<p>Hi everyone. I've just finished up my freshman year at Tufts University. I love Tufts a lot, but I now realize that I want to major in film studies. Tufts only offers film studies as a minor. And while I can still take film classes, the selection is very limited and most of the students don't really care much for film (I've come to notice they think film classes are blow off classes...).</p>
<p>Anyway. I have been thinking of transferring as a junior to another school where I can actually major in film. Since Tufts is such a wonderful school, my parents are very opposed to this idea unless I can transfer into a "better" school (read: Ivy). I understand where they're coming from, but I'm still frustrated.</p>
<p>I don't really know what to do. I have a 3.56 cumulative GPA, which is nothing special but is okay. I did better spring semester than I did fall semester (and took five courses instead of four). I am pretty sure this upward trend will continue, so I am confidant that after this next fall semester, my GPA will be higher. I worked two jobs on campus, played badminton, acted in student film productions, volunteered at the radio station, was a member of MOST (Multiracial Organization of Students at Tufts--I am part peruvian), and was a part of a group that brought smaller, indie groups to play shows on campus. This summer, I have two internships-- one is with a music promotions company (last summer I did pr/advertising stuff too) and the other is with a company that is making a documentary for Animal Planet. I was in the top 5% of my class in hs... I had a 1460 on my SATs (700m,760v)... and my SAT IIs averaged to 700 I believe.</p>
<p>I don't know why I just gave a quick sketch of my stats... but yeah. I had a wonderful professor last semester who is letting me take a directed studies film course with him--and I'm supposed to model it this summer. If I were to transfer, I would want to model it after courses that other schools generally offer for film studies. But not knowing whether or not to apply to an Ivy League school is making this tough. Because I'm not even sure which schools to look at, if any. And if I were to apply, what could I do (besides get a better GPA) to be a more appealing candidate?</p>
<p>I guess I'm a little all over the place. But any guidance would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>you have some great extracurriculars that sound amazing (along with the internships and the course that you're taking--and they show a passion and interest in what you want to go into. However, I wouldn't apply to the ivy's just because your parents want you to "look up"--the best film programs (from what I know, which isn't much) probably aren't at the ivies. I would just explore available options right now, and if you find a place that you really love, then you can worry about whether it's "better". I'm transferring out of wesleyan (reasons surrounding disability, not academic or social) and they have an amazing film department (janine basinger is the chair) and just built a new film studies center that is drop dead gorgeous. The students are very film-studies friendly, but then again, I really don't know if that's what you're looking for at all. I would just explore right now and see what your options are without concentrating on ivies.</p>
<p>Confetti tea: I can't help you specifically with good schools for film studies, but I can tell you that I believe that essays are critical in the transfer process. (My daughter just completed the transfer process -- she'll be a sophomore next year.) Once you narrow your choices, you need to explain to colleges via your essays and cover letter exactly why they ought to take you. You can do this by digging deep into your schools websites to learn as much as you can about their film studies departments and about their campuses, beginning an e-mail dialogue with a film studies professor, then articulating very specifically why you would like to attend each college and why you be an asset to each campus.</p>
<p>I don't think going to the Ivies to study film makes that much sense. NYU and USC would probably(?) both be better choices than any of the Ivies. The school I'm transferring out of (Ithaca College), I believe had a good film program. It's a school primarily known for the communications (and music) programs. The film program happens to be in the communications school. You may want to look into it also (although, I'm not a huge fan of the city of Ithaca).</p>
<p>I'd look into NYU and USC first and foremost though. Your parents can't be the ones making this decision for you.</p>
<p>I just want to say that I've discounted USC, because I want to stay on the east coast. I don't think my family could afford the travelling expenses if I went to the west coast. And regarding NYU, I thought it was just about impossible to transfer into Tisch? Also, I really like receiving personal attention, so I don't want to transfer to a very large school. Since my parents are paying for most of my college education, I feel that they do have somewhat of a say in what I end up doing. Whether I heed or not is a different story, but I do understand where they are coming from.</p>
<p>certaincertainties- thank you very much :) I am somewhat familiar with the film studies program at wes, because I got into Wes when I applied as a freshman. I decided not to go, because Wes rubbed me the wrong way (and this was before I knew what I wanted to major in). But I might take another look at it, now that you mention it.</p>
<p>wjb- thank you for your advice-- I have already started e-mailing professors. Some reply, while others don't. But I'm trying to start some dialogue. </p>
<p>toph- I'm familliar with Ithaca, since a good friend of mine goes there as did my cousin. I'm not a huge fan of the city either, haha.</p>
<p>I'd just minor in film studies, then get an MFA in film. It sounds like you love Tufts and it would be a shame to have to start making friends and contacts again at a new school. You also may shine better at Tufts than at a larger school with film studies (not saying anything about your ability). Check out Wesleyan, Vassar, USC...</p>
<p>I work in the film industry and from what I've seen the only significant benefits to going to top film schools are exposure to the technologies and making good contacts.</p>
<p>The technological side of filmmaking has only become more accessible -- I think the contacts are the main benefit of going to a good film school. And, for the contacts to really mean something, you have to go to a well-connected institution (like USC, UCLA, NYU, Vancouver.) East-coast options are slim in that regard.</p>
<p>However, if you envision raising your own money for film projects, going into the business side, or needing to employ yourself while you work on a first opportunity, I can't imagine that you'd be anything but well-served by going to an Ivy or any other good school.</p>
<p>Fact is, unless you get really lucky, getting in the door is a lot of hard work no matter where you study, and a degree from Harvard or Yale will be just as impressive to people in motion pictures as it is to anyone else.</p>
<p>One bit of advice though: if film studies is a weak major at Tufts, get out, either out of the major or out of the school. Don't fritter away your education in a program that you know isn't up to your standards. Plenty of people with degrees in other subjects wind up in film anyway -- my degree was in physics.</p>
<p>alrict- I don't know if going to school for an MFA in film is a reality that I'll ultimately be faced with. So I just want to major in film studies. I love reading and writing about films. And I just want to be surrounded by it right now.</p>
<p>And as for making new friends, I love meeting new people so I have no problem with that. I'm usually pretty good at maintaining friendships and connections also.</p>
<p>azotic- Yeah, I'm honestly not too concerned about my marketability, since I don't know if I want to WORK in the film industry. Right now, I just know that I want to study film. But your point about a degree from the Ivy League is a good one I hadn't considered.</p>
<p>uh...i can't believe im posting something...how awkward</p>
<p>I felt the need to because I go to tufts myself and am interested in film. The communications/film minor is actually quite good. If you don't like it, there is also a major called international letters and visual studies. It's basically a film major but with an international twist. You should check it out some time. </p>
<p>(Many a Tufts alum have succeeded in the film industry with or without a correlating major/minor...in fact, more than i had expected myself. I have met a couple during my frosh yr and they were really cool peeps).</p>
<p>imo, it would be best to go to grad school for film studies (thats generally with every profession, but even more so with film). IF you really feel you can't wait, I would suggest Northwestern or NYU or Vassar off the top of my head. These are great schools with good film programs. IF your parents are vehement about the whole ivy thing...um, set up a powerpoint presentation, haha. If you can convince them to let you do what you WANT to do, then you're good to go. OR you can go to columbia which i think has some film program...idk i went to a student film screening...though the films were really pretentious, they seem to have good resources.
it may only be for grads but heres a link <a href="http://arts.columbia.edu/index.cfm?fuseaction=film_div.main%5B/url%5D">http://arts.columbia.edu/index.cfm?fuseaction=film_div.main</a>
even if it is for grads, they should have an excellent set of undergraduate film courses.</p>
<p>Hope i could be of some help! good luck though</p>
<p>mwehehe-- hey, thanks for replying :) Do you know Howard?! I love Howard!</p>
<p>Well, first of all, I don't know if I want to work in film. I'm more interested in film studies than in the more technical aspects of making film. I have other interests also (psychology, anthropology) and might want to go to grad school for those areas instead. But for right now, I want to study film study as an undergrad. I'm not concerned about going to a top film school, because I don't know if I want to work in that field. Do you know what I mean?</p>
<p>And here's what bothers me about the film minor / ILVS:
1) The film courses are based out of other departments. There is no central film department, so I feel that students interested in film get shafted by not having one department to rely on.
2) The majority of the courses are based out of the foreign language departments. This is good for an international perspective, but there are areas of the world that have important films that are overlooked at Tufts just because the language is not offered here. Also, many of the courses not offered by a foreign language department are courses that do not focus solely on film-- they integrate literature or works from the theatre along with film. I wouldn't usually have a problem with that except for the fact that I want to get a basis in film. So I feel a little bit cheated.
3) This also causes a problem, because there are VERY FEW courses that focus on different time periods/themes of American cinema. Almost all of the classes that are not internationally based integrate another medium into the theme covered (African American film and theater, black comedy, gay and lesbian film and theater, etc.). Off the top of my head, the only film-specific course I remember seeing (but not able to register for because it wasn't offered) focused on the era of silent film.
4) Also, since the film courses are based out of other departments, I've found that a lot of the students who take the courses take them because they think they'll be an easy way of getting a credit. It's harder to find other students who are genuinely interested in film (but not impossible, thankfully).
5) ILVS offers 1-2 courses per semester, it seems--or at least, that's the way it's been since I enrolled at Tufts. Most of their courses are based out of other departments and the major still requires you to take other classes FOR the major (not JUST film--you can take only five or so film classes WITH the film concentration in the major). Plus, the language requirement is very strict--too strict if I end up double majoring.
6) And THIS is what made me look into transferring: intro to film studies is not offered for this fall semester. And it wasn't offered this spring semester. So when will it be offered? How could they skirt over that class? Instead, ILVS is offering Intro to Film and Literature-- a central class for the ILVS major but NOT a prerequisite for the film studies minor.
7) Adobe Premier Pro is used to edit instead of Avid or Final Cut. But Howard did create a new media lab last year, and it is a nice place to spend hours of editing in (although some of the new computers were unreliable).</p>
<p>okay, i'll stop now. everything else is sort of nit-picky.</p>
<p>Honestly? I think you should look at transferring if it won't set you back too much. Even if you don't want to work in film, there are much better programs for your interests.</p>
<p>higher schools with film programs...columbia and yale(yale's film program is brand spanking new. although its not too into actualy production i hear its superb)</p>
<p>equally great/slightly lower schools with film programs...usc, ucla, nyu, u texas-austin, northwestern(although i hear its almost impossible to transfer into the school of communication, which has the film dept.)</p>
<p>i too am a film aficianado, but im planning on doing film after my undergrad degree, either ucla or yale.</p>
<p>Howard is an awesome guy...very accomodating/helpful!</p>
<p>But yea, if the program at tufts isn't working for you, you should definitely transfer. I don't think anyone wants to be unhappy academically. But before you do leave, I have one recommendation for a film class, whether you're interested in film or not--its Hitchcock with Lee Edelman (Eng 80 I believe). It was an amazing class...difficult, but really worth the time. (And i, personally, didn't go into it for an easy A--he even makes it clear in the beginning of the semester that its not an easy a). There are plenty of great film programs at other schools and many have already been suggested, so I won't waste your time by repeating them. Again, Good Luck and sorry tufts didn't work out for ya...it happens.</p>