut system and if you ask the current director, he will give you a quite impassioned explanation as to why. (Basically, kids having to worry about losing their place created an environment that was the death of creativity and risk taking, which is not what most people value in an actor training program.) CMU, which many will argue is one of the very tippy top drama schools in the country, doesn't cut anymore. That only leaves Arizona and DePaul, among ATPs, that still cut.</p>
<p>Mom1234 - what great options! I'll leave Guthrie and Rutgers to others as I know nothing about those programs - other than of course they have excellent reputations. I know several students that have gone through Evansville's program. It, too, is excellent. It perhaps is not as much of a true conservatory as some of the others, and it focuses a lot on preparing its students to audition for the top MFA acting programs in the country - and it has a tremendous success with getting students in those top programs. Evansville can be very generous with scholarships and aid, which is always a plus. It also always does very well in some national acting competitions that it enters (can't remember the name, but I'm sure the website must mention it). The campus has excellent facilities. The city of Evansville itself is perhaps a little lacking if you are wanting more of a "big city" experience (and not everyone does of course!) - but Chicago is just six hours away , and the Evansville theatre program has strong community support and an "adopt a student" program that allows local theatre patrons to open their homes and hearts to the students. The students I know loved the training they received at Evansville but both felt the need and/or desire to continue on in MFA programs for additional training. SMU has a wonderful, beautiful campus in the heart of a great section of Dallas, but the summers are not for the faint of heart :) (and our summers can start in April and go through September!). The acting program was very highly rated in the past, went through a bit of a slump, but has rebuilt and I have heard is back on track. I wouldn't classify it as a true conservatory program either but I could be wrong on that as I haven't talked to anyone that's gone through it in years. Your D has some excellent options, congrats to her!</p>
<p>mamamia- Thanks for the information! She has visited Minnesota and loved it!
SMU has given the best financial offer so far. And we are used to a hot, humid climate! I'll feel better once the final decision is made.</p>
<p>Just to add to the Arizona discussion, I think that the following linked threads should also be read.</p>
<p>There are details about this program which should most definitely be investigated prior to making a decision to attend, in my opinion. As Susan asked in that thread, what are the benchmarks used to determine who is cut? Are there benchmarks? Are the same benchmarks applied every year? Or are the decisions based on such random things as having "many talented BA students auditioning"? Does this mean that they looked at these 'many talented' kids who auditioned and thought, hmm, they're great, so who do we now cut to make room for THEM? Unfortunately, Professor Bagwell chose not to return to answer the questions.</p>
<p>I also recommend that anyone who is seriously considering Arizona take the time to speak to Holly06. In response to the claim that a policy such as this is like the 'real world of auditioning', I'm curious what exactly one would mean by that? It actually has no similarity to the real world of auditioning, and certainly will not benefit any student in terms of preparation for the real world by experiencing a cut policy. I can honestly say that I have had many, many family and friends who have been involved in the theatre community, for decades, and, personally, I would never recommend any student attend a school that feels it necessary to treat their students in this manner.</p>
<p>hello i was recently admitted to a number of colleges and i have no idea which one i should go to. i got into: nyu tisch (acting), yale, northwestern, and usc (acting ba). tisch has been my dream school forever, but they want me to graduate with around 150 thousand dollars in debt. can anyone tell me if the education and training is worth it? also, will I even be able to work as an actress with that amount of debt? on yale: does anyone know anything about their theater studies program? if i went their, would i graduate ready to work as a professional actress? what about info on northwestern or usc? does anyone know if i could easily move up from ba to bfa at usc?
any info at all would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi myfairlady09 Wow you have really amazing choices! Re: USC I know that one student was accepted from the BA program into the BFA program this year, but USC is also hugely expensive. I've also heard the program at Northwestern is awesome... sorry I can't help re: Yale... but it's Yale!!! I don't think you could possibly go wrong with those schools! Congratulations!</p>
<p>MyFairlady--</p>
<p>Yale has an excellent graduate acting program, but its theater studies program does not have enough hands on studies program. This is like a BA but with even more academics. I would not recommend it for your purposes, despite the big name. Plus, you would need a graduate degree on top of that!</p>
<p>Tisch--> The rule of thumb with debt is to not take out much more than you will make your first year out of college. With this in mind, it is doubtful you will make the 170,000 necessary to pay it off. With acting, the less debt the better. Now if it was more in the ballpark of 35k then it might be more reasonable. </p>
<p>Northwestern--Don't know too much about it except that my friend who is an acting major takes quite a bit of academic courses. I also heard that actors cannot act in shows till soph year.</p>
<p>USC-- Sounds like your best choice. Right smack in LA with great industry connections. Also, fairly generous with aid. The fantastic alumni connections aren't too shabby either.</p>
<p>So in conclusion, don't fall for the big names if they mean 150k in debt. That is not smart at all. In my opinion, USC is your best bet. Maybe look at Northwestern vs. USC. I would not bother with the other two. Good luck.</p>
<p>thanks so much for the advice!
by the way northwestern, yale, and usc are all giving me a lot of financial aid. i have a half tuition scholarship at usc (I'm still waiting for the official financial aid package), and northwestern and yale both gave me over 40,000.
so that complicates things as well.
what if the student loans for tisch were only around 80,000? would that help?</p>
<p>thanks again!!!</p>
<p>My D is thinking of attending this school next year, as opposed to the BFA in Theater program at Marymount Manhattan. I'd like to know what anyone has to say about the difference in these choices. What do you know about Neighborhood Playhouse?</p>
<p>daughter applied to one school...usc...b.a. acting..ACCEPTED</p>
<p>i am so tired..................
congratulations to all of the members of the class of 2012</p>
<p>MyFairLady -- What amazing choices you have! My D was looking at many of the same schools (EXCEPT YALE!!!!!). Sounds like you want theater in an academic environment! She ended up only applying to Northwestern ED and getting in. Here was her thought process:</p>
<p>Initially she loved NYU. It seemed a perfect combination of theater and academics. However, after looking at other schools, she missed having a true campus. While she's not the type to play frisbee in the quad, she liked having a campus feel. She spent the summer at Northwestern's theater program and loved being on a campus.</p>
<p>Regarding Northwestern vs. USC, she felt Northwestern had a stronger reputation for theater vs film acting. She had loved the intellectual approach to theater she received in the summer program. I have never heard that you cannot act in a show your freshman year! There are zillions of theater, vocal, dance and improv groups/clubs/shows at Northwestern and she has heard she will be intellectually AND artistically challenged from Day One. Northwestern has excellent professors and always produces alums who are successful in the field (David Schwimmer, Heather Hadley, Brian D'Arcy James, Julia Louis Dryfuss etc). In fact, a senior is currently starring in Rent on Broadway...</p>
<p>However, Yale is YALE! How can you turn that down! Go to Yale and get a MFA in theater!!!!</p>
<p>Okay I know this is a really weird decision between the schools. Northwestern obviously has an amazing theatre department and I'm completely drawn to it. I honestly can't wait! But just as I was about to submit my SIR...I got into UPenn for theatre arts. But I honestly have no idea what Penn's theatre is like at all and their website offers no help. Can anyone give me advice into which college to choose??? (I'm leaning toward Northwestern though)</p>