Dual major difficulty - Tisch students especially?

<p>I was accepted into Tisch as a transfer student. For most of my time at community college, I planned to eventually earn a PhD in philosophy. But recently I discovered an intense passion for filmmaking, and I didn’t want to pass up on the opportunities that are available to me now. I was told that someone attending Tisch can declare a dual major and take courses at CAS. So, I figured if I attended Tisch, I could major in filmmaking but take courses at CAS toward a second major in philosophy. In short, NYU was the only school that seemed to offer me extensive opportunities in both areas of study, which is why I applied to Tisch and not CAS.</p>

<p>However, after talking to a couple of students at NYU, I’m wondering if this will be feasible. I keep hearing that the program at Tisch is so intensive that it would be very difficult to complete a second major without taking a ridiculous amount of classes each semester or taking much longer to graduate (which is big $$$). </p>

<p>So, I’m just wondering if anyone can speak to the experience of dual majoring. Is it something students often do successfully? Or is it very difficult? What can I do to efficiently plan out the classes I need to take and stuff like that? Do you have any other advice for me?</p>

<p>Basically, I need to know if attending NYU Tisch will cause me to deemphasize philosophy to a dangerous degree. This may inform my decision to attend somewhere else (where I can focus just on philosophy). </p>

<p>Does that make sense?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Tisch students can double major however, it differs by major, obviously. </p>

<p>As far as film majors go, a double major is possible however, you most likely wouldn’t be able to take an elective classes - you would probably only be able to take major requirements/gen ed requirements to graduate on time. (Taking around 18 credits per semester) </p>

<p>HOWEVER,
Considering that your primary goal is philosophy, I would HIGHLY recommend studying at NYU. NYU is widely regarded as having the best department for philosophy in the world (consistently ranked above Oxford). A lot of the papers you will read for analytical-based classes will have been written by the professor who is teaching the class. Personally, being a philosophy major, I can tell you that studying philosophy here is both very difficult and very rewarding. (Note: A few of the largely popular classes will have TA’s and recitation sections. However, professors encourage debate/discussion during class AND during recitations with the TA’s, as it is essential to the study of philosophy). And of course Tisch is arguably, along with USC, the best film school in the US. I would recommend accepting the Tisch offer and trying it out. If you decided that you can’t or do not want to pursue a double major in Film and philosophy and instead only want to go for philosophy, you could internal transfer from Tisch to CAS.</p>

<p>Thanks for responding. It’s great to hear from a philosophy major! I have a few follow up comments that may help…</p>

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<p>Well, take into consideration I’m applying as a transfer student. I’m not sure how good NYU is about credit transference, but I’ve taken the following at community college: intro to biology, into to chemistry, preCalculus and Calculus, English Comp I and II, a history class, and so on. I’m hoping I won’t have to take too many general ed classes when I attend NYU.</p>

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<p>Here is my concern. NYU is really expensive. (See my other thread about financial aid.) Since Rutgers has one of the top PhD programs in philosophy, and I could attend there virtually for free, it doesn’t make much sense to me to attend NYU for just philosophy. Maybe you can speak to this from a different perspective?</p>

<p>On top of this, there may be no gaurantee I could internal transfer if worse came to worst. I hear internal transferring is difficult.</p>

<p>I was thinking that worst case scenario, if things got rough and too expensive, I could just transfer out of NYU to the cheaper Rutgers, but (1) I would lose my instate scholarship by then (NJ Stars) and (2) I hear that certain colleges won’t accept students after they have completed so many years of college (and I have attended 2 years of community college).</p>

<p>@isealbz - Did you get your financial aid package from NYU yet?</p>

<p>I can view the “summary” on the Albert page, but I’m not sure if they’re supposed to release a more detailed statement later. I need to call them Monday.</p>

<p>The initial summary says I’ve received $5500 for the year. See my other thread outlining my concerns over payment: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-york-university/1147582-how-do-you-guys-pay.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-york-university/1147582-how-do-you-guys-pay.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Since you went to a community college, I’m assuming you’re coming in as a junior right? Most junior Tisch transfer I know take solely Tisch film classes because they have already fulfilled their liberal arts reqs (that you could have potentially used to fulfill a second major if you would have entered as a freshmen) and they need to catch up on the film classes. I’m not sure if you can pull it off if you want to graduate in time. If you’re entering as a sophomore, you might have a chance to complete both majors. The philosophy major is 40 credits: [Program</a> of Study, Philosophy | NYU](<a href=“Department of Philosophy”>Department of Philosophy)</p>