<p>I was recently accepted into the film program at both NYU Tisch and Northwestern. I know that NYU has the more well known program, but Northwestern has a good one too and supposedly great connections. My concern at NYU is that the number of required courses in the major (3 a semester) would make it hard to explore and take other classes. Northwestern seems to give a lot more room to having a well rounded Communications education and not just film, but I'm concerned that with the quarter system ending in June it could be hard to get internships. So....I love film, I just think it's good to learn other skills so I can get a job.</p>
<p>Both schools have a really different feel, but I like NYC, and also would be fine in Evanston. I'm not really worried about that aspect of my decision.</p>
<p>Any current students of either program have any thoughts/experience? Any former graduates?</p>
<p>You really can’t go wrong with either school so now it’s just down to your personal preference no matter how small or “weird” those preferences might be. I can tell you not to worry about ending in June for internships, it rarely is a problem and the NU profs know and can work around intern dates. You’re also available later in the summer/early fall and that works in your favor sometimes. The flexibility and quarter system is really a big plus for anyone who wants to explore both their chosen major and other areas that compliment that major. Good luck and remember, you can’t go wrong with either decision.</p>
<p>Both are excellent if you are absolutely sure that you will stick with film.
However, if there’s any chance that your focus might change, NU is by far and away the superior school (even though NYU is a fine school).</p>
<p>^^ sureblah-
I was talking about undergrad, not grad schools. (While both have top-rated law and business schools, there’s no question that NYU’s law school is rated higher than NU’s, and that NU’s business school is rated higher than NYU’s, but that wasn’t what i was talking about.)
In terms of undergrad, it is a LOT tougher to get into Northwestern than NYU, and the overall undergrad student body reflects that. For example, for the last year for which both schools have made their common data sets available (2009-10), the middle 50% of SAT CR for NYU was 610-710, while for NU it was 670-750; for Math for NYU it was 600-720, while for NU it was 690-780; for ACT composites for NYU it was 27-31, while for NU it was 31-33. In 2010, NYU’s acceptance rate was 33%, while NU’s was 23% (and Nu’s acceptance rate now is much lower still - about 15-16%).<br>
This is not the same playing field. That is why US News & World Report ranks NU 12th among National Universities, while it ranks NYU 33rd. (And the Forbes rating, which is admittedly wacky for a number of reasons, ranks NU 11th and NYU 200th.)
Finally, i doubt very much that NYU’s math or computer science departments are superior to NU’s.
This is NOT intended as a swipe at NYU which, as i said above, is a fine school. It is simply not on the same level as Northwestern as an undergrad institution.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for film, but it is certainly not true for Theatre. Both are great schools, but in my experience Northwestern enjoys stronger reputation among theatre professionals… in fact Time Magazine rated NU “Best of the Decade” for theatre schools. </p>
<p>It is somewhat difficult to compare the two (true for all arts programs), as NYU accepts FAR more theatre students, and offers a BFA versus a BA. Also at NYU most students are admitted as performers, while at NU performance auditions don’t take place until after the 100 theatre students are screened for academics and resumes, so many of the admitted NU theatre students are writers, directors, designer, etc. while most of the ~400 admitted to NYU hope to be performers. The two schools do have more in common than NU has in common with most theatre BFAs (aside from UMich), though, so perhaps some similar things are true of the film schools. </p>
<p>Also NU is more academically selective than NYU (and the gap has been widening) - according to College Board for class of 2015 NU admitted 18% versus 32% at NYU.</p>
<p>I know someone who is doing an internship for Winter and Spring terms at Conan O’Brien in LA. Not film but still an example of flexibility with internships.</p>