Intended major: Filmmaking+political science+business, maybe minoring CompSci for Game Design
Pros:
• Nearby NYC
• Is one of the only school that uses seminar and tutorial system, faculty-student ratio 1:9
• 10k Scholarship
• Politically progressive
• Outstanding quality of professors
• Interdisciplinary
• Fantastic Film Alumni: J. J. Abrams and Jordan Peele
Cons:
• Still quite expensive
• Allegedly socially dead
• Not too much recreation near NYC besides commercial shopping.
• Coldness
• Low-ranked (?)
Pitzer College:
Pros:
• Nationally Recognized
• Claremont Colleges Consortium, which means the amount of the resource is insane and I can take classes at other extraordinary colleges within the consortium.
• Politically Active student body
• Amazing faculty-student ratio (1:10)
• Not socially dead
• Nearby all the world-famous recreation spots, such as Disneyland, Universal Studio Hollywood, and Six Flags.
• Great Food
Cons:
• Very Expensive.
• Unsure if the film program is going to be as good as what’s offered at Sarah Lawrence College, maybe better or worse. Although Pitzer is located nearby Hollywood.
I will not in debt, so the scholarship offer by Sarah Lawrence is merely a factor of honor for me.
I am second to none in my admiration of JJ Abrams, but he’s only one alumnus. I wouldn’t hang my hat on the isolated fact he (or anyone else) graduated from a college or university. TBH, neither Pitzer nor Sarah Lawrence are considered power houses in the film industry: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/25-best-film-schools-rankings-215714
I have to assume that both have their strengths and weaknesses academically and that film studies is a wash. Sounds like, if you bracket out that piece, that you really want to go to Pitzer.
From what I know of them, I’d recommend these schools equally — and highly — for film studies. Deciding based on other factors would seem reasonable then. Since you mentioned NYC only generally, note that you would have easy train access to the attractions of Manhattan if you were to choose SLU.
I agree with the fact that neither of them is the powerhouse, but I don’t want to go to a school that’s only rigorous in Film as I want a well-rounded education for my job or graduate school prospect. So now, I am just picking which is better between these two institutions.
If this means anything to you, I’d say SLU’s academic excellence predominates in areas such as English literature, visual art, music, dance and theatre. Pitzer offers notable programs in sociology, anthropology and psychology, and would be good for English literature as well. Both schools offer good opportunities for film studies, and overlap similarly in some other areas, including some of those mentioned in this post.
Pitzer does not have its own CS department. There are some CS courses at CMC, and more at Pomona and Harvey Mudd, but the subject is so popular that cross registration may be difficult to get.