College Advice

Hi everyone, I am a senior in High School and have come to the extremely difficult time in which to decide which college I will be going to. I will be majoring in Design with a concentration in set design. I have gotten into schools like NYU and Emerson but I really want a school with more flexibility so I can easily study abroad and Act/direct without problems. The schools I am seriously considering are:

~Fordham at Lincoln Center-which I love, but it's so expensive, is it worth it?
~Adelphi
~Marymount Manhattan
~Temple-the main downside of which is the fact that the grad students usually do most of the designing
~SUNY New Paltz-which seems good except they said themselves there are barely any students interested in set design which could be both good and bad

If anyone can offer any advice as to the quality of the programs or just the schools in general, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Updated On: 4/6/14 at 09:30 PM

You are going to have problems finding schools that can do all that in one program: design, act and direct.

Merrymount Manhattan has very few performance opp for anyone.

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I read these boards but rarely post. However, I'm a designer working in New York, and studied design in both undergrad and grad school, so I can probably give you some guidance. The others are right in saying that you'll have a hard time finding a school that will let you do it all--and in truth, you won't have TIME to do it all (or do it all and do it well, at least). Even pursuing multiple design disciplines can be tricky. If NYU is a possibility, I wouldn't cross it off your list--they turn out great designers, and you'll make connections that will help you land a job after graduation.

I hope that's useful--feel free to send me a PM if I can be of further help!

NY10024 and RaisedOnMusicals, since the OP is a senior, I imagine he/she has already made lists, applied, and gotten to these schools, and is now deciding between them. Additional suggestions may not be what this is asking for.

That aside, I've heard really good things about Fordham and Marymount Manhattan, but can't speak to the rest.

You're fine! You were making a suggestion in good faith.

Between those on your list, Marymount Manhattan College best fits what you are looking for.

That's simply not true.

Please prove me wrong Liza.

@bwayobsessed you can direct your own GAP shows, which are student produced shows and you can act in the shows at Playwrights Horizon. Those are student directed shows that are available to everyone. There are literally hundreds of shows a year happening at NYU. Yes, you can get your design and directing in at any of the other schools, and they're all fine schools, but trying to perform is another thing. First of all many of those programs don't have enough roles to cast all of their performance focused students so you're certainly going to be slighted in the casting pool. If you seriously want to act then you're going to have a hard time being cast at the other schools. Is it impossible? No. Will it be much more difficult? Yes. And contrary to popular belief you can go abroad if you're in the tech track, it's just frowned upon. I know several people from NYU's tech track who have gone abroad.

Updated On: 4/7/14 at 11:49 PM

I know it's impossible to truly train in all three, so I'm really focusing in learning tech and more interested in participating with acting/directing.

^ This is, hands down, the best advice you'll get.