<p>I was accepted to both programs and would pick Tisch in a heartbeat because of the prestige if it weren't for cost. NYU gave me a $9,000 scholarship/year which leaves tuition at $54,000, and Chapman gave me $20,000/year so I'd be paying like $30,000. I know both have great programs but is NYU's reputation worth the extra debt? When my parents saw NYU's financial aid offer they basically flat-out said no, so I'd have to get myself through it with private loans if I decided to go there which means massive debt at graduation :/</p>
<p>I have to be blunt about the economics of financing a film major. Should you take out student loans to afford a certain film school? My advice is extremely simple: Dont. </p>
<p>In general, while student loan payments start when you graduate, your income will probably ramp up much more slowly. In this career, even if you beat the odds and are immediately successful, you will find very few jobs in the traditional sense, meaning you will probably not see a steady paycheck, with taxes and benefits taken care of for you, especially in the beginning. Rather, youll be in business for yourself, working on a per-project or per-film basis. Film companies are usually created for a single film, and disappear after production. You will be juggling multiple 1099 tax forms, finding your own health insurance and other benefits, and paying in addition to income taxes self-employment taxes. Success will bring in more money, but also more need for business acumen.</p>
<p>As for succeeding, its impossible to stress too much that this is an industry of connections, bolstered by talent. You may be quite talented, but if you dont develop and work your own network, that talent might go unrecognized. Conversely, you may be well-connected, but without the talent to contribute to a film project, you wont have much work. The combination of the two will get you initial gigs followed by a growing number of requests for your services.</p>
<p>Please notice that I did not include which school you attended as what’s needed for success.</p>
<p>Have fun at Chapman - a great school - and don’t look back.</p>
<p>Chapman is an up and coming program. I second what Digmedia said- the economics of education vastly favor the more affordable option. But I want to add that the “prestige” factor may not be what you think it is. I was reading articles in the Washington Post and the Los Angels Times recently about Chapman’s new venture to start an in house production company. Both papers said Chapman Dodge is vying to be a top school- and sited USC and NYU as schools it hopes to be compared with. If this venture works, it will be unique among film schools. If it doesn’t, it still has achieved a great deal of “buzz” and national recognition in papers on both coasts about what it is trying to do. I think it’s prestige is enhanced by the money pouring in, and the ideas it is touting. It really may be the next “it” place in the years you would be in school.</p>
<p>Talent (that is probably why you were admitted to these schools) and connections trump prestige in this business. Taking on overwhelming debt during your undergraduate years will hand cuff you when you are starting out working project to project, trying to raise money to finance your own film. NYU isn’t worth the debt, especially if Dodge is your more economical choice.</p>