<p>As a future film major, the two schools that interest me the most are USC and NYU. At USC, I plan on applying to the Cinema school’s Production and Critical Studies programs. However, as far as I know, one can only apply to one major at Tisch. I’ve narrowed it down to Film and Television or Cinema Studies. From what I can tell, NYU’s Film and Television and Cinema Studies are similar to USC’s Production and Critical Studies, respectively. USC Production applicants tend to be more hands-on in their resumes, while Critical Studies applicants tend to be more theory-based with less experience. Is this true for the two NYU majors as well? If I have little hands-on film experience, would I have more luck applying to Film and Television or Cinema Studies? Are there any NYU film students that can give me information about this?</p>
<p>SOMEBODY has to know…</p>
<p>You can definitely still have a fighting chance at Tisch Film if you have little hands-on experience. They don’t put that much emphasis on your experience, they’re really looking at your story-telling ability. </p>
<p>I’m an entering freshman in Tisch Film this fall, and my top two choices are NYU and USC too. I decided to apply to NYU early decision in the end because the things that turned me off about USC was that the film students didn’t own the films that they make, USC does, which means you can’t enter them in film festivals, or even online if you didn’t get permission from them. I also didn’t like the fact that 70% of USC’s population is from California. I wanted to meet different people from different places, see their point of views and that would be much harder being in an institution with the large majority of students from one state. NYU only has 30% of their student population from the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) and only 10% are NYC students, same percentage as international students. I like those numbers. Plus I didn’t like USC’s surrounding neighborhood. </p>
<p>That said, NYU’s undergrad film program is a lot bigger than USC’s undergrad film program, but they’re both tied for #1 undergrad film, though this was last rated in USNWR like 2001 or something. A bigger undergrad film program to me simply means more connections for the future.</p>
<p>So, good luck and I hope I helped.</p>
<p>Thank you for the info!</p>
<p>Do you think you would’ve gotten into Tisch if you hadn’t applied early decision?</p>
<p>Probably, I don’t think ED makes that much of a difference because even though the ED acceptance rate percentage is higher, the students are more self-selecting. Like the average test scores and gpas in ED are higher than RD. One of my friends got into NYU through waitlist and her stats were eh, so if she applied early she would have mostly likely gotten rejected since ED is either acceptance, or rejection. No inbetween.</p>
<p>My SAT was 1380/2040 (average), GPA was 3.45 (below average), but I had a lot of confidence in my portfolio and essays. For Tisch, once you meet the average stats, it’s pretty much all based on your portfolio.</p>
<p>That is SUCH a relief. 
I haven’t taken the SAT yet (October/November) but my ACT score is a 31 (retaking in a few weeks) which I think is average compared to the rest of NYU’s applicant pool. My GPA is something around 3.5, which most people on CC would be ashamed of. But I too am confident in my portfolio and essays. </p>
<p>What kind of stuff are they looking for? People have told me that USC really likes good storytelling. Does NYU like the same kind of things?</p>
<p>yes, although both departments at tisch do film, they are monumentally different. you’re correct, film/tv is production. This means you’ll be taking writing, production, editing, sound, production, animation classes, etc (up to you, but you must satisfy requirements). As a part of the requirements, you must take at least 3 History/Criticism classes, which are written-based/analytical/theory-based film courses, most/all of which you will probably do through the Cinema Studies department. </p>
<p>With that said, that is the difference. Cinema Studies department is solely the critique of film, analyzing films, writing about it in a very liberal arts kind of way.</p>
<p>So depending on what your future plans are (and you should know if you want to be a filmmaker) it is very crucial to choose wisely between the two as they are very different. Film/TV puts you on the road to working in the film industry (although you don’t have to, obviously), and Cinema Studies is almost like any other CAS major (which is why I don’t really understand why it’s not in CAS…) where you can go on being a film critic, or go to grad school, or law school,or whatever. </p>
<p>I’m a senior in Film/TV, and I also grew up in LA. So I’m quite familiar with USC. So in regards to the two schools, if I had to choose again, I would still have chosen NYU, given my soon-to-be 4 years here. So many reasons, but bimachris listed some very good ones.</p>
<p>I definitely want to go into a more Production-oriented program, so I will be applying to Film/TV. Thank you for all of the info. :D</p>