Helloooo I recently got accepted to NYU Tisch for Film and Television and Chapman University Film Production. I am having trouble deciding which program to select. I live in Southern California so I’m super close to Chapman University. I know NYU is notorious for having one of the best film programs in the nation, but I wasn’t offered too much financial aid and that is a pretty big factor in my college decision. Chapman I got a good amount of money from and I understand they have a pretty good film program as well. I would like to be apart of feature film productions in the future and I know that LA is the film industry capital of the world, and I don’t know how well New York City is for creating a foundation for feature films being so far from the film industry. So I guess my question is how much better is an NYU film education? Is it worth the graduation debt? How hard is it to get involved in the film industry after NYU? What are some pros and cons to both schools? Any advice or suggestions will be gladly taken. Thank you!
I’m in the same boat as you in terms of worries of debt. While I got into another film school in New York (14th best in the country), they offered me no financial aid. But a state school I got into provided me with much better financial aid and has just as strong a film program. It comes down to: Would I rather be in 250K in debt or 60K in debt. And part of being a film major is having and making connections! So if LA is the future of filmmaking, I’d assume you would meet a lot of powerful people in the film industry. I think a pro of NYU is having that name on your resume, that you went to NYU that will impress people. Chapman also is an impressive school. Both are great schools though and I’m sure you will make the right choice for you! 