But not by me, and I've nearly broken my face trying to figure this out on my own. I've looked through this site before, and everyone here has always offered genuinely useful advice. So, I thought I'd try my luck. Any and all insights are appreciated.

I'm currently a sophomore in high school -- a junior in a couple months -- and I'm going to be a filmmaker. There's no doubt; I've been interested in film for as long as I can remember.

I'm also a teenager, and academically, I've screwed up a bit. I'm an IB student, and I've taken a couple APs. My unweighted GPA's a whopping 2.4 and weighted, a 3.2.

However, if there's any hope left for me, I'm a pretty good tester. I recently scored a 2080 on my PSAT, which I know doesn't count, but might prove to be a reflection on my SAT scores next year. My individual scores were a 680 Math, 690 Reading and 710 Writing.

As far as extracurriculars go, I'm an avid drama club member. I'm also writing for the school newspaper starting next year, and I participate in school volunteer work from time to time.

So my question is -- what are my admissions chances looking like? I've been told recently that I'd be good at FSU, and I've also heard a lot about UCF. Thing is, I always hoped that I'd have a shot at NYU, but after reading some of the posts here, it doesn't seem likely that I've got even half a chance there. I've looked at USC, UCLA, and several other places, but they all seem way out of my range.

So what do you all think?

I went to NYU Tisch. You're in luck because as an undergraduate, the admissions committee considers your application on a "50/50 basis" for lack of a better term. This means that your grades, test scores, recs, extra curics, etc. are given 50% weight while your department portfolio (all of the tisch departments have separate supplemental requirements that vary from writing samples to visual work to creative challenges) are given an equal 50% weight.

In the end, if your Tisch department committee wants you, it is likely you will be admitted even if you only just barely satisfy the university's requirements (and in some cases, even if you don't) That being said, it is definitely helpful to have in the (old SAT) 1400 range and over a 3.3 or so. Talent, potential, and passion usually win out at Tisch (usually). Hope that's helpful...

Thanks a lot for the response. I'm pretty apprehensive about it, to be honest. I've got two more years to go -- hopefully I can pull my grades up to a decent range, but for the most part, I don't believe I'd be considered particularly competitive to NYU admissions.

Fact of the matter is:
NO ONE ON THIS SITE CAN TELL YOU WHAT WILL GET YOU IN ANYWHERE. They can only realistically speak of what it was that was their experience. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to how you get into a good school.

That's my personal experience.

In 1984, I got into NYU Tisch School of the Arts with 980 SAT SCORES. At the time 1600 was perfect. You got 400 points just for filling out your name correctly. So far from stellar.

My high school GPA was pretty close to abysmal (B's) mostly. ONLY A's in Music. My high school in NJ was ranked 289 out of 310 schools. That's close to the the bottom. Not the other way round.

I came from a middle class family. Had no industry contacts. No rich uncle in the business.

I had never been in a play. High school or otherwise.

My sister took me to the theatre ALL THE TIME as a kid so I had seen plenty of theatre. When I became a teenager (13 and on) I went to the movies every weekend. I had been bitten by the creative bug.

However, I never had and my family couldn't afford a drama coach to review my application pieces. I didn't have a high school drama teacher. So, I talked to my English teacher.

I told him my master plan for getting into NYU. He didn't laugh. His words shaped and molded my passion.

He quoted Thoreau: "Your castles belong in the sky now build the foundations under them."

So I read. A lot. I read anything I could get my hands on about the craft. Stanislavski. Meiser. Hagen. And taught myself. In my basement.

I could write fairly well but had never really developed that either. So I spent 3 months on my application essay.

I was a singer in high school and very close to my music teacher. My music teacher had privately coached Christine Langer who was the "White Cat" in the Broadway show "Cats".

She had attended NYU so I beat her brain for what it took to be an artist. There was no Studentfilms.com back then. Hell, there was no Internet, period.

My music teacher recommended me to a highly selective high school summer arts program. I met my best friend there, different school, rich chick. When she got accepted to NYU, I was determined to follow her.

I laid it all on the line on my audition. "Eddie # 8" from Elizabeth Swados' play "Runaways".

It was the first time I had auditioned for anything. And I nailed it.

I wasn't asked to do my second piece.

David Royal, Dean of the Theater Program, at the time, interviewed me personally afterward. We talked for an hour and some. I am certain that a great deal of what came out of my mouth was pure passion. My Muse had taken over at that point because I don't remember most of what was said.

I didn't apply to any other schools. I was certain that I did good work. Meaning: I was pleased with my audition.

But was sure I didn't get in. For a number of reasons

I didn't have a resume as long as my arm. My family was supportive but we'd have never been able to afford the 15,000 a year it cost at the time. I didn't even have head shots. My sister's boyfriend was an amateur photographer and he took them. My recommendations came from people my dad, a minister, knew. Local folks.

In Feb of 1984 was accepted to Circle-In-The-Square Theatre school with a sizable scholarship. Circle, I found out later was the most selective of all of the programs of NYU's Drama Dept. at the time.

Shock is not a verb of sufficient enough force to describe what I felt.

I guess I say all of this to tell you, my young Jedi.

Do what you can to make the application the best that you can. Leave it all out there. Don't settle for second best. It's the only way you'll know with any certainty what greatness feels like.

Remember,

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
--- Theodore Roosevelt

And most of all always reach for the stars. You might just hit a treetop. But its more than most who think them out of reach.

I wish you nothing but the best of everything.

Namaste,
GDG

__________________________________________________________________________

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gregory D. Goyins,