Hardest decision of my life: UCLA v. Colorado College

College Search & Selection
1

<p>HELP!</p>

<p>I want to be a screenwriter. </p>

<p>I'm worried I'll get lost at UCLA. I'm scared people will be too fratty/too academic. </p>

<p>I'm worried that Colorado College won't open as many doors for me. I always think I'd meet a lot of people who are more like me at Colorado.</p>

<p>It should be mentioned that CC has a creative writing AND a film studies major. CC's block plan would help do well in college and go on to grad school.</p>

<p>My concern is that not being at a school with a film emphasis would make it hard to be accepted into a film school such as the one at UCLA even with good grades.
Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>If you want to be a screenwriter, it would seem your choice is OBVIOUS</p>

<p>UCLA</p>

<p>Chances for internships, and being in the movie capital of the world.</p>

<p>I don’t think this decision is even close.</p>

3

<p>If you are sure about your career choice, then this college choice is easy! Floridadad is right…there is a meaningful difference in internship opportunities and connections.</p>

4

<p>i agree with floridadad55.</p>

<p>You’re right next to Hollywood…the connections you’ll make at UCLA will set you for a life time.</p>

5

<p>Would it be so difficult to form these connections in grad school? Can’t I go to CC, gain a network (and make more friends) and then go on to film school at UCLA?</p>

6

<p>

Well, that’s a rather big If, isn’t it? After all, how many 17/18 year olds actually know what they want to do? Oh, I’m sure many of them <em>think</em> they know what they want to do or are even “sure” of what they want to do, but I doubt more than half (if that many) actually follow through with those plans. Many of them haven’t been exposed to geography or epidemiology or advertising or any of dozens of other career paths. Off the top of my head, I know of a philosophy geek who switched to mechanical engineering, a pre-med neuroscientist who is now studying paleontology, and a music major now working as a military linguist. </p>

<p>Graduate programs don’t care where you went to undergrad; what matters is what you did there. Colorado College is an excellent college, and its block plan is nearly unique. If you feel you could better succeed there, it may well be the superior option. </p>

<p>I have met several people in graduate programs in film and theatre here, and with the exception of one who attended NYU, none of them went to big name undergrads. From what I understand of the process, it’s the quality of your portfolio that matters when applying to graduate programs. I would carefully evaluate the writing programs at Colorado College and UCLA, as well as the internship possibilities available to CC students. This includes the size of writing courses, the ease of getting into writing courses, the availability of relevant courses, the track record of graduates, etc. </p>

<p>I would not assume, however, that you would necessarily feel “lost” at UCLA or that it is “too fratty.” It is easier to feel lost in some majors (say, biology or political science) than others that tend to be tight-knit (say, theatre or music). UCLA is a very diverse university, and it has students who are frattastic, anything but, and somewhere in between.</p>

7

<p>This last post was incredibly helpful. Truly.
While I am fairly certain, and have been for years, that I want to follow a career path that mixes writing and film/movies, your points very much resonated with me.
I think I’ve realized I would be most happy and successful at CC, though I am still open to others’ thoughts.
In the end I am looking for the college that will best put me on the screenwriting career path and the college where I find myself with people I can most identify with.
Thank you all!</p>

8

<p>I’m doing the Film minor @ UCLA now. It’s an amazing place for film with lots of resources. Keep in mind both their undergrad and grad programs are very hard to get into.</p>

9

<p>Check out the biographies of Oscar winning and nominated screenwriters on Wikipedia. Where did they go to college?
[Academy</a> Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Writing_(Original_Screenplay)]Academy”>Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Liberal arts colleges have had a rather good showing, especially when you consider how small they are.</p>

<p>Winners (6 in the past 25 years)
2009 Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker), Oberlin
2003 Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Mills College and Cal Institute of the Arts
1997 Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting), Occidental and University of Vermont
1996 Joel Cohen (Fargo), Bard College at Simon’s Rock
1996 Ethan Cohen (Fargo), Bard College at Simon’s Rock
1988 Barry Morrow (Rain Man), St. Olaf College (left one credit short oft graduation)</p>

<p>Nominees (11 in the past 25 years)
2011 J.C. Chandor (Margin Call), College of Wooster
2005 Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Wale), Vassar
2002 Kenneth Lonergan (Gangs of New York), Wesleyan and NYU
2000 Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich), Amherst
1998 Jeremy Piksar (Bulworth), Oberlin
1995 Joseph Whedon (Toy Story), Wesleyan
1993 David Ward (Sleepless in Seattle), Pomona
1993 Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle), Wellesley
1993 Jeff Maguire (In the Line of Fire), Hampshire College
1988 Naomi Foner (Running on Empty), Barnard
1988 Ron Shelton (Bull Durham), Westmont College</p>

<p>Among the winners and nominees for the past 25 years, one attended UCLA (Dustin Lance Black, who won in 2008 for Milk). Quite a few others attended schools with strong film programs, such as NYU or California Institute of the Arts. But some did not even attend college at all, or else did not graduate. The many winners and nominees who did attend college went to a wide variety of schools, including Ivies (Cornell, Harvard, Yale), state universities (such as Georgia, Florida State, Vermont) and various non-US institutions (including Cambridge and University College, Dublin).</p>

<p>I strongly recommend the OP visit both schools.</p>

10

<p>Dude, I understand that you’re kinda “scared” about the unknowns at UCLA - whether the people are too academic as you said. With that being said, I think you do know personally that UCLA is hands-down one of the best colleges and the acceptance you got is an achievement in itself.</p>

<p>Take the plunge. UCLA. :)</p>

11

<p>CC, in my experience, comes up really short where alumni network is concerned and is unlikely to yield you any industry contacts. If I really wanted to be a screenwriter, I’d head to UCLA where internship opportunities will be much better and the opportunity to develop industry contacts is much better.</p>