<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school and was wondering what some good schools for becoming a TV writer are. I'm already aware of USC, UCLA, and NYU but I know how hard it is to get in to those, so what are some others?</p>
<p>If you want to get into telewriting, NYC is the place to be, so any school there should do. I know I harp on this a lot, but I highly recommend studying something else for undergrad, and then going to a graduate writing program.</p>
<p>There are many film and media arts schools out there. TV and film are connected, so while you are studying for TV writing, you’re also studying for film writing. Chapman has an excellent film and media arts programs and it’s well regarded in the industry. Chapman also has better merit scholarships. Here is a link to a list of the most popular schools for screenwriting. Hope this helps. [Most</a> Popular Schools for Playwriting and Screenwriting Major & Degree Program](<a href=“http://www.stateuniversity.com/program/50-0504/Playwriting-and-Screenwriting]Most”>http://www.stateuniversity.com/program/50-0504/Playwriting-and-Screenwriting)</p>
<p>That’s a terrible list…I’d say the vast majority of those schools aren’t worth checking out</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that not every program is popular in every school. This is why they list the schools according to how popular their programs are. You will find some schools more popular in another area of the film programs. Also, some schools not listed perhaps due to insufficient data provided by the school. The list gives people a general idea where most of the students go for a particular program. It is what it is. It is a national listing including universities and community colleges.</p>
<p>Give it up, this list is even more pointless than their list of film production schools. It clearly is sorted only on number of students in programs, nothing to do with quality. OCELITE, there are so many other reasons to choose Chapman as a quality program besides these lists. The list equates popularity with number of students enrolled, that reasoning makes third world poverty popular. It’s a flawed list if the production list has Brooks!!! #3 over Chapman, doesn’t have LMU or UT Austin, and so on. It is what it is, and all it is is a flawed measure of program size. I would quit using it as an argument for the superiority of Chapman, there are so many other reasons to choose it besides this list.</p>
<p>Sorry to burst your bubble jtmoney. Just because the list doesn’t include your favorite school for a particular program, doesn’t mean it is flawed. This goes to show you that LMU, UCLA and certain big name schools may not be all that popular in some of the programs. As I recall, there are other resources out there that have also ranked Chapman’s film programs higher than LMU. So are you saying the other resources are flawed, too? Those schools with more students enrolled are more popular for a reason. Please keep in mind that there are other institutions out there that have decent arts programs, too. The list was provided to the OP for a non-bias option. We can only recommend a program or a school to someone, but it is up to the student to decide whether a university, or a community college, or a vocational school be a better fit. Some people can’t afford to go to a 4-year university and some have no money issues, and others may not have the time and just want to take an 8-week summer program. You’ll never know.</p>
<p>@Yanks, My advice to you is to do your research carefully and to visit the schools that you’d like to attend. Depending on your goal, if you’d like a well-rounded education, a degree at a university or a college is a better investment. The stateuniversity.com list indicates USC and Chapman University as tops, so you can’t go wrong there because they are truly among the best and very competitive to get in. Depending on your financial situation, but if you’re looking for merit-aid, I highly recommend Chapman because their merit-aid is usually better. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Hey Elite
did I hear the words “non-bias option” coming from you?
I’d agree everything ^you have to say if only I haven’t reading your posts all these months.
let’s not forget what happened in Chapman land?
It is OK to love and push certain school but if you’d attach informations ONLY favorable to Chapman’s standing and fight back (albeit nicely) EVERY TIME anyone ever contests, people’d wonder what’s up with this person. not only that, you are doing more harm than good to your pet school. It sure did to me.</p>
<p>Don’t look at just television and media arts schools. LACs have real success with graduates who major i english or creative writing or even something unrelated… I am most familiar with Wesleyan which have notable alumni -cut and pasted below- but I guess other LACs have similar braggy lists :</p>
<p>Michael Bay ’86—Film producer and director (The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, The Island, Transformers franchise) Amy Bloom ’75—creator and writer of television show State of Mind Robin Cook ’62, MD—Medical mystery writer (Chromosome 6, Coma, Shock, Crisis) Jennifer Flackett ’86—Screenwriter (Madeline, Wimbledon, Little Manhattan) Akiva Goldsman ’83—Film producer and screenwriter (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons) Daniel Handler ’92—Author (under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket) of A Series of Unfortunate Events children’s book series Sebastian Junger ’84—Author (The Perfect Storm, A Death in Belmont, War) and documentary filmmaker (Restrepo) David Kohan ’86—Co-creator and executive producer of Will and Grace Alex Kurtzman ’95—Film and television screenwriter and producer (Alias, Transformers, Fringe, Star Trek [2009]) Zak Penn ’90—Screenwriter (The Incredible Hulk, X Men: The Last Stand, PCU); Craig Thomas ’97—Co-creator and writer of television show How I Met Your Mother Jon Turteltaub ’85—Film director (Phenomenon, While You Were Sleeping, National Treasure, A Sorcerer’s Apprentice); creator of television drama Jericho Matthew Weiner ’87—creator, writer, executive producer of Mad Men Joss Whedon ’87—Creator, producer, director, and writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse; screenwriter for Speed and Toy Story Mike White ’92—Screenwriter (Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl, School of Rock, Nacho Libre)
Don’t know how this compares to schools that have more technical or industry directed programs. Can anyone comment?</p>
<p>thank you all for helping out! Other than that list above does anyone have a list that they feel is right because part of me does agree with destinyhelp and jtmoney, I don’t think the list is great. So far I’ve heard USC, UCLA (not wasting my time, heard you have to wait until sophomore year to even apply to major in screenwriting), Chapman (not a fan of living in boston), Texas. Any others?</p>
<p>Chapman is not in Boston.</p>
<p>Hello B & D, Thanks for checking in. I am responding to your post in case there is any misunderstanding. Based on what you said, " It is OK to love and push certain school but if you’d attach informations ONLY favorable to Chapman’s standing and fight back (albeit nicely) EVERY TIME anyone ever contests, people’d wonder what’s up with this person. not only that, you are doing more harm than good to your pet school. It sure did to me."</p>
<p>Ummm… it sounded like you haven’t been to some of my other non Chapman posts. In some of my other posts, I’ve provided information to posters about other programs and schools that may fit them better which doesn’t pertain Chapman. I only offer my advice to help answer posters questions based on what I know about a program or a school, or resources that I feel could be helpful. In some cases, it’s about the pros and cons. If I know a program is tops, I tell it like it is. The OP of this thread wanted to find out “if there are other good schools out there besides USC, UCLA and NYU that are easier to get in”. Therefore, I thought it may be helpful if there is some sort of list for the screenwriting program. Now I’m being under attacked by providing such a list. As you can see, there are other fine schools on the list that also have decent screenwriting programs, so it’s not only just favorable to Chapman. I went in-depth between USC and Chapman because I know a bit more about them. Every school out there has some sort of writing programs, that is without a doubt. Keep in mind that the list provided is pertaining to the “most popular schools for the screenwriting program”. It’s not whether how strong their programs are. As I’ve stated before in “Chapman land” as you call it, I let the professionals do the rankings. Sorry that the list excluded some of the schools you feel should be on there and if that had offended anyone. If there is a problem about the list, please take it up with stateuniversity.com.</p>
<p>Hi Flyaround, Thank you for adding your list to this thread. I think you also have a very good list. Here’s another list from an independent source for the “ten best academic programs for aspiring screenwriters”. Please note: “ten best academic programs”. It’s not whether how popular the schools are in terms of enrollment. Let me make this clear for everyone out there. If there is a problem about this list, please take it up with The Independent. Hopefully this list will be helpful.
[The</a> 10 Best Academic Programs for Aspiring Screenwriters | The Independent](<a href=“http://www.independent-magazine.org/magazine/2008/12/screenwritingten]The”>http://www.independent-magazine.org/magazine/2008/12/screenwritingten)</p>
<p>@Yanks, Chapman University is located in Orange County, California.</p>
<p>good try OC but isn’t this^^MFA/ certificate programs they are talking about?
why are you mixing up?
and
since when Chapman is called Chapman COLLEGE?
or is there Chapman college within Chapman University?
or
careless misguided info here?
I have seen Parsons became Parson’s, Cooper called Cooper Union University.
I can’t spell nor write a thing but if anyone do these thing for living (that means you, too, LOL) should be bit more careful, no?</p>
<p>As a sophomore you have time to use some good research tools, including CC’s own supermatch. I tried it for screenwriting major and Chapman came up #1. Seriously. So did a lot of other schools, depending on how you choose the search criteria. It’s a good tool to narrow the list to manageable size. I have tried it out and depending on the criteria you use and the ability to manipulate the importance of different criteria, it seems to do very well. It’s worth messing with if you like that kind of thing. Put in your estimated scores, GPA, pick the criteria you care about and ignore the other parameters, and out comes a list. I wish it had been available two years ago, I think it is better than the college boards, fast web, etc.
Flyaround has a point that writing may not be as dependent on “film school” as the more equipment oriented areas of film. The only screenwriter I have known went to Evergreen.
Good luck.</p>
<p>I hate it when people bring up Wesleyan…so much anger</p>
<p>calm down now, it is not Wes’s fault. if anyone to blame it’s your folks who don’t pay. wait, maybe it is, since they don’t do merit aid and don’t care if people mix them up with other schools or don’t know its value.</p>
<p>where did you decide to go?
You never know, when you’ve done UG, you could be golden. as much as some film school kids who got parents who’d bring just baked cookies and forgotten gym shoes for you, be there for you and talk to your friends day in day out.
in other words
as a college student, which would you rather have?</p>
<p>B & D, In responding to your post #13, the school name is Chapman University. The name Chapman College was renamed to Chapman University in 1991. Apparently some sources out there haven’t changed it yet, lol.</p>
<p>In regards to “isn’t this^^MFA/ certificate programs they are talking about?
why are you mixing up?”</p>
<p>The article in the “ten best academic programs for aspiring screenwriters” had indicated the best degree and non-degree granting programs for screenwriters. They are giving the screenwriters different options to take.</p>
<p>I meant Emerson in Boston, Chapman is in orange county</p>
<p>I’m looking more toward schools that offer a Bachelor’s degree. I want to get my bachelor’s and then maybe later on think about getting my master’s, but for now I want to focus on the Bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>I’m going to go to Illinois Wesleyan bears and dogs. I was just in a bad mood when that post was made, so I apologize. I’m looking forward to college, and everything is good.</p>