I will jump in here since no one else has…
DePaul’s School of Cinematic Arts might be the most underrated film program in the country. The program’s leadership is pretty new, forward thinking and there several interesting developments are in the pipeline. SCA just cut a collaboration deal with Second City to create a new Comedy Filmmaking concentration. The present freshman class is the very first one to come in - between the DePaul and Second City faculties, there are a lot of talented, experienced teachers to work with.
Its Cinespace 35000 square foot production facilities are impressive - significantly better than several higher ranked programs. Plus several network/streaming series are shooting their episodes in Chicago and using Cinespace for standing sets. The program has good Red Epic, Arri and Canon C300 camera packages of various levels that are readily accessible to students qualified to use them. There’s an LA trimester option for those seeking internships and H’wood connections.
The program could put more attention on student communications, social events within the SCA, helping students find opportunities in the Chicago professional tv and theatre scenes. It’s not as lively or connected as it could be. DePaul in general is a university with several first rate programs but it just doesn’t sell itself as cleverly or aggressively as other universities. It may be a Midwestern thing, who knows?
As it is, DePaul’s SCA is in a sweet spot - not crazy difficult to get into, significantly less expensive than some East Coast and California programs and scholarships are available. Good luck!