<p>Completely torn, UCSC beautiful, cool area, less prereqs, not as academic. UCSB beautiful as well, higher tier school, awesome social scene. UCSD, most prestigious, also beautiful, but supposedly boring? I am a proposed film/digital media major at UCSB/UCSC ad Visual Arts/Media at UCSD. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>wongfu is from ucsd i believe. they have some videos that were good. all of them have beaches right next to them too, thats good.</p>
<p>Yeah, they’re all beautiful. The real prominent issue is that I feel like in choosing UCSC I might be undermining by full academic potential. I am transferring from a 4 year, worked hard, and maintained a 3.9 gpa throughout. It would be a shame to arrive at UCSC only to find that it isn’t as academically stimulating as UCSB or UCSD.</p>
<p>Hey, I am in a similar boat than you. I have to pick between UCSD(visual arts media) or UCSB(film and media studies) - I just came back from UCSD and was really happy knowing it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. They seem a bit more “hands on” as opposed to UCSB which is a lot more “theory;” on the other hand, UCSB has built this 10 million dollar building dedicated to film, so could this possibly a curriculum change? I hope so, since 30k shouldn’t be exclusive to reading books and writing about movies solely.</p>
<p>That being said, I REALLY have to visit it before I can make a good decision.</p>
<p>Personally, I completely torn to the point of sleepless nights and stressed-out days…</p>
<p>I wish UCSB’s film building was at UCSD and city was much nearer LA for internship purposes, lol…</p>
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<p>Idk, man…to me, their videos are cheeky and sentimental and I think it’d be foolish to pick a school based on someone’s previous steps…</p>
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<p>That’s impressive. I heard UCSC has a burgeoning film program, but…what’s at UCSC in terms of networking and internships? </p>
<p>However, UCSC is probably more production-oriented but less stimulating than either of those schools [SB/SD].</p>
<p>Don’t worry, man…you are not the only one.</p>
<p>I currently have had to make the decision between CSULB, UCSD, and UCSB…I was leaning toward UCSD for various reasons, but I still have to get a feel for UCSB.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>PS. There’s more of us out there so if you wanna chat with us, there’s a forum dedicated these schools and our neurosis:</p>
<p>UCSD - [Official</a> UCSD - Visual Arts](<a href=“http://www.studentfilms.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/488106085/m/853107285]Official”>http://www.studentfilms.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/488106085/m/853107285)</p>
<p>UCSB - [UCSB</a> - Film and Media Studies Breakdown](<a href=“http://www.studentfilms.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/725108485/m/698108485]UCSB”>http://www.studentfilms.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/725108485/m/698108485)</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the info man, I’m freaking out as decisions need to be made in the next few days. Did you happen to decide on a school yet? I’m leaning towards ucsc solely for the whole experience, it’s such a great area.</p>
<p>I have a friend who is in the digital media program at SC and he likes it a lot. I saw an exhibit by his T.A. Pretty neat stuff, but definitely a little trippy. I hear that the program is very experimental, as you might imagine. If you are into that, UCSC will probably be the perfect place for you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply cali. I am into that style of digital media, I just want to make sure I get a decent education from a solid well rounded program that will be useful in future career opportunities.</p>
<p>SD has really nice weather; its summer will make you feel as if you’re in heaven.</p>
<p>UCSC actually has a really great digital media major. This year I was part of an “audit” team that was attempting to trace most of the school’s allocation of student fees and etc. When it came to looking at how much SC was putting towards film studies, I was amazed with the type of technology and resources the school was offering its students. It wasn’t put to waste either, because I saw very active records of students checking out very expensive cameras/lighting equipment and also full use of the brand new Macs (full with all the editing software).</p>
<p>I’m not that sure about the other schools you listed, but it seemed that UCSC had a really hands-on approach in terms of production/editing. I saw some of the films and I’m not going to lie…some were REALLY out there. However, I did see clips of a student’s comedy film and it was of great quality. </p>
<p>They also have pretty famous alumni: [Alumni</a> | film.ucsc.edu](<a href=“http://film.ucsc.edu/alumni]Alumni”>http://film.ucsc.edu/alumni)</p>
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<p>Yeah. I ended up picking UCSB. I visited it last weekend and was severely impressed by their new facilities. The professors all have some experience in the industry and they even have an “industry” alumni panel(some include the VP of Fox Searchlight, Scott Frank) where each week they come and talk to us. Michael Douglas will be there this october to promote Wall Street 2! In short, I picked SB for industry connections, networking, great film studies program, great facilities, and industry experience.</p>
<p>However, the school is 90% film studies/theory; they do offer plenty of opportunities for production. Plus, their equipment is quite good and the facilities are top-notch. All you need is the drive. Many production oriented people have an aversion to the words “film studies,” but I think it would be definitely helpful to me learn the implications and aesthetics of HOW films are made - the shots, framing, editing, sound design - which I think are severely lacking in film production majors where you have a bunch of people who know ‘style’ but have no substance to apply to their styles. </p>
<p>UCSD is quite good, too, since they have very great theory professors (JP Gorin) and they are more production oriented as opposed to UCSB; although, I just felt networking was much more available at SB because of the internship opportunities and the experienced professors there. Let’s face it, if we want a job, we are going to need to network the hell out of ourselves and SB just seemed like it offered more. Plus SD’s program is more of an “art” school which kind of turned me off since I am more interested in narrative, not experimental film. Both are great schools, imo, and I am not trying to shoot either of them down.</p>
<p>I didn’t apply to SC since I didn’t want to go that far north, but their program seems to be what I “suspect” SB is attempting to do: a good balance between theory and production. So the decision is all yours. Remember, great programs will mean nothing when students aren’t proactive, so I think it you will be fine at all of them depending on how proactive you are.</p>
<p>If you like driving, lol, try going to each school and crash their program!</p>
<p>Good luck, man!</p>
<p>Congrats on the decision, sb will be a blast for sure.</p>
<p>any other opinions/suggestions? thanks!</p>
<p>you don’t have that much time to decide! i know iit may sound corny, but go to the school where you’ll be the happiest at. If you love UCSC, go to UCSC; who cares if it is not as highly ranked as UCSB/UCSD? All three are great schools, and you’ll get a great education at whatever school you decide on.
Let us know what you decide on!</p>
<p>I hear good things about the ICAM department at UCSD, but they are mostly from a friend of mine who is a professor in that department.</p>
<p>Ive decided on UCSC. The programs of the 3 schools are comparable, and I absolutely love the area, so Ive decided to go there. Thanks for the input everyone, such a relief to have made the decision. Good luck to those still deciding!</p>
<p>Yey!! Ucsc is such a gorgeous campus I can’t wait to go in the fall :)</p>
<p>For sure, the area is so unique. Are you living on campus?</p>
<p>Yea it’s very unique. Big change from so cal. And yes I’m living in the transfer community.</p>