She applied Syracuse, VPA BFA.
Making decisions…
I just saw the Syracuse thread! I had no idea some people have not had decisions including ED people. That is frustrating. Hope yours hears soon.
That’s a nice list. No wrong choice. Which ones are affordable with no or minimal debt. Which one is best fit?
My son loved Emerson. Boston is a great college town.
Thanks! We will just ride the wave! I find it slightly odd that some of these schools required portfolios and some didn’t. Like Boston Univ and Wesleyan didn’t want anything but Boston required portfolio from the musicians & acting majors. Why not a sampling of their Film and artwork? Just curious.
We have a fully funded 529 so cost not really a consideration for this student.
Three schools have given larger merit -
Syracuse Newhouse $15,000
Boston University Honors College $25,000
Emerson Honors College $28,000
We do not know if she is in at Wesleyan.
We have heard great things about Emerson. Has a good film program. Her SAT scores mean no need to do Math or Science. Does not have much of a campus which may be a negative for this student. We visit both Boston and Emerson in a few days.
What is the film department vibe like ag each school? Again, how helpful is the LA campus experience? What kinds of internships do these kids get?
All the schools promise the world but on a tour of a top ten film program recently the film student had the saddest internships. Yikes.
It feels like an information black hole.
I thought her odds at Wesleyan were actually lower with no way to provide more writing samples or creative work which were strong for her. It seemed overall more risky. We think it is possible she will not get in there.
The weirdest was Syracuse where she applied Newhouse and BFA with first preference Newhouse and the programs had two totally different sets of requirements so you needed to double check everything was getting submitted properly.
Almost every school she applied to except maybe two either required or strongly encouraged a film submission.
People are saying that Wesleyan decisions were released earlier today. Perhaps you’ll have your answer?
Oh I will ask her to check when she returns home thank you.
Today’s my daughter’s birthday and Wesleyan and Boston said “no”. “It’s like rain on your wedding day… Just figures.”. Anyway she does seem ok with it all.
We are on the NorthEast coast and Loyola LA seems so far away. Some schools like her and some don’t. Your daughter has some really good choices and some tough decisions. I am sure she will find a good fit.
We are NE too.
I expect a no from Wesleyan but she is out at a movie now so I have to wait.
She has had a no from two of her top three choices and we expect the third no very soon — and each no has been tough. One also came on her birthday. Sigh.
I am trying to get her to focus on the Yes pile and figure out where she wants to pull the lever. So hard.
Thanks so much for all the info! Right now my son is trying to decide among:
(1) DePaul for BFA ( he got $24K/yr for 4yrs academic scholarship)
(2) Syracuse - VPA
(3) SCAD
(4) ??Pratt - although I think that is out
We are also waiting on NYU, Emerson & Wesleyan (but I think they will probably be no)
Got no from USC, UCLA, BU & Chapman. Also got a rejection from one of his “top picks” on his 18th birthday.
Got into Penn State, Drexel, Temple, UC Boulder but he’s decided against those.
Anyone have any thoughts: DePaul vs. Syracuse vs. SCAD?
Thanks!
Congrats on all yours & your childrens’ accomplishments! I keep telling my son, you will end up where you are supposed to be…
She was Waitlisted from Wesleyan.
Mine just told me waitlisted Wesleyan. So probably deciding between Boston U and Emerson. She visits both this week.
SCAD and DePaul probably finished 2nd and 3rd for my son last year. Have you visited? Both have excellent facilities. Atlanta is a hotbed for film right now. He also applied to Syracuse after attending their film summer camp. He didn’t get any merit so it fell off the list. My son also liked Penn State and Drexel but wasn’t crazy about Philly and didn’t want PSU because our HS probably sends 50 kids or more per year there.
He attends Florida State. He did not get into the film school but is in their Digital Media program. He also got into Honors and OOS tuition waiver. So far he loves it. He’s already worked on a documentary and works on film sets with the film school kids. The nice thing about film is you don’t necessarily need a degree in film to work. It’s about your skill and portfolio.
There’s no bad choices on your list. What’s affordable and fits should be top priority.
Thanks for the info! We’re going to DePaul this weekend, Syracuse on the 17-18th and SCAD on the w/e of the 23rd. We’re from Philly suburbs, so my son wants to go somewhere other than Philly. Same thing about PSU, too many kids from the area go there. I hope he picks DePaul. Chicago is a great city, they gave him the most money & it seems like they have a good program. We’ll see where he decides soon enough…
Hello FilmMon2026.
Let us know what you think about DePaul. My daughter started her investigation this year to send application this fall for fall 2023. On paper, we really like DePaul because of its program in Comedy. We visited online only. We are from Boston and like Emerson too. (We know it pretty well, her sister and brother went there a few years ago). Our concern is the financial aid. My daughter is the last one of our family to go to college and I think the aid department will consider her as an only dependent. We had 50% of the tuition for my son and daughter, I think it will be really different this time and I heard DePaul can be generous.
She intends to apply to UCLA, USC, Chapman too but really, we think it will be out of reach.
I hope you will like DePaul! And if you really like it, don’t hesitate to negociate the financial aid with the help of your High School councelor. I know some families did that in the past for other schools and sometimes, it works.
Good luck. I suspect your son will like DePaul and SCAD. Are you visiting SCAD Atlanta or Savannah or both?
So my film student has received her final decision and I thought I would post results as a helpful tool for rising film juniors for next year and their parents.
Boston University Honors College - Accepted
Carleton - Accepted
Chapman - Waitlisted
Emerson Honors College - Accepted
NYU - Accepted
Northwestern - Accepted
Syracuse - Accepted
Tufts - Waitlisted
University of Texas at Austin Honors College- Accepted
USC - Rejected
Vassar - Waitlisted
Wesleyan - Waitlisted
She was out of state for all schools (most important for U of Texas Austin)
She applied EA to Emerson, Priority to U of Texas at Austin and Regular Decision everywhere else.
Largest Merit Came from—
Emerson Honors College $28,000 per year
Boston University Honors College $25,000 per year
Syracuse $15,000 ($10,000 and $5,000 grants) per year
Private Very Academic Day School Student grades 9-11
Private Arts Boarding School
grade 12
SAT Superscore 1540 (700, 700), Highest Overall Single Test SAT 1480
***decent results but not out of this world
GPA at time of application (grades 9-11) 3.95 out of 4 ***not the crazy high GPAs people often report here
Only one reported AP (World History 4)
Other AP and Honors classes
**this was not the 6+ APs people on CollegeConfidential often report
A lot of regional and one national prize for film
***standard stuff National History Day and Scholastic and small film festivals nothing crazy
Some of the ECs (which were nice but again did not jump out as anything truly exceptional):
journalism (school paper, local monthly community magazine, and Writopia—wrote articles, photography, and did cartooning and graphic art)
oral history film project for local museum still in progress
school literary magazines (writing, photography ans illustration)
Fine arts (photography, illustration, graphic short stories - has won awards for a bit of this)
Filmmaking (documentary and narrative - won some small awards)
Film clubs (school organized, leader etc)
Soccer goalkeeper elite club team several great years championship wins etc. grades 9-11 (gave it up to go to arts boarding school)
The list of creative projects was probably most impressive part of her overall application: films, illustration, pastel, graphic short stories, photography, logo design, creative writing.
Film submitted with application was cute but not remarkable — a bit more on the creative side amd funny but again not like the crazy good films you see on YouTube that seem impossibly good
….
My thoughts:
This is achievable for a very motivated artistic kid who has been doing artistic things seriously since 9th grade.
You need to be a strong academic student, but you do not need to be the strongest student.
You need to be a storyteller (visual and great writer) but you do not need to be the student with all of the prizes. Enough to fill up all the Comon App awards spots is sufficient.
Apply to a LOT of schools. My student got into Northwestern but was also waitlisted at Tufts and Vassar. My student was accepted NYU but rejected from USC, waitlisted at Chapman. If your student wants to apply only to 4-5 schools that is probably a risky strategy.
USC SCA and Chapman Dodge seems to accept fewer students than NYU Tisch for cinematography/directing. Note also that at my student’s arts boarding school no one admitted to USC SCA in last 7 years. Some years no one gets in to Chapman. But every year 1-3 to NYU. Yet, sometimes a student is rejected at NYU but gets into Chapman or USC. There is a veil of mystery. Embrace it because you cannot change it.
Chapman is not a safety school for film. Many students do not seem to understand this.
Rankings like Hollywood Report and The Wrap are not “your list” — animation students and storyboard artists may have a completely different list than documentary filmmaker or narrative filmmaker. Some schools are on the list for their GRADUATE programs.
Consider what minors or certificates you want if any — it will not be possible at all schools.
One programs offer BA some offer BFA some offer BFA as an extra option (Emerson) some have both a BA and a BFA in different schools (Syracuse). Which is right for you?
Some programs channel you early into specific pathways amd others delay specializing so students can make a decision after foundation courses. Which is the right path for you?
Some schools allow you to transfer out of film to a different major easily and others don’t. How certain is your student about film?
Start VERY EARLY - right after exams junior year do your college essays. Also creative supplement written parts (all of them!) and your film. You will not have time to do all of this while in school as a senior when the earliest due dates come up (some November 1!) Every year kids miss Emerson EA and Chapman Dodge because they didn’t start early enough.
I really hope this helps those kids who are coming down the pipeline. Do not let this process defeat you mentally before you even begin. You do not need to be superhuman. Just do it one step at a time and eventually you will get there.
Congrats! Great info
Curious, did your daughter only submit a 5min film or other art portfolio work to Syracuse?