Columbia University in the City of New York
StudentsReview ::
Columbia University in the City of New York - Extra Detail about the Comment | |||||||||||||||||||
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Research Quality | A- | Research Availability | A |
Research Funding | B- | Graduate Politics | B+ |
Errand Runners | A+ | Degree Completion | - |
Alternative pay [ta/gsi] | B | Sufficient Pay | C+ |
Competitiveness | A | Education Quality | A |
Faculty Accessibility | A- | Useful Research | A+ |
Extracurriculars | - | Success-Understanding | A+ |
Surrounding City | A+ | Social Life/Environment | A+ |
"Individual" treatment | A- | Friendliness | A |
Safety | A+ | Campus Beauty | A+ |
Campus Maintenance | A | University Resource/spending | A |
Describes the student body as: Friendly, ApproachableDescribes the faculty as: Friendly, Helpful |
Lowest Rating Sufficient Pay | C+ |
Highest Rating Errand Runners | A+ |
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
I came into the film school after working for nearly 10 years in the film industry. Like any graduate program you take out what you put in. The issue is that there are limited resources and you must compete to get them. Students complain because they don't get fair treatment. The real issue is that they let 60 people into the school and only 5 to 10 from each class will actually work in some significant way in the film industry. This is actually much higher than most film schools and the reality of all of them. So there are a lot of people who will never make it. And its clear in film school where they spend more time complaining than actually being productive. That said—IF you are willing to go all out, this program is one of the best in the country. The students are smart (and by the way, its MORE about your colleagues than your teachers as you really learn from MAKING films not talking about them and you MAKE films with your colleagues). New York is a great place to be for filmmaking and the resources are sufficient to get where you need to go. The strongest part about the Columbia program is its liberal arts approach. in the first year you really learn every aspect of filmmaking. Producers learn to direct, directors learn to produce, etc. Then in your second year you concentrate in directing, writing, producing or theory/criticism. This is an important distinction from other film schools. A good producer doesnt need to be a good director but he needs to understand what a director does. This school is one of the top five in the country and I would argue its the first for serious filmmakers. Being in LA definitely positions you to enter the job market more easily and that is one of the disadvantages of studying in NY but its the ONLY one. Columbia has a great reputation. Worth it if you have the cojones to make it to the top.