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Hi there, I'm a freshman who just had to come home from a terrible experience at a strong liberal arts school in New York. My original intention was to go to Tisch at NYU, but last year the day before my audition there were 40 inches of snow outside of my house and there was no way for me to get to NYC for the audition. Tisch waitlisted me even without the audition, and I would still like to transfer there and spend this summer taking classes there. But for now, I am home for the fall '03 semester. I plan to go to a school near Washington DC for the spring, as it is close to home and I know I will be accepted, and it will help save money this year. I'm still very focused on getting into NYU for next fall, but I am also planning on looking at some other schools just in case (and also to see if I find something I like even better), and I didn't know if anyone had any suggestions about where I could be accepted, etc. I'm looking for something with 5,000+ students, in an urban setting (preferably in the north...or at least something that is not too close to VA or MD, as I have lived here for way too long already, haha) with a good theatre program and a good academic reputation. Here are my stats, and any help at all will thrill me, so thanks in advance!

ACT 28
SAT II Writing 770
GPA 3.75
AP Classes, etc.
- HUGE theatre girl, lead role in every show in high school, community theatre and workshops, several awards, great reviews, nominated for a "Cappies" Award (at teh Kennedy Center)
- Bacstage theatre work, directing, stage managing, lights, sets, everything, I'm spending this semester off basically running the program at my old high school
- Web Design/HTML work, run a website that has been mentioned in several national teen magazines
- DC based program called "Cappies" for theatre, connected with teh Washington post and Kennedy Center, have written theatre reviews for the Post and local television stations
- Over a hundred hours of Community Service
- National Honor Society
- SADD (not just a member, I did a lot of work for the group)
- Several academic awards from my high school
- some really good reccommendations, very close teacher relationships
- I write well, I think my essays are good
- As a senior, I was accepted to some really good schools...sadly I am not attending them now...haha. It's been a really terrible situation, and I'm really trying my best to cope and finding a school I really like would make everything better right now...so please if you can help I'll love you forever!

Thanks!

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 03:38 pm: Edit

I'm sorry things didn't work out for you at your first school. I'm assuming from what you've said that you're not looking for another smallish LAC. However, you might start by going back over the list of schools where you were accepted last year and seeing if there are any candidates on that list - they may be very willing to consider you again if you explain the situation. Here are some suggestions you might look at:

Syracuse (excellent drama/theater department)
Boston U
Carnegie Mellon
Northwestern
Tufts
Fordham
SUNY Purchase
University of the Arts (PA)
Wagner (NY)-kind of small but right across from NYC

Good luck! And, if you don't mind sharing your experience so that others can learn, can you tell us a bit more about why you didn't like your first school? Based on your experience, what advice would you give to others about looking at schools? I think a lot of people here would benefit from your thoughts.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 11:52 pm: Edit

Look at the Musical Theatre thread on this board. It has thousands of posts with the best info on programs. It starts with a list of MT schools. Good luck

By Foggi (Foggi) on Saturday, September 27, 2003 - 03:37 pm: Edit

Thanks for the advice That's very helpful.

As far as my experience with the fisrt school goes...it was just a big mistake on my part in choosing it. I think that when I picked the school out of the ones that accepted me I was really too upset over the whole NYU waitlist thing to really think straight...which is pathetic but I had wanted to go to Tisch since I was very young and it had been the driving force behind a lot of the work that I had done in high school. The school I picked has a decent drama dept. but I realized that the resal reason I picked it was because it was near NYC. Because of this, I ignored a lot of the things about the school that had I been paying better attention would have made me think twice about the decision. The admissions people at this school are very good at selling the place, and it's a well respect school. There are several reasons why it was very wrong for me. The first is that the class sizes are very small, and I have just come from a catholic high school o f only 200 people, and I really needed something bigger. The second is that because the school is so small, it really onoly attracts one "type" of students, all of whom are very strong individuals. The problem is, I got the sense that if you were not the "right" kind of individual you wouldn't fit into the school. The reason I didn't pay much attention to this was because on the school's "admitted students day" I met another incoming freshman who I thought was wonderful, but she didn't end up attending the school, and I had been so focused on meeting her and excited to meet someone I liked that I didn't pay much attention to the peopel who would actually be attending the school. The other big reason for my leaving is that there were serious safety issues and living issues that made it very difficult. I had asked for smoke free substance free housing and they gave me an appartment-mate who smoked, and I am allergic to smoke...so that was bad. They also put me and my freshman roommate in an off campus appartment style housing, but it isn't a college-owned appartment house, so most of the peopel living there were peopel from teh community. The problem with this is that the community people HATE the students at this college. There were non-student residents next door to us who would come out onto their balcony (which was also out balcony) and basically harass us and try to look into our windows, etc. There was also a 20 mintues walk to the campus, no shuttle, no lights at night, and no sidewalk on a fairly major road. One day I was walking down the road and a local person threw an apple at me from the window of their moving car...that's how much the locals hate these kids. I tried to talk to the capus security and also to the housing people because of all the issues, and they just weren't concerned with helping at all. I twas a really ridiculous situation, and I guess I just realized that even though I worked really hard to get into the school, and it is known as a very good school, and even though it meant more than anything to me to be in college (I actually hosted an "application party" last year because I was so excited about college...) that I just couldn't put myself through unnessasary stuff that would proabably affect my grades, therefore making the TONS of moeny my parents were putting into this worth it. I have had a really hard time with it, but I know it was the right decision to come home...I'm just hoping to be able to find another school that I can be happy at. Igf anyone has any other questions about this feel free to ask, I would love to help prevent things like this happening to other kids, cause I know how bad it is.

By Boatboat (Boatboat) on Sunday, September 28, 2003 - 02:30 am: Edit

what college is this

By Foggi (Foggi) on Sunday, September 28, 2003 - 02:17 pm: Edit

I really don't want to say...I don't want to offend anyone or say negative things about a specific school. I think that everyone's experience is different, and that a person could go to the school I just left and love it, in the same way that I went to it and didn't love it. It's an individual thing and I don't want to give anyone negative impressions of a school that might be perfectly fine for them...just not for me. Sorry about that,

By Sadeyedlady (Sadeyedlady) on Monday, September 29, 2003 - 12:32 am: Edit

please tell me it wasn't vassar.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Monday, September 29, 2003 - 10:47 am: Edit

There are several schools that fit that description and anyone who applies to a school should look at the type of students on the campus. If you feel you won't fit it, that should be considered. My kids did not like Wash &lee, Davidson, and a few other schools that were just too conservative. They also felt uncomfortable at Oberlin, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar for the opposite reason. They wanted more of what they considered mainstream, slightly liberal students. But I know a lot of kids who are happy at all of those schools. which is probably why Foggi doesn't want to name the school. Sometimes if you think a school is really terrible, you don't mind telling everyone and warning the world. But othertimes, you recognize that it was just a bad fit and that the school is fine and that you are fine , but you just prefer to live elsewhere. If you are not a frat or sorority type, it would not behoove you to go to a school that is heavily Greek. It could get on your nerves if they have a high profile role on the college scene. It really is an individual thing. I did not get into this at all with my kids. If they did not like the atmosphere of a place, it was a personal thing. I did not like some places either (Brown for one) but I am not going to be living there for 4 years.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Monday, September 29, 2003 - 11:05 am: Edit

Foggi,
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I think I have a good idea of which school you're talking about. You brought up some points that could be really helpful for people who are going through this process for the first time this year: while it's probably impossible to find the "perfect" school, look at the big picture and really consider if you will feel comfortable at a school. Don't just choose a school because of its name or reputation - make sure it's the right school for YOU. As I said, I'm sure that some high school seniors reading your comments will be helped by them. Thanks - and please let us know what happens as you continue to look for a better fit for you.

By Omgninjas (Omgninjas) on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - 10:52 pm: Edit

Lame.

I want to go to a liberal arts college in New York, Skidmore, specifically, and while your post isn't going to sway my choice, if I'm going to be headed to a college where the locals hate the students, I want to at least know about it.

The last thing you need to worry about is offending someone on the internet.

This is a discussion board, anyone who gets upset because you post a negative experience you had at college is an idiot.

By Wct (Wct) on Thursday, October 02, 2003 - 09:28 pm: Edit

Lame-
My niece recently graduated from Skidmore and loved all four years there.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Friday, October 03, 2003 - 09:22 am: Edit

People leave every school for incompatibility reasons. You really cannot judge a school by individual opinions. And there are a lot of schools that have "town/gown frictions, most notably Yale, which does not seem to make a dent in the application stampede there.

By Foggi (Foggi) on Saturday, October 04, 2003 - 11:29 pm: Edit

carolyn- thanks so much for all of your help, I have contacted a few of the schools that accepted me last year and they are willing ot take me in the spring, so everything has worked out okay.

omgninjas- I'm not trying to make your life difficult, I'm just not going to go around talking badly about a school that I happened to have an issue with. You might not have the same issue. And if you are THAT concerned, I will say that it wasn't Skidmore. But honestly, I have really learned from all of this that you HAVE to find what is good/bad about a school for YOU and not worry about everyone else's opinions. I did that WAY too much last year, and look where it got me. And if you went to the same school I just left, you could have loved it, so I'm not going to stop anyone from applying anywhere. I didn't start this topic to "warn" people about this school. I started it to ask if people knew where I could go next semester. Thanks.

By Ricanitalian69 (Ricanitalian69) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 02:37 pm: Edit

http://appserv.pace.edu/execute/page.cfm?doc_id=6225

Check out the above website if you still want to go to school in New York. Pace University is now affiliated with the National Actors Theatre which is now permanently in residence at Pace University’s Schimmel Center for the Arts. NAT is “Broadway’s” only not-for-profit house (located downtown) solely dedicated to presenting classic works of theater and theatrical education delivered at no cost to the students or their schools.