Pace BA Acting v.s. NYU Tisch — HELP!

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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(Cross-posted from MT)
Hello! I am currently committed to join Pace’s BA acting program, but I just got off the NYU waitlist today. I was in no way expecting to get off the waitlist (and certainly not this soon), so this is definitely a surprise. They gave me until May 10th (4 days from now…) to decide.

Here are my pros and cons for both:

PACE

Pros:

  • The devised aspect of the program is right up my alley, as devised theatre is one of my favorite forms of acting.
  • It also has an emphasis on physical acting, and I am very much a physical actor.
  • Overall, the program seems like a very good fit for me and has lots of opportunities for experimentation.
  • There’s a little dog park on the pier a few blocks away from their theatre building
  • Got into the honors college
  • I was awarded a 32,000/year scholarship, so I’m looking at about a 50K/year cost including housing, food, and books.
  • Much smaller school and program

Cons:

  • The BA program is not as well known and not well understood.
  • I entered this process looking to get a BFA in MT, and I would be doing neither of those.
  • The theatre building itself was a little bit underwhelming
  • When I auditioned for the BFA Acting program, the students running it kinda talked down the BA program, not sure if this is a widespread mindset tho.
  • I’m not sure how well students in the program do after graduation.
  • There’s fewer extracurricular activities (no choir) since it’s a smaller school

NYU

Pros:

  • It’s NYU
  • I would have extremely good connection opportunities
  • All of the studios seem very cool and I can see myself at pretty much all of them.
  • The online audition that I did for them was definitely my favorite, I loved getting the chance to be interviewed on a deeper level.
  • More theatre-centered curriculum (BFA)
  • Overall, there’s just MORE

Cons:

  • $$$$$$. I would be paying full price (99K/yr total…). My mom says that she would be able to pay it, but I would feel guilty for making her spend that much money.
  • I have no idea what studio I would be in, and there’s overall just a LOT of unknowns, while at Pace I know exactly what I’m getting myself into.
  • It’s a much larger school, which isn’t exactly a con but I’m lowkey scared.

Thank you for reading all that! If anyone has any advice/opinions regarding either school, please lmk!!

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