Transferring from NYU to Chapman (Film Studies)?

Transfer Students
1

This is my first post on CC so I’m not sure if I’m doing this right… I just really need help and I don’t know where to turn.

I’m 6 weeks into NYU and I’ve never felt more alone in my entire life. I honestly chose the school because it was the most prestigious college I got into and I was really surprised and honored to be admitted, even though it had never been a frontrunner for me before getting in. I didn’t consider location/distance from home because I didn’t want my choices to be inhibited by that, but now I’m realizing it’s really difficult to be far away from my family in California. I miss the state, I miss my city, and I really miss my family (my mom is like, my best friend). NYU is an open campus and it’s a huge school so it’s really hard to meet people, so far I only know 2 people I’m remotely comfortable asking to get dinner. I eat by myself. I go to class. I go back to my dorm. It’s really lonely. I’m doing well academically but the thought of spending the next 4 years of my life here is really depressing (and according to my high school friends, it shouldn’t feel this way). There are two things I like. Film Production Club and Women’s Choir, and just the convenience of having resources in the city.

I know I want to major in Film Studies and ultimately get a job in the film industry like my father. I’d be graduating from NYU Tisch here, or the Film Studies program at Chapman if I were to transfer. I don’t know if the change would have any impact on my career. I’m not exactly an Orange County kind of girl (I don’t like partying, I’m very shy and not very girly, I’m more studious than outgoing), but I’d be close to home at Chapman and at a small school that still has a prestigious name in film.

I can’t find anyone on here or elsewhere who’s transferred from NYU to Chapman, but if any of you has, how was the experience? Is 6 weeks too early to know if NYU is a good fit for me? When does it reach a point where I should seriously consider transferring? If you go to Chapman, do you have to party to fit in?

I’m just really stuck and looking for any help/answers because the idea that I chose wrong is really starting to depress me, but I really just do not like being here, every day I feel sadder and more unsure…

2

Hmmmn, can I ask why you are also not considering: USC, UCLA and Cal Institue of Arts. From my understanding, they are all higher ranked than Chapman–and UCLA could be potentially cheaper?

3

I’m mainly not considering USC and UCLA because they’re both pretty large (something I don’t think is right for me based on my experience at NYU so far) and because both are far more difficult to get into than Chapman. I wouldn’t consider Cal Institute of Arts because I’m not actually an artist, I have no portfolio or anything to submit there (which is why my chosen major is Film Studies rather than Film Production). I’m open to suggestions other than Chapman, though, I just think if I were to transfer small liberal arts would be the way to go (all the colleges I applied to initially except NYU were small liberal arts schools).

4

Well, without sounding too much like a member of my generation and a parent, I think you need to prioritize all of this to 2-3 items. It sounds like you want everything aligned to a specific preference, and I think if you can compromise on some of these, you might situate yourself better for the future. I would also add, if you obtained admission to NYU film studies, then you could probably be competitive to admission to both USC and UCLA. It also appears that UCLA would be close to 30k cheaper. Finally,I would also consider the totality of the education experience and not just the film part–to that end, SC and UCLA are much better overall institutions.

5

NYU is a fantastic film school. It’s only been six weeks. Give it time before you consider alternatives. I would pick it over Chapman, but that doesn’t mean it will work for you. But just hold out a bit first.

6

My daughter went from the East Coast to the West Coast and the transition was difficult. It took her till her spring semester to realize she wanted to stay. Give it a bit more time. Also, Chapman can be hard to get into. My daughter was accepted into NYU off the Wait List, but did not get into Chapman’s film program. They do only accept ~10% and I’m guessing going as a transfer is even harder.