Transfer Decision Time: Berkeley or NYU Film School???

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Hey dear Cal folks, I have three more days to make a decision. I'm a transfer student and trying to decide between Berkeley (L&S Undeclared) and NYU (Tisch Film Production). I'm international and have been in college for a couple semesters in my country. Then I dropped out and went to a CC in the U.S. because I wanted to do film (transfer is impossible in my country.) Though when I applied for transfer, I was not quite sure about studying film because it seems a bit unrealistic. Getting into NYU did boost my confidence. Getting into both Berkeley and NYU was totally beyond my expectation.</p>

<p>Just to keep the long story short, I toured both school and ended up loving both. Berkeley made me feel welcoming because I was led by a few students during my tour and they are really nice! NYC seems more exciting but also very expensive. The staff in the department I talked to was really nice, too.</p>

<p>In terms of career, I want to work in media/entertainment (production, researcher, technology, business, consulting, I'm open to all these subfields), and grad school (not in film, but in media related areas) would be a possible option. If I go to NYU I might do a double major in CS. If Berkeley I would probably do film studies and a minor in CS. NYU is 20k+ more expensive then Berkeley (tuition, living for 2 years). </p>

<p>I guess my main question is, is it worthwhile to spend 20k more money to go to NYU Film school? Or would Berkeley's general reputation give me an edge when applying for grad schools or jobs?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>I think it might, just because of the networking/internship opportunities in film in NYC, and the prestige of Tisch is pretty much unrivaled. I don’t know much about the film scene here at Berkeley though, so I can’t give you a completely balanced viewpoint.</p>

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<p>I would go to Tisch but I would be a bit hesitant about the extra 20k. You would meet more interesting people at Tisch especially if you’re going into the media industry. I think in terms of the overall experience, Tisch would be a more fulfilling experience. Don’t get me wrong, Berkeley is a great school but I think there’s a greater chance you will find your undergrad experience to be just average and not that exciting especially when it’s only 2 years. I really think you would need more than 2 years to carve out a unique undergrad experience at Berkeley while at Tisch, even if the school sucks, you can easily have the city as a great fallback.</p>

4

<p>@meakame</p>

<p>Thanks! I just came back from my visit to NYC. It is a very exciting city.</p>

5

<p>@o0racle</p>

<p>Yeah, if I’m not mistaken, Berkeley literally requires all transfers to complete the degree in two years, leaving very little flexibility. I guess it’s not a big problem, and it’s a really great school, but I get what you said. Two years is a bit short in some cases.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>