UNCSA vs Suny - Purchase for Technical Theater

<p>Does anyone have any feedback about the Technical Theater programs at these schools? Who has the best placement rates, etc?</p>

<p>I would take a look at their alum… and see who’s working</p>

<p>The one thing I noticed with UNCSA… they brag alum that have recently graduated while other schools claim alum proudly that graduated 25-30 years ago</p>

<p>also UNCSA has incredible facilities…</p>

<p>I’m a fan boy what can i say</p>

<p>thats my two cents </p>

<p>I’d look for more knowledgeable testimony than mine though</p>

<p>Nickeatworld:</p>

<p>We were impressed with the facilities also. The Design and Production area was outstanding and they really seemed to care about safety.</p>

<p>Thanks for your response.</p>

<p>oh of course</p>

<p>wish i could be more helpful</p>

<p>i don’t really know much about the suny purchase program, but it really comes down to what concentration the student will want.</p>

<p>i know that UNCSA has a 99% placement rate in the school of design and production. also in D&P, a summer internship is pretty much required, and they help you find one. during your senior year in d&p you are able to take an internship for a term or two rather than being in classes, you just need to get permission for the dean.</p>

<p>hope this helps.</p>

<p>Now that is really useful info. thelilodance, did you look at D&P at any other schools?</p>

<p>Thanks thelilodance.</p>

<p>That is very helpful information. When we were at both schools they were able to show us their placement rates. They seemed to be very similar…but I do think that UNCSA seems to help their students find internships more than most schools do…and as I mentioned earlier, their D & P facilities are wonderful.</p>

<p>Purchase’s program is about the same in terms of placement, internships, alum, etc…the only problem at Purchase is the lack of budget…the designers definitely need to learn to make a lot out of little $$</p>

<p>i looked at emerson college, savannah college of art and design and university of the arts, but i was sold on UNCSA. but i didn’t look at purchase.</p>

<p>UNCSA is the only school that i know of that has a job fair at the end of every school year. the seniors get the interviews at the booths first, but if and when there are interview spaces left, the lower-classmen can take the interview spots for possible internships and sometimes even jobs.</p>

<p>Blueroses1-UNCSA also has a total lack of a budget. i know that one of the shows that just closed, or the one that closes this weekend had a total budget of $0, literally. everything that was part of the set was taken from other shows. also their show that opens this weekend or next weekend has such a lack of budget that they aren’t even allowed to paint the stage like they will be doing at the end of the school year. the student said that they would paint it themselves, but no, they weren’t allowed to.</p>

<p>This brings up more questions. Do you know if the lack of budget at UNCSA is a response to the downturn in the economy or do they just make do with less? Also, I’m guessing Emerson isn’t quite so broke since the tuition there is substantially more but it seems that wasn’t so important thing to you. What else figured into your decision besides job preparation?</p>

<p>i’m not really positive, but i think that the UNC system is cutting back money to all of the schools, but i know that the endowment for UNCSA is not that big. But i mean what do you expect from a school that’s only 40 years old, whose mascot is the fighting pickles.</p>

<p>emerson’s tuition is fairly high, i think, because it is in boston. i feel like all schools in boston are pretty expensive. but price is a big factor for me. although i did not let the price of a school make up my decision, i have just been applying for more scholarships than i would have before if i was going to a “cheap” school. i’m paying for school without the help of my parents, so all the loans are going to be in my name and i’m going to be paying all of them back, so i am still concerned with price, to some degree.</p>

<p>but what really made my decision to go to UNCSA was when i spent the night on campus. i was flying into the greensboro airport and the girl i was staying with said that one of the sound grad students was going to pick me up for the airport. at that point i realized that the program must be pretty tight for undergrads and grad students be have such a close relationship. by the way i’m going to be a sound design major next year. when i actually got on campus and started talking with the undergrad students, i quickly realized that they actually wanted me to come next year and were open about everything. they even offered me tours of the theatres, dorms and campus even though it was 7 or 8. when i talked to the girl i was staying with she gave me straight forward answers about the school. she gave me the scoop on the academic program and told me not to expect very difficult academics, but interesting arts classes. she also gave me the low-down on all the drama that goes on in between all of the students on such a small campus. she was very blunt about everything. i definitely learned more from talking to her and the other students than i could have from talking the the admissions people for hours. i also met with the head of the sound department, david smith, for an hour to talk about my senior english project, which he was more than happy to talk about with me, while giving me more information on the program.
everyone at UNCSA seems like they are part of a tight knit family, that has it’s problems sometimes, which is something i really wanted. everyone i met that weekend was super nice and were trying to convince me to go, and were not going to beat around the bush about anything. it was amazing to see so much honesty between students and professors. </p>

<p>everything about UNCSA just seems like the perfect place for me, except the fact that is not in new york city or boston, but that’s something easy to get over.</p>

<p>Thanks. Your feedback has really given me a sense of UNCSA and I can see why you chose it. We won’t be able to visit before my D has to decide whether to apply so we really appreciate the first person input from someone in D&P.</p>

<p>no problem.
what major is she thinking of?
and is she leaning towards UNCSA or purchase?</p>

<p>my d visited both schools last week. Really liked both of them - but for different reasons. After talking with the Directors that she works with and with some working professionals in NYC she has decided to attend UNCSA.</p>

<p>You’ve got 2 different moms here, thelilo. My D is a junior and still considering about a dozen schools. She had wanted to take UNCSA off the list (because it is in the middle of nowhere) until I told her what you and TechnicalMom had said. Now it looks like she may apply. Thanks again.</p>

<p>no problem.
TechnicalMom-what is your daughter majoring in?</p>

<p>For the record. The budgets for those two shows (one of which I worked on) was indeed due to the Withdrawl of funds by the State of NC from the entire University system. At the time the Entirety of show budgets dropped from around 35,000 across all departments for 3 Drama shows to 6,300 total across all departments. The deans of Drama and Design and Production hit upon the scheme to give that money to one show, while one had scavenger style support and the final show had none whatsoever. </p>

<p>As of this week the NC Congress is one month overdue in passing the budget for the 09-10 school year. With a 4 billion budget gap to fill the State has cut approximately 11% from the UNC system budget. That amounts to 3.1 million dollars from the budget on School of the Arts. </p>

<p>However, don’t let that dismal fiscal news scare either of you moms. UNCSA will provide a suitable education for a profession that will weather such cuts frequently.</p>