Terrified

by Ryan Tue Nov 28, 2006

I'm going to find out about Tisch within the next few weeks... yeah I'm pretty much terrified. Since I sent in my application I've just "assumed" I'm not getting in, so I've been looking at other film schools / good writing schools etc. etc. Emerson, Columbia and Northwestern are all appealing, and as a safety school I have Eugene Lang (part of the New School in NY, it's basically a really small community of open-minded faculty and students who strive for interdisciplinary connections and meaningful discussion.)

Still, I really, really want to go to Tisch. My best friend applied ED at Columbia (he'll probably get in; legacy plus all state in baseball) and we'd love to be in NY together. It's more than that though. Tisch, with it's socially-conscious curriculum and incredible faculty, is the perfect place so study film (at least for me). There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

I'll post an update when I find out...

Essay Anxiety

by Ryan Sun Oct 22, 2006

I spent 6 hours in Sitwell's Coffeeshop today, working on my personal statement. The general NYU personal statement is different from the film-specific one. It's divided into four questions—tell us about the extracurricular you value most, tell us what you did last sunday, tell us why you like NYU besides it's NYC location, tell us why you want to do what you want to do. Of course, they make it sound a lot more gentle than that, but that's basically what they want to know.

Thankfully, these essays are perfect:

1. the paper I co-founded last year
2. thankfully, my last sunday was spent doing incredibly intellectual (/pretentious) things (the art museum, a philosophy salon, and a smoky coffeeshop with four close friends)
3. I have a list of reasons their program is perfect for me
4. I can write quite a bit on about how obsessed I am with film

Didn't get them all done today, and I still have the Tisch-specific part to work on, but hey, there's... a week and a half left, right? Ruh roh.

Worried About Grades

by Ryan Sat Oct 21, 2006

While I was working on my application, I got a sudden stab of paranoia over my grades. They're decent, all As and Bs in honors and AP courses, but part of me is very worried they're going to cost me NYU. So I typed in "tisch" "film" "grades" "application" into google to see if I could find some reassurance.

I found a college advice website where someone in the same position as me had written in, asking how much grades matter for an NYU film application. The response went something like "It depends on your personal statement. I know several students who were accepted to NYU's competitive film program even though they had horrible grades-—their personal statements were all excellent. It seems NYU puts a heavy emphasis on the more personal aspects of the application." This is amazing news, because I have much more trust in my writing skills than in my transcript.

Early Decision

by Ryan Wed Oct 18, 2006

It's now halfway through October and the words "early decision" have been hanging over my head for weeks. My ED application for NYU pretty much owns my life right now, so I'm spending almost all of the weekend and most of my time during the week making it as good as I can. Here's what I have to do:

- The Common App Application
- NYU's Supplement to the CommonApp
- Tisch "Special Programs" Supplement

The most important part of all of that is the "Special Programs" part, because it's basically 50% of the application. The rest is normal—grades, scores, rec letters, etc—but the "Special Programs" part is the art school application. It has three parts: a resume of my film work, a script/short film/other piece of work done, and a dramatization of some true event in my life. In other words, they want to see three things—

a) that you've done more than just watched a lot of NetFlix movies,
b) that what you've done has some semblance of talent in it, and
c) that you can tell a story.

Hopefully, my resume/screenplay/"dramatization" will be good enough to convince Tisch that I deserve an acceptance letter. I have Wednesday off from school (juniors are taking the PSAT, seniors get to stay home for 'college work'), so I'll spend most of the day working on this application.

Arrested Development

by Ryan Tue Sep 26, 2006

Okay, so this blog seriously hasn't been updated in a month. And now, at the end of September, college is less and less of a faraway goal than it is a terrifying hurricane hovering around the Gulf Of My Life. These days, it's no longer distant thunder at a picnic...it's lightning next to the tree I'm sitting in.

Three cheers for mixed metaphors.

Now as for actually getting into anywhere, my progress has been markedly slow, thanks in no small part to a week-long cold, a weekend of getting locked out of my own house and my own childish stubbornness (part of me still wants to pout and say no, you can go back to fifth grade if you want to, life doesn't have to start). I found out I'm a national merit semi-finalist, which God-willing will help me get into Tisch. I never quite remembered to update this blog after meeting with Meegan, but that went well, and I'm certain that this is the school I want to go to. Tisch, by the way, is NYU's art school; the subschool I am applying to is called the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television. Their special application requires three things: a resume of everything I've done in film, a "creative submission," and a dramatic essay that dramatizes an event in my life.

I have what honestly may be the best idea for an essay that I've ever had for #3. #2 will either be a script or a film clip from this summer, and #1 is just a Sunday afternoon spent typing my resume.

Look how simple I just made that sound. A few days before Halloween, I will apply as an Early Decision applicant—and by "mid-december," they will give me their reply. NYU has a policy of "admit or reject" for their Early Decision applicants, so I'm going to either have a beautiful Christmas spent celebrating the rest of my life or a miserable one spent filling out a ton of Columbia, USC, etc. applications before January 1st.

More updates as I work on the various stages of this application. I'll start on the essay this week, that's the hardest bit.

Advice From Guidance Counselors

by Ryan Mon Aug 28, 2006

Our school has a new college counselor, a real "look I can be your friend" kind of guy with a lot of experience. He looks a little bit like Sam Waterston, minus the grandfatherly smile and full-feathered eyebrows. His first-day-of-the-year lecture simultaneously impressed and annoyed the senior class (we had to write a "Why I want to go to college" essay for an hour). At the end of it, he invited us to make appointments with him about our goals for college. I found his secretary and booked a half-an-hour spot for Thursday...we'll see how this goes.