I have a pretty good list of colleges, but my ideal school is a bit specific, and probably doesn’t exist. I was wondering if anybody knows of colleges with these characteristics:
in a city
very good
filmMAKING program (not film studies, most colleges have those)
left-leaning
not a lot of partying/frats
no religious affiliation
"alternative" people
preferably smaller rather than larger
Some examples of what i’m looking for:
Emerson or NYU; the downside to them is that they’re both pretty far below me in terms of scores
Brown or UChicago, but with a film program
Yale, in a bigger/nicer city
USC, UCLA, Columbia, or UC Berkeley, but with fewer/no frats/partying
The dilemma I’ve found is that film programs are so hard to come across, they’re often only at large schools (and I’d prefer a small school), and it’s hard to find a large school without a huge Greek/party scene.
Thank you!
(*Note: I know that the filmmaking program part eliminates tons of possibilities, so as long as the school fits most of the criteria, that’s fine.)
Yeah, Columbia is my first choice as of right now. No Greek life would be nice, but that’s pretty hard to find. The onet thing I worry about in terms of Columbia is that it might be a reach.
NYU is “pretty far below you in terms of scores?” It might be helpful if you included some of your stats.
And Columbia is a reach for almost everyone. Since you have very specific criteria, it will be hard to find safety/match schools. Emerson could be one of them.
Your GPA is outstanding of course for any school, but NYU is nonetheless a very selective school that meets your criteria in many ways, excepting its size. However, I think you would apply to the more manageable in terms of enrollment Tisch School here.
If Columbia is a reach, NYU is not “far” below you.
The main point, though, is that all of these schools are big enough that you do not have to engage with the frat/partying element. As another poster put it, college is not high school. In particular, the social life at UCLA, UC Berkeley and Columbia is no way dominated by the frat / partying group. Especially after first year, you will socialize largely through the activities that you enjoy and the other people in your major.
Be clear about Columbia’s core curriculum though: it is a very big part of the Columbia experience.
@merc81 I had never looked into Barnard until now, but it looks very nice. Thank you! @collegemom3717 Yeah, the ‘far’ part more applied to Emerson. And I did consider that, how the large schools are large enough that frats don’t dominate the social life; the only issue is that I’d also prefer a smaller school.
What about Northwestern? If the OP wants Tisch for film, her academic qualifications will not be the primary concern (she more than meets their criteria). Her talent submission will determine admission, and Tisch Film has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard or Stanford (more in the Juilliard range).
Northwestern is on my list. And that’s another reason I’m not greatly looking into NYU/Tisch; I’m not sure I’ll have an impressive portfolio by the time I apply.
When I started reading your post, Emerson and NYU immediately popped into my head. Considering they’re exactly what you want (especially Emerson being a small school), I think it would be a huge waste to dismiss them just because they’re “below” you. Both are fantastic schools.
You might also want to look at Wesleyan. While it only has a film studies major, the program is one of the best there is. I’ve heard filmmaking is also part of the major, but I have no idea how much.
Partying, hooking up, mischievous activity is part of every college or university. You have to learn how to deal with it rather than avoid it. Isn’t that behavior part of a liberal-leaning philosophy?
@lalalemma I’m definitely not ruling out Emerson, I’m not sure about NYU yet. I actually toured Wesleyan last year, and the location/campus were a real turn off for me. The nearest city is New Haven, and the town it’s in is not very nice. Location is pretty important to me, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have ruled it out.
Having lived and worked in the NY area my whole life and interviewed hundreds if not thousands of applicants, you should know more about NYU. About 75% of the student body are Type A white and Asian students from wealthy backgrounds. African American and Hispanic students are not well represented for a city school. Job prospects and starting salaries are big motivation to attend NYU. Recreational drug use is high, drugs are easy to buy at the park and they party with the best of them.
Vassar has a really nice campus and is a train ride from NYC. Their program combines film studies and filmmaking. Academically, the school would be a great fit you.
@BatesParent2019 Yeah, that doesn’t really sound right for me. I think my current top 7 are: Barnard, Columbia, Brown(/RISD), UC Berkeley, USC, Emerson, and UCLA.