AboutKat Expertise I can help with anything from freshman/transfer admissions to financial aid, from coursework to campus life. I'm extremely familiar with the College of Liberal Arts, but I know a fair share about other colleges as well.
Experience I'm a senior with a double major in English and Government, and I'm also completing the Liberal Arts Honors program.
My daughter is applying for RTF for fall 2007. Doubt she will be accepted because UT has higher entrance standards for out of state applicants. Currently trying to evaluate the programs at various schools.
Hear that UT's RTF program is a little overcrowded and so it is difficult to get access to equipment. This is true of most schools.
Her first choice is NYU which is the most competitive and most restrictive with equipment and opportunities.
She’s not good at competition and elbowing, coming from a small town in Iowa and home school.
Sigh. . .
Do you know anything about various film programs?
At least UT answers questions, NYU will not even pick up the phone.
Other schools she is applying to are:
Northwestern, but her test scores and grades are not good enough to get accepted to this excellent program.
Emerson, also highly competitive, with less to brag about.
Chapman, weaker programs but far more nurturing of an environment to "grow up" in.
UC Santa Cruz, good internships for independent production.
Not applying to USC because it’s male dominated, competitive, overcrowded with poor job placement. Worse than NYU.
Not applying to Penn State because of corporate orientation.
Looking for new technology training, along with film studies, art direction, directing, screenwriting.
Currently attends Interlochen Arts Academy in Motion Picture Arts. Age 17, one more year of high school to go. Already has 29 hours of college credits. She has passed 5 CLEP's, which are not accepted by UT.
Nice little portfolio of 2 minute short pieces. She would be good at making commercials, but wants to "do it all." Strong background in community theater. High IQ. Good writer, but not necessarily a great screen writer. Bright and creative. I want her to have a great education, without the stress that comes with this extremely competitive career choice.
Can you refer me to anyone for evaluating film programs? Not interested in trade schools. Only full university programs.
Thanks,
Cathy Matt
Answer I'm more familiar with the College of Liberal Arts, but I will try to answer your questions as much as I can.
It's true that the RTF program at UT is extremely popular with quite a few students, but that's to be expected from one of the largets schools in the country. UT is not in denial of its size, and does make accomadations for the fact that it is working with such a large group of people. Instead of letting it limit education, the major flourishes in opportunities and projects which many smaller universities could not offer.
While the film industry is competitive, I would say the best skill to come to UT with is not competitiveness so much as assertiveness. If a student is not assertive, it is easy to just float along, get your degree, and not really derive the best experience from the program. However, if a student is willing to ASK questions, EXPLORE opportunities, and work very hard it's easy to become extremely successful. I have a friend who is currently a junior RTF major, and from all of his hard work he's won prizes in several small film festivals, currently working part-time for an independent film house, as well as interning with a casting agency in Austin. (Coincidently, from his internship he was given a copy of a script for a new Quentin Tarantino / Robert Rodrigues project filming in Austin in order to assist in casting.)
Austin is really one of the premiere locations in the United States for independent film. Each year it hosts the SXSW (South by Southwest) festival, which provides talks and interviews with some of the leaders in the film industry, as well as previewing many independent and major feature films months in advance of even "sneak" previews. The department has produced a lot of famous and successful leaders in the industry, such as Wes Anderson (Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic) and Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City). It is the location of many independent film companies and studios which are constantly working on new projects, looking for college students to assist. It's really a hot-bed for new talent, new ideas, and ways to get into the field.
Honestly, UT and Austin are just about the BEST environment a person could get for a college experience. I come from a very small town in Texas, and I was nervous about moving to a larger city and a larger campus, but I just loved all of the opportunities UT and Austin itself can provide. I can walk to class and hear at least five different languages spoken, not including Spanish. I can take classes on anything from Egyptology to atomic weapons to European vampires to Shakespearean performance to Meteorology to American linguistics. I can eat Japanese fast food only a few blocks from campus, or go catch a documentary in a theater down the street from my dorm. I have classes with 300 people and classes with only 12. Last year I lived in a dorm with 3,000 residents (Jester Center), but this year I will be living in one with only 120. UT is so big you can choose to have whatever experience you want. I absolutely love it.
If you're very concerned about your daughter having difficulty competing or dealing with the size of everything, the University does provide a special program for freshmen called "Figs" or Freshmen Interest Groups. (More information here http://www.utexas.edu/student/vpsa/FIG/index.html) They're groups of about 20 students or less with a similar interest. They all take the same classes together, so it's much easier to find friends and help with your classes. They even have figs where you live together in a small dorm as well as taking classes together.
Your daughter sounds extremely intelligent, and UT is an environment that could really help her to cultivate her skills in ways she may never have considered. It's got several top-ranked programs, and is considered the "Ivy League of the South". (And if that doesn't convince you, maybe the tuition rate will. If you look in any College guide book, UT is always given the "Best Value" label. Here's a chart on costs for a Communications major http://finaid.utexas.edu/costs/060/comm.html )
