Syracuse University

I'm audition and visiting in a few weeks.

...and I believe Heather Headley did as well.

I'm going to the open house tomorrow, but 2 of my friends who visited last April keep telling me how much they hated it. Did you guys seem to think the people were snobby or that it was an unsafe campus?

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Just in case anyone cares. I just got back from visiting, and WOW. I must say, I wasn't expecting it to be that great of a program despite some of the amazing alumni, but I was pleasently surprised. You can get equity points with Syracuse Stage, which i already knew since we see shows there for school field trips and stuff, but I didn't realize you could be in more than like 1 show for SS. Also, every Christmas they do a big-name musical I guess with the drama department, and you get paid if you do i think? Something awesome like that, beacuse you're 'staying' over xmas break, except i only live an hour away so i could drive home anyways, wee! Plus, the only class you take that isn't musical theatre related is writing, and that's only your first 2 years. The rest is musical theatre courses, and all the acting courses Acting majors have to take you take with them. Sounds awesome, and I loved the alumni board. This lady was taking us on a tour of Syracuse Stage stuff because that building acts as the drama department building too, and she was talking about the alumni and got to Taye Diggs and there were all these Chicago and Wicked articles and stuff on the board and I got really excited. I really liked the people too. The assistant dean of the dpt. was SO nice, and gave a great presentation saying both the pros and cons of the field, but still made me want to do it even more:) Plus, there's a senior showcase in NYC, a year abroad thing in either London or NYC, and idk, it was just a really good experience and a great atmosphere. However, they said they have too many student and want to cut it down to only accepting 25-30 next year as opposed to the 45-50 of the past few years:-/ It's only the 2nd school I've visited, but it really felt good. There were 5 other kids in our little drama tour group and they all seemed nice and like people i could become friends with. Very friendly and clam atmosphere, but you also know you're going to be worked hard so you perform well.
The end:)

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Oh god. It was like 750 Acting and MT people, and they take like 20ish for each:/

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Heh, yeah that's true. And probably what I'll try to remember as I audition I think it's going to be a big plus having dance training, too, because only 1 other girl there did besides me and she was acting not MT, and the guy said that was a big factor for them too when they start narrowing down their applicants.

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Yes, we cleared that up...(through PMs). She left early for the Ragtime tour.

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I'm going to SU in a few weeks as a freshman! The people that I've spoken to are really nice and I have heard good things about the program. Today I just looked up bus fare to Manhattan because now I live only 45 minutes away and Syracuse is several hours and lots of money away. They have a program in Junior year where you can study in London and a brand new program for Senior year where you can study in the city. Most people who get cast at Syracuse Stage are usually ensemble, but it's still equity points. I don't know much about the program because I haven't been there yet.

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I think it is great that people are offering perspectives on programs such as Syracuse and sharing experiences. But one must separate fact from fiction.

You mentioned that Syracuse's theater department does not give much money. I don't know if the theater department directly gives the scholarships but my daughter was accepted to the BFA in Musical Theater at Syracuse this past spring. She was awarded a Founder's Scholarship (merit based, not need) of $12,000/year for four years. She also got NEED based aid on top of that which included more grant money.

Also, while Syracuse may have taken seniors for a week to NYC in spring of senior year in the past, starting this coming year for the next five years (based on grants given to the dept.) they will be taking the entire senior class for their fall SEMESTER IN NYC, a very exciting new program. We thought their BFA program in Musical Theater sounded great though my daughter chose not to attend. But she would have been happy to have attended.

I just thought I would give some facts so people are not discouraged from applying to Syracuse because they DO indeed award merit scholarships to applicants for the BFA.

Are you going to study communications?

If not, it is a waste of money with a declining rep.

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