I'm going to post a poll soon for what you think are the top film schools.

Please reply to nominate which schools you want included in the poll.

USC
ART CENTER
AFI
CHAPMAN
NYU
UCLA
CAL ARTS
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
COLUMBIA
FLORIDA STATE

**Art Center is film schools best kept secret**
Michael Bay and Zak Snyder came from Art Center.

I just started reading about the Art Center.... I think I may love it, but we'll see. I fully agree with your list though.

sketchy,

it's a good move look into the art center. it's where i did my undergraduate studies and i couldn't be happier with what i came out of there knowing and understanding about film. when i graduated i felt like i could make a motion picture. they encourage you to explore whatever your interest is in film whether it's directing, writing, editing etc. the head of the undergrad dept. is Ross LaManna (the writer behind the Rush Hour series). they've got a great mix of business and creativity which is hard to come by in the film school world. usually these schools have one or the other. all of the teachers are working professionals with great credits so you know they're not BS'ing you when they speak.

i'm at USC now in the grad dept. and coming from art center gave me a great dose of confidence going in because i knew i knew what i was talking about. it can be intimidating going into a place like USC (widely considered the top program in the nation) but i wasn't intimidated AT ALL.

i always dreamed of going to SC and i'm more than happy to be here but i'm incredibly thankful i started at art center first. art center is not an easy school to get into and you can definitely tell based on the talent level that's in there when you get in. it's a smaller dept. so everyone knows everyone and the grad students aren't separated from the undergrads which also was an interesting dynamic.

obviously it's got some problems like every school does but the good WAY outweighs the bad when it comes to this school. do the research on it, i think you'll like what you find....

So what about living arrangements? Do they help you a lot with housing?
I feel like I'm taking over the boar with Art Center discussion.

art center does not have any on campus living facilities. luckily being from LA that really wasn't a big deal for me, i just stayed at home during undergrad. however, for those that don't have that luxury, plenty of affordable and nice off campus living is available. it's not hard to find a great place to live for a decent price. pasadena is a very nice area as well.

The Top 10:

Florida State University
University of Southern California
University of California -Los Angeles
New York University
Columbia University
North Carolina School of The Arts
American Film Institute
University of Texas -Austin
Chapman University
Northwestern University

seems like lmu fell off the wagon then?

i dont think LMU was ever on the top 6 list. not that i know of.

i remember seeing them on some list...

but anyway here's another and it includes chicago's school (unlike the others)

* New York University
* University of Southern California
* University of California - L.A.
* American Film Institute
* California Institute of the Arts
* Columbia University (N.Y.C.)
* School of the Arts Institute of Chicago
* University of Texas - Austin
* Florida State University
* Northwestern University (IL)

and

pretty good link, gives some student reviews of their film schools (respective)
http://www.filmmaking.net/directory/filmschools/