<p>Hi, First-timer here! My son is going into his senior year and is looking for a school where he can study Computer Science with a Film minor or vice-versa. He would also consider a dual degree path. We are not expecting any need-based aid so are looking for Merit Awards. He would like a big city urban environment but would consider others. His stats are: 227 PSAT, 2140 SAT, 31 ACT, 2-5 AP's. Current GPA is 4.0/4.55. He is currently in IB and hopes to complete the curriculum and receive his IB degree. He also has plenty of extra-curricular's, varsity sports and volunteer time. I have looked at the list of schools for NMF and have a few ideas but was wondering if anyone else has any advice. Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>USC, of course, but film school admission is extremely difficult there.</p>
<p>Boston University, Arizona, Arizona State.</p>
<p>Alabama</p>
<p>Very good and ABET accredited Comp Sci and a rising Film program. The south has become a popular filming location due to lower costs. Also, I personally know a Hollywood producer who sends their child to Bama’s film school. <a href=“http://tcf.ua.edu/[/url]”>http://tcf.ua.edu/</a></p>
<p>Bama’s film students took first place in 3 film categories (including Best Picture and Best Director) at a recent national competition and placed in two other categories. [CMF</a> Hollywood 2013 | Campus MovieFest](<a href=“http://www.campusmoviefest.com/hollywood/gta]CMF”>http://www.campusmoviefest.com/hollywood/gta)</p>
<p>Bama’s CS is in the College of Eng’g. Bama has a brand new beautiful and state of the art Science and Eng’g Complex. </p>
<p><a href=“Titanium Chef | Home”>Titanium Chef | Home;
<p>Pics of the new Science & Engineering Complex begin on page 6, Student housing pics begin on page 12, and pics of some of the new Greek houses begin on page 19. *</p>
<p>Here’s a video and pics about the school…
[The</a> University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences “This is How College is Meant to Be” - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>Alabama forum on College Confidential which is VERY active.*
<a href=“http://talk.college-confidential.com/university-alabama/[/url]”>http://talk.college-confidential.com/university-alabama/</a></p>
<p>Being a NMF and CS major (he would need to declare CS as primary major, but then can add Film as second major), he’d get free tuition, housing for one year (including private bedrooms in Bama’s awesome Super Suites), other goodies, and $3500 per year ($2500 from the Col of Eng’g). Total pkg worth over $120k The app is live online now and is VERY easy to fill out…no essays, no LORs. Takes like 5 minutes. Bama admits by stats and HS curriculum…easy formula.</p>
<p>NATIONAL MERIT FINALIST OR NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT FINALIST PACKAGE 2013-2014</p>
<p>Value of tuition in-state or out-of-state for 4 years or 8 semesters</p>
<p>1 year of on-campus housing at regular room rate* (based on assignment by Housing and Residential Communities)</p>
<p>$1,000 per year University National Merit / Achievement Scholarship for 4 years* (cannot be received if awarded a corporate sponsored scholarship from the National Merit Corporation)</p>
<p>One time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study (after completing one year of study at UA)</p>
<p>iPad (whatever the latest one is)</p>
<ul>
<li>Regular room rate is defined as the largest room option in a particular dorm. Example: Riverside, Lakeside and Ridgecrest have four-person suites. The cost associated with the four-person suite would be the value of the housing scholarship in this circumstance. If you live in an alternate dorm where a double room occupancy is the largest available option, then the cost associated with the double room would be the value of the housing scholarship.</li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you for the responses. He is definitely going to try USC but knows it will be tough. Alabama sounds great but might be a hard sell for him. We are from AZ and he really wants to leave. Does anybody know anything about Drexel?</p>
<p>Drexel is very urban, actually one of the uglier college campuses I have ever seen. It is respected as a tech school.</p>
<p>Northeastern, Florida, and Central Florida would be other possibilities.</p>
<p>Alabama sounds great but might be a hard sell for him</p>
<p>lol…not if he visited the school. I’ve rarely (RARELY!) ever heard of an OOS student visiting Bama and not loving it.</p>
<p>I should add that it would be a good safety. For sure he’d be admitted and get big scholarship money.</p>
<p>Not sure what type of film OP’s kid is interested in, but fwiw, and in case anyone else is interested, UT-Dallas has an excellent computer science program and an Arts and Technology/Emerging Media and Communications major. This has more to do with things like digital effects, sound, animation, game design, etc. rather than live actors.
UT-Dallas offers an automatic near-full-ride to NMFs.</p>
<p>The Bama NMF scholarship that I mentioned above has been INCREASED!</p>
<p>Now it covers 10 semesters of tuition! (5 years) And can be used for grad school classes.</p>
<p>Also, the annual stipend is now $3500 per year - this is an increase from $1k per year.</p>
<p>The other goodies remain the same.</p>
<p>Drexel is very pricey even after merit aid, kids seem to like it there though.</p>
<p>While not a big city environment, have you considered the University of Tulsa? My son attends there and has a couple of friends who are studying film and computer science and are happy. Your son would stand a great chance of getting the Presidential Scholarship (full ride) at TU. It’s a great school and a beautiful campus. And Tulsa has fantastic museums, etc.</p>
<p>I encourage you to visit Bama if at all possible. The additional semesters (think summer session in LA or abroad) added to the package, plus the money has been increased make it a real interesting opportunity. Relatively near Atlanta which seems to be a growing film center. My son visited to “do us a favor” and is leaving in two weeks. He is interested in film (might not pan out) as well and that is one reason I wanted him to visit. Other schools on his list at the time did not have film programs. Good luck with USC, but imagine if he had Bama in his pocket before Halloween! It does happen that fast, especially if he is NMF material.</p>
<p>DS had similar stats and interests. He is a rising Junior at USC with a major in Computer Science and minors in Film (focusing on production) and Japanese. He LOVES it. He never considered Alabama but DD a rising HS senior (not NMSF) has been sold on Bama since the beginning of her junior year. We knew very little about Bama when DS was applying. Had I known what I do today, I would have pushed him harder to consider it. Probably good that it didn’t happen though, as he is so happy where he is.</p>
<p>The two campuses are very different. In addition, USC is much more diverse. I can’t imagine DS at Bama or DD at USC. I recommend visiting both. What is important is to find the place that you belong at a price you can afford. DS knew that Bama would be practically free, but instead chose to take the subsidized loans, and work each summer to pay the gap between what his scholarship covers and what DH and I were willing to pay.</p>
<p>If you have specific questions about USC and their programs, PM me! </p>
<p>Momtocollegekids has been a fantastic resource for information on Bama. We owe it to her that DD discovered it and fell in love. Please visit the Bama forum on CC. It is by far the most active on this site!</p>