I am interested in majoring in CS and minoring in film production, as I am very intrigued in the technical side of filmmaking/production. Are there any colleges that have good programs in both fields and would allow me to major in CS and minor in film production? Here are my stats (as of now) just to place my ability in perspective:
Grade: Junior
School: Pretty competitive public high school in Cali.
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted).
Honor/Advanced Classes: All of the highest math classes my school provides (Geo/Alg2 H, Trig/Alg2 H, Analysis), highest chemistry class (Chem H), second highest biology class (Bio A - freshman year), and all honor English courses.
APs: AP Chem, AP Japanese, APUSH.
AP’s I’m planning to take: AP Econ, AP Calculus BC, APCS.
Standardized Tests: ACT: 34; SAT Math II: 800, SAT Japanese: 800 (I took the SAT Chem subject test today so the scores of that test will be coming soon :/).
Extracurriculars: Piano, violin, school orchestra (principal second violin this year; got into chamber orchestra (honors group) this year as well (yay [:)), Marketing Director (last year) and Secretary (this year) of SAGE Global Business club, founder and president of craft club (1 year), member of another school club (Science of Sight - raises awareness and funds for Usher syndrome research - helped plan fundraisers, etc.), Japanese school every Saturday.
Also, if I were to minor in Film Production, will I have to build a portfolio of some sort in high school?
(As a side note, I am also looking at colleges that would/are willing to offer some scholarships other than need-based scholarships (which I guess will probably mean private colleges?) because I’m already aware that I am not really eligible for need-based scholarships :/).
Since most schools offer CS, I would look for schools that offer Film Production - a much more unusual major. If you can find schools with good Film Production programs, check to see if you can minor it in and then whether they have CS. Here’s a starter list:
I would also caution you that most people change their career goals - and majors - often more than once. If you pick a school primarily because they offer an unusual major and you later change your mind, you may find that you aren’t happy with your choice of college.
If you were majoring in film production, and applying to a competitive schools, they might have a requirement for a portfolio as part of the admissions process (art schools often require portfolios). If you are applying to a school that isn’t that specialized and it’s only a minor, it’s unlikely that you would need a portfolio. But further research into specific schools/programs will give you the information you are looking for.
Try using the Supermatch function on the left (under find a college).
If you are looking for merit aid, look at some schools where you are in the top 25% or so in academic statistics.
Much fewer will have film production minors. Some examples of schools that do are NYU, Northeastern, UCSD, and Marist (I’m sure there are others, but probably not a ton).
However, there are a plethora of schools that offer minors in Film Studies and the like, which will have varying degrees of focus on film production (Tufts, for example, has a Film Studies minor where you can choose to focus either on production or analysis).
Colleges that don’t offer a “film production minor” per se, might still offer courses in film production which you may be able to take as electives together with your CS major, rounding out your education in the same way a minor would (just without the actual “minor”).
Case in point: USC which has no minor but is considered one of the best film production schools in the country.
UCLA is another which has a lot of film courses with a production/lab component.
