<p>I’m one of those people that doesn’t 100% agree with the advice to pick an undergrad college on the basis of your program, simply because a) only about 1/3 of your college classes are in your major; the rest are in other fields and b) college students change their minds so often. When I first entered my LAC I thought I was going to major in biology and go pre-med; before I had even registered for classes, I had changed my mind to sociology. I ended up majoring in psychology and going to a PhD program. And on the other end of the spectrum, my husband wanted to be an astronaut since he was 3 years old and had decided long ago to major in aerospace engineering. 3 years into college, he changed his mind and decided to become a math teacher. And now that’s changing again.</p>
<p>Besides, as you noted, it’s not always feasible to go to a great place for your intended major. Maybe the artsy student really wants to go to Tisch but can only afford his or her local CSU. T </p>
<p>It looks like UVa actually has a media studies major and film studies minor. I’m looking at their list of film courses and it looks like they actually have a lot of courses on film - 6 semesters’ worth of classes on production and many more on the history and context of film. Honestly, that’s pretty good, given that most undergrad institutions actually don’t have big offerings in film (you’re lucky to see 5-10 classes) and especially don’t have much on production.</p>
<p>Another short search shows a thriving Virginia Film Society that sponsors an annual film festival. They also have the Filmmakers’ Society, Human Rights Film Festival, and OFFScreen. And to appeal to the broader artist range, there’s also the Art Students Society and Arts Board. I went to a small college and I assure you that this is far more arts-related and film-related organizations than you’ll find at most schools. UVa also has over 600 student organizations. Surely you’re interested in other things besides film, so there are plenty of opportunities to join groups and meet other students.</p>
<p>Maybe you weren’t the most popular kid in high school, but college is your chance to reinvent yourself. Clubs start slowly, but at a school with thousands of kids there are surely others who are interested in film. Usually people attract students by posting flyers all over the place and talking to their classmates. You will be taking film classes, so you can always see which of your classmates there are interested in beginning or reviving a film club; some of them may be more willing to take on the more outgoing aspects of recruitment while you handle the logistics.</p>
<p>Really, college is what you make it. Maybe you’ll study abroad somewhere that has a great film program. Maybe you and a bunch of your film buddies from History of Film 101 will make a series of interesting films together. Maybe you’ll get really involved off-campus with the Virginia Film Festival. Maybe you’ll do a summer internship at a film museum or something. You have to plow forward and look for the opportunities where they are.</p>
<p>here are a lot of famous filmmakers that didn’t go to places noted for film. Ethan Coen went to Princeton and majored in philosophy (although Joel Coen went to Tisch). Steven Speilberg was rejected from USC’s film school and attended Cal State Long beach; he made his first film as an unpaid intern at Universal. James Cameron dropped out of Fullerton College (a CA community college) and learned film technique by borrowing books at the USC library. Quentin Taratino is very public with the fact that he learned from watching films and studying them independently rather than going to film school.</p>