Wow… my daughter just received FA from UTexas (7 wks after admittance). $0 aid, only loans. So… as a note to future applicants… UTexas expects my daughter (or us) to pay 399% what USC does. UMiami expects my daughter (or us) to pay 256% what USC does. Emory was by far the most generous with FA aid… 33% better than USC. FSU falls in between Emory and USC as a total cost for us. But, barring some Ivy miracle tonight, she will still likely attend USC. So… if financial aid is going to be a key component of your decision-making, you may want to at least look into Emory for sure.
Edit… and daughter just got the official FSU MPA email. Freshman class now full, so she is an alternate if she wants to be. Disappointing, but she had basically already made up her mind to attend USC anyhow.
Sorry, guys. I was rooting for you. @loribale, I’m sure our sons will be doing a lot of volunteering on film sets next year. Good luck to him. Hopefully, he is not too disapointed. Go Noles!
I am sorry too… actually more so for your son. My daughter had already mentally turned the page and quite literally was unaffected by the news. Thankfully so. Good luck though… I hope he makes it in as a transfer.
But as soon as she signs… I will have her withdraw to potentially aid in his efforts as well. One less name on a wait-list
Well rats. @WWWard I’m so glad your daughter go into her #1 school. Sounds like she is happy and I’m sure she will love it. @loribale --crossing fingers a spot opens for your son from that waiting list. Thanks to all of your for sharing your wisdom and experience from the process. My high school filmmaker will be going through it soon and I appreciate your sharing what you learned. Best of luck to all the kids as they make that transition to college.
Our advice, for what it is worth, to future years’ applicants for film…
Yes - consider FSU MPA, as it is a great program and very cost-effective, even if you are OOS. But with an overall freshman acceptance rate of just 4% or so, it is on par with USC SCA in terms of the difficulty of just getting in, so do not count on it. Have many other options. Maybe consider the burgeoning program at UCF, for example.
Overall, the best FA package we received was from Emory. So I would suggest considering it… even though it is not purely a Film Production program. It is at least in Atlanta, which is burgeoning for film. Unless In-State, I would skip over UTexas. Their FA offering was non-existent. Nada. UMiami is a solid program, but very expensive… and their FA offering, even with a merit scholarship left it the 2nd worse in our case. From what I hear… NYU is no better.
So… overall - in terms of being cost-effective and solid programs for production… USC SCA and FSU MPA seem to offer the best balance of good program and affordable (USC only if you actually qualify for aid). While there are many others to consider… Chapman, Emerson, etc. - it seems to come down to whether you get a large enough merit scholarship or not. Without either a strong merit scholarship or a school fully committed to meeting most of not all demostrated financial need (and you qualifying for that ais)… or just a lesser expensive program, like FSU or maybe UCF… the film school route can be an expensive one.
Daughter officially committed to USC today and asked FSU MPA to remove her from any further consideration on the alternate’s list. So good luck… hopefully your son eventually gets the call
That’s awesome @WWWard! Congrats to your daughter! And thanks for letting FSU know. I’ll keep you posted!
And thanks @cruzanlady ! So awesome you are figuring this all out a year ahead, I wish I had been researching schools like you guys had a year ago. Good luck!!
Thanks, @loribale Indeed… a very tough choice lies ahead. It is really a choice between a college considered #1 overall (Princeton) vs a college that is #1 for what she wants to pursue (USC). Had she gotten into Yale or Brown, I suspect that the decision would have been easier - as they are stronger in that area. But as I understand it, Princeton is rather lacking in film/cinema or media studies… offering only a certificate program. So she would even have to select a new major to attend Princeton. She graduated last night, so we did not have much time to discuss it. Instead, that tough decision will likely come today or in the next few days…
