My daughter applied to undergraduate film production programs at USC and NYU Tisch. Don’t know at this point if she will get in to either, but we have a dilemma. We recently learned we have an edge at Tisch in that an old family friend is active in admissions (and is a big donor). So we could ask her to put in a good word, but only if my daughter 100% would go there if accepted. We felt she had a good chance of being accepted anyway, but who knows, it’s such a gamble.
As to USC, we thought it was a very long shot, given the size and selectivity of the program. But my daughter did receive a phone call a few weeks ago from an admissions person at USC Cinematic Arts, and he really likes her stuff and is picking her as one of his candidates. Problem is, we don’t know how much that means, as there are obviously other hoops/committees to get through. Does anyone have any idea how meaningful the phone call/support from this Admissions person was/is? If it’s very important, she will gamble and hold out to hear from them both (without asking for help from the friend).
We are from the East Coast and my daughter loves NYC/NYU, but she also loved USC. She’d be really happy with either. She’s very outgoing and urban savvy.
You have an interesting situation @dzdjdjango, but I’m not sure there is any real way to guess how the chips may fall. On the one hand, your D’s application was very good and is getting the support of a SCA prof on the admissions committee. It’s unclear how the process proceeds, but a guess is that after the phone interviews, the various profs on SCA’s admissions committee rank their top applicants and then final decisions are then made. In this way, she knows that she is a finalist, plus she knows the SCA prof is likely to rank her highly, so that’s great. At the very least, it should reassure her/you that her supplement and essays and film submission were considered first rate and very competitive in this massive pool of talented applicants. So that bodes well for her chances in a very similar pool at NYU, too.
Also, one can never be certain of how much pull a certain alum, donor has with admissions, even though many think they have lots of power. I don’t know about NYU, but at USC these connections rarely rarely have real influence at all, despite how involved the donor is. One woman I know who donated a building could not even get her own grandkids into USC as fall admits. It is doubly hard for a donor to get a student admitted into the most highly selective programs, like Tisch or SCA, since those programs/school’s decision-makers are not in the admissions office, and their separation gives them autonomy. And further, I’ve heard that letters of rec or calls from influential leaders and stars are not helpful at all (and sometimes even have a negative effect) if the letter writer hasn’t worked at length and directly with the young applicant and written personal stories that show the applicant is a rising star in their mutual field.
Lastly, it seems a good bet that your D will be admitted to NYU Tisch on her own merit alone, and yet she’d never really know that if that letter/call was made on her behalf. Rightly or wrongly, that recommender would share credit. From the evidence of her finalist status at USC SCA, she should be a true contender.
It’s a lot to consider, and no way to really know which way the wind will blow. This waiting period is simply crazy! I wish you all well and hope she gets into both programs!
Much appreciated @madbean! And yes, I had the same thoughts about Tisch, that I’d much prefer she get in on her own merit and know it. It’s just the process is so subjective and down to luck, karma, and unkown factors, and it would be a HUGE bummer if she didn’t get into either. (but not the end of the world, I know). Thanks for the insight.