Here is my situation. I applied to study for a BFA in Film and Television at NYU Tisch and a BA in Cinematic Arts at USC. I just received my admission to NYU but nothing yet from USC (I’ll receive it by June 1st, which is also the deadline for me to commit to a college). I am a transfer student going into my third year of college. I am aware of the prestige that both colleges have, the ranking of #1 being USC and #2 being NYU, and the major arguments for each school (somewhat). However, this is my major dillemma:
I find myself wishing that NYU had the reputation and favor that USC clearly has. If I am accepted into USC and faced with the decision between the two schools, I become a bit paralyzed. NYU is the dream school that I have always wanted to go to but never dreamed I would get into, and USC is a school that I have always loved and preferred to UCLA here in California where I live.
I do live in LA, but I have had many bad experience here, and New York has always been a home away from home- before I had ever even set foot on the east coast. To me, I think of pure happiness, energy, creativity, and inspiration when I think of New York and NYU. When I think of USC I think of home, less of an adventure, less of a world experience, but all the credit and knowledge and prestige that comes along with the School of Cinematic Arts.
I’m deterred from USC because it is less of an adventure but also because I have this underlying reaction to it that you can get in if you can pay for it, and that the students there are not as creative or necessarily qualified as NYU, which is apparently also more selective than USC.
From just that, I would obviously choose NYU. But the practical arguments for USC are that I would probably move back to LA after graduating, the connections that you make at USC are said to be almost a guarantee for jobs in the entertainment industry, and the experience of that college and its school spirit, as well as the “one step ahead” factor. They’re about the same in cost as it turns out, I’ve been able to calculate all of the expenses of both schools, although any scholarships or work study offers from USC will arrive with an acceptance if that does happen.
So I have no idea what to do! Is the NY film scene good enough to where I could stay and work in film with at least almost as good of a chance of success as Los Angeles? I know that film scenes have been blowing up there, in Atlanta, and more.
Are the connections made at NYU just as good as USC, and could they be used if I moved back to LA?
And is there anything that NYU film has that USC film does not?
I’m dying here, please help me out, and thanks for reading! 