Hello!
I was accepted to both Undergraduate Production programs at the LMU School of Film and Television and NYU Tisch.
I’m from Germany and for me it is really hard to actually get a feeling for both universities, here oversee, and I can only rely on their homepages and different online-forums.
I have a few questions about these two universities, i really hope you can help me!
- I heard a lot about the great community and social life at LMU. I only read about NYU that it does not have a „real“ campus, so it seems that the social life is much better at LMU. I know, there can’t be an objective answer, but maybe you can give me an estimate.
- From what I have read, LMU seems much more personal and more caring about the individual students. Is this the case? Are professors more caring and more supportive at LMU?
- NYU seems for me like a very elitist University. How do students get along which each other? Is it really competitive (in a bad way) or do students get along each other well and like to see flourish each others and collaborate?
- I have checked the rankings on the Hollywood Reporter and other ranking sites. NYU is the better university for film production. But how important is it to actually BE in Los Angeles? Since most of the film industry is based on the West Coast, it seems that it is harder to succeed on the East Coast, even though I attend the „better“ university. But on the other hand: each year there are far more film students graduating in LA than in NY.
- I have seen different student films of both NYU and LMU. Many of the LMU films do not look like I would expect an Thesis film to look like. I don’t want to sound cocky, but from my own experiences I could make some of the films on my own without any University education. Maybe you can tell me about (your) film projects and LMU and NYU and the degree of professionalism.
- Maybe someone can tell me about their internship programs. It seems as if LMU focuses very strongly on internships, but NYU offers the opportunity for internships, as well.
I hope somebody can answer some of my questions. I know, in the end it depends on me what I get out of my education and how I will flourish career-wise.
Thank you very much in advance! Every answer is really appreciated!
Stefan
I live in Los Angeles, have visited both campuses, and know graduates and current students at both schools.
You should choose Tisch. It’s a better film school. Even if it’s not in LA, the folks in the industry know that it’s a great film school. And there will be internships available in NY.
But to answer your overall questions:
In general, CA foiks are more laid back, friendly, and superficial. NY folks are more aggressive, intense, and deep.
LMA is Jesuit (Catholic) school, but they are welcoming to everyone and I know a Muslim there who loves it.
For NYU, the lack of public quad area is not a big deal, You can meet people and hang out with them anywhere. Public quads make for good photos and give a school a feeling of community, but if you are hanging there, you are doing it with a small group of friend anyway.
You should attend NYU Tisch. If you don’t like it, you could always transfer to LMU. Trying to transfer from LMU to Tisch would be much more difficult.
You would be lucky to get a useful student response here, I think this forum has more parents than students active, plus at least at Lmu it is crunch time last week of term. Yohoyoho is correct in what she says. nyu has great rep, and great tuition to go with it. Big rep big department big town big ego. Since d graduated from lmu and s is senior to be much more familiar with it. Film school is smaller than nyu, serious film students are fairly tight knit and collaborative, maybe more than other film schools. Try to dig a little deeper on student work. Lmu web site is rarely updated and lame, not particularly reflective of the body of work. Keep in mind your future career is dependent on the connections you make with your fellow students and possible internships, plus your talent and work ethic. Where you went to school is secondary. If you can afford either of these schools you can probably afford a visit.
Yes, @jtmoney, is probably right. My DS’s 2 best friends (of 4 best friends) go to nyu Tisch, 1 in film prod and 1 in interactive media. And I know lmu grads my age who are working in the entertainment industry, and I know current lmu students who are not film prod majors, but I personally don’t know any current lmu film prod students except for the ones that we have met on tours of lmu, so I’d trust @jtmoney viewpoints on lmu over mine since his kids both are going/went there currently.