NCSA vs. Pace vs. BU vs. Syracuse

[fishbowlfreshman]

<p>As far as the training offered, NCSA and BU are very comparable. You haven’t said anything about what your financial aid/scholarship packages are, but I’d recommend NCSA hands-down if you’re anywhere near the normal difference in sticker price. Is it worth $80,000 or more extra dollars to you and your parents just to say you’re in Boston or New York for school? Last time I looked, that was the approximate difference in cost over four years … </p>

<p>Socially, I think you’ll find all of them very similar in that the people you’ll be hanging out with will mostly be students from your own program. That’s pretty much the case with ANY BFA. Also, if you’re in a big city, small town, or wherever else, the main difference on a normal day will be how many cars you hear driving by outside. There won’t be much time for enjoying the city … Let’s see if I can find it … yeah, here it is … <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4972632-post17.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4972632-post17.html&lt;/a&gt;. That’s Soozievt talking about her D’s experience at NYU, but you’ll find this part pretty much true about all intensive programs no matter where they’re located …

My kid has school all day, rehearsals every night and weekend, other committments too numerous to mention, and still has to do the homework for academic classes (write papers), prepare for scenes and songs for the studio classes, and so on and so forth, usually getting home no earlier than 11 PM every night and being booked solid, including weekends. I’ve heard people say that going to college in NYC would be a “distraction” and they have no idea that there is no time for such “distractions” as the program is all consuming. In fact, my D and her BFA pals stay in the city for several days at the end of each semester just to enjoy things in the city that they don’t have time for in their intense schedules! Many, including herself, chose theater jobs in the city over the summer just to be able to do some things there is no time for during the school year due to the intensity of their schedules.

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<p>If you let whichever city it is become a “distraction,” chances are you’ll find yourself making poor grades or on probation if not out on your butt with a big footprint on your right cheek! :)</p>

<p>Another difference in BU and NCSA is that NCSA schedules all their academic classes in the morning with the arts classes starting later in the morning and afternoon so there is none of this business of getting your creative juices flowing to have to suddenly turn around and sit through a lecture on some dry academic subject. It makes scheduling easier, too, and you won’t find the problem mentioned on the NYU vs. BU thread of having to settle for whatever is offered that just happens to fit into your training schedule. The converse, however, is that they don’t have a huge selection of academics to select from to begin with. </p>

<p>But definitely VISIT! Some people come away from NCSA feeling like Theatregeeek and others don’t feel any connection to the place at all and leave agreeing it stands for “North Carolina School of the Attitude” as some detractors call it … ;)</p>