myusername4menow

Hey guys. I was wondering about Columbia and Stanford's undergraduate film majors. Which is better? I would like to focus more on production...

NYU2013

If you're interested in film, why is it that you want to go Columbia or Stanford?

Neither of these schools are particularly famous for their film schools. On the other hand, why not consider NYU or USC? Followed probably UCLA. The first two are very famous art schools, with Tisch usually having a marginal upper hand.

Columbia and Stanford are equal for film.

beyphy

From their web pages, Columbia seems better. (or at least they do a better job of advertising the successes of their program.)

if you're looking at working in the film industry though, LA schools will probably place the most strongly (USC, AFI, UCLA) although there are exceptions (NYU, Chapman, etc)

phantasmagoric

Agreed with the above - neither is really much better; beyond a few universities that dominate (USC, UCLA, NYU), the "top" ones aren't too different in quality, but they may be different in the quality of their surroundings. Obviously, LA is the best place to be for film.

That said, both Columbia and Stanford are strong in film & media studies, but for location, Columbia would be better, given that it's in Manhattan.

destinyhelp

I don't know about Columbia for undergrad, but their grad school is considered to be one of the 5 best in the nation.

LakeWashington

Jim Jarmusch is a Columbia man, as is documentarian Ken Burns. Mario Peebles got his BA from Columbia, but of course he got a leg up because his father is Melvin Van Peebles, creator of an iconic 1970s blaxploitation film.

beyphy

^ ah, i never knew that Ken Burns went to Columbia. His Civil War is amazing!

USC undoubtedly has the best film school. I think it's far from obvious that NYU is in USC's tier. UCLA is probably just as, if not more represented in the film industry that NYU is. But that's not too surprising, considering that westwood is way closer to hollywood than is NYC.

myusername4menow

Hi. I am also interested in this same question: which is better for undergrad film production, Stanford or Columbia?
(And please, keep it between these two schools. I know schools in LA or NYU are considered better, but I am interested in these two specifically.)

NYU2013

Beyphy, what makes you think USC 'undoubtedly' has the better film school? NYU and USC are often cited having the top program, without any particular distinction going to one or the other. A quick look at a list of famous alumni indicates that both Tisch and USC have excellent, very famous and well-known alumni.

An unfortunate part of USC is that if you come up with something, i.e. an idea for a script or the like, while at USC and use it for a class or discuss it with professors or similar, then USC has some rights over it. Or at least this was the case as of my most recent knowledge.

seta

@destinyhelp,
for undergraduate, there're top 5: HYPSM.
for graduate, there're top 4: HSM + UCB

It's hard to say that Columbia beats the competitors like Yale, Princeton, UChicago, UPenn, Duke, UMich, etc,..

beyphy

Tisch is quite simply too far away for it to be a serious contender with USC. A similar point might be said about Stanford and Wall Street.

I think USC's also been connected to much more so called "heavy-hitters" than NYU has. George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, etc. (the last two didn't even go to school there although S.S. tried and was rejected multiple times, where he eventually enrolled in CSULB if memory serves)

Realistically speaking though, USC's SCA is probably as dominant as Penn's Wharton in the film industry in terms of quality and probably networking opportunities.

mom2collegekids

Why be asking this now? Why not wait and see if either school accepts you. The question may be moot if only one (or neither) accepts you.

melody10511

^ oh snap :P

DrGoogle

OP, you should do more research. You wrote production and that should be USC. I agree with beyphy's last statement on this and he's at UCLA.

phantasmagoric

I think NYC is a better place for theater. LA is a better place for film. This mostly has to do with location, and there's no denying that NYC=theater and LA=film.