NYU has several studios within Tisch. I believe CAP21 was their MT studio as the others are acting studios (they may have some music/dance but I think their focus is on acting). They now have a MT focused studio called The New Studio which was formed upon CAP21’s departure. Tisch is great and has had a ton of success but there studio placement causes some angst for some (not for others). Essentially upon auditioning, you have to select either A. All studios (Including The New Studio) and accept where they place you - just going by the numbers a 90% chance of not being placed in the MT focused studio, or B. Exclusively placement into The New Studio - which means New Studio or bust. I believe the All Studios is a two yr commitment to that studio and then it opens up to other options (not sure if those options include The New Studio- I would assume not).
CAP21 was acquired by Molloy College in 2014 thus giving Molloy access to a great program in lower Manhattan.
As you would imagine, there are several really fine MT programs in NYC. Some others to think about are Pace, Marymount Manhattan, Manhattan School of Music and I’m sure several others.
@squirk just to echo what everyone else is saying, it is definitely worth keeping an open mind and having as many options as possible. My oldest D (non MT) applied to 5 schools with rolling admissions and was accepted to all 5 by October 1st of her senior year. The MT process was a completely different experience. My D applied to 17 schools. She passed half of her prescreens (like everyone else has mentioned, that whole process is completely random) and ended up with 3 BFA offers (all 3 offers came from non prescreen schools). She did a mixture of “lottery” schools, hidden gems, and one safety. I was advised the summer before her senior year, that if you focus on fit, anywhere from 15-20 schools is ideal. It ended up working out (I think because we really did focus on fit from the very beginning), but after finding CC in late fall and seeing the sheer number of schools everyone else was applying to I was pretty panicked that we had blown it until she got her first BFA “yes”. BTW, the school and program she ended up at was last on her list the entire process until she attended the live on campus audition. She was so blown away by her whole experience that day that it moved from last to 2nd choice (very closely tied with a huge, top tier lottery school). When she didn’t get into the lottery school she barely blinked because she was also so excited about her 2nd choice. She said she just knew in her heart it would be a good fit for her. I was thrilled because that school had secretly been my first choice for her the whole time.
@squirk Lots of good advice on here. I would definitely echo what @jupdancemom said happens quite a bit. Kids go to an audition at a school that is not high on their list or even on the radar and fall in love and it shoots to the top. So an open mind is key. Also knowing what type of college experience you want is as important to what type of training and everyone is different there. My D could have cared less about sports, but really wanted a true college campus feel. She figured out that as much as she loved NYC, urban campuses were not really her thing. Others I know realized that they really wanted to be able to have those sports or social club experiences while others just want MT all the time. So getting to really look at what she wants from the entire college experience, rather than simply a rating or a location is so important at forming your list. So starting early allows the applicant to really take the time to really think about what they want out of all four years of college. And I would also echo @speezagmom that if you are already visitng NYC it is worth a look at Molloy and both the Cap21 studios in Manhattan and the campus on Long Island as if nothing else it can give you another “type” of college experience for her to take into consideration! Enjoy all the moments of the journey…you will blink and she will be graduating before you know it!
That indeed appears to still be the case at Tisch. And anecdotal comments on the interwebs seem to indicate that you can apply to NSB after your initial two-year commitment, but you get no special breaks - i.e., it’s just as difficult to get into NSB as a junior as it is for an incoming freshman.
@squirk , no you are not helicoptering, you are surveilling the path ahead! We have your back here - it’s a crazy road, and it’s good to check for landmines ahead of time.
OK, I’m done beating a metaphor to death. The only thing of potential value I have to add is that a) there are a ton of programs both in and around NYC to consider, if that’s where your D thinks she’d like to be and b) my S fell in love at first sight with Tisch and nothing could sway him from applying ED. I think the most difficult part for me as a parent was to keep him focused on the fact that we still had an audition schedule to flesh out in the event that he didn’t get in, and then the scary idea of managing his disappointment if he didn’t get in.
Our happy ending is that he did get in and will be attending there this fall. He applied “MT-all studios,” which means that he did the MT audition hoping to be considered for the New Studio on Broadway, but that he trusted them to put him where they thought he would thrive the most. He will be in the Playwrights Horizons studio and is really excited!
Happy to talk you through it when the time comes. We also looked at a bunch of places in the surrounding area.
@squirk - I agree with everyone that advance preparation is important and on the other hand - she’s what, 14? I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard of a dedicated arts kid going through a performing arts high school and coming out deciding that was enough and heading in a different direction. I’d say straddle the fence - know what she needs to do to prepare for auditions / admissions and let her choose whether she does all of it and when. Let her have her high school career as she chooses (within limits) and you won’t end up feeling like you pushed her too early or too hard. Be supportive but let her drive.
If she’s a good student that is WIN-WIN-WIN so make sure you support that too. WIN in she will walk away from High School with a good education; WIN that she’ll qualify for merit aid at many schools and WIN that she’ll be prepared to apply to schools such as NYU where the academic record is weighted as heavily as the audition.
BTW, my kid’s dream school from elementary school on was Tisch, she is a rising junior there, she spent her foundational years in NSB and every year we are more grateful and happy that she ended up where she truly belongs. Sometimes the dream school works out!
@squirk per, @CaMom13 's comment, I couldn’t agree more. I hope your kid’s school is a nurturing program. It can be quite rewarding with the right feel for 14-18 yr olds. My D’s program was not that. It was dog eat dog (competition is great but it was mean spirited and the director played into that - and I’m a competitive sports guy so that says a lot). Several talented kids just moved on feeling this isn’t for them. The director’s attitude is “oh well, they’d never make it in the real world” . Really a shame. I think the only thing that kept D’s sanity was a combo of her natural drive/ability and her community theater group which was a lot of fun.
Try to balance hard work and fun. Too easy to burn out.
14, going on 25. I am sure you know where I’m coming from.
I am fully prepared for the possibility that she will have a change of heart at some point in the next four years and decide that a career in MT is not for her. Which would be just fine with me. Better she come to that realization in high school vs. after we drop $150k-$300k on a MT degree.
But given that she is going to (for lack of a better phrase) a “MT immersion” high school, I also want to prepare for the possibility that she will wind up sticking to her guns on this.
As I and others have mentioned, Fall '23 (her ED application/audition season) seems like it’s a long way off, but it’ll go by fast. The last thing I want to have happen is that we reach that point in time and she says, “I wish we had started preparing for all of this a lot earlier…”
@BMMT2024 Thank you so much for putting together videos to help future auditioners. Really good of you and shows your character. Hope you have a great MT experience in college!
Thanks for the thoughts (and the links). That is not the kind of pressure I want to put on my daughter.
I guess I just feel like, given the highly selective nature of the schools she is shooting for, we should get the ball rolling, if only on a very low level. As you said, doing little bits and pieces of planning now might avoid a lot of stress later.
We’re going to look at the NACAC Performing Arts Fair this fall. Did you do that? If so, was it worth your time?
I feel like we can make this a low-stress road trip. No decisions, no commitments, no work. Merely “window-shopping.” I just wish they held more of these things on weekends.
@squirk, I attended a NACAC performing and visual arts fair in our city 2 years ago. It was ok, but it wasn’t worthy of a road trip (for us, it was 10 minutes from home). For starters, some of the attending schools were represented by their regular university admissions reps. They had departmental brochures for their various arts programs, but they were often unable to answer basic questions about the acting or mt programs and advised me to email the specific department head. Even when the college’s information table was staffed by an arts administrator, (versus a generic admissions counselor), the administrator was often NOT from the acting/mt program, so again, most times I was given the business card for the head of the acting program and told to email. Something similar occurred with the panel discussion that was hosted during the fair. The panel had some faculty from local colleges as well as a few area alums. I think there were 5 or 6 people on the panel, but NONE of them were there representing acting or mt. (1/2 of the panel were teachers/artists in the fine arts, one guy was a film producer (film major undergrad) and 1 was instrumental music faculty. Interestingly, they asked for a show of hands from the audience to see what the students were interested in. More than 50% of the students were interested in acting or mt. So . . . assuming the format hasn’t changed, I think your D might be disappointed if she actually did a road trip to attend a NACAC fair.
Thanks for the insight. It wouldn’t be a long road trip for us, but we would indeed spend more time in the car each way than the event itself. I’ll have to think on this.
