Choosing: Syracuse vs NYU for Acting

fluxus
Tue, 03 Apr 2007 02:51:37 +0000

I can only give you my personal thoughts which are that of another parent searching for the best fit for her D. Which school at Tisch did she get accepted to? I take it it wasn’t CAP 21, since that’s the musical theatre school. The different schools have different approaches, and that may determine the outcome.

We just saw SU Drama’s “The Winter’s Tale” and we were very impressed with the staging, costume, set design, and much of the acting, but not all of it. It’s hard to know if there simply wasn’t the talent to round out a perfect cast, or if seniority determines who gets what parts. But I will add this - Syracuse has a couple of excellent opportunities for actors including Sorkin Week - a week in which acclaimed writer and SU grad Adam Sorkin underwrites a small group of students to go to LA and meet with industry people (half the group are writers/directors, and half are actors, if I’m recalling it correctly). Also there’s the Tepper semester - another SU grad (Arielle Tepper, big Broadway producer) has created a semester for students to experience NYC theater on the inside. Syracuse is 5 hours away from NYC, but they do what they can to provide a strong theater program.

NYU is, of course, in the city, so that’s a plus, but it’s also a school that has big names pass through it (both of Ron Howard’s daughters went there - Bryce Dallas who’s now doing films, and the younger Howard daughter who left NYU for the J.M. Barrie play on Broadway - forget the name). Will your daughter be challenged by this and blossom, or feel insignificant and not do as well? It’s been said that the good ones at NYU drop out to go professional, so there’s significant talent there. Yes, the NYU reputation is seductive - my own D says she wants to apply ED and not look elsewhere - but I tell her it’s really a matter of fit, and if it feels right, it probably is. If it doesn’t, no amount of wishing will make it so.

If I had to decide, I’d say that the school she’s been accepted to at Tisch may make a big difference. BUT, I’ll add this - after the first two years in the school that you’re enrolled in, you can sample the other schools - so MT may still be an option for her even if she didn’t make it into CAP 21.