Marymount Manhattan College

Date: Jul 09 2014
Major: Perfomance Arts (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm an acting major at Marymount Manhattan College, and after finishing up my first year as a student, I am confronted with the simple and unavoidable fact, that if you are not talented, you will not enjoy acting component of acting school. This goes for any college drama program, not just MMC. I have been fortunate to have been cast in multiple school productions this past year, but I have many friends and peers who haven't been as lucky as I have been. Some of whom are juniors and seniors, and still have not been cast in a show. The performance opportunities offered at MMC are numerous and plenty, and if you're not cast inside school, you are surrounded by "Theater Mecca" New York City. MMC offers four mainstage shows a year, with a student run showcase called Director's Projects, each semester. In addition to this, MMC offers January Projects which practice and perform during winter break, which are just more examples of performance opportunities offered. On top of all that, MMC has plenty of festivals that vary with each year giving student actors, playwrights, and directors even more opportunities to have their work premiered.

The reason I'm explaining all of this to the community is to clear the air on the idea behind Marymount not giving enough opportunities to its students. As I said earlier, if you're talented, you'll do fine. Sophomore year "juries" will tell you that. Yes, Marymount does have a rather large acceptance rate for theater students, but because of that, some students are going to have a better experience than others. That's just the way the statistics are going to play out. Not every student can be cast, not every kid is going to get a trophy. Honestly? Marymount Manhattan College does a phenomenal job of preparing students for the real world as performers, and gives them a great toolbox of skills that will help them make it as professionals. I would highly recommend it to any prospective students thinking about a career in acting. Marymount is a great school, with some really great people.