Contrasting UArts

nytheatermom
Mon, 05 Mar 2007 08:53:35 +0000

As a parent of a Uarts Freshman (“Broadwaywannabe”),l will attempt to respond to some of the points made by others.

People leave schools – all schools – fro a variety of reasons. I made an effort to google overall stats for all schools, but could not find them. But I recall that the number of students who do not finish at the school they started at is very very large. I am not in a position to say whether Uarts is more or less than the national average, but clearly transferring (or “retention” as the schools call it) is a big thing in many places.

As far as Uarts, a couple of observations:

There are people who love the fact that there is no food plan. My daughter, as a freshman, would have preferred to have one, but the trade off is having one’s own kitchen AND BATHROOM. I am not sure which my daughter would opt for. Either way, it will be moot next year as she will be living off campus (as do many non freshman at many other schools).

Campus, no Campus: Again, ideally how great to have a traditional campus. The tradeoff here is having wonderful Philly theater location. Which is better is a personal preference. City schools do not tend to have campuses – or at least not in prime location. (My son goes to McGill in MOntreal – and there is an exception, a campus in the middle of the downtown area.) Either NYU nor Emerson nor Boco nor BU have traditional campuses. (Columbia does indeed have a campus in NYC, but not in the mid-town area.)

So everything is a trade off. Each person has to decide for herself/himself:

How important is a good plan, or would you rather have a bathroom?

How important is a campus, or would you rather have a vibrant city with a next-door theater district?

Are there too many liberal arts credits, or too few?

How is the training?

Is the program worth the cost?

ETC.

These are valid questions for all programs.