Take risk with Tisch or apply to SAS?

Colleges & Universities New York University
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<p>I would like to dual major in filmmaking and philosophy between Tisch and the School of Arts and Sciences, but I recently discovered that (a) you can only apply to one school per year and (b) you can only pursue such a dual major if you get into Tisch first. </p>

<p>This means I either take my chances with Tisch or play it safe and apply to SAS. </p>

<p>Here’s my concern. My GPA is solid. My essay(s) should be good. My EC’s aren’t bad. But my background in filmmaking is relatively new, and my resume to Tisch will suffer as a result. My artistic sample should be solid, but how will it stack up when compared to people much more experienced? </p>

<p>If I get rejected from Tisch, I’m screwed. NYU is my dream school.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I could apply to NYU SAS, take two semesters, maybe take some courses at Tisch during that period, and then apply to Tisch. By then, hopefully my resume will look better. This is the safer option, but it’s also more untimely.</p>

<p>What would you guys do in my situation?</p>

<p>In the event I pursue the latter option, do you think I’d still be able to pursue decent opportunities in relation to filmmaking while enrolled officially at SAS?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>what is SAS?? do you mean CAS (College of Arts and Science)?</p>

<p>anyway, apply to what you actually want to do. wouldn’t it be better to get rejected from what you want to apply to than get rejected from a school you thought you’d have a better chance at? and getting accepted to the thing you really want to do would be the best feeling. so if you want to take classes at Tisch and CAS (if that’s what you mean by SAS…) then apply to whatever your strength is.</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

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<p>I was using “SAS” to abbreviate “School of Arts and Sciences.” Maybe that’s not official. I apologize for the confusion.</p>

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<p>Isealbz,</p>

<p>You better check on the real chances of transferring to Tisch. I believe it is not that easy. Also, if you are a CAS student, you are restricted from taking many of the specialized courses at Tisch, except some of the Open Arts courses. Go to the NYU website and look for the Open Arts classes to see the selection. In general, I believe they are not as in-depth as Tisch specialized courses in the arts and filmmaking. (Somebody correct me if I am wrong.)</p>

<p>You do have a difficult decision. On the one hand, Tisch sounds like it has the filmmaking that you want, but it is one of the two most selective schools at NYU (Stern and Tisch, with the latter basing admission more on artistic talent or POTENTIAL). However, I have read that Tisch really looks for artistic potential and not necessarily polished experience or accomplishments. That is why you go to Tisch to get the experience and the polish.
You must wow them with your potential if you lack experience.</p>

<p>Now the question to answer yourself objectively and others you respect and who can be objective is: How truly good/ outstanding is your artistic sample. Maybe even how you can improve upon it? That is the way I see where you need to focus. Otherwise, the chances of getting into Tisch may be even more difficult as a transfer.</p>

<p>Also, CAS students may have better scores and academic GPAs than Tisch students. So, the other thing to consider is, how really strong is your academic record to compete for a very selective spot at CAS, which is the NYU school with the highest standardized scores and GPAs after Stern.</p>

<p>Just some things to consider. GL in making your decision.</p>

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<p>“You do have a difficult decision. On the one hand, Tisch sounds like it has the filmmaking that you want, but it is one of the two most selective schools at NYU (Stern and Tisch, with the latter basing admission more on artistic talent or POTENTIAL). However, I have read that Tisch really looks for artistic potential and not necessarily polished experience or accomplishments. That is why you go to Tisch to get the experience and the polish.
You must wow them with your potential if you lack experience.”</p>

<p>Just thought I’d put in my 2 cents…</p>

<p>He’s right, they definately weight potential more than experience at Tisch (at least for the "creative application, or whatever it’s called). My twin sister just got in to Tisch for for the Film & TV Production program. She has very little experience. When we visited Tisch for one of their Open House days back in the fall, the admissions people even flat out told us that they don’t expect you to know everything about filmmaking (at least technically… and little creativity-wise)… that’s what you’re going to school for.</p>

<p>Also, if it helps, she has less then NYU’s average SATs and GPA scores… but their not bad. Her ECs, recs, and essay were all solid. Then she spent much of Sept./Oct. working on her creative application. That’s the real “tisch test.” Good luck!</p>

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<p>If it helps, here is some information on my academic history:</p>

<p>High School
Rank: 10 out of 255
GPA: 4.24
SAT: 620 (Critical Reading), 540 (Math), 660 (Writing)</p>

<p>College
GPA: 4.0</p>

<p>Honors
Honor Roll (11th, 12th)
Dean’s List (all years in college)
Phi Theta Kappa Society (final year)
Sigma Kappa Delta (final year)</p>

<p>Recs</p>

<p>Should be solid, but not directly relevant to film. The one is written by an English professor I’ve known for years now. The other is written by my precalc/Calc professor, who was very impressed by my underdog but successful (=perfect A) performance. </p>

<p>Potential ECs</p>

<p>RealCommunity videos. Co-founder & director. Helped organize cross-campus advertisements and skits.</p>

<p>Alvin Plantinga philosophy conference.</p>

<p>Fine Arts Club. Treasurer and temporary SGA Representative. Helped organize campus events/art shows.</p>

<p>Symbolic Logic. Attended 4 times & expected to be ongoing. Informal audit w/ invitation.</p>

<p>Assisted commercial shoot for Tourism Commission.</p>

<p>Local church Soup Kitchen and Cloth Drive. </p>

<p>Multiple publications to school literary journal. </p>

<p>Resume</p>

<p>???</p>

<p>Draw on the ECs above?
??</p>

<p>Submission to Cinema5D monthly challenge. </p>

<p>Artistic sample</p>

<p>I’ve written the screenplay; I just need to film it. I’ll be using a DLSLR camera to film it, so I’ll have a lot of room for visual creativity. I should be able to finish this in a week (and I still have three weeks total to submit my application). </p>

<p>What do you guys think on this basis? It still feels too risky to me, but maybe I’m undervaluing myself here.</p>

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<p>You have a solid GPA/ rank but somewhat low SATs for CAS. You may be referred to the Liberal Studies Program instead of getting direct admission to CAS. This is a distinct possibility. On the other hand, if you really excel at the artistic sample (showing passion, talent, thoughtfulness, creativity, etc.), then the artistic element may override the “below average” SAT scores (for NYU) for application to Tisch. That is, the “below par” SAT I scores will not matter as much for Tisch, if other parts of the application are strong, esp. the artistic sample.</p>

<p>Is there no one who can add something about the artistic work that you did in your ECs. I would try to strengthen the recommendations with an additional one related to the arts. Then work my tail off on my artistic sample (critique it and then critique it yet again, preferably with feedback from someone who is in good in the arts). If your decision is to go for Tisch.</p>

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<p>I was in a similar situation and went with Tisch. I’m unsure of whether or not I made the right choice. You’re much better than I am academically, however; I would apply to Tisch because if you can’t get in now you won’t be able to transfer in later, most likely.</p>

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<p>@Evolving: will my SAT scores hurt me that badly as a transfer student? I’m a little skeptical. I’ll be transferring with an Associates degree, so I’ve been out of high school a while now. </p>

<p>As for the letter of recommendation, I don’t know who I would get to write it or if I would even have time. The best person I can think of would be my current Film History teacher, but I only have until April to apply, and he’s off with 1 week of vacation. Further, he hasn’t seen any of my artistic projects; he’s just interacted with my thoughts on film. </p>

<p>@WingsReborn: Well, if I get into CAS, I could spend time building up my application to Tisch.</p>

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<p>Iseal, Oops, did I misread what you wrote!</p>

<p>I thought you are now a high school student thinking about applying either as a freshman now or considering applying as a transfer student later.</p>

<p>Wow. You cannot seriously think you can get into CAS and then apply yet again for another transfer into Tisch, especially a school that is already very, very difficult to apply into as a transfer. Believe me, you absolutely have no chance of doing so, if I may be so daring to say so. At this point, if you want filmmaking, then you need to apply directly to Tisch. And, the chances have now gone down substantially. Somebody have any stats or anecdotes on the low probability of transferring into Tisch. Maybe this should be doubled-checked. Normally, Tisch is hard enough to get into as a Freshman and you are now thinking about applying to be a transfer student. You are even taking it further by thinking of doing a double transfer. </p>

<p>I am sorry. I do not think NYU would look kindly on someone with an Associates jumping around the different schools at NYU. My opinion only.</p>

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<p>Iseablz, I may be wrong, but if you get into CAS, spend some time there, and transfer to Tisch, you’ll have to spend more than 2 years at NYU, since you probably won’t be able to meet all the graduation requirements on time.</p>

<p>Also, if you want a very loose gauge of what kind of videos make it into Tisch, there is a ton of them uploaded to youtube. You should just search for nyu tisch or something like that.</p>

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<p>justspice, I think that was what the OP meant in the first post on this thread:</p>

<p>“On the other hand, I could apply to NYU SAS, take two semesters, maybe take some courses at Tisch during that period, and then apply to Tisch. By then, hopefully my resume will look better. This is the safer option, but it’s also more UNTIMELY.”</p>

<p>Iseal, what you are proposing is impractical, even if NYU were to consider the double transfers. Why would you pay so much for an expensive school like NYU to delay getting your bachelor’s when you can be thinking of applying for a graduate degree or working somewhere relevant to your major. I know you love NYU, but to spend five, maybe six years for a bachelor’s degree???</p>

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<p>I think you guys might be over-blowing things a bit. I talked to a friend of mine who is at NYU and she said the following: “You can take classes at Tisch while in CAS. This is probably the better option, especially if you don’t think you will make it into Tisch, and then you can have an internal transfer and be in both schools. Plus, you could get a professor from Tisch to support your dual major and that would give you a lot of weight getting into the Tisch program.”</p>

<p>Does anyone else have any input?</p>

<p>I think I need to try to get into contact with a guidance councilor and see what they say. I’m tired of dealing with student ambassadors.</p>

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<p>Iseal.</p>

<p>We wish you the best and can provide info based only on what we have heard and read. I think it is a good idea to get it straight from NYU Admissions Counselors (ask to speak to one directly by phone). I have done so myself and they never turn down a request to speak to someone higher up than a student ambassador.</p>

<p>By the way, I am basing my feedback partly on what I hear from my son, who has friends at Tisch and he also was thinking at one point of a transfer because of his now blossoming interest in music. However, he told me personally that he thinks it is near impossible to make the switch (from CAS where he is now), at least for him.</p>

<p>True, take our feedback as the writers’ own conclusions based on what we ourselves have heard, read, and INTERPRET. Again, GL!</p>

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<p>Yeah, I appreciate your feedback. I’ll let you guys know what happens.</p>

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<p>you really need to look at the Open Arts curriculum to see “what classes you can take at Tisch” if you are admitted to CAS. [Open</a> Arts: Tisch School of the Arts at NYU](<a href=“Open Arts”>Open Arts)
I"ll be honest: I don’t think that applying to CAS is “playing it safe,” because you don’t look like a shoo-in. If you’re truly interested in film, then you should apply to Tisch. They will be looking for your ability to tell a story, not your experience or expertise in filmmaking. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t place all your bets on a “dream school” in any case. All schools will have their pluses and minuses.</p>