Emerson College

Date: Apr 16 2008
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
First of all, if the stereotypes of Emerson being unathletic and all gay are affecting your decision, don't let them. The majority of my friends are athletic; a few were captains of teams in high school (we used to play football with teams of seven or eight 2 or 3 times a week, and there's an awesome wiffleball league), and I know very few gay people personally.

What brought me to Emerson was a combination of an extremely reputable film program (even if your friends don't know Emerson, industry people do, trust me) with a liberal arts program, so I would be learning math, science, english etc also. I have found, however, that most of the academic classes are complete jokes. I went to a really academically conservative Catholic school with a huge emphasis on classical education (intense academics, not any kind of film stuff), so maybe I'm just spoiled, but I really do feel like I have learned almost nothing in classes such as ethics, research writing, communities and race relations, speech, etc. The one class I have learned a lot in is History of Media Arts, because I knew nothing about film history before coming here. What's worse than this though, is that now I'm taking Intro to Production, the freshman VMA class, and I still feel like I'm learning almost nothing. It is essentially advanced youtube video production, and kids who know final cut and how to use a mini DV camera can just surf the net all class.

The real learning for a film major comes from working on upperclassmen's projects on the weekends. If you get on the right shoots, you can find people who are really willing to teach you the practical basic aspects of filmmaking like setting up lighting equipment and loading a camera, the stuff that gives you an advantage over the stereotypical artsy kids. As true as the stereotype may seem when you walk around Emerson, the fact is you won't recognize the best film kids because they are normal people who have a genuine interest in filmmaking and are too busy to pose.

Also, I was pretty upset by Boston. If you are from New York or are expecting Boston to be like NY, you will be let down. Boston is far more residential and shuts down REALLY early. You can walk around downtown at 8pm and not see a single person. But there are still really fun places, you just have to get away from Emerson. Weekends at Emerson are dorm parties, with a few kids who have fakes and go to bars. The Gypsy bar and Estate provide endless entertainment when you walk from dorm to dorm, especially if you are drunk, because the people are all 20something rich (or rich looking) people who like to wear cologne and get into huge fights and yell at each other from cabs and limos and not wear coats no matter what temperature it is. Lots of kids go to Allston for SAE or lax parties, but they cost money and are really crowded whereas other schools have free parties and are generally more fun for people who don't know the hosts. The T closes at 12:30 so you'll be taking a cab if you're out past then, but splitting a cab can end up costing just a little more than the T anyway and they're especially comfortable and warm when you're drunk.

So Emerson isn't at all a party school, but it's college, so there are people looking to have fun somewhere, and chances are you'll have some good fun. Classes generally suck, but teachers are nice, the advising center is really helpful and cares about you, and you'll learn a lot in extracurriculars. As far as film, this is a great place to come and learn if you are willing to work from the bottom up, doing lots of grip work freshman year (but film shoots are still tons of fun). If you are unsure about your major, or want to study a variety of subjects in addition to film, you should probably go somewhere else. If you just want to make artistic films and don't care about the technical below the line side, you'll see your classmates learning a lot more than you. I think Boston's pretty lame, but most people love it here. I still haven't decided if I'm transferring, so I'm pretty neutral. Hit me up if you've got questions.