<p>Hi! So I got into Drexel full ride, but deferred for a year, so I could enroll in Fall 2014 if I wanted to. I heard, however, that the Screenwriting program is pretty horrible at Drexel, since the whole university is concentrated so much on Engineering. So can anyone please elaborate on the major? Since there are so few undergraduate Screenwriting programs, and as I got a full scholarship, I was seriously thinking about attending, but I can barely find anything online about it. Can anyone please help?</p>
<p>Well OK, I’ll take the silence as “not very popular”. Come on, though, someone must know SOMETHING. Please.</p>
<p>I admit that my knowledge about Drexel’s screenwriting program is limited, but I’ll weigh in anyway.
Drexel is a good school with a solid reputation. If it seems like a school where you can see yourself for the next four years and you can go for free, do it. College is extremely expensive. When you graduate, you’ll be so glad you don’t have the burden of crippling student debt. Drexel’s screenwriting program is not as well known as, for example, UCLA, but that doesn’t mean that the program doesn’t provide its student with quality educations. If that’s what you want to study and you can do it for free, take advantage of it. If it’s possible and you haven’t already, visit the school and talk to the faculty in the screenwriting department. Better yet, see if the faculty will put you in contact with current students and recent graduates. I bet most will jump at the chance to talk to you about the program.
Also, keep in mind that a career in screenwriting doesn’t require a degree and a degree does not guarantee a job. It’s difficult to “make it” as a screenwriter, so it might be wise to use your undergraduate years to also pursue your other interests through double majors, minors, etc. You may discover that you like something else better than screenwriting, or not. Either way, keeping your options open won’t hurt you. When I started undergrad, I also thought I wanted to be a screenwriter. My school didn’t have a screenwriting major, but it offered many classes within its communications major. After my first semester, I decided it wasn’t for me and ended up double majoring in English and Chemistry. Now, I’m in a graduate playwriting program, which isn’t something I formally studied at all in undergrad. What I’m trying to say is that Drexel is a good school and you shouldn’t let what you’ve “heard” about their screenwriting program deter you from seizing a wonderful opportunity. Go. See for yourself. There’s always time to do something else if you decide you don’t like it. If you decide that you really hate Drexel’s program, you can always transfer. Philadelphia is just an hour and a half away from New York City by train, so if you decide that a more prestigious program is better for you, you can always take a day trip up to some of the NY schools and see if they’re a better fit.
If you know for sure that you definitely want to be a screenwriter and you’re thinking about going on to a graduate program in screenwriting, your degree from Drexel might actually help you. A degree from a school that has a reputation for business and engineering could help you stand out in a pile of applications. Graduate schools are always looking for diversity in their programs.
In the end, this is your decision, but I urge you to keep an open mind and ask yourself if the program is right for you. If it’s not, move on. If there’s even a chance that it is, you might want to give it a shot. It couldn’t hurt.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your reply, you did give me quite a bit of information. I have contacted Drexel about it, but all they did was give me some generic opinions. I definitely want to pursue screenwriting, and anything not film-related (as a major) is out of question for me. If I don’t do screenwriting as an undergraduate, I’ll try to get into a Critical Studies/Cinema Studies program, and do Screenwriting in grad school, hopefully at USC. Transferring is not as simple for me, since I’m international, which is why I’m trying to get a school that is most likely to be a good fit for me. That also limits my possibilities on visiting the campus.
It is quite worrying, however, that nobody really talks about Drexel’s screenwriting program. Since this industry is about connections, I don’t know how much of it a primarily engineering-oriented university could give me. Not being well-known is one thing, being unheard of is another. Of course, now I’m only talking about the Screenwriting department.
To be honest, and this may not sound the best, my scholarship is what really pulled me towards Drexel. It never was my first choice, but I’m willing to give it a chance, and that is why I asked. I find the overpowering silence about it a bit worrying.
Anyway, thank you for your help. I’ll probably try and contact Drexel about it again.</p>
<p>Redribbon had a very good and thoughtful post.</p>
<p>If you got a full ride at Drexel (both tuition and room and board, I assume, with guarantees of full coverage even with tuition increases) and you are an international student, they must want you to attend. There are many international students who have posted on this board who would very much like to be in your position. Even if you are a U.S. citizen living abroad, or here, a full ride at Drexel in any major is rare. What is your financial situation at other schools? Will you need significant financial aid? Are you re-applying this time around to your “dream” schools? What can you change on your application that will make a difference in your chances of acceptance?</p>
<p>In addition, screenwriting is a tenuous profession even for those who graduate from a USC or NYU or UCLA (and I speak as the parent of someone who just graduated from USC with a degree in TV and film production). You would be in a much better financial position to pursue your dream once you graduate if you are not struggling with debt. There likely will be years ahead spent gaining a foothold in the industry. USC was great for my son but it’s not perfect and it’s not in any way a guarantee of employment and it graduates LOTS of people.</p>
<p>I am a parent of a Drexel student whose major is in the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, not engineering. It’s worked out very well, but she’s not in screenwriting so I can’t really speak to that. The head of Westphal is a former TV production company executive named Allen Sabinson [Allen</a> Sabinson | Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design | Drexel University](<a href=“http://www.drexel.edu/westphal/contact/directory/SabinsonAllen/]Allen”>Allen Sabinson | Drexel Westphal) Why not try sending him a personal email asking some specific questions about the program, since you are not able to visit? His email address is on the web site. Can’t hurt.</p>
<p>If you have the full ride in your pocket for the fall of 2014, I’d go ahead and apply to other schools and see how they match up with Drexel in all ways. You have a long time to make a study of this and weigh your options. But it is really tough to not be able to see these schools in person, I must say.</p>
<p>Thank you for your post @middleoftheroad.
I am aware that a full scholarship is an incredible and unusual opportunity, especially by Drexel standards, and that I’m unlikely to get such a generous offer elsewhere, but I have to emphasize that money is not, and shouldn’t be, the only factor in choosing a college. Sure, it is a very important, but for example, if I get into USC with a full-tuition (doesn’t include room & board) or even half-tuition scholarship, I will definitely attend. I’m not saying that this is probable, but if it happens I will, because the USC film school has an international reputation, and I have heard from several sources that it’s excellent. Not perfect of course, but one of the best ones out there. Now, I know that Drexel is a great school too, but very few people have heard of its screenwriting program, and that isn’t a good sign. I don’t know how many connections it could give me, I don’t know where graduates are later employed, that is, if they are even employed. I have asked them to send me some information, but they have yet to reply.
I am definitely applying to other schools, in fact, there is one university (although in England) that is willing to give me a similar scholarship package, but it’s really difficult to choose when I know so little about Drexel’s screenwriting students or program.
As I’ve said before, the full-ride is what attracts me to Drexel right, and not so much the actual program. That said, if I decide to attend and don’t come out satisfied, I take away valuable scholarship money, as well as a whole spot on the course, from someone else who is eager to attend.
Could you perhaps tell me what your daughter’s major is? I have heard that Westphal has some great programs, and that the design majors are strong, but film-related courses are not really talked about.</p>