@halflokum, fabulous, fabulous advice! Thanks for taking the time to do this.
The only thing I’d add is that if your college is connected to a city with a strong regional theatre presence, I think it would be a good idea to start out there. It’s easier to build your resume in a smaller pool where you already have ties. Then you can go on to NYC later if you want. It’s not a hard and fast rule, of course, but to use the example of NU–most successful NU grads have started out in Chicago, even those with NYC representation.