<p>Re: NYU. While it is a big impersonal monster for the most part, Tisch Photo is a little gem in the midst of it. Maybe too much of a gem. ( I know because I went there). I think the enrollment might have grown since I was there but the whole department is probably around 150 students. It really does become a bubble unto itself. I met lots of people in other majors through my dorm but after I moved into my own apartment it was all photo all the time. This is both good and bad. With hindsight I think I could have benefited from more interaction with people working in other mediums. (The department shares the building with Film and Theatre(still???) but there was a real division between worlds). On the plus side it was great to have such a focus and nurturing environment in the midst of the hulking monsters that are NYU and NYC. NYC…what can I say. It was the BEST and the WORST. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the youth that I did. What I saw and experienced, people I met…art all around, music…incredible, but at the same time intimidating. Not so easy to be a young person forming themselves in that setting. You need to be internally strong and self possessed to feel YOU in that setting, to remain confident and stay on track. For picturing taking, again INCREDIBLE. You will never run out of subject matter, especially if you gravitate toward documentary or street photography. The last factor…cost. If NYU can’t find a way to make it worth it, reconsider. Studying photography does not have to cost so much. There are more affordable places that you will get just as much out of. If NYC is important to you check out St. John’s as Wheaty said…I have a feeling they would offer you a better price. So probably would SVA, Pratt and FIT.</p>
<p>Another consideration is going to ICP, though it really seems more oriented toward the older student who has some previous schooling and life experience. Also you wouldn’t have a degree…just a certificate. An expensive certificate but lots of skills to go along with it.</p>