<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I've been lurking on College Confidential for quite some time now (probably like many of you reading this right now) and decided it was time to contribute. Like most, I have spent over a hundred hours looking at other applicant's stats and visual samples on the internet. Instead of silently psyching myself out, I thought I'd take the leap and post my stats. I'm not looking for blind reassurance, I just want to hear realistically what my chances are. And if you have any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>So here's my info:</p>
<p>MAJOR: Film/TV Production
Currently beginning my 2nd year at College of the Canyons (Community College in Southern CA)
Will have 51 units completed by time of application with a 3.76 gpa (unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale)
Mostly all As, but I received a C in a high level, high credit math course, and it tanked my first semester's gpa to a 3.41 (BLASTED CALCULUS!!!!! <em>British accent</em>)
Received a 3.73 this past spring semester, and will most likely receive a 4.0 this fall. So I have the upward trend going for me.
Will graduate with honors (more than 15 units of honors courses)
NYU doesn't require I submit SAT scores since I have over 2 semesters of college coursework under my belt, but I do have to send my High School Transcript
Unfortunately I spent more time watching/making films than applying myself, so I only received a 3.5 (Weighted, On 5.0 scale)
I have quite a few AP and Honors courses, but my grades were all over the place, As, Bs, Cs and two Ds. (I only cared about what interested me)
Although I was heavily involved in Hart TV (School News Production), voted homecoming king, voted funniest in the senior class, and chosen to give the commencement speech (I wrote a Letterman-esque Top Ten List of things I learned at Hart High, and quoted Conan O'Brien in my number 1), my SAT scores and GPA was a bit lackluster. Hopefully they don't ruin my chances completely. </p>
<p>In college I became extremely involved, so here's what I intend to list on my application:</p>
<p>-Won my college's first gold medal at a National Speech Tournament
I adapted the documentary Man On Wire into a 10 minute dramatic interpretation and competed against over 100 other competitors from all across the country (Also won Bronze at State) Will hopefully garner more awards this speech season.</p>
<p>-Voted President of the Speech Team</p>
<p>-Founder/President of the Film Club</p>
<p>-Spokesperson/member of the Gamma Beta Phi Honors Society</p>
<p>-ICC Rep/member of the Sociology Club</p>
<p>-Volunteered at the LA Short Film Festival (over 50 hours)</p>
<p>-Internship with Medusa Pictures (One of the many connections I made at the film festival, my advice to those wanting to nab an internship, volunteer at a film festival and be extremely charming/knowledgeable/passionate and I GUARANTEE you will make connections)</p>
<p>-Chosen as the "Outstanding Honors Student" in the field of English (Despite receiving a B in the class, it was that tough!) </p>
<p>-Paid Production Assistant for Chad, Matt, and Rob Productions, and on a personal note, I am now their friend :) (another connection a made through the film festival) Here's their wiki page: Chad</a>, Matt & Rob - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Will compete in a 48 hour film contest for the Producer's Guild of America in a couple of weeks, hopefully my team wins something! ;D</p></li>
<li><p>Student Ambassador (Eight of us were chosen to represent the entire school)</p></li>
<li><p>A frequent collaborator with a CSUN film student on his Youtube channel. A little crude for my taste, but we've seemed to generate a decent following, here's a link if you're curious: JouleTheif's</a> Channel - YouTube</p></li>
</ul>
<p>-Works in the school Library</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I have no shortage of impressive recommendations: One from my Speech Coach, who is a notoriously great recommendation writer, one from the President/Dean of my college (One of the perks of being a school ambassador), one from my Cinema professor, and one from my Honors English Professor (The same one that I received a B from, she knew it was because of procrastination, not lack of talent/effort) </p></li>
<li><p>A ton of shorts made with friends that I will list on my portfolio. One of which is a 5 min short I will be sending to USC titled "Nana and Poppi" (a silent film starring my grandparents). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>-Here's a taste of my style, I know the production value (lighting/sound) is absolutely horrible, but we wrote, shot, and edited it over the course of 2 days, so I'm proud of it:
The</a> Cooler Situation - YouTube
^^ Make sure you watch the whole thing through before you judge it, I'm aware it's not amazing haha</p>
<p>-Am currently storyboarding the short I plan on using as my visual sample for NYU. It will be MUCH better than the one I posted above, and is titled "Speak Up". It is a dark/romantic comedy.(Paul Thomas Anderson, The Coen Bros, and Scorsese are my favorite living filmmakers) </p>
<ul>
<li>Don't know if this matters, but I worked at Baskin Robbins for 2 and a half years to pay my way through community college </li>
</ul>
<p>When it comes to the personal statement, I plan on describing my trip to New York City for my speech tournament, and how profound of an effect it had on me (Working my A S S off in order to win a gold medal, and being inspired/mesmerized by the streets/subways of NY. I honestly feel like I belong there, so many strangers came up to me asking for directions, I guess I just give off a NY vibe haha) . I suppose I'll also mention the fact that my mom and I struggled financially through my high school years, especially in the 10th grade when she was fired and unemployed for roughly 5 months. I don't know who my father is, nor do I receive child support. My mom and I have lived in this one bedroom apartment my entire life. Don't get me wrong though, I wouldn't change the way I was raised for anything, I'm proud of my mom and the way I turned out. But I figure it wouldn't hurt to mention it. </p>
<p>Now this is the part where I say CHANCE ME!!1!11 :)<333</p>
<p>So I need to get back to writing my English 102 essay. For being a website dedicated to college success, College Confidential sure does fuel the fire that is my procrastination. AMIRITE GAIZ?</p>
<p>Anyways, I may come off as a neurotic, somewhat pretentious d bag, but my dream is to study film at NYU (or possibly USC if I am lucky enough to be accepted there as well), so I plan on doing whatever it takes to reach that goal. Thank you for reading this giant, boring post. If anyone has any questions about how to get involved at their current college, please feel free to ask me. And if you just want to talk film, I am also down for such conversation ;)</p>
<p>Love,
Austin</p>