USC? NYU? Harvard?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm a rising HS senior in Virginia, and I'm really would love to go to USC for their Film School. NYU Tisch, and now Harvard (I went there for a summer program and fell in love), are my close seconds choices for college. I also am looking at UCLA. Here are my stats...</p>

<p>Here are my grades, (B+ = 90-93, A=94-100), the 1st Sem/2nd Sem/Final grades:</p>

<p>9th Grade:
Honors English - A/A/A
Honors World History 1 -A/A/A
Honors Biology - A/A/A
Honors Algebra 2/Trigonometry - A/A/A
Honors Spanish 2 - A/A/A
Health/PE - A/A/A
Business & Marketing - A/A/A</p>

<p>10th Grade:
Honors English - A/A/A
Honors World History 2 -A/A/A
Honors Chemistry - A+/A+/A+
Honors Math Analysis - A/A/A
Honors Spanish 3 - A/A/A
Health/PE - A+/A+/A+
Computer Programming w/ C++ - A/A/A
Theatre Production 1 - A/A/A</p>

<p>11th Grade:
Honors English - A/A/A
AP U.S. History - B+/A/A
AP U.S. Government - A/A/A
AP Calculus AB - A+/B+/A
AP Physics B - A/A/A
Honors Comp. Programming w/ Java - B+/B/B+ (teacher was ridiculous...)
Theatre Production 2 - A/A/A</p>

<p>12th Grade Schedule:
AP Literature & Comp.
AP Statistics
AP Chemistry
AP Economics
Honors Western Cultural Humanities
Honors Theatre 4
Theatre Production 3
***(I have exhausted the AP program at my school, so it is likely that I will be taking AP European Hist. & AP Art History at another high school, or Art History Honors online, and Euro. at a local university next year)</p>

<p>RANK: About 9th out of 480-ish
GPA: 4.75 W. (don't know UW)
New SAT I: (don't know, thinking at least a 2100)
Old SAT I: 1350 - 700 Verbal, 650 Math (I KNOW I improved on the new one I just took... so, heh, please disregard until furthur notice...)
SAT II Math level 2: 760
SAT II US History: 660 (Bad...yeah...I know...)
SAT II Literature: taking in the Fall...
My PSAT got me into the top 50,000 for National Merit</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
<strong>Theatre</strong>:
-Drama Club/International Thespian Society 10, 11, 12 (Historian 11, Officer 12)
-Best Stage Manager Award for school play (11)
-Sound technician for school musical (11)
-prospective Student Director of school play (12)
-on the tech. crew for 4th-in-State one-act play (11)
-set construction crews (10,11,12)
-Teacher Aid for theatre class (11)
<strong>Film</strong>:
-Founder/President of Student Film Society (12)
-Volunteer for the Richmond Moving Image Co-op (10,11,12)
-Production Assistant for local films (10,11,12)
-possible intern at Film Office (12)
-Have written screenplays since 9th grade
<strong>Figure Skating</strong>:
-Competitive Figure Skater (9, 10, 11, 12)
-Volunteer for LearnToSkate program (9, 10, 11, 12)
-certified ISI Bronze Level Figure Skating Judge, looking into U.S. Figure Skating Judge certification
<strong>MORE...</strong>*
-Crew team 9, 10, 11, 12 (Club Vice Pres. 11, prospective Varsity Captain 12)
-FBLA (Future Business Leaders) member 9, 10, 11, 12
-Owner/Webmaster of Heaven's Cloud Gaming Community (at heavenscloud.com, undergoing some changes at present moment) since its creation in 2000, manager of Online Store, and site graphics designer
-Poetry included in Literary Magazine
-Played Violin for 13 years
-National Beta Club 10, 11, 12
-NHS 11, 12</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
*Between 9th and 10th - U.S. Navy Rowing Camp
*Between 10th and 11th -
Harvard Secondary School Program, took Beginning Screenwriting (4 credits, got an A-), and Directing (4 credits, got an A), was an intern at the Harvard-Radcliffe Theatre, a business dept. intern at the Harvard Crimson newspaper
*Between 11th and 12th -
USC Summer Seminars, taking Film Study (3 credits)</p>

<p>ALSO, for what it is worth:
My father has been ill with an unknown neurological condition since I was about 12. He can't leave his bed really, and my mom has to stay at home. I'm an only child so this adds some extra responsibilities on top of me. My parents have no income except for Social Security. I was able to get grants from Harvard and USC to attend their summer programs.</p>

<p>I heard USC Film only takes 50 freshmen. And well, NYU's film program is just about as prestigious. I heard getting into UCLA out of state was nearly impossible. And Harvard... well, Harvard is HARVARD. So what do you think?</p>

2

<p>Just so you know, UCLA's film school doesn't begin until your junior year, at which point you have to reapply. So even if you got into UCLA as freshman (which you have a good shot at) your chances at the film school are not great. If the film school is your only reason for wanting UCLA then you shouldn't go there.</p>

3

<p>hmm yes, I know this.
That's why UCLA slips farther from my desire with each waking hour. (well, that was an overly dramatic sentence...)
I guess its the whole UCLA=good school, city of LA=Mecca of Film thing.</p>

<p>Thanks for that advice.</p>

4

<p>No income except for Social Security? Ouch. I don't think your test scores meet Harvard standards, and a lot of your ECs really don't count for much (i.e. set construction, sound technician). Not much in your ECs really stands out, but that won't be what keeps you out of Harvard. Your test scores are the main problem. Even a 760 is low at Harvard, and 660 is....Also, 2100+ doesn't meet Harvard standards either. You have to understand that Harvard often rejects 2400s. </p>

<p>Also, I would definitely include the difficulty you mentioned some place in your application. You should be able to get into USC and NYU. Have you considered applying to a few bottom Ivies?</p>

5

<p>Honestly, I haven't thought much of other Ivies; I only got interested with Harvard after going there last summer.
Though, I did look at Columbia a bit...</p>

<p>Any suggestions for other Ivies I might want to look at? Or not look at? Which ever...</p>

6

<p>i think you could be a strong candidate at Case Western, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and WPI. Reaches: Boston College
Super reaches: Haverford
Extra-super-humongous reaches: ucd
hope this little reality check helps</p>

7

<p>ya tisch is pretty hard to get into but once your in then your bound to REALLY hit it big later on ( same with USC)...but it all really boils down to all of the extra stuff they ask for ( its a lot of stuff so you might as well start on it now), you can sell yourself based on that i think... and your SAT's are good but i guess with harvard one never knows but i wouldnt get my hopes up to high if i were you....</p>

8

<p>tawny:</p>

<p>UCLA: Slight Reach (out of state)
USC: Match</p>

9

<p>A friend of mine had to choose between Columbia and Harvard for undergrad study. He is a pretty passionate film maker. He eventually chose Harvard, but made the comment that he knows he would be happier in NYC at Columbia, but Harvard has a better film program so he went there.</p>

<p>Another good friend of mine from school is one of the top 4 high school film makers in the nation (his feature film won awards and he was invited to a national festival in Miami to show it). He applied ED to NYU Tisch and was accepted. He is extremely excited to be going there. We live in Los Angeles, so maybe that is why he chose the other coast for college. USC film and NYU Tisch for film are pretty much on the same level, so either is a great place.</p>

10

<p>i didnt even know Harvard had a film program (or at least a well known one), i would have wondered why it was one of your top considerations compared to the two top film schools.....aside from the fact thats it Harvard and all.</p>

11

<p>I think your ec's are very good for USC film as is your GPA. Your SATs may be too low. It is important to demonstrate good writing skills for admission to film. Consider the USC Critical Studies program in CTV as an alternative to Production. You can many of the same benefits, it's somewhat "easier" to get into, it's a more intellectual approach to filmmaking, and it isn't as time demanding. Also be aware that there are abundant opportunities at USC for participating in filmmaking, even for those not in CTV.</p>

<p>My son who is in the CS program was intially disappointed that he wasn't accepted to Production. Now he wouldn't have it any other way. CS gives him time to take a minor and engage in his political activities. This summer he's working on a film as a grip, and being paid for it, in LA.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'm thinking I might re-consider applying to UCLA, if in fact I do have a better chance at USC.</p>

<p>I'd also like to throw UPenn out there because of this:
I have like a 5-generation legacy there, EXCEPT my dad didn't go there. He was a C-student/slacker/didn't even APPLY there and still got ACCEPTED ANYWAYS cause my whole dad's side of family goes there... but he still didn't go there, which puts a bit of a hole in an otherwise perfect legacy.
Well, maybe I won't apply and they'll just accept me like my they did my dad... Though I doubt that...</p>

13

<p>Unless your family has given millions to Penn, you are not a legacy if your parent didn't attend. USC does sound like a good fit. Harvard is a really not realistic.</p>

14

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=28835%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=28835&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You might find this helpful.</p>

15

<p>You know what I hate? How everyone here feels that it is necessary to burst everyone else's bubble. I think your rank and ECs are pretty awesome myself. And I think a 2100+ is perfectly acceptable for the ivies. Furthermore, I think you people that feel it necessary to tell people that unless they found a cure for aids , they can't go to Harvard, should really just go dig themselves a hole and sit in it for the rest of their lives.</p>

16

<p>Bluemuffin, people who ask here deserve honest opinions. 2100 is not a competitive SAT score at Harvard for a non athlete/URM/rich and famous candidate. Maybe a fighting chance at the bottom ivies, but not at the rest for non hooked candidates.</p>

17

<p>Yes, I am very aware my SAT is not competitive at all. And its a reality I'm willing to deal with, so I really respect your advice zagat. Hopefully my scores (that I'll be getting on the 20th) will be much stronger.</p>

<p>At the same time, thank you for your statement, blumuffin. I actually have met quite a few harvard-ers with similar SATs as mine (though its not the norm of course), and I've been told many times that merely a "passion for something" is what is most important.</p>

<p>And tsdad - thanks for that link!</p>

18

<p>bbbbbbbuummmmpppp....</p>

19

<p>bump!
can anyone offer safety school suggestions? preferably in/near a big city like NY or LA or Boston...</p>

20

<p>Apply for UCLA</p>