@MomofJ5 The studios all have different philosophies and styles of training and they do listen to what students say in their interviews and look at their backgrounds. My D spoke of the original works she spent a year creating and loving all aspects of theatre, for her Playwrights was the perfect fit. It’s the studio the directors are also in so they have directing as well as acting classes although she went in as an actor. If your son has never done Shakespeare it’s probably something they think he could work on (although Adler isn’t the classical studio). Adler has a very definite philosophy that includes script interpretation and using your imagination to create a performance rather than creating it solely on emotional memory. Adler, Meisner, and Strasberg were all offshoots of Stanislavsky’s original writings which include many many books. It all seems complicated as an outsider but if your S goes to NYU I’m sure you will find out all about it 
@MomofJ5 - I think you will find Adler full of kids who sing, and/or have experience in MT etc. it certainly was the bulk of D’s resume. MANY of D ‘s friends (including D herself) continued to take voice while in Adler. Obviously it would be impossible for any school anywhere to “get it right” 100% of the time. If that were true, NO school would ever have kids leave. Adler - and all variations of Stanislavsky, is a time tested, “classic” (as opposed to classical) technique. And yes, they “start” Shakespeare in scene study as freshmen- but it isn’t all they do. As a freshman my D had a WIDE variety of modern works that she was working on (I remember a scen from “Top Girls” amongst others) Shakespeare is PERFORMED in 3rd year.
I must say - that I agree that any kid who comes to learn can learn in any studio. As others have mentioned elsewhere- it’s not different than other schools who use “toolbox” approaches (teaching from multiple theories) - there isn’t ONE way to teaching acting, otherwise they would all do it that way
@theatreloverca - I can see how Playwrights also likely follows the kids’ experiences.
Like I said, I’m not criticizing. Maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to understand how my S’s resume screamed Adler vs the others. With that said, my S didn’t have any idea where he wanted to be placed (other than knowing he wants to do Stonestreet at some point later). We can’t visit until 4/23, but I’m sure we’ll learn more then. Thanks everyone for your helpful insights.
@2ndGradeTeacher My D did Shakespeare in her first year at Atlantic but they have since moved it to second year where it is an entire course. The Classical Studio is terrific for kids interested in that genre. She has always loved the Bard and one of her options after graduation was at Stratford.
@123Mimi I wouldn’t choose a dorm based on studio location. These kids learn to travel all over the city by subway and they learn very quickly that walking is often the norm.
@momofJ5 I agree with you that the studio placements probably work so well because they have students who are willing and open to experience new things. My only 2 cents is that I think they also place the kids in studios where they will be challenged, where they sense potential, and where they will experience the most growth – so often they will not match what their past experience has been.
@123Mimi - my D lived in the dorms that are near union square for her 1st 2.5 years. It’s a great location that split the difference between her studio (Adler - which is to the north) and main campus. I also liked it b/c it is a super busy location - never felt isolated for her coming home at nights, and the 14th street subway station will take you pretty much anywhere in the city
500 acceptances? Is that how many end up going to Tisch? That’s a lot…
@bisouu The yield for Tisch is usually somewhere around 300 and those are divided between the eight primary studios.
Thanks…that did seem like a lot So there would be 3 of each studio? Is the same instructor in charge of all 3 sections?
I am almost 100% behind the Tisch option for my D now. She is still visiting another college next weekend for accepted student day and she has some substantial choices but since the acceptance and placement – I have come to the conclusion that the studio system is kind of brilliant. She will get the conservatory type training yet continue with her studies and her writing which is very important to her too. The large number of acceptance concerned me too at first but Tisch is auditioning students and the students need to meet an academic criteria too so I believe she will have interesting and passionate co-harts.
Then I came to understand that the studio co-harts breaks down to a group of 15 or so it means a lot of individual attention. For her being part of a studio that is producing innovate professional theatre is an unexpected surprise at the end of this journey. And that they also train actors outside Tisch shows me that the teaching is an important mission for them. So I think she will work with good and if she’s lucky maybe even a few great teachers.
I still have some questions. I don’t understand how the los angles Atlantic studio placement – in the 4th year–is in the mix but she’d love to be a part of that. She is most serious about writing, directing and performing in tv, film and new media. And she would love to minor in film. Don’t know how that would work.
This is not where we thought she would end up, but as many cc have said – our kids do ultimately end up where they need to and sometimes in an unexpected way.
She is still sorting it all out and knows this is a good problem to have!
@bisouu - in Adler, my D had maybe 6-7 various disciplines she was studying at studio (voice and speech, scene study, movement, alexander technique etc…) During the 3 days of studio - each group rotated through… so yes, each section had the same instructors. But you didn’t have the same instructors every semester - it depended on what you were doing that year.
Do you mean 3 sections? That will vary by studio. In the first year of studio, my D was in one of 4 sections. Those sections were compiled differently each semester. Some classes were taught by the same instructor for all sections. Others differed by section, e.g., first semester - Movement, Script Analysis and Voice had one instructor for all sections; Performance Technique, Repetition and Speech had more than one instructor.
I have a current freshman at Tisch in NSB and I thought I’d chime in about the studio size. The studio accepted between 50-60 kids last year, but they are broken down into much smaller groups for classes. However, they get mixed for different classes (ie, they are leveled for dance and music theory, etc.), so they have a chance to get to know and work closely with more than just 15 kids. For my daughter this was a big selling point. She chose this over a program that had 14 kids in total, which she thought would not be as stimulating for her as an artist. She thrives off of the energy of her peers and wanted a bigger group to learn from and also thought she might not enjoy four years with the same small group the entire time. That’s a personal choice. She also loved the idea of the other studios in close proximity because there are other performance and artistic opportunities (non-studio specific) where the kids collaborate across studios. Not to mention the fact that Tisch as a whole has amazing opportunities for performers because there are amazing film students always casting for student films and an awesome dramatic writing program, etc. And academics were also important to her and she is really happy with that part of her NYU experience. She couldn’t be happier as she nears the end of her first year. The faculty is INCREDIBLE, the visiting artists who are brought in are amazing (NYC makes this very easy), her peers are hugely talented, creative, and supportive…she has constant access to free and cheap theater tix and she lives in an amazing neighborhood in NYC!
@Spike27 - I have often said that the large number of accepted students was a positive rather than negative for my d as well. She loves that she has worked with probably 100 different people in 3 different programs over her time at NYU. But the smaller cohorts mean that she has never had to sacrifice individual attention in her training - she confirmed this morning that she has never been in a group larger than 15 people
@Spike27 you did an amazing job of summarizing the NYU Tisch experience and captured exactly how my D felt about the program and the school!
@Spike27 Thanks for your summary - it sounds wonderful!
Thanks @Spike27 - very reassuring and delightful to hear for those of us whose kids are already “on board” for next year! I didn’t know the kid were leveled for dance and music theory - that’s really great news. My D attends a “college prep” parochial high school so all of her PA training has all been outside/after school and I’m pretty sure her background in those is lacking as compared with anyone who attended a PA school…!
@CaMom13 I feel relieved, too - my daughter’s dance skills are weak, so I’m glad she’ll be leveled with beginners.
@CaMom13
You wrote:
My D went to Tisch for MT too (at the time, the MT studio was CAP21). Yes, dance and music theory were leveled. My D did not attend a PA school. We didn’t have those in our rural state. My D’s training was also outside of school. But don’t assume that means “lesser.” My D placed in the highest dance level freshmen year and she placed entirely out of Music Theory classes (and never took Music Theory in high school). She understood music theory primarily due to her piano lessons. As well, she had less years of training as she started college at 16. So, while there are a lot of talented students at Tisch, they come from all sorts of backgrounds.
@MomofJ5 My D knew a number of MT kids who were in Adler studio. Your son won’t be alone coming in as a singer.