Looking for recommendations for colleges in or very close to NYC. Son (high school junior) wants to attend college in NYC, but does not know what he’d like to study, size of school or anything else yet. Only that he loves NYC. So I’d like to take him to a sampling. He is currently thinking of majoring in some aspect of business administration, possibly marketing or finance, but would like to minor in theater arts. He’d like a school that allows non majors to be involved in theater and has an active arts community. He acts and sings and would like to stay involved in that for sure. He is thinking of business , as many adults have told him he’d “make a fortune in marketing” due to his personality, I think. He also is considering Political science with aspirations of law school, AND he thinks about English/writing and film. His true passion currently lies in all aspects of theater, and film. He has taken all AP and honors courses and in ninth and tenth grade was a B/C student . However, in eleventh grade he currently has a 3.5 average for the year , unweighted, and is trending higher. He is coming into his own academically now. He is also class President, in honor’s choir, had the lead in the fall non musical, is an editor on the school newspaper, a chairperson in the school THON fundraiser, will earn his Eagle Scout rank within this year, and hikes, bikes, camps, canoes and sails, and works part time 8 to 16 hours per week in the front room of a Grub Burger restaurant. His PSAT scores with no prep, were 640 in math and 600 in writing. He will be sitting for his SAT in March. Any suggestions for colleges in NYC or very close, that could be right for my “Jack of all trades, master of none” and interested in many subjects son to get started on his college search and soul searching about what he may like to do when he graduates high school in 2020? Thank you for any advice. The plan is to visit NYC this spring and visit a few schools on the trip.
New School, Pace I think has the actor studio now and maybe Fordham
I second Fordham and The New School.
If he is willing to look a little further outside the city, he might also explore Hofstra (Hempstead, Long Island) and Drew (Madison, NJ).
Fordham would be a big reach but if you look there is the Manhattan campus and Rose Hill campus. You can read about both online https://www.fordham.edu/info/24633/admission_facts
Manhattan College in Riverdale may be an option for business but don’t think it is really known for the performing arts.
SUNY Purchase is good in the arts but I don’t think it has a b-school.
Honestly I would not get that caught up about his going to college in NYC unless you find a school that fits all his needs and is affordable to your family. He can always move to NYC for work after college.
Also would not get hung up on a “business” major: you can go into business from many backgrounds- jobs & internships will matter much more.
Thanks ! I am not at all familiar with New School and was wondering about that one. Seems like it may be one for him. My first was a total techy guy who knew he wanted tonstudy CS and had a 4.0 average and very high SAT with an 800 in math. This one has his own strengths but is sooooo different , we are really starting from scratch Thank you for the advice.
Be careful of this. Many schools SAY non-majors can participate but non-majors rarely get roles.
We noticed Drew in the Fiske guide and that is on the list. We will add New school and he has a friend at Hofstra who is very happy there. I am encouraging him to get a well rounded education , since he has such broad interests, and not even choose a major until sophomore year if possible. I agree about notngetting hung up on the business major. Fordham seems perfect to me on their website but yes , a reach . We will see how he does on his SATs in March . His work ethic and effort have really improved this year, are reflected in his current grades, and he writes rather well. Perhaps they will give more weight to his 11 th grade year and hopefully, what turns out to be an SAT of 1300 or better. He would be capable of interviewing very well and will be continuing his rigorous course load during his senior year as well. So , if after a visit , it seems like a nice match for him, it may be worth applying for the reach . You never know.
He will apply to three levels of schools: reach , most likely to get in and sure bet schools , probably 2 in each category. He just has to figure out which schools at each level meet his needs, and nothing is better than seeing in person, right? We will have a better idea of which schools are a " reach" by May of this year. My hope is that our trip to NYC , the city of his dreams , ( we are just down the road outside of Philly) helps to keep him motivated to stay as focused as he recently has been. Fingers crossed! Thank you again for your advice!
I’ll second Drew. Excellent theatre program and plenty of opportunities to study in NYC (six different programs actually including wall street semester, UN semester, communications & media semester, NYC theatre semester, etc.) and it’s only a 30 minute train ride.
New School has a business school and Performance arts… I think most know Parsons which is one of their schools more than the main school… it needs a new name
Pace University might be an match for Business and you cannot get a better location for an NYC fan but their performing arts program is pre-professional and probably not the place for a casual theatre student. New School for sure. Wagner College maybe?
I echo:
Wagner–has theater and is on a pretty campus. Staten Island is very different from the rest of NYC, more affordable and more suburban in feel.
Drew–affordable, arts include music and theater and it has programs in NYC. it’s also a pretty campus
New School to my mind is very expensive for what it offers.
He should look at SUNY Purchase – it’s in Westchester County and is very arty. Many students in the arts in NYC (like from the “Fame” high school) attend Purchase.
Marymount Manhattan is known for its theater program too.
Bard is arty, is on the Amtrak line to NYC, and while it may be a reach for him, he might just find a good fit there. Many many students there are already engaged in the arts or are children of well-established parents in the arts. The campus is large and bucolic with gorgeous facilities.
Sarah Lawrence is arty, has an interesting program in that you work one-on-one with a professor in the style of Oxford. It’s more of a tutorial. SLC is 20 minutes from the City in a posh suburb called Bronxville. There’s a commuter train to and from there directly to Grand Central. SLC also runs buses/ vans on Saturdays and stops by the Met Museum.
If he’s really interested in NYC, he should also look at the CUNYs. CUNY is a university SYSTEM. It has colleges ranging from community colleges to tech schools to four-year research institutions. The campuses have various atmospheres, from green quads to downtown urban. This makes it complicated to figure out at first which one is right for you. Here is a search engine to help you figure out which schools seem right – http://www2.cuny.edu/admissions/undergraduate/explore/programs/ CUNY even for OOS tuition is pretty cheap. There are residences – http://www2.cuny.edu/current-students/student-affairs/student-life/housing-residence-life/fun-facts/ The costs go down by $7K per year if he should take a gap year and work in the city. I believe that to gain residence status for CUNY may be only 6 months of living in the City prior to enrolling. That makes CUNY super cheap. Here is the page about residency requirements – http://www2.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/legal-affairs/university-tuition-fee-manual/iv-residency/ The thing about CUNY is that it offers the location and the networking of much more expensive schools, like NYU and Columbia. Because it’s in NYC – and people want to live in NYC – it attracts very fine academic talent. Some of the schools, such as Brooklyn and City College, have graduated Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners. Because of this people in NYC sometimes call it “the Harvard of the proletariat.” It’s a scrappy little system that can give you an excellent education at bargain basement prices–and the network to get your career started.
I live in NYC and if it were my child, and I’m choosing among the various schools, knowing what I know about what the other students in the arts in NYC do, and with a child who has your son’s academic profile, I would choose CUNY over New School.
Thank you for this information. I had not given much thought to the CUNY system. I just did some very preliminary investigating, and will do more with my son. One of the qualities he is “SURE” that he wants in his college is diversity. I know that he will like the description "Harvard of the proletariat. " My son attends public high school with a fair amount of diversity in terms of not only race but many socioeconomic factors… In a relatively small geographic area, our district serves all types of families, some in need of social services, some families owning large estates, .and everything in between, with parents working in a wide array of professions and having obtained varying levels of education. It has been a rich environment for them to grow up in. The CUNY system may provide a nice match . Considering his state of not really having any idea what exactly he’d like to study at this time, we have been considering a meaningful gap year, so perhaps living and working in New York would be a consideration to obtain residency, and give him time to really consider his interests. . Thank you for your thoughts. We will be researching these options. Also, I did not know about the one on one program at SLC, nor its close proximity to the city. A cousin of mine is a graduate from SLC, and I will ask her about it, That teaching style may be appealing to my son. . Thanks again for your very informative, useful post.
@sn189144 You might take a look at Rutgers-Newark, which seems to be moving up in reputation. The immediate surroundings of the the campus are more pleasant and safer than they once were. I don’t know anything about the theater program but it is certainly diverse and access to NYC is quick and inexpensive on the PATH.
Rutgers-NB has a well-regarded theater department. It’s more of a chore to get into NYC from New Brunswick but still very doable by commuter train.
Both Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-NB have business schools, the Newark school having been established earlier. Both offer merit scholarships, although these will be especially competitive at the NB campus.
Thanks @Dustyfeathers for your commentary about the CUNY system! Very helpful and insightful!
Yes thank you! Rutgers is on the list to visit. I was hoping he’d find a smaller school, but size has its advantages too. It will be interesting to see how he feels about them, as he visits. Close to home he has visited Temple. He wants to move it to a different part of the city because he liked a lot about it except for its location, AND he stated that it felt a little bit " too big." AND he ideally wants to look at schools with easy access to, or in NYC. He is keeping Temple on his list as a possibilities though in case he decides to stay closer to home… Thank you mamaedefamilia!
Rutgers is also super diverse! It was on my NYC-loving D’s list last year (as was Temple). Diversity was a huge “must have” for her along with urban location.
Based on what I assume his GPA is overall right now, and a guess at his SAT scores that you gave, and his interests, etc., I wonder if he might have a shot at, and like: Long Island U CW Post campus, St. John’s, Wagner, Marymount Manhattan, Adelphi, the New School, Brooklyn College, Queens College.
I like him for Pace, but I’m not sure - as other mentioned - if he’d realistically have a chance of doing any theater there.
He likes Temple, and only 12 miles down the road. Many students from his HS attend. But that it IS 12 miles down the road is a down side to my son who thinks he’d like to go to school in a place he is not so familiar. As a family we have enjoyed going into Philly often, so NYC would be more of an adventure. Temple IS on his list to apply and honestly has everything he is looking for EXCEPT for the location. It is also an affordable option. We will check out Rutgers for sure! Exciting time in life for him. Thank you all for your helpful tips and information!