<p>How important do you consider the location for a MT school? For example, do you think it is important to study, make local contacts, in an area that you might be able to stay and work during the summer, or after graduation? Many excellent schools are in smaller communities, but may not be a great place to launch a career from.</p>
<p>The most important aspect of location is one that is common to all programs, not just MT - would you be happy living there for 4 years? Remember, your school will be your home for 4 years and if the location and you are not a good match in terms of your lifestyle, social interests, weather, city versus more rural, traditional college campus versus city campus etc. you could very well end up being very unhappy.</p>
<p>In terms of MT programs themselves, I think location is secondary by a long shot. You should focus on whether the MT program is a good match for you in terms of curriculum, relationships between students and faculty, facilities, good “vibes” about the students and their attitudes and overall atmosphere. Most MT programs restrict students from auditioning or working for outside productions during the school year. Contacts that you make are through your professors and summer theater activities. In terms of choosing a MT program, let the location be the “icing on the cake” after you have accounted for all the other factors that go into the decision making process.</p>
<p>Location has become an important consideration for us, but our issue is DISTANCE. There was a great CC thread a number of months back about how to approach the distance issue. For example (we live in PA), we are entertaining FSU, Arizona, and Utah(we are straight acting). I looked at what an airline flight entails. Some flights are very long due to stops, etc. Given this info., I posed to my S; if it was this time next year, are you OK with perhaps not making it home at Thanksgiving? Are you OK with boxing and shipping your limited stuff when you begin and/or end the school year? Is the school located somewhere that we would want visit as our vacation spot (FSU and Utah sound good)? It’s a tough decision, given that in MT and acting one may not be able to stay close to home if one wants to get into a program.</p>
<p>I have one daughter already a freshman in college almost 3,000 miles away but she is not in theater. My other daughter is a theatre obsessed kid who is currently a sophmore in HS and will definitely be doing a lot of theatre in college. My feeling is that it will be more important for her to not be as far away (if it’s possible) for the selfish reason that my H and I will want to go and see performances as much as we can. So, for us, that will be a factor.</p>
<p>I am kinda going through the same dillema. I live in Eastern VA and the nearest school I’m applying to is about 4 1/2 hours away, no big deal, however I’m also applying to schools that could be up to a 20 hour drive. I realize that my parents won’t be able to come see a lot of my shows, but thats the way it will have to be.</p>
<p>About being able to make local contacts, the location of the school doesn’t have a lot to do with whether you can make contacts with people in NYC or Chicago, etc… I auditioned at Elon last weekend and almost all of the MT students said that on their summer breaks they worked with professional companies around the country, including Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Philly, and NYC. This is a very good beginning for a college student. I’m sure being directly in the city might give you more direct contacts in the business, but that shouldn’t be your one deciding factor.</p>
<p>I think that MichaelNKat summed things up really well. Although my D is a city girl at heart, she has schools on her list in “rural areas”, because the curriculum and the school’s philosophy match what she is looking for. Please realize that you can make contacts in this business anywhere, and also, for example at Elon, people will actually come to the school to audition students for summer work.</p>
<p>Thank you for the feedback…much appreciated!</p>
<p>Back to the original question, which referred to work after graduation --if you are planning to pursue MT work, it is unlikely that you will remain in any one location for very long, even if you live in NYC! Most performers end up on the road, in a regional theater, on a cruise ship, in summer stock, etc. etc. I think the aspect of school location that is most relevant is – do you want to go home on weekends & short vacations? Is it important that your family come to see you perform frequently? If your answer to those questions is yes, you might want to stay within a day’s drive of home.</p>
<p>onstage’s comments about work after graduation would also apply to work during summer breaks, as was posited by the OP. Summer work opportunities are diverse and located in a broad variety of places. You don’t have to be in a major city to seek out summer opportunities whether they be located in a city or elsewhere.</p>
<p>I also agree that distance from home is a very significant aspect of “location” and should be considered with all the other factors that contribute to whether a location is one where you could envision yourself living for 4 years. I view location, however, to be of primacy upfront, when you are putting together a list of schools to which to apply. When you are at the point of deciding between acceptances, location drops down to lesser importance and it is more important to focus on the qualities and “fit” of the MT program itself. At that point, location should not be a major issue because you filtered the list of schools to which to apply upfront giving significant consideration to location. When you are down to deciding between 2 programs, either one of which you would be delighted to attend, then let location tilt the balance.</p>
<p>Obviously, you can’t be too narrow up front by, for example, limiting all of your schools to a particular city or even a particular state. Not only would you be eliminating many fine programs but also your choices would be too limited given the highly competitive nature of MT acceptances. But you can limit based on travel time/distance from home and climate and have a multitude of options to look at. Then if a specific location for a particular school turns you off, you can still eliminate that school from the list.</p>
<p>To sum up my “verbosity”, let distance from home, climate and your feelings of whether you would enjoy living there for 4 years influence your list of schools to which to apply. After that don’t get hung up on specific locations. The match of the program to your needs and desires is much more important than whether you imagine one location or another will offer “professional” advantages - because in reality, for the next 4 years your program and your school will be your reality and where you are located will not have nearly as much an impact on your growth and development.</p>
<p>I’m starting to think, in reality, that the better MT schools choose students, and not the other way around- so we’ll be planning on D auditioning all over the map, nevermind the weather or geography she prefers. We’re a (retired) military family- so we know how to live just about anywhere. Although I’ll be heartbroken if she’s too far to visit for shows, etc.<br>
If a school that was in or near NYC happened to choose my D, I can see that as being absolutely worth sacrificing some other attribute that D might prefer, such as palm trees or a view of the mountains 
I read recently that the current “Matt” in The Fantastics got his union card about the same time he graduated from NYU, because he was able to do so much work at the same time he was a student. Heard a similar story about the gentleman who was touring as the Phantom this past year- I believe he went to Fordham. It seems the folks who were already in or near NYC got their careers going faster than those who went to top schools that were not convenient to NYC. Anybody else noticed this? Maybe my observation is not a universal truth? I’d be happy to think this isn’t always the case…</p>
<p>School in NYC – I think that students in NYC are able to audition for more NY based work sooner becuase they are there. Although, sometimes being in NY can be difficult bscause a student is so close, but is not permitted to miss studio classes to go to outside auditions… the temptation must be strong :)</p>
<p>You are right… in reality ALL the MT schools choose students, I do not believe there is a school that has an audition where all of the students who audition get into the program. Some schools have a 5% acceptance rate others a 20% - 30%, but I think that most programs see far more talented students than they can accept into the program. This does not mean that the students aren’t also choosing the school, however. “Fit” is important… it has been said here a lot on the board that there is not one “best” program… only the “best” program for a particular student. The hope is that the student gets into the program that they feel is the best fit for them. But, it is important to have that balanced list of schools which you could be happy attending.</p>
<p>I think generally that picking the location of your MT program is not all that different than picking one to attend any college. It is more important to find a school that is the right fit for you, that you can also get into, and location is a factor in terms of preference of where you want to live. On the other hand, one can be pickier about location (ie., want to be near a city) if shooting for regular colleges, rather than BFA programs because there are thousands of regular colleges to choose from and when you pick a BFA program, you sorta have to go where they are located as there are less to choose from in the first place. The location may not be your favorite but the program can be ideal. That is sorta how it can be for a BFA candidate. </p>
<p>I run into many applicants who want their BFA school to be in NYC. I prefer a candidate to pick BFA programs first and foremost that are good fits. If they have a choice of acceptances and prefer a location over another, that’s cool. </p>
<p>My own daughter mostly went for which school she liked best, though location was a consideration but not the main consideration at all. She did land in NYC (at NYU). I have to say now that she IS at NYU as a junior, there ARE advantages to being located in NYC but not enough to pick a school for this reason. I see it as a big plus that came along the way when she picked the best fit school. The benefits are there but it is not a strong reason to pick a school in this location because truthfully, all BFA graduates are likely to land in NYC after graduation anyway and are in a similar boat. </p>
<p>The advantage of being in NYC is not the one that most think of…most think of “I can audition for shows if I am in NYC!!” The reality of that matter is that it is very very difficult to do many auditions (which is what getting cast usually entails) because you cannot miss class in a BFA program more than twice (even one audition with a callback would be two misses). Some students do it on occasion. For example, just in my D’s CAP21 CLASS alone, recently a close pal got cast in the LA cast of History Boys and is taking a leave. Another class pal got the male lead in the National Tour of Little Women. Another classmate is on leave to be in the West Side Story European Tour. I can think of someone in another class who took a leave to be a lead in the Mamma Mia tour and so on and so forth. So, some kids attend an occastional audition in NYC. My D does not want to do that as she doesn’t want to leave the educational training and does not want the temptation of any casting offers, and doesn’t attend any auditions that would require leaving school if cast. Recently, a lot of friends tried out and were called back for a big show. So many kids were pressuring my D to audition for it as they felt she was right for this show (she is), but she feels she would not want to leave school and the shows can wait until she graduates. She’ll be 20 then and has her whole life and feels training in her program which she loves is where she wants to be now. So, I would not choose a school in NYC with the idea that one can just do all these auditions…not realistic, let alone it means possibly leaving school (some are willing to do that, I realize). </p>
<p>However, being in NYC has definitely had other advantages. There is a LOT of networking and contacts. My D has done some work unrelated to school in NYC (that doesn’t take her out of school). People see your work and ask you do be involved in other projects. Example, someone saw D in a musical in NYC this past summer and recommended her to a composer of a new musical who then asked her into audition for a role he was writing and cast her in it and had her record a CD for financial backers and just asked her to do the public reading of the new musical but she can’t do it as it falls on the weekend of her school musical in which she is the lead. But stuff like this happens…she’ll be asked to musically direct shows in the city, for instance, as word gets around in NYC. People you work with in the city know this one and that one. Even casting agents come in and work with the students in her studio, etc. Very often, one thing leads to the next in NYC. Already, my D feels she has many contacts and opportunities in NYC and so she won’t be stepping cold into NYC upon graduation as she is already living there, working there, and has made contacts in the industry. Besides that, there are lots of opportunities in NYC for internships, seeing theater, and doing theater even unrelated to school (if you can fit it in with school). Sometimes my D gets gigs in the city. She gets paid work in her field already in NYC before graduating. She also knows her way around NYC, the audition places, has attended various NYC auditions, etc. None of this is a necessity and going to school elsewhere is just fine. It is just an added bonus to being in NYC.</p>
<p>Classicalbk…my D knows the boy you are refering to who was Matt in the Off Broadway production of The Fantastiks (which he has now left to do La Cage aux Folles in Denver). It is not quite the way you are putting it about doing work while a student in CAP21. This talented young man did school shows while at Tisch. He also did summer stock. He was cast in The Fantastiks by the time he graduated (which I recall may have been in Dec. of his senior year, after 3 1/2 years) and thus got his Equity card. It wasn’t like he was doing Equity shows in NYC while in school. He earned points in summer stock, which students can do from ANY college, not just going to ones in NYC. The summer theaters he worked for were NOT in NYC. Then, he got into The Fantastiks, which was well, fantastic, upon graduating (if I recall, he may have been cast before graduation and started slightly before graduating…but earlier that fall he was in The Last Five Years, a student directed show at Tisch). So, in his case, he was not doing work IN NYC outside of school while in school during the school year months until the VERY end. However, being seen in school shows in NYC is also a plus as agents and so forth can be invited to see your work as you are RIGHT there. This young man had some excellent roles while at NYU and so again, networking and contacts go on in the city and people see your work if you are performing there. But I would not pick a BFA program for THIS reason. </p>
<p>Also, so many of the faculty at Tisch or in the studios at Tisch work in the industry in NYC. So, they are well connected and are right there. My D has been working professionally all fall musically directing a new work outside of school in the city, that is composed and written by a faculty member who is a Tony nominated playwright/composer. While her job is not connected to school, she was hired for it due to this faculty member knowing her work and skills. </p>
<p>In D’s freshman year, she attended StrawHats (which is convenient if already in NYC) and had several callbacks. By sheer coincidence, the artistic director at one of the Equity theaters where she was called back at StrawHats, on another subequent day about a month later, was observing my D’s particular acting class at CAP21 because she knew the acting teacher and wanted to observe his work as she also teaches acting at a high school conservatory for the performing arts. She immediately recognized my D from the StrawHats, and went up to her after class. Then a few days later, she got called to come to that theater in another state to do a callback and was hired for the summer. </p>
<p>I’ll mention one more little “mini” plus. In CAP21, the studio program is 3 1/2 years, though the college itself is four years. In the senior year, one semester is spent working with casting agents and others in the industry to prepare for the industry and ends with a Senior Showcase. You can do that semester either in fall or spring and then the other semester is academic courses, for the most part. If you opt to do this senior showcase semester with the industry professionals in the fall of senior year, you have a little leg up as you could conceivably start auditioning in spring before the other graduates from other BFA programs descend on the city after their showcases in late spring. You likely can fit in some auditions in spring as you are not taking studio, but just academic classes, which do not take up as much time (not all day long like the BFA ones), and you may have an agent in place by then, etc. Many students, like the boy you referred to, even graduate in Dec. after the showcase, due to AP credits and so forth. My D doesn’t want to graduate early as she wants to experience all four years at school, plus was an early graduate from HS and went to NYU at age 16 as it is, nor had all these AP credits. I don’t know if she will opt to do the showcase semester in the fall, but there are some advantages as you can start the audition process sooner than other BFA graduates, conceivably. And like this other boy, he was right there in NYC that semester and able to audition and be cast right away. </p>
<p>I would be remiss in not mentioning that for a kid who loves theater, being in NYC is like heaven…just the theater you can see alone. These are some added benefits, but again, not a main reason to pick a BFA program. I would put fit of program before location! For my kid, she found a program that fits her very well that she really wanted to attend (and loves it now that she does attend) and it just had the added “plus” of being in NYC, which in retrospect, has had many benefits for her that were not really considered when choosing the school.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>freedom-fri911, </p>
<p>Since you are in Eastern VA, are you familiar at all with the musical theater/dance track in the theater dept at Christopher Newport? With the completion of the Ferguson Center of the Arts - and they seem to have a very good voice department - it seems that it could be a good alternative to the increasingly elusive admission to a MT/BFA program but I never see it mentioned here.</p>
<p>Location has its place in the decision-making process for MT kids but certainly has to take a back seat to getting accepted to the program in the location one prefers! Best to spread the net far and wide and pick based on location AFTER acceptances are in hand. ;)</p>