U Conn vs. Pace BFA program?

<p>My son got into NYU Tisch for acting, unfortunatly like most people we cant afford it.
(was # 1 choice)
After eliminating the eight other schools he is now ready to decide between
University of Connecticut & Pace University for a BFA in acting.<br>
He likes U Conn as a school better, but thinks being in New York City for 4 years may be more important. They both have good acting programs from what we can tell.
Any advice?
Thank you
concerned mom</p>

<p>umm…as far as programs go, i’d pick PACE(i’m a techie myself and actually love the way they set up their program)
however, just looking at school, i’d go with uconn…pace is…well…ugly
feel free to PM me…i have a friend in the pace program</p>

<p>Recommend you post in the Theatre/Drama section of the College Majors board, where you will find posters with specialized knowledge of BFA Acting programs (and I expect, a strong pro-Pace bias).</p>

<p>Are you a resident of CT? Are finances an issue? </p>

<p>The thing with acting is that it can be <em>very</em> useful not to be burdened by a huge amount of debt when you graduate. Will you have to take out a lot of loans for Pace? How about for UConn? That may be something you want to weigh. </p>

<p>Less debt on graduation will give him the freedom to pursue acting as his career. If he has a lot of debt when he graduates, he may not be free to pursue theater in the way that he wants to. </p>

<p>I can see his point about Pace, but if he does choose UConn, he can overcome the “lack of NYC location” by doing summer programs. He could, for example, do summers at Shakespeare and Co. in the Berkshires, do summer stock at Equity houses, do summer theater programs at Tisch, or at RADA (UK) - there are options available to him for enriching his experience, which if he goes to UConn, he can maybe afford to do. </p>

<p>My husband ended up going to his state school for his BFA in acting (as did his friends there) because of finances. It wasn’t a prestigious acting school - it’s not top ranked - but a very large percent of his classmates are working actors, and many have gone on to become quite well known. </p>

<p>It wasn’t a prestigious program, but it was a good quality program. What do you think of the quality of the UConn program? What does Pace’s program offer, beyond its location, that is better, if anything? </p>

<p>It’s a tough choice. I know I didn’t suggest one school v. another, but I hope I was able to give you a bit to work with.</p>

<p>Well, my daughter was in the School of Fine Arts at UCONN, it is only about 540 undergrads, so it is small & they had their own graduation for the School of Fine Arts. So when it came to graduation, you didn’t have to sit & listen to 1,000’s of names being called to get their degree. Lots of individual attention, a small school within the university. Her advisor was always easily accessible.</p>

<p>Pace is a third tier school isnt it? Uconn should be your choice.</p>

<p>^^^don’t look at tiers when looking at fine arts schools
Point park is considered tier four and still is among the best theatre schools</p>

<p>^ Exactly. If you’re paying attention to the rankings at all, don’t look at the ranking of the unis as overall universities. Pay attention to the ranking of the theater program - the reputation of the theater program is what matters here. If that matters at all.</p>