Deciding between California Schools for Communications/Media/Film & TV production

College Search & Lists
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Wondering if anyone has input on this. D24 is not 100% sure what she wants to do in the future, but thinks maybe something in the communications field, or possibly something in media, film, or TV production. Here are the schools and programs she has been accepted to:

UCDavis - Cinema and Digital Media
Cal Poly SLO - Communication Studies
UCSB - Pre-Film and Media Studies
UCLA - Undeclared in College of Letters & Sciences (thinks she would like to be a Communications major there if possible but that major isn’t available to freshman. also interested in a Film, Television, & Digital Media minor)
Cal State Northridge - Cinema and Television Arts

Does anyone have any insight on these programs? UC Berkeley may also come into play but we won’t know that until 03/28. I think her top choice based on location is Cal Poly SLO, and her top choice because of reputation is UCLA. And being in SoCal just seems smart for that industry. We’re just trying to figure out how the programs themselves play into it. Welcoming all thoughts, thank you!

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Congrats on the acceptances! I don’t have a lot of direct knowledge, but agree that UCLA would be the stand-out in. the reputation area. It has a great school of film and tv also, but not sure how much competition there is to get in once there. Being in the city where the studios are is a real plus for internships and opportunities. That being said, if she feels that SLO is where she’ll be happiest, definitely take that into consideration – a happy student is a successful student. But from an outsider’s perspective, I’d think very seriously about UCLA.

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Communications is different than film/TV production. It is not my specialty, but my impression is that USC, UCLA, Chapman and LMU are top for film.

If she was admitted into pre-communications at UCLA, I’m not sure how easy or difficult it is to get into film classes.

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Congrats on her great acceptances.

First question is whether she has looked at the course offerings at each school and major. What does she like or not like?

eta: 2nd question: What CTA Program at CSUN interests her? Production, Theory, Screenwriting, …?

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Yes, totally agree here about UCLA. She didn’t apply to the film & tv school there because she wasn’t 100% sure that’s what she wanted (and the portfolio requirement was overwhelming) but now it’s definitely a concern that if she ends up wanting that she won’t be able to do it there. Not even sure if you can do a minor from a different college or not - definitely something to research. Thanks for your perspective!

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Yes, for sure they are different. It’s tough because she is really unsure about which direction she might want to go. Communications feels more open as far as potential career paths, which is appealing to me…too bad I’m not the one making the decision :smile: From the little research I’ve done, it looks like there are a good percentage of TV producers that started out as communications majors.

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Great question! The short answer is, she’s not sure. She did write and direct a senior class production for drama this year and really enjoyed that. But she wants to try lots of different things to see what else she likes. It’s tough because she is interested in and fairly good at a lot of different things, so it’s hard to narrow it down. It’s a good problem to have…it just gets tough when trying to make a decision.

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Okay, my take:

CSUN: Has a good rep for Film in SoCal, but the only reason to pick this over the others is if she really wants to get into Film Production or TV Studio work. It would still require a portfolio before Junior year to major in Film Production.

UCSB & UC Davis: Great schools.The programs she has been admitted to are more theory and criticism focused for film and media if she likes that. I see a Comm minor as an option at UCD, but I couldn’t find that at UCSB (could be wrong.)

Cal Poly SLO: Great school if she likes the area and vibe on campus. If she finds she wants to change majors, it gets a little more complicated, but hard to comment specifics without knowing the new major. Main downside is there is no film/cinema/media area to change to or minor in.

UCLA: For me, a Comm major with a Film minor is a great combination. (I have a student who is looking to do the opposite at another school - Film Prod major and Comm minor.) Like @lkg4answers, I don’t know how easy it is for a non-major to get film classes for the minor. And as said above, UCLA has the best overall reputation, so that’s a big plus.

From UCLA TFT website: “Applicant must have declared a major in a department other than Film, Television and Digital Media.”

https://www.tft.ucla.edu/programs/film-television-digital-media-minor/apply-to-film-television-digital-media-minor/

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Thank you @CCC4 This is so so helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to give us your perspective!

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I can’t comment on the others, but my D22 is a second year at UCLA and has recently decided to pursue the communication major. You do have to apply—you can do that as soon as you’ve taken Comm 10 and have 45 units. It is competitive.

https://comm.ucla.edu/admissions/

Comms as a major is quite interdisciplinary. She’ll take classes across political science, sociology, economics, philosophy and psychology. My daughter loves that but it’s something to consider.

There are also tons of opportunities to get involved in film, writing, etc. Those vary in levels of competitiveness. The best opportunities are quite competitive.

There are also tons of internship opportunities she won’t find anywhere else, especially for film. Non majors/minors looking for film classes do struggle (there are few classes open to non majors and they fill fast—those pursuing minors may have priority, not sure)

My daughter loves ucla and is having a great time at college. She has made great friends, lived on campus for 2 years, loved the school spirit and overall kindness of the community. It’s a diverse, welcoming and happy place. It can be intense—these are smart, ambitious kids who work hard and play hard, and the quarter system shows no mercy (the pace is fast).

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From the link I posted just above, it appears the candidate needs to take 3 TFT classes before declaring the Minor, so at least for those 3, there wouldn’t be a priority mechanism.

  • Applicant must have COMPLETED at least three courses from the FILM TV Minor Course List, each with a letter grade of B or better. (Lower Division courses do not have to be completed first.)
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That is true. There are some things you can do to maximize your odds of getting popular classes at UCLA, so if the OP is leaning that way I can explain what has worked for my kid and her friends.

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One thing to think about with UCLA is that I’ve heard from some friends of mine that went into college with an undeclared major was that it was difficult to get internships, jobs, and other opportunities similar to your major. I think that’s one thing to think about but I’d definitely agree with everyone else that UCLA and Cal Poly SLO would be my top choices in this situation!

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This is such great information, thank you! I love hearing that the community is so supportive.

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Thank you, would absolutely love to hear about this since that is one of my concerns. She told me last night she thinks she wants to go to UCLA. It’s hard for her to think about turning down Cal Poly because we’ve spent so much time in SLO (my husband and I both went there), but she feels like UCLA is the right decision for her. We are going to visit one more time before the deadline. We’ve been there but it was when my older daughter was looking at colleges 2 years ago.

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I think it’s great you’ll be able to visit again before she decides. My D went to Bruin Day and she was sold. She had a great tour guide who was a lot like her, she loved the campus and the energy. She turned to me and said, “mom, I love it here.” And that was that.

With tricks for registering for classes, there is a freshman program called “the cluster” — it’s a year-long class commitment that fulfills 4 GEs. Here’s the URL: Undergraduate Education Initiatives | UCLA Cluster Program

It’s usually recommended that students pick a cluster topic that fulfills GEs that wouldn’t normally be fulfilled by doing their major or minor prerequisites. My daughter picked a science cluster called Evolution of the Cosmos and Life. She was taught by a world-renowned astronomer, she was in a smaller class environment, all good stuff. BUT! One of the most useful things about the cluster is that it is a “guaranteed class” each quarter, which means you don’t have to use your “first pass” on it.

UCLA uses a first pass/second pass registration process for everyone. Basically, during first pass, everyone can register for 10 units. This is usually 2 classes and maybe a 1 unit class. Then, you wait a few more days so everyone gets a chance to register, before you go finish your schedule on the second pass. During second pass, things are much more filled up. Most people take 3-4 classes per quarter.

What the cluster lets you do is have a guaranteed class that you don’t have to register for. You use first pass for other classes that might be hard to get. This helped my daughter get Comm 1 spring her freshman year.

The other tricks: Coursicle is an app that offers up to the minute tracking of when classes open up, a spot is dropped, etc. Kids set up alerts to get notified. They also do things like hold spaces for each other if someone gets a super great registration time. Summer school is another option for fulfilling hard to get classes. Mine did a 6 week summer session with her 2 best friends—they lived in a frat house—and had a blast.

Also, this is just an anecdote, re: the poster above who commented on obtaining internships… but my daughter got an internship this quarter by applying online—it’s not through the school but she’s been working with a digital marketing agency that supports filmmakers and musicians. LA just has a lot going on.

I know Cal Poly has much to recommend as well! She will make a great decision—she can’t go wrong!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. The cluster sounds like a really cool program, we’ll definitely check it out! I’m going to send this whole post to her…really really helpful to know that there are work-arounds to getting the classes you need. I’m really grateful for this community. You are all so generous with your knowledge!

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That is a really great list of programs to choose from, congrats! UCLA is the best, even if UC Berkeley comes through because I believe Berkeley’s program is also theory-based, like UCSB’s. For 2nd I would probably say a tie between UCSB and Cal State Northridge, at least for the production side and location, but… UCLA is way more selective. It sounds like you have a good approach for it.

Also, is she considering grad school? If she for some reason cannot get the film minor at UCLA, she could apply to one of their grad film programs. They have quite a few, and there’s actually more grad students than undergrad in the film school. I heard the grad students also get more support there, from when I toured.

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Now that UCLA has a 4 year housing guarantee there are really no drawbacks!

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Agree, this is a great selling point. The dining program is amazing, too. My D has lived on campus for the last 2 years, first in a classic triple and now in a plaza suite. She and her friends decided to get an off campus apartment for junior year… which is a popular choice. They could have chosen a UCLA-owned apartment, but those are scattered around Westwood just like the off campus apartments, so there’s no real location draw for the on-campus units. Plus, they’re growing up and wanted to have less “oversight” with the RAs. Anyway, getting an off campus apartment was a little hectic (competition over the nice places, landlords who clearly know they’re renting to college kids), but fine. She is going to be sharing a 4 bedroom with 6 girls on a fun street just a couple blocks from campus. The cost is comparable to this year’s on campus housing.

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