The piggyback maneuver: on my way back from a friend's wedding in rural Pennsylvania, I showed up at six campuses in two days. Just the quick self-tour for some of the NYC usual suspects on students' lists. Some quick notes:
Parsons (The New School):
Hard to beat living in the Village, if city life and a smaller, less traditional school is for you.
The Strategic Design and Management BBA program is an fascinating option for creative types who are business-minded, and looking to work specifically with artists. Major focus on branding and entrepreneurship in the digital age.
The Integrated Design program: sounds most prominently like a mashup of fashion and technology, with the freedom to create your own major. Great alternative to the Gallatin School at NYU.
Get a feel for what happens here at the Man Repeller blog.
NYU:
Just walked around to get the feel of the non-campus campus. Next trip I'll start the formal touring. Can't IMAGINE why so many LA city kids apply here!
Pace: one I see on lots of performers' lists. Mostly for those convinced that their destiny lies on the stage in NYC, who are focused and know what they want from their education and are willing to follow through. (Red flag: only a 53% graduation rate with a $60k+ sticker price!)
What I didn't know was that there are two discreet campuses: this one and another in Westchester, where the cinema and broadcast journalism programs are housed. The big plug the folks I met with was for the internship program, touted as the biggest in the city. For those studying at the NYC campus, the whole thing is contained in 5 - 7 walking blocks and housing is guaranteed for four years.
Programs of note:
For actors, there is no generalized theater degree. Instead, there are BA and BFA tracks specifically in acting, a portion of which is geared toward on-screen technique.
BA Acting, International Performance Ensemble (IPE): this is a travel ensemble that devises its own work (YES!). They bring in a teacher actively working in the devised theater world to work with the cohort through the first year, and develop a show that is refined over the years and eventually showcased.
The BFA Acting program requires about 80 credits of 120 to be geared toward developing craft. It has movement, speech and screen-based acting.
Part II to follow.