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Hello.. I am a junior who is very interested in being a film major. I live on the east coast and know that some of the best film schools are probably places in california near hollywood but I want to stay on the east coast. I hear that Penn State University Park has a good program?? is this true..can anyone tell me any other good film school located anywhere..I would be very grateful if someone could help me out

By Happysenior (Happysenior) on Monday, December 16, 2002 - 06:40 pm: Edit

Hi. I am a senior film major. Maybe I can help you out.

Basically there are two kinds of film programs for undergrads: the famous ones at large universities and the smaller programs at other schools. I wanted to go to school on the east coast, so of course I was dying to go to NYU, which is definitely considered the best film program outside california. After going through the whole college search, I decided to choose the best overall school for me and not worry about the film program. I'm really glad I went with my gut.

I would really encourage anyone thinking about film to look at liberal arts schools with film programs. You will get a lot of time with the camera and more personal attention. Don't forget that you can go to grad school and study film--and those students come from all majors. Undergraduate majors mean almost nothing in the real world. Also, what if you change your mind in two years? I've known so many people who change their majors--I wouldn't pick a school based on one stand-out program in any discipline.

In New York, here are some schools to think about....Hampshire College has a surprisingly strong film and photography department. Bard is another more unusual choice with a good film dept. SUNY-Purchase is also pretty well-respected around New York. If you want to be in NYC, NYU and Fordham are two choices. Also Columbia, if you're looking at ivies. And I have to throw in a plug for Vassar, which is my school. A fabulous new state-of-the-art film building is under construction right now and the production courses are first-rate.

Good luck.

By Roger (Roger) on Wednesday, December 18, 2002 - 10:55 pm: Edit

Syracuse-Newhouse is great for communications. Also, check out Florida State's film school - apparently the school pays for the cost of the student's senior project film, vs. many other where the student must raise the funds.

By Dubs (Dubs) on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 09:52 pm: Edit

USC..duh..its next to Hollywood...has received money from the likes of Steven Spielberg and other famous movie related people

By Frank Jones on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 11:10 am: Edit

Visit www.collegeboard.com and use their college search. Go to the Majors & Academics area under advanced search and look under Visual and Performing Arts.

By irishgirl415 on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 05:32 pm: Edit

Emerson... Ithaca awesome schools

By xzt on Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - 04:59 pm: Edit

USC has the best cinema school in the world and has a top flight comm school too...nyu seems geared more towards independent filmaking IMO...but if you want to get into the film industry, you eventually gotta come to hollywood

By jack on Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - 11:41 pm: Edit

NYU, UCLA, USC, and USC are the PREMIER schools for film. Their programs get you awesome jobs. My sister graduated UCSB film school and is now an assistant producer at CBS.

By jack on Wednesday, January 15, 2003 - 11:41 pm: Edit

sorry, the second USC should be UCSB

By judy on Thursday, January 16, 2003 - 08:31 am: Edit

You've got to check out North Carolina School of the Arts. It is amazing. I was just there visiting the school with my son. He is interested in Theatre - Design & Production. The film depatment is unbelievable. They have the 2nd largest collection of films outside of the Library of Congress. They have an ouside pool used for filming miniatures. The school is very well endowed - the facilities are fabulous. It has an excellent reputation. Sorry I don't have any more details, but it looks definitely worth checking out. ( http://www.ncsa.edu)

By Justin on Thursday, January 30, 2003 - 11:45 pm: Edit

What are the best schools all around? I'm considering USC and a few other California schools. Do you have anything to add to my list?

By Justin on Thursday, January 30, 2003 - 11:54 pm: Edit

Hey sorry, I wasn't really paying attention, and you guys had already answered my question. I was wondering, is UCSB a top-flight film school? I hadn't heard much about it, but I'm definitely interested in it. Thanks.

By Troy on Friday, January 31, 2003 - 06:14 pm: Edit

ucla's program is not that big of a program but it's pretty good since it's in la...ucsb is a pretty good film school too. Jack Johnson went there...great surf videos.

SC is (bias alert) in a league of its own...really really tough to get into tho. Students have access to state of the art facilities and oscar winning faculty...you can even take a class where they have directors and actors come in and discuss films (i.e. Nicholas Cage/Jody Foster comes to class to discuss a film or what not). You are pretty much guranteed a job in the industry upon graduation...the sc network in hollywood is significant.

By Justin on Monday, February 03, 2003 - 08:23 pm: Edit

What else can you people tell me about film schools, if I'm pretty much considering USC, UCLA, and UCSB, what other schools should I add to the list? Is UCSD or UCSC any good? Thanks.

By Nick on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 04:36 pm: Edit

I was looking at AAC. Does anyone know if that is a good school for film production/ direction?

By Rubino Bradway on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:15 pm: Edit

I would respectfully disagree with "Happy Senior". There are film/video centered degree programs and there are large liberal arts colleges/universities with a film department or film school. Unfortunately, many of the latter have increasingly extensive "core" requirements - at an open house for what is considered the major film school in the East, we tallied more than 70 of the 128 credits in core and elective requirements, which leaves only 50 or so credits in the major subject. Many of these core requirements are state imposed, but they eat time and money. If you have money to bide your time in an undergraduate program (most of these approach $30,000/yr) and go on to grad school, good for you, but that is not an option for many people. You should try to get what you want in an undergraduate program. On the East, two of the most exclusive programs are SUNY Purchase and FSU Film schools. Also worth noting are Savannah College of Art and Design, RIT (Rochester), Emerson, North Carolina, Pratt (it's film program is small but growing), even Drexel, which was not known for film. I would take a serious look at what is required in terms of core subjects; I would also look at the number of people admitted to the program. Some admit as few as 20; some admit over 200. You don't want to be fighting for equipment and lab time.

By TsDad on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:49 pm: Edit

My son was considering UCSD, but we found out that San Diego State had a much better program.

My son spent two summers at the North Carolina School of the Arts. It was outstanding. BUT, young people should not go to a conservatory school for undergrad film. You need a good liberal arts education. Stick to a four-year college.

My son's first choice is USC, then FSU and UCLA. Also look into Northwestern, U. of Texas, and CA State - Northridge.

By Kaotichic14 (Kaotichic14) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 09:00 pm: Edit

i just got accepted to the usc school of theatre, b.f.a. acting program and i was wondering how prestigious is the program? if i go there will i be able to launch an acting career upon graduation?

By Benpet (Benpet) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 10:10 pm: Edit

I'm not sure - but I have a feeling that there are plenty of opportunities for acting majors to star in the film major's film projects - which could lead to being discovered. As someone who was just accepted to the film production major in the school of Cinema-TV, I assume that's where we get our actors/actresses.

By Alanz (Alanz) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 11:45 pm: Edit

Kaotichic14,

Our son will be attending college next year as a musical theater major. He hasn't decided which school yet among those that have accepted him, but Emerson and Northwestern are top contenders.

The question you ask in an interesing one. We were talking to the director of the theater program at Wagner College a few weeks ago, and he said "No one tries to break into plumbing".

By this he means that when you train for most things, you can just go get a job. In acting, to be honest, the industry doesn't "need" you. There's a glut of talent.

When you're auditioning, I don't know if the casting director cares what school you came from. Hopefully, the better (not pronounced "prestigious") schools will better prepare you to do great auditions... and THAT will help get you work.

When our son auditioned for eight of the schools he applied to, we found ourselves in rooms full of "the theater kid" from hundreds of high schools. All these kids are very talented... yet only a small percentage of them were selected for the very limited seats available for the colleges' programs. Your professional future (if you choose to perform) is likely to follow that pattern. It's your skill, craft, and personality that is a major factor in the amount and quality of the work you'll do.

You (and our son) have chosen a very peculiar business to try to enter. Most people fail at it (it's my understanding that the average union actor makes less than poverty level wages through performances). But those who attempt it are passionate about it, and they are to be encouraged... there are some rare jewels out there who can/will make a living at it.

By Clipse (Clipse) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 11:52 pm: Edit

What should one do to get into usc film school? Build a portfolio? Does grades matter or what you do related to film? USC film school seems really good but not sure what type of people they are looking for.

By Igotpants (Igotpants) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 06:02 pm: Edit

What about Emerson for Film/Communications...?

By Editingalready (Editingalready) on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 08:05 pm: Edit

Hi, I'm a junior very interested in film making living in New Jersey. Have about a 3.6 GPA in NHS and around about 1200 SAT score. I'm looking into schools and would love to live in California, but my father isn't too supportive of going all the way to the other side of the country for school. Can I even get into a good film school on the West Coast w/ my credentials? do I have a better shot of getting in being so far away? And if California is out of the question, what schools should I be looking into on the East Coast, my guidance counselor listed Syracuse, Penn State, Boston University, NYU, and FSU. NEED HELP...GOTTA MAKE SOME VERY IMPORTANT DECISIONS, any reactions are happily accepted. THANKS

By Panda (Panda) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 06:37 pm: Edit

Hi everyone!... My name is Andrew, I have lot´s of questions, I would like to know exactly what I need to join the USC, or maybe know a USC webpage to get my info. Thanks...

By 4nn4ban4na (4nn4ban4na) on Sunday, May 11, 2003 - 11:36 pm: Edit

Hey, this is for all of you who are interested in USC Film School. I was just recently accepted there, so although I don't know too much about the actual school yet since I haven't started, I know a bit about the admission process.

USC is really hard to get into...they only accept 50 freshmen into their production program. But to alleviate some of your fears, you don't have to be a filmmaker already to get accepted. I never made a film or anything like that. They ask for a portfolio list and they want to see that you have done things in a wide range of artistic fields; most of my portfolio list consisted of photographs I had done in my photography classes. Grades are very important too, so don't think you can just slack off and get accepted. As for what type of people they're looking for, you never really know. You just have to be original and put a lot of thought into your writing samples and personal statement. They wanna see that you are passionate about film and that you know why you want to be in film and what you can contribute to it. Hope that helped...

By Bren_Soto (Bren_Soto) on Friday, July 11, 2003 - 04:58 pm: Edit

Hey, since I didn't have a portfolio prepared in time and I didn't think I would get accepted a USC, I applied to the University of Miami and got accepted. I start there fall 2003. But I keep reading that USC is the best school to get you in the business. Is it worth waiting to apply for graduate school? Or is it better applying for a transfer?

Plese help!!

By Pleasehelp (Pleasehelp) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 11:26 pm: Edit

HEY EVERYBODY-I AM ALSO INTERESTED IN DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCTION-BUT IM NOT SURE OF WHAT SCHOOLS ARE BEST-I HAVE HEARD OF UAT WHICH IS WHAT I AM CONSIDERING RIGHT NOW-ALTHOUGH ITS GONNA BE ROUGH GETTING USED TO ARIZONA SINCE I LIVE IN NEW YORK.
SO PLEASE-IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY SCHOOLS THAT ARE GOOD FOR DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCTION PLEAS ELET ME KNOW-PREFERABLY ON THE EAST COAST BUT I AM ABLE TO TRAVEL

By Filmguy (Filmguy) on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 03:51 pm: Edit

Obviously USC, NYU, Columbia University, UCLA, and AFI (non-degree) are the most recognized film programs in the world, but if you are looking for other programs (top 10) which allow more personal attention and time to use equipment programs at Chapman University, Emerson, Syracuse, CIA, and Florida State University are the best.

Chapman for example is in Orange, CA (a suburb of L.A.) it offers excellent intership oppurtunites, brilliant professors (most teach at USC and UCLA as well), and are currently beginning construction on the only industry equivalent studio on a college campus in the world.

Keep up the research, film school is amazing (but remember that it is hard work and DOESN'T gaurantee work--someone above said USC gets you awesome jobs, they do have the higest reported industry employment rate at 70 percent, but film is one of the most competetive industries in the world, no school will "get" you a job.)

cheers

By Jen11hatch (Jen11hatch) on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 04:14 pm: Edit

Hi, I'm looking for good undergrad film schools on east coast or in midwest . . .
I'm definitely applying to Emerson. I've heard these schools also have respectable film programs but I wanted to know if anyone had inside or more information about: SUNY Purchase, Vassar, Fordham, Boston University, Hampshire and Columbia College Chicago. NYU, Columbia and Northwestern aren't accepting spring transfers so those are out but does anyone know of other noteable film schools in new york, boston, chicago or philly? Thanks for any information you can give me - - i really appreciate the help.

By Ld10lmp (Ld10lmp) on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 - 09:45 pm: Edit

Hey, I was wondering...If I plan to go to a school and major in film, and then do film school as a grad., whats school's offer top flight communications programs?