Yet another versus thread (Phi and film double major)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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<p>I would like to illicit the aid of ya’ll knowledgeable brownies as to a friend of mine who wishes to pursue the goal of becoming an analytic philosopher as well as a film maker. </p>

<p>So for him now it’s Brown versus Rutgers versus NYU versus calvin. (haven’t included academic info as we’re fairly sure he has a shot at all four even given brown’s low acceptance rate. At least enough to make it worth applying.)</p>

<p>He wants to go to NYU of course due to the formidable film studies program as well as the number one graduate and undergrad professors (the grad professors teach undergrad as well, including nagel) in philosophy. </p>

<p>Rutgers is beneficial because he already knows some people there, including a phi professor he knows very well who may get him some rec. The location is also good, as he’s in NJ (though this is close to brown or NYU relatively anyway). Likewise, he can get to use GI bill with rutgers and not other schools.</p>

<p>Brown I recommended to him, due to it’s open curriculum and Jaegwon Kim teaching there, as well as the high acceptance rate at grad schools and programs for brown phi majors. The OC is particularly good since he wants to double major in phi and film or just minor in either, when in this case he can take classes from both pursuits as he pleases, as well as math classes which he is also interested in. </p>

<p>Calvin he wants to go to because of a suggestion of the professor he knows at rutgers, since it’s easier to get into a grad school from a place that doesn’t have that many exceptional folk to compete with. Likewise a recommendation from alvin plantinga can go a long ways anywhere. </p>

<p>So given this info, what would ya do in his shoes if you were into being a serious philosopher or film maker?</p>

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<p>Realize that attending film school was necessary in the past because only those institutions could provide access to the expensive and complicated equipment necessary to make films. </p>

<p>Nowadays, you can make very good films with an arsenal that costs maybe $2000.</p>

<p>That being said, Brown doesn’t have a film program. It has a Modern Culture and Media department, which is more about dense theories than actual popular filmmaking as we know it. Some of my friends took MCM classes where they learned how to edit film, and I was able to be better than them simply by going on Youtube and teaching myself how to use Final Cut Pro. </p>

<p>I don’t know much about NYU or Rutgers. If your friend comes to Brown, he will certainly be able to find like-minded peers, especially if he gets involved in the theatre community. But in terms of structured instruction in the art and business of filmmaking, no such thing exists at Brown. Furthermore, I don’t even think that filmmaking is something that needs to be credentialized.</p>