Other film schools

<p>Hi there,
I'm researching film programs for my son who is junior. He's not sure yet if he wants to do film studies or production. He also likes writing, music and history. I've read thru many of the threads here and am familiar with the big name film programs. I feel that he should have more options since it's so competitive to get into these schools. I also looked at the "other UC/CSU film" thread, which may offer some options. I would prefer a program with a solid liberal arts background. I'm guessing he'll apply to at least 10-15 schools. I'm still researching and getting familiar with the whole process.</p>

<p>He's a strong student, doing the IB programs, decent EC's, some leadership roles, summer writing workshop, etc, but he is not one of these superstars with a 4.0, tons of EC's, awards, many leadership roles, etc. But I do think he is a solid candidate. He has experience writing, directing, filming short films. No SAT scores yet. </p>

<p>Location is not an issue - he can go anywhere - but does not want to be in a rural location. NYU would be a top choice - he loves the idea of being in NYC. We're hoping to visit California at some point to look at the schools there.</p>

<p>So some of the other programs I've looked at (I think I got these by looking at the thread on big list of film programs and looked thru them one by one to see how big the programs where) are:</p>

<p>Northeastern University
Boston University
Vassar College
University of Miami
U of Chicago
Queens University (Canada)
U of Toronto (Canada)
U of Pittsburgh as a safety?</p>

<p>Some of these are hard to get into in general. Any opinions, knowledge, experience with these film programs? They don't seem to pop up on the big lists nor have I seen them mentioned here much (unless I totally missed it) but they do seem to have good programs.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any comments!</p>

<p>I also have bookmarked Johns Hopkins U in Baltimore.</p>

<p>Not all of these programs have a production program. If that is something important, you need to look for ones that have that as well as film studies.
I suggest you look at these as well and see if they would be a good fit:
Emerson, Colorado Film School, DePaul, DeSales, Fairleigh Dickinson, Temple and Drexel
I also like UT Austin and University of Central Florida. All of these have film production and studies.</p>

<p>you need to add U of Southern California to the top of his list. It has the TOP film program in the US, the very fine Thorton School of Music, and is ranked among the top 25 colleges in the US. Your son would get a great education at USC- and would have the opportunity to double major or major and minor in film and /
or any other area he chooses.</p>

<p>Emerson and USC are on the list already (will check out USC’s music school -thanks!)
Will also look at the others mentioned. Thanks for the responses!</p>

<p>USC film production and Thornton Music require something additional to get into the major besides the regular USC application. The film production requires a portfolio and a film sample, the music school an audition. Although USC does encourage the taking of two very different majors and calls those that do Renaissance Scholars, I think those two would be near impossible given the huge time demands of each of the programs. And I’m not sure about getting into both majors when you apply. Perhaps someone with more knowledge could weigh in? My son is a freshman in production there, so that is what I know best. If these programs interest you I suggest you post on the USC board and you’ll get some useful answers there as they have very active posters.</p>

<p>Thank you again for your responses.</p>

<p>My son would be interested in minoring in music or maybe just taking lessons or a few classes - definitely not majoring. Film is his top priority. I know he would probably love to take a class on music for films - can’t find that as easily!</p>

<p>We definitely have all the big name film schools on our list - including NYU, USC, Chapman, Loyola Marymount, Emerson, Wesleyan, Columbia, RISD, etc. Also looking at Northwestern. UCLA makes me nervous since you can’t apply for the program until sophomore year.</p>

<p>I was just wondering about some of the other schools who aren’t necessarily on the top lists, but are strong universities with fairly big film programs (from what I can gather). I will look through the individual university forums to see if I find anything - thanks for that suggestion - I may have done that already but can’t remember.</p>

<p>Beginning to think if he doesn’t get into a top program he should go for an LAC or strong English/writing program somewhere and then master in film later; I know that’s been discussed here as well. But I didn’t want to rule out the other schools I listed just yet.</p>

<p>I bookmarked DePaul and will research the other suggestions as well - thanks!</p>

<p>" USC does encourage the taking of two very different majors and calls those that do Renaissance Scholars"
You can be a Renaissance scholar with 2 diverse majors OR a major and a minor.
Anyone can double major or major and minor in 2 or 3 different areas, if they can fit the required classes into their schedule.
And taking music lessons, participating in one of the many music groups on campus, or taking music classes at USC is easy for students who want to keep their musical skills fresh or learn more advanced concepts. An audition is required, but the bar is not really high, unless you are aiming for a major in music.</p>

<p>My son, who applied to and was accepted to BC as an economics major, thought he would live and die by that major. Mid-summer, I got an email while I was in China. “Mom, I don’t know what I was thinking, but my passion is film.” When I picked myself up off the floor, he and I skyped and had a lengthy conversation about the film studies major at BC. Long and short of it, he is in his first term, but in love with everything BC. Every class (“Adaptations”–a film class focusing on films made from other source material, among them), every student activity. I actually met one of the FS majors at Freshman Orientation in the summer who was also one of the orientation leaders, and, wow, what an amazing young man and a rousing endorsement for the film studies major. My son is now working out his four-year plan with the intention of studying abroad his junior year at a university with a strong film program. Paris? London? Beijing? My recommendation, don’t discount exceptional universities just because they don’t have a classic school of film. I am so happy my son is at BC and that he is pursuing his passion.</p>

<p>Op, we looked at Boston Univ and at Northwestern Univ. Both have film production majors. Neither has a portfolio requirement and pretty much any student at the school can transfer into the major. At NU, they felt that anyone who could get accepted at NU could handle the major there. Madden MD knows more about the program at Boston Univ than I do. I spoke at length with a Boston U soph who just transfered into the major, but did not know much about it. Boston U also offers “internships” in Los Angeles. Both places seem to have a reasonable experience in production along with great traditional liberal arts academics. However, it is unclear the amount of job placement in the entertainment industry from graduates of Boston U and NU.</p>

<p>We also looked at Columbia (which I love). Columbia had only film studies major. The film production major is at the graduate/master’s level; Maybe an undergrad could get involved in the graduate’s films.</p>

<p>Funny, I had looked at Boston College and thought it only had a minor in film studies - my memory is not what it used to be!</p>

<p>Will definitely check it out. Thank you! I will continue researching, but it sounds like some of these other programs are definitely worth considering and visiting in person.</p>

<p>YoHoYoHO- thanks for those thoughts. I thought NU and Boston U looked like pretty solid programs. Academically, I think a bunch of the schools with top film programs would be matches for him but I’m trying to find some solid backups since they would be so competitive to get into. Or maybe just apply to a ton of them.</p>

<p>Was wondering how many film programs he should apply to? 10? 15? Is that the norm for film schools?</p>

<p>D applied to 4, I think that is on low end, but in at her safety and two early action admits to Emerson and LMU eliminated the need to apply to the next group of 4 possibilities. There are no real safeties at the top end, admission rates are just too low. I may have missed it, is money an issue? Portfolio can be big at some of these schools, as can test scores at some. You actually have a great list, try to find a safety or two, pick 3 or 4 that he really likes, and see how his energy is for applying to the big reaches. I think 15 is counterproductive.
On the music minor note, D is a production major/ music minor at LMU, it’s a push to find the time, but she has done it. I think it is probably easier to do at a school where the music program isn’t conservatory style. They were very happy to take her. Limited instrumentation though, it’s hardly a music powerhouse.</p>

<p>I agree that 15 applications seems excessive, but I guess when you are focusing on a specialized field that may be what’s necessary. Hopefully, we’ll narrow it down to 10 or so as we visit and get a feel for schools and also get a few EA’s in. If I’m lucky, he’ll decide to do an ED somewhere!</p>

<p>Thanks for your response!</p>

<p>DS did 9 apps last year (as I recall) and, as jtmoney notes with his DD, early (nonbinding) admission to two favorites really took the pressure off. Nine apps was A LOT of work. I think 15 would be just too much, frankly, with supplements and so forth. I think 10 would be a better plan. Best wishes!</p>

<p>I must say good for you for having Chapman on your list of schools. If your son gets into Chapman, he will be among the very lucky ones. What a grand school for the arts! Outstanding film school and performing arts school. Everyone is already admiring the great film facilities, and now with the new $64 million Musco Center for the Arts being built, it just keeps getting better at Chapman. What an ideal place to have a film major and a music minor at!</p>

<p>“Was wondering how many film programs he should apply to? 10? 15? Is that the norm for film schools?”</p>

<p>Everyone is different. Whatever you can afford in application fees. Since your son wants to minor in music as well, look into schools that are strong in both. That should help you narrow your list down. Best of luck!</p>

<p>My son just started at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester NY. He is going for Production. He is planning on minoring in Music Technology because he would love to produce music videos. He plays the trumpet and auditioned for and made the Jazz band. RIT has several music groups both vocal and instrumental, they have a few different minors in music and the students are supposed to either minor or have a concentration is some area - they can do anything: english, music, etc.
He is absolutely thrilled with the program, and since Sept 5th, has already done 2 short films (on “real” film) and animated something for a beginning animation class they all have to take. He has also helped 2 weekends on a Senior thesis shoot and landed a job on campus helping to broadcast the home sports games.
RIT is a co-op school, but not really for film. They can do internships, but typically they are not paid. They are trying to start a program out in LA, where the kids can go for a semester and actually take classes taught by RIT (so they keep up with the course sequences they need to graduate), and do internships.
They have a mentor-mentee program where they assign freshmen to a senior film student. It is all about making connections!
He is in the Honors program and they do some special Film things too, including some type of trip every year, but I don’t have a lot of details about that.
I am currently looking for colleges for S2, also a Junior, but this time we are looking for Criminal Justice and getting recruited for soccer! (Already went through Physician Assistant with D1 (also RIT), Music Ed with D2 (Mansfield University of PA), film with S1).
Good luck!</p>

<p>When my son in film production looked at programs we looked at and visited 20: he only applied to 5 (giving me a near heart attack) because he picked the 5 toughest to get into: but fortunately for him he got into all and had his pick. I would have been happier had he had a broader list. When I asked him what he would do if he didn’t get in he replied: “get a job!”. In the end it worked out, but I’m with you: you never know with these schools. I’d still pick a few “reach” “match” and “safety” schools, although in film these are not so clear cut. My best advice: if you can, make the trips ahead of time and check out all the schools, and then only apply to the ones where he would be happy. Although my son chose one school, I feel confident he would have thrived at any of the 5.</p>

<p>Yikes! 5 would give me a heart attack, too! We will definitely visit as many as possible - we are on the east coast, but am hoping to visit California for spring break (and I already checked and all the top schools are in session the week we would be there) and if possible stop in Chicago on the way back. Will make sure we do some Early Action where available and have 2 safeties.</p>

<p>Thank you, all, for your advice!</p>

<p>My son was accepted to FSU film school earlier this year; if you have any questions about this school, let me know.</p>