I can’t decide where to go to college. I am from the city of Chicago and am passionate about filmmaking, I am really fun, and also care about school. I am deciding between University of California Santa Barbara and Syracuse and honestly can’t decide.
Syracuse
- Great film program, more focused on production
- Private school and medium size which is good!
- Great campus!
- Awful location and weather! I hate Syracuse New York.
- Lots of new york and New Jersey people
- Not a lot to do in the town of Syracuse besides greek life
- Better school name overall.
- I love the school spirit and football, very classic
UCSB
- Great film program, more focused on theory so slightly worse
- The better-rated school overall
- Great setting, beautiful and on an ocean!
- Also good campus, good weather, and lots to do in the town
- Lots of California people which could be hard, 90% in state
- No tailgating or football
Clearly, Syracuse would be a very typical college experience and UCSB a bit more of a risk, but equally appealing to me. Any thoughts on which would be the best choice?
A big factor you should consider is finically aid & out of state tuition.
Both schools are great! Another big factor is considering what You want to do with your degree. Personally I think Syracuse would be best for film production. But UCSB is a wonderful campus and has much to offer. You find UCSB a risk … sometimes a risk is worth taking but this is a huge commitment.
I hope you figure out what is best for you.
@khalidlisten Hi! UCSB alum here! I’m not super familiar with the film program at UCSB (although I did have a few friends that were film studies- one makes movies for NatGeo and the other works for NBC Universal in LA but I’m not entirely sure what her role is). I can comment on the spirit of UCSB, and without it question there’s amazing school spirit! I transferred from USC in LA and found UCSB to have just as much, and in some ways more, school spirit. The men’s soccer games tend to sell-out and the basketball games are super fun and well attended. Living in the college town of Isla Vista was fantastic and I certainly feel I had a true “college experience”. I’m not sure where you live geographically, or what your expenses would be at both schools, but I did just want to comment on the “school spirit” part. Of course the weather at UCSB in great, but I’m sure you knew that already. Did you visit both campuses? Feel a stronger connection to one over the other? Good luck to you!
I lived in the Syracuse area and did grad work at SU. The weather is AWFUL. Way worse than Chicago in terms of cloudy, rainy, snowy days. If that’s important to you, and cost isn’t an issue, go to UCSB.