First of all, I am so sorry about the length of this post. I thought it was a good idea to include some background info, but feel free to skip to the 3rd paragraph ("However, there is one major factor...") for my actual questions.
Hello all. I feel a bit weird having my first-ever post be one of those "Help me choose a college!" threads, which I'm sure everyone is sick of, but I'm very torn in this decision and figured this was the best place to ask. I've been a frequent lurker here for a long time (in fact, without all the knowledge I gained from the posts here, I doubt I would have been very successful as a novice SM) but only just now worked up the courage to post. :)
Anyway, I am trying to choose a college to attend this fall. I want to make stage managing my career and go to a college that will help me achieve this goal. I've been accepted to several schools but have narrowed it down to SUNY Purchase and Emerson College, both for the BFA in Stage Management. I'm really torn between these two schools. There are so many factors to consider (I've read MatthewShiner's long post in the stickied thread, which was great): basically, I like Purchase because it is extremely inexpensive (I'd be paying in-state tuition and could probably finish school with close to no debt, which would be amazing), seems to have a very strong program, is close to NYC and seems to have a strong alumni network. On the other hand, I visited Emerson last weekend and I really loved the location, the atmosphere, the students. I spoke with the head of the stage management program and liked her a lot, and they just opened a new performing arts center, and they do musicals, which is something I think I would miss if I went to a school that only does dramatic plays, like Purchase. I also got a decent scholarship to Emerson which helps lessen the financial gap a little, though Purchase is still significantly cheaper.
However, there is one major factor I feel like I don't really have a full view of yet: how well the two schools would actually set me up for a career, and how they are viewed in the professional community. Of course, all the current students and alumni I've talked to have had lots of good things to say about their respective schools, but I want to get an outside opinion. I'm concerned about how each school would help me in terms of actually getting jobs.
So what I would like to know is, have you, in your theatre career, known people who studied stage management at Emerson? What were they like? Did they seem to have been well served by their education? Where they working steadily? Did the fact that they went to Emerson make you more or less likely to want to work with them/hire them? What about people who went to SUNY Purchase?
I've read several people saying on this board that, for example, graduates of, NCSA tend to be "spoiled" and unprepared for the "real world." I don't want to spend 4 years getting a degree only to have people dismiss me because of the name on my resume, so I really want to know how these two schools are viewed in the professional theatre world.
Opinions from current students and alumni of Emerson or Purchase are of course welcome, but I am especially hoping to hear from people who didn't attend either of these schools, as those are the views I haven't gotten to hear yet in the admissions process.
Thank you so much for reading this, and thanks in advance for any advice!