What Schools make everyones top ten?

First Tier

UCLA
USC
AFI
Columbia
NYU
Florida State

Second Tier

Chapman
Texas
Miami
Boston
Cal Arts

Third Tier

San Fransisco State
SIU Carbondale
Ohio
Wisconsin Milwaukee

I'd put Florida State second tier. The big 5 are AFI, NYU, Columbia, UCLA, USC (in no particular order)

Mind you, this is going by name recognition and reputation, not by any other factors.

I would put Chapman in the top tier. I know I am biased because I go to Chapman, but my experience seeking internships and such is that people in the business are starting to know Chapman and to be very impressed with its students. It's new but it's starting to get hot in the LA area at any rate.

It might not be in the top tier reputation wise, but quality of faculty and students, yeah.

*high five* to solojones

I would define "top tier" film production schools as requiring a combination of reputation, quality, selectivity, and accessibility.

IMO, the top tier of film school is USC, UCLA, NYU, probably in that order.

USC has the best facilities, guest speakers, reputation. UCLA has the best cost and accessibility. NYU has the best mix of artsy/indie/critical sensibilities (they win the most Student Academy Awards). Quality is indistinguishable between all three; USC/UCLA have an edge in the studio scene, NYU in the indie scene.

I would also add that for screen-writing, UT Austin is extremely prestigious and deserves to be top tier because of the Michener scholarship, which waives tuition and pays students $30K/yr to attend. to attend. It is (probably) the most exclusive writing MFA in the country, and admits about 11 of 1100 applicants.

Columbia and AFI are very good schools, and make it into my "1.5" tier because if you ask someone who doesn't know about film schools what the good ones are, they wouldn't know about Columbia's program, and AFI isn't a household name. Also, I take away points from both because both have prohibitively high tuition ($50K/yr, much less accessible).

For animation, it's USC, UCLA, CalArts, Sheridan, Ringling. Gnomon is well regarded as a technical school, but it's a for-profit institution like the Academy of Art University chain, and thus neither is prestigious, although you may get an entry-level job at Pixar after developing your skills there.

At the end of the day, however, you can't spend much time worrying about the "top tier." You can go to Chapman (which, no offense at all intended, in my opinion is not the top tier) and make a kick ass film and then profit off of it because you hold the rights (a major advantage for Chapman students). You can go to Fulsail (like one of my best friends) and then work successfully in reality TV and sell feature scripts. You can go to USC and just be a trifling USC scenester. Or you can be Tarantino and not go to school at all and be Tarantino.

Just wondering, but are you guys only including US schools? I was interested in IFC (http://www.internationalfilmcollege.com/) but I have absolutely no clue about any of this past browsing Google searches trying to learn. I was hoping for a year at an english speaking foreign school, and then a degree back in the U.S. after that. Im currently attending SCSU in Minnesota for film studies as a starting point.

UCLA's production school has been steadily declining in actuality and in reputation for the past decade or so. The money problems in the UC system have just made it very hard for them to keep up with private schools. Nothing personal against UCLA, it's just a problem all in the whole UC system. They also can't pay faculty as well.

In any case, it's true also that film school is what you make of it. And it really depends on what you want to do when you graduate, too. And what you think you want to do might not be what you wind up doing anyway.

One of the advantages that Chapman has is that if you want to do something specific like cine, editing, or sound design, you can focus on that and not have to worry about the general jostle and "omg everyone wants to direct!" that can show up at schools like USC or UCLA. It's an advantage to AFI as well, though AFI's facilities are so so. But again, it's what you make of it. And I could certainly think of a lot of downsides to Chapman, too I just think as the least established schools, it needs the most help from students to explain the benefits.

As you are doing your research, you should be looking at places and situations that you would feel comfortable in. Top Ten lists, Tiers, Awards are all superficial and on any given Tuesday afternoon during the school year, criteria like those aren't really going to matter.

Answer these questions first...
Are you a city person or would a smaller town be better?
Do you want to compete with 300 undergrads for lab/instructor/gear time or would you like a smaller program?
What can you afford now and how much loan debt can you handle after you graduate?
Can you bike to class or do you need a car?
What kind of personal EXPERIENCE do you want to have?

The internet and forums like this are great, but the best research you can do is making phone calls and talking to people in the department, THEN getting out and going to visit the campus. You'll find out that your list is not going to be 10, but more like 2-3.

Tim
Ohio University
NonTraditional Films blog

Yeah, it's extremely important to consider what is best for you personally. What do you want out of the program? What area do you want to work in? How much money can you spend? What kind of working environment do you prefer? etc.

I got into USC but chose Chapman, even though USC is 'the better school', because Chapman was clearly the better school *for me*.

Hi Solojones, I'm curious... why did you pick Chapman over USC? What program did you pick? How does cost compare between the two?

Going into my second year in USC's Production MFA program.
UCLA is declining, if not out of the top-tier already. I hear their screenwriting program is still very strong, but production/directing is suffering because they are a state school and California has no more money.
I hear very very good things about Chapman from a lot of people, including actors who are in a wonderful position to compare/contrast the programs.

quote:

What Schools make everyones top ten?

Saint currently have the best IT course in Souther Africa,have projectors in just about all the classes except shona and art, best swimmers and athletes in general. No wonder they are the best and im addmiting it as a PE student!!!!! cash advances

quote:

Originally posted by emperor_gort:
Hi Solojones, I'm curious... why did you pick Chapman over USC? What program did you pick? How does cost compare between the two?

Hi, sorry I didn't reply for so long. Didn't see this post.

Yes, for one thing, it was much much cheaper than USC. And while USC has a great program, it's a general production program, so there's no guarantee you will get to direct. I got into Chapman's directing MFA program. I'm a writer/director and this meant I knew I would get to do both of those things. At USC, there was no guarantee. Plus the administration at USC was very snobby and in general I don't like the atmosphere and attitude I got from people there. I know there are great students there, it just wasn't the place for me.

I have also heard from a lot of actors that they really enjoy working with Chapman students. I think it's gaining a good rep in general. The other day at work (at the show The Closer) the producing director said he'd heard Chapman was a really good school. So things like that are encouraging.

But personally I'm less concerned with reputation and more concerned with what I can learn. In a lot of ways, school is what you make of it, regardless of where you are.