UCF/FSU vs NYU

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I want to go to college for either film or acting. I never really got involved in clubs because I was always very shy, but my academics were as follows:</p>

<p>I had a 3.78 GPA.</p>

<p>My SAT was
640 Reading
580 Math
610 Writing</p>

<p>My ACT was a composite score of 26.</p>

<p>I've already been accepted into UCF and am attending my first year there this fall.</p>

<p>I've been thinking a lot about NYU because they have such a good reputation for their acting school. One that stands out is Peter Facinelli. He said he was shy, financially lacking, and had no acting experience whatsoever but got accepted into NYU and now has a very successful career.</p>

<p>My main questions are,</p>

<ol>
<li>How did he get into NYU with no experience and/or natural talent? (He says in various interviews that he was by no means a good actor, and that he's the poster child for "You can learn to act", He says that good training can take a great actor and make them even more awesome, or take someone like him, with just a lot of drive and desire, and make them good enough for film&television.)</li>
</ol>

<p>1.2 ) Was NYU cheaper 10-20 years ago by a lot? I'm just wondering how these people who claim to go to school there with 20k a year in income cover 5-6 figures in debt. I know there are many scholarships available and if I do decide NYU over UCF/FSU I will be busting my butt trying to get them. I've just read a lot of horror stories about students with 100k in debt talking about never being able to buy a house.</p>

<p>The thing is, NYU costs anywhere from 150k-250k total. My family makes about 80-100k a year, but I have 4 brothers. None of them are in college, and neither of my parents went to college. So far I don't think I'm eligible for much financial aid.</p>

<p>I have the FMS scholarship which is estimated around 75% of tuition at Florida Schools.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Would NYU be worth it and would the education be much different and/or better than what I'd receive at UCF?</p></li>
<li><p>Would it be smarter to start at UCF and transfer to FSU? I hear Florida State is among the top 5 acting schools in the nation, I'd have Bright Futures for it, and it's much closer.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Basically, I know everyone says that you can be successful no matter which school you go to, but going to NYU would definitely be a better location in terms of connections to be made and job openings.</p>

<p>I hear FSU takes their students to LA to see agents and scouts during their senior year to that's good.</p>

<ol>
<li>Would it be better to just stick with UCF? If I went to FSU, I'd have to restart my 4 years, which honestly I have no problem doing if I got into their acting program. The thing is, I only know of 1 popular movie to come from UCF being "Blair Witch Project" and one alumni who acts on a TV series that's not very popular but still well known.</li>
</ol>

2

<p>Did you get accepted to NYU first of all? Since those SAT scores aren’t too impressive, but congratulations if you did.</p>

<p>NYU is a expensive school which doesn’t have enough funds to cover all the 60,000 students financial aid. So you will have to pay ALOT out of your pocket (the average student only gets 69% if its needs met). Loans, loans, loans!!! You will be in debt a long time, unless you get a 60k+ job right after graduating and live with your parents so you dont have any expenses so you can pay about 50k back a year! lol joking. If you think you can pay the debts, then go for it. NYU has one of the best acting schools in the nation, and going there can be very good for your future. However just be wary of your costs. You won’t receive too much fin aid with a 80k-100k family income.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think I can afford it, that’s why I’m asking if anyone thinks that it is worth it, or if I could get just as good an education at UCF or FSU where I have BF.</p>

4

<p>are you talking about transferring into NYU / Tisch? That’s not easy by any means, and your test scores do not make you particularly competitive, nor does your GPA indicate how rigorous your course schedule was, which is a factor, too, in NYU admissions. An audition is also required. Do you have any acting experience whatsoever or demonstrated passion for theater? being able to show examples of your drive, persistence and commitment to the arts will enhance your candidacy as well. </p>

<p>In terms of successful actors, well, they come from all walks of life and all types of educational institutions – BFAs, BAs, certificate, and some have no training or higher education whatsoever!</p>

5

<p>All my core classes were Honors Classes. I took AP Human Geography and American History. I have 3 Foreign Language Credits. I was ranked around 70 in my school of 425. I have taken a beginning acting class at my local community theater. Besides that I have no experience whatsoever. </p>

<p>I was very shy in high school and my parents pressured me to focus solely on academic classes rather than artistic classes. In free time I’ve made skits with friends and do a lot of drawing. I’m sure judging by all this I don’t have a great chance of even getting in but I did want to know how people with my background in terms of experience, not necessarily grades, got in. </p>

<p>I know I’m referring to a celebrity but bear with me because he was in a surprisingly similar situation to me. He never acted before college, he came from a lower-middle class family. His parents always pushed him to be a lawyer. He studied law in college and then transferred to NYU and took acting classes. Now I don’t know if he did the BFA or BA, or maybe even if they have acting for non majors classes (btw what’s the difference in terms of what training you receive between BFA and BA? Could you essentially take all the same classes?)</p>

<p>Also, how is UCF’s or FSU’s acting program compared to Tisch. I’m not looking for encouragement or people saying I will or will not get in academics wise. I’m just curious about the differences between schools and degrees. </p>

<p>My main thing is, there’s a few very successful actors out there who said they had little to no experience or talent, but got good enough for film & television because they got good training. They compared it to being a cabinet maker, in terms of acting being a craft. You’re not born being great at making cabinets, so you need to train your skills. Same goes for acting. Now I’m not taking away from the actors who have natural talent, and to be honest, I haven’t even acted enough to know if I have it. My teacher at the local theater said I showed a HUGE improvement over the 4 day class and pleaded me to audition for shows because they needed people my age. </p>

<p>In terms of transferring my plan is as follows. I’m going to attend my first year at UCF with a Film BFA pending. I may decide to pursue a different major and may not. I talked with the drama department and they suggested I do as much local theatre and acting for non-majors classes I could to get experience and then jump into it feet first. </p>

<p>If I end up doing well my first year I was planning on looking at NYU and FSU. I have no problem starting over and applying as a first year student if that means I’d be more likely to get in. I really don’t mind going to school for an extra 1-2 years. </p>

<p>At NYU the debt would be huge, but the opportunities would be great. At UCF, I’m not sure. I’ve been told Orlando is the hub of TV acting in my location and it’s close to Universal so they said that’s good. FSU I know is a very good acting school as well. So basically I’m just trying to find the pro’s and con’s of each Universities acting program from people who have experienced them.</p>

6

<p>PS, Is it possible to retake the SAT and ACT after high school or would that not count?</p>

<p>Sorry for lacking knowledge about all this stuff but I’m the first kid in my family to go to a University so the process is all very new to us. My parents both got GED’s.</p>

7

<p>I would check with Collegeboard to see if you can take the SATs after graduating. I doubt it is possible.</p>

<p>If you go to a college for a year, you will need to apply as a transfer, not a freshmen somewhere else. But, at Tisch, you would start at the beginning in studio, but your academic credits would transfer in as applicable.</p>

<p>I would just go to the school you’re planning to, and yes, get involved in as much theater as you can. First see if you really like it! A BFA program is grueling, and you really need to see what the nitty-gritty life of theater is like before deciding if you want to make a bigger commitment. </p>

<p>I agree that acting is a craft that can be taught – and like many things, some come to it with an abundance of natural talent and don’t really need to work at it, while others need to train and study and practice to be good. However, there are so many different paths to an acting career, and most cities will have some acting classes always available, so it really is possible to pursue training even without studying it in college. </p>

<p>Tisch’s actor training is primarily theater-based, but in junior year, there is an option to switch to a studio that focuses on screen acting. (At Tisch, all students are assigned to a studio for their first two years, and then they can switch for their third and fourth years.) There are also acting electives for all the students regardless of studio, but I don’t know if screen acting skills are available that way or not. </p>

<p>I hope that you will use college as an opportunity to explore your personal interests and to “blossom” as a person, in addition to your academic studies. Good luck to you!</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the response!</p>

<p>Do you think Tisch was easier to get into back in the 90’s? </p>

<p>Also, I don’t know if any of you have heard of the acting corps but I’m going to give that a try between my freshman and sophomore years. It’s an acting bootcamp in LA and I guess Rainn Wilson has taught there and speaks highly of it. Maybe that will get me up to par and able to pass an audition if I couldn’t already.</p>

<p>Also, when you say I can’t apply as a freshman, Is it against the rules to or is it just not recommended?</p>

9

<p>Here’s one rating: [The</a> 25 Best Film Schools Rankings - The Hollywood Reporter](<a href=“http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/25-best-film-schools-rankings-215714]The”>The 25 Best Film Schools Rankings – The Hollywood Reporter)</p>

10

<p>I would check with Collegeboard to see if you can take the SATs after graduating. I doubt it is possible.</p>

<p>100% False. You can take the SAT any time. I would advise USC or UCLA as well, they are more connected than NYU.</p>

11

<p>Thanks slipper, do you know if you can apply as a freshmen even if you’ve already done a year of college? I don’t mind losing my credits if it were to give me a much better chance at getting in.</p>

12

<p>Actually it will be easier as a transfer. Get a high GPA, retake the SAT, and apply for sophomore admission to NYU, UCLA, and USC.</p>

13

<p>Would that be because I’ll have higher scores and a better GPA on my transcript?</p>

<p>Because I know they say transfers are even more competitive for spots available.</p>

<p>But it would definitely be nice to go in with some acting experience and better scores rather than jumping in blind.</p>

14

<p>For Tisch admission, your portfolio/audition is always the most important factor. You have to show them you’re capable of acting. In most cases, the actors I’ve interacted with who are in Tisch had a lot of prior experience. </p>

<p>Also, with all the famous actors and directors that come from NYU, I highly doubt USC is MORE connected than NYU. They are equal at very least when it comes to connections. </p>

<p>There’s at least some students choose NYU over USC that has nothing to do with location, reputation or name. Let’s face it, these two schools are almost equal. Namely, if while you’re a student at USC you have a brilliant idea for a film/tv show/screen play… almost anything. And you write a script for it for a class. 20 years pass and you produce said brilliant idea and it makes a proportionally large amount of money. Oh, btw, you have to pay USC a percentage of that money. USC stipulates to it’s producing/screen play/etc. student that any ideas had while in attendance at USC, USC has rights to. So that’s fun.</p>

15

<p>Well how did someone like Peter Facinelli get in with no experience or natural skills? Was it just easier in the 90’s?</p>

16

<p>The top award for Bright Futures this year actually equates to only about 60%. $101 per credit hour is top award, and FSU runs about $175 per credit hour.</p>

17

<p>I think you’d be remiss to exclude Florida State from your review due to cost considerations alone. FSU pays the costs of production for students. However, it is exceptionally difficult to gain acceptance, with something on the order of thirty undergrad film students accepted each year. The way I understand the process schools like USC or NYU have more open admission and winnow the class down from there. FSU does the selection on the front end and then supports the selected students.</p>

<p>See: [Film</a> School / FSU - College of Motion Picture Arts](<a href=“http://film.fsu.edu/]Film”>http://film.fsu.edu/)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>