<p>ok so i have been going through some tough times at this point in the decision making process. I have been accepted into two wonderful BFA programs (syracuse and emerson) neither of which i can hope to afford with out going into major debt. Therefore i am left with some limited options. I got into both Hofstra (with a large merit scholarship) and columbia of chicago which are non auditions schools and seem to have ok programs. I also got into the george mason BFA program, however visiting there it didn't look like it was much better then the theater department at my school. However i went there for a speech camp over the summer and was accepted onto the forensics team and i really really love the school and already have a group of friends who go there from camp and the school just feels like home. I don't want to give up my dream for a school that i like but it's hard to say no to a place that is such a good fit. My other option is the BA program at UMinn. I've heard great things about it but i really wanted to get a BFA degree and i think it would suck watching all of the BFA majors live out my dream while i can't. However I got a lot of money to go there and it could possibly leave some left over to go for an MFA after i graduate. Then there is the don't commit anywhere and hope i get into one of my wait listed schools (Suny purchase, BU, and NYU) and if not take a gap year and try again next year option. The problem with that is i live in a town and a family where not going to college out of high school is pretty embarrassing and i know i shouldn't let that matter but it kind of does. also i feel like i'm putting my life on hold. Lastly i could apply to AADA and hope that i get in and stay in and then finish my degree through one of there joint programs.
I know that i need to pick the option that "feels right for me" but the thing is that none of them really do. What always felt right was going into a strong BFA program at a university, get a job, and live the actors life. Now i'm left questioning what the hack i want to do. I need help, i can't make this decision on my own because i change my mind every single day!</p>
<p>You have a lot of good choices. I don’t think anyone else can really decide for you. (Especially a lot of people who don’t know you at all.) Think about what you want, and what comes the closest and pick the best option you have (for you). (I’d lean towards the BA at U Minn with money left over for grad studies, personally, but it’s your call.) </p>
<p>We’re waiting on some waitlist decisions, too, but will probably put a deposit down elsewhere anyway just to make sure my son has somewhere to go. </p>
<p>Good luck to you. You must be very talented. I’m sure it will work out for you.</p>
<p>Geekgirlgo, you should also consider the costs of your wait list schools. NYU and BU have very expensive price tags. Scholarships at these two places are hard to come by and don’t cover nearly as much of the costs as one might think. SUNY Purchase is not as expensive, but probably offers little in the way of scholarship since it is a state school. Are you on the priority wait list for SUNY?</p>
<p>It is too bad that you didn’t get money from your dream schools but I’m glad you’re not considering major debt. When you finish college, you’ll be very happy about that, while those who went to pricey schools they couldn’t afford will have a big problem to solve. </p>
<p>As AdaQuince says, grants are in short supply at NYU and BU, and getting into Purchase off the wait list seems like a long shot. Of the other BFA programs, Columbia has a high drop out rate and if you’re not crazy about it anyway, I wouldn’t even consider it. On the other hand, George Mason seems to have a good many things going for it for you, and Hofstra has a pretty good reputation and is close to NYC. </p>
<p>Rather than a gap year, you could start at one of these schools, and then if it doesn’t work out, you could reapply next year.</p>
<p>The problem here is that you’re not in love. Would it help if I told you that most of the students I know who didn’t get into their dream schools were happy with their second or third choices and didn’t look back later?</p>
<p>This is a really tough one, geekgirlgo-- you’ve gotten into some great programs, and waitlisted by more, and congratulations-- that takes a lot of talent! You don’t want to incur a lot of debt though, and that’s wise. Have you asked for more money at Syr. and Emerson? It’s true that NYU and BU and even more expensive, and less likely to give money to someone from the waitlist. </p>
<p>Now, as for the people in your town, they should be quite satisfied when you tell them of your acceptances and that you’ve chosen not to incur debt. (Not that they count, but we know it can be hard.) </p>
<p>What does your guidance counselor say? He/she should be able to help with this. I’m going to have all fingers and toes crossed that you end up at SUNY Purchase. And if not, it seems to me that another year might make you irresistible to more BFAs-- with more money.</p>
<p>I really feel for you-- please remember that this is a great vote of confidence in your ability, and that ability will not be going anywhere. This is a hard time but you will go past it. (Look on the MT board for a thread called ‘Different Paths’ about how many successful actors, directors and producers never studied in a BFA.)</p>
<p>geelgirl, the best thing you could do for yourself is not load up with school debt. Any of these programs will give you a wonderful education, you will get out of it what you put into it. And I have a feeling, you are going all in.</p>
<p>I look forward to hearing what you decide!</p>
<p>Have you tried calling the FA offices and asked them to re-evaluate your financial aid package. Tell them you really want to go to their school but need more help financially. It doesn’t hurt to ask. I did and got an additional $3000 for my daughter.</p>
<p>AADA is 2 or 3 very expensive years with very little FA, not sure that is your answer. If you yourself ask for more FA to the schools rather than a parent, it could be very effective to have you advocate your case. Give it a shot at each of the schools that you would prefer to go to , nothing ventured nothing gained.</p>
<p>I’m going to take a stance that is going to be really unpopular, but I think is worth hearing. Everyone here is telling you that the best thing you can do is not incur debt, but I’m not sure that is actually the best advice. Like Jkellynh17 said, only you are really going to be able to know what is best for you and what you can afford. I’m not lobbying for you to go into a lot of debt, but as someone who is in a lot of school debt I wanted to give you an idea of why I did it. </p>
<p>Many of the posters on this forum are parents, and like my mother 7 years ago when I was applying, they don’t want to see their kids with a lot of debt because the world of money IS scary. But now that i’m done school, and working off my 130k in student loans, (you read that right), my mom is actually one of my biggest supporters when it comes to justifying the cost. This isn’t because she’s just my mom and trying to make me feel better about a “bad” decision, it’s because she watched me flourish for four years at the RIGHT school. My mom saw me create art and theater she couldn’t even have imagined, she saw me make more friends then I ever had, she heard me talk about theater, art, the world in ways that were deeper and more complex then most other college kids, and overall saw me love what I was doing.</p>
<p>So was my education worth the 200+k that it cost? No. I mean it’s 200 K! But was that experience worth it? Were those four years and the incredible and talented friends I made worth it? Yes. and that is coming from someone working very hard to now pay for it. My monthly student loan payment is about $800, and this is only paying off my interest. I really will be paying it off for the rest of my life unless someone magically makes it disappear. (fingers crossed) Thanks to the connections I made, the great education I did get, and probably having NYU Tisch on my resume, I have worked consistently in theater since I graduated. BUT I have had to have a second job. Thats pretty typical for theater, all my actor friends are waiters, but because of my loans and not having parents who can supplement my post college life, I have to work harder then most of them. I live really simply, and in the cheapest housing I can find. It’s hard. No doubt about that, and if you take out a lot in loans it will be hard. But no one ever went into theater 'cause it was easy. After three years of having to work a full-time job plus do 40 hours of theater a week, I finally might be able to only do theater next year. But even this is in large part due to the fact that I’m now on the prodcution side of theater. My waiter actor friends all still have second jobs, and some of them are even Equity and SAG. Again this is typical for theater. </p>
<p>Also, if you are really feeling like none of your current options are the right school for you (i’m guessing your top choices are BU, NYU, Purchase since you mention hoping to get off the wait-list) then taking a year off wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. My senior year, thanks to all the pressure from my parents, I didn’t apply to a single BFA program. When I was faced with make a decision on where to go I was pretty unhappy with all my choices. So I shocked everyone, and the strait A honors student who had spent two summers taking college courses cause she couldn’t get enough of school, didn’t go to college. I took a year and worked really hard to save money and researched what schools I really wanted to go to. I was lucky enough to get into NYU and then you can imagine I put my parents under way more pressure then they ever put me. I didn’t mind coming in a year older then everyone else. Actually it was nice to have a break since I was non-stop work in high school. I also think that year of maturing helped me feel more comfortable in such a big city and in such a big school. So if you asked me if I would do it all again the answer is 100% yes, exactly in the same way. </p>
<p>Now before everyone on this site kills me for recommending their kids go into massive debt, I agree that it is a huge risk. It isn’t for everyone and it will be hard work to get out form under it. But I just think its unfair to automatically say “don’t take on student debt!” In the end each family has to figure it out for themselves. You have to know that it will effect the rest of your life, but those four years of school will effect the rest of your life too. All I’m saying is that, for some people their dream school might be worth it, NYU was for me. </p>
<p>Thats just my metaphorical 2 cents. I wish I could give you real ones greekgirlgo, but I need them to pay off my student loans! Best of luck with a really hard decision.</p>
<p>SM 2010 – thanks for taking the time to add some perspective from someone who has been through this tough decision.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses. I realize at this point SUNY Purchase is my best bet and trust me i am hoping and praying up a storm for it, however i know that the likely hood isn’t great. I know a lot of you suggested i ask about more loans and i have talked to the admissions counselors but unless they add about 20K to my aid i can’t even begin to think about it. The women at emerson pretty much out and out said i was screwed! I, personally, would be willing to work very hard to pay off my loans if it met i could get a job in theater. However that’s not what would happen. my dad told me that he wouldn’t let me take out loans and instead would dip into his retirement fund to afford it if that’s what i decided i needed. That’s awesome of him and all but i really can not ask my parents to do that for me. It’s not just me who will suffer from crippling debt and while maybe i could do it to myself i can’t bring everyone around me down two. Plus my parents have another sibling to put through college (and seeing as though he wants to go into animation and drawing i don’t see his schooling being any cheaper!)</p>
<p>I still don’t know what to do, i went o bed last night thinking i was sure hofstra was the right choice and when i woke up this mourning i just couldn’t stop thinking about george mason! plus i’m not willing to let go of minnesota yet either. The idea that scares me most is the gap year though maybe it would be the best decision? My brain is going crazy!</p>
<p>geekgirlgo - If you are truly interested in UMinn, what worries you about the BA vs. the BFA? I don’t know the program, so I’m not sure what the differences are. If it is casting opportunities or different professors from the BFAs, then you really can’t change those. But if it is taking more gen eds as a BA, then you can probably do something about that. My D is a BFA, so has a very sequenced schedule. But she tries to take additional dance classes. So each summer she takes a core class at our community college. She gets the transfer approved before she takes the class. Last summer she took an online class which was great because she was working summerstock in PA and taking an online class at a community college in TX! But she received full credit and freed up 3 hours in her schedule. So something to to research. </p>
<p>Did you sit in on classes at Hofstra and attend a performance? Just because a school offers a non-audition BFA doesn’t mean that you can’t get high level training in that program. So much of college and training is what you make of it.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Geekgirl I can’t help liking you very much and I have a feeling you will find a wonderful direction, no matter which path you take. Keep us informed-- and I will keep praying for Purchase!!! (I knew someone who got off the waitlist there in late August one year!)</p>
<p>(I’ve heard such good things about the Minnesota BA…but my D couldn’t have borne being outside a BFA’s feeling of ensemble, so I do understand.)</p>
<p>SM2010, thank kyou for your great post. The reality is there are fewer and fewer free rides in this day and age. It has made choosing college education a difficult yet still necessary choice for this generation. We have received offers from every school, yet regardless of the size of the offer, we will have to borrow about the same amount of money for every choice. I look at one school and think oh my how can we afford that but then look at the next and after doing all of the calculations I think well in the end, this school costs the same. After it is all over with, I know I will feel the same as your mom. I look around at others in different study areas and feel that this theatre world is not really much different than those headed toward different. Very high prices for education with no real guarantees for post-graduate jobs.</p>
<p>Geekgirlgo, if you’re concernd about Mason’s program but like the school itself, I’d suggest that you keep considering it seriously… I had a former student/advisee in your shoes 10 years ago–he went to GMU because it was his best option, and he got a phenomenal acting education there. He’s been a working actor in DC since graduating in 2007–yes, he does need other work (and does some teaching, which helps) and he’s been very aggressive about seeking outside training and making connections, but it turned out to be a great program for him. We talked about the school a couple of years ago, and his take on it is that you have to be assertive and go after what you want–it’s not an ideal program for someone who hopes for a highly structured program where lots of performance and networking opportunities are built in–but if you’re willing to throw yourself into it, and if you can feel connected and energized by the school and location, you can have a great outcome. Don’t dismiss GMU just because it lacks the name-brand recognition of the schools usually discussed here…especially if your instincts tell you it might be “your place.” :)</p>
<p>GMU has a gorgeous theatre , a huge shop space, and seems to be hard at work raising their national profile by bringing in guest artists/faculty from NY and Cali quite regularly. Great location, pretty campus, much less a commuter school than it once was years ago, and quite likely worth a second look. Talk to them about performance opportunities and also their policy on outside auditions. The DC and Northern VA area has a very active theatre scene. Look over the theatre curriculum- do you want to take a minor- is there time for one and do you like what you see? What is the training focus? Don’t let attending camp there in a non- theatre area bias you- those are usually outsourced and have nothing to do with the actual faculty.</p>