What's the best eastern college for acting majors?
Submitted by chuckroy on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 05:26.
Tagged: Getting Training in the US
Our daughter is a sophomore in high school and wants to major in theatre or acting when she goes to college. She has excellent grades and, according to her acting / music / voice teachers she would probably get accepted in most any college that she applies to. My questions are
Which eastern colleges are best for majoring in acting? By best, I mean which are the most respected by casting directors, agents, etc.?
Also, which school's graduates have the most success getting frequent work after graduation?
Lastly are some colleges better for theatre and others better for film / TV?
Thanks
Chuck Roy
Having recently gone through
Having recently gone through this process myself and having contacts within the entertainment community, I can say for certain that the following are the best schools, and I would tend to give preference to the ones in New York City or very close by simply because it does allow to build a resume while attending college. A Bachelor of the Arts is useless for a professional actor unless they choose to follow it up with a Master of the Fine Arts(MFA) degree. The following are the most respected schools on the east coast at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Keep in mind if she wants to do film it is best to get some experience in New York City first, as Los Angeles people expect to see this. On a note, the previous persons answer of Harvard, while an excellent school in it's own right, just does not command respect as a theater school. Grades will be looked at by many of these schools, but the audition is equally or more important at most, and rightfully so.
BFA(Undergraduate):
New York University(New York, NY)
The Juilliard School(New York, NY)
SUNY-Purchase College(Purchase, NY(45 Minutes from New York City)
Carnegie Mellon University(Pittsburgh, PA)
Boston University(Boston, MA)
Rutgers University(New Brunswick, NJ)
North Carolina School of the Arts(Winston Salem, NC)
MFA(Graduate):
New York University(New York, NY)
Columbia Univesity's New School of Drama(New York, NY)-They have an Actor's Studio tie in somehow.
Yale University(Somewhere in CT)
If your daughter starts and goes for through an MFA straight out of high school, she will finish up around age 25, unless she choose to double major where available.
Brad
It's great that your
It's great that your daughter wants to pursue the acting world, but she needs to decide what she wants to do in acting: theatre or TV and film. Both are a lot of fun but they are very different acting styles and there are a couple of great schools with different focuses.
AMDA (American Musical & Dramatic Academy) is great for those wanting to go into musical theatre. I know of several people who have attended AMDA and they have all loved the program.
For TV & Film, my favorite is the New York Conservatory for Film and Television. I've toured their facility and even sat in on a few classes. There are three casting companies in the same building as the Conservatory so they get to see (and often be a part of) castings as they happen. Most of everything they do at this school is on camera and they focus on careers on TV & Film. They have recently expanded their building to include 2 theatres for those interested in pursuing the directing and stage acting world.
Before making any choice, your daughter needs to decide where she really wants to end up. There is a lot more money in TV & Film and, believe it or not, it is a viable career. However, if she wants to eventually be a Drama Teacher at a school, then the AMDA way is her best choice.
Sandy Clemons
President
Ain't It Good Productions
Talent Development Company
Simple answer
Simple answer here-
Juilliard
Harvard
Yale
N Y U
If she can get into any of these schools and finish their programs, her success is almost guaranteed. She'll graduate with a prestigious degree, make some great connections, and she will always have options. In my opinion, two year conservatories are a waste of time and money. When you graduate you have a mountain of debt and no degree.
Try a little research:
Have your daughter pick out 5 of her favorite actors, and then research which schools they went to. I bet you will find that they didn't attend school (probably did some studio classes or workshops) or they went to a four year university. Then look at the number of Harvard, Yale, and NYU graduates that have made it in Show Biz (You might notice that this percentage is higher than most other schools.) This is your answer.
A lot of this stuff is about luck, timing, and talent-
But there are some decisions that can certainly increase your luck, better your timing, and hone your talent!
I just wanted to point out
I just wanted to point out that Harvard does not have a theater/acting major, only a minor (what they call "secondary fields"). However, there is a very strong theater program there and a connection with the American Repertory Theater.
Harvard and Yale's undergraduate programs are both liberal arts, rather than conservatory, so the emphasis is on the student as a whole, rather than a focus on acting (and as another poster said, they only award Bachelor of Arts degrees). However, these two schools would be excellent preparation for a career in anything--in case she changes her mind about acting, or it doesn't work out. Looking at a list of famous alums in the entertainment industry can also be misleading--for instance, Natalie Portman, a Harvard grad, only entered Harvard after she had already done numerous films.
Also, Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh has a top notch musical theater program, along with high overall rankings.