Columbia 2021 MFA Screenwriting/Directing Applicants (3 Viewers)

[svgis]

I had a very similar experience, who were your interviewers?

Eric and David. They honestly caught me off guard with how sweet they were. I’m glad your interview went well!

 

[ljz2003]

I saw like 4 or 5 interview slots on March 16th when I scheduled mine, so I can't imagine we'll know decisions by the 15th.

 

[svgis]

My guys said March 15th in the interview for acceptance notices. Which means AFI and Columbia announce on the same day this year....

That would be amazing, I hope this is true. In last year’s thread it looked like acceptances went out over a couple days, so maybe that’s the first batch of acceptances and the rest roll out after?

 

[runningupthathill]

That would be amazing, I hope this is true. In last year’s thread it looked like acceptances went out over a couple days, so maybe that’s the first batch of acceptances and the rest roll out after?

When did they go out last year?

 

[svgis]

When did they go out last year?

Later than the 15th —looked like the last week of March.

 

[CaDa]

.... I'm not totally sure. My technical issues were so bad I ended up having to just do a phone call.

What a pity…But I believe they totally understand that and it doesn't matter seriously whether on phone call or zoom. Hope you went well! What kind of questions did your interviewer ask you?

 

[malfeasanttoaster]

What a pity…But I believe they totally understand that and it doesn't matter seriously whether on phone call or zoom. Hope you went well! What kind of questions did your interviewer ask you?

They were incredibly nice and very knowledgeable about my work. Mainly wanted to flesh out my influences and understand the deeper thought process behind why I made the choices I did and why I make the kinds of film I do. AFI was much more interested the kind of person I was, while Columbia felt much more focused on my work.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[runningupthathill]

Interview is this afternoon y’all! Any final pointers?

 

[malfeasanttoaster]

Just be yourself

Interview is this afternoon y’all! Any final pointers?

Just be yourself. They just want to see you and know you aren't nuts and are a kind person.

Unless you are nuts, then maybe don't be yourself.

 

[runningupthathill]

Just be yourself

Just be yourself. They just want to see you and know you aren't nuts and are a kind person.

Unless you are nuts, then maybe don't be yourself.

That seems to be the key!

 

[runningupthathill]

Just be yourself

Just be yourself. They just want to see you and know you aren't nuts and are a kind person.

Unless you are nuts, then maybe don't be yourself.

Did they ask you to recount any memorable experiences or any questions like that? I’ve read about interviewers asking like “recount a time when you felt liberated” and things like that

 

[CaDa]

Interview is this afternoon y’all! Any final pointers?

Hope you enjoy that! I believe it would be a great interview. Also please share sth about it with us if you would like to.

 

[runningupthathill]

The interview went SO well! I don’t really feel comfortable going into specifics on a public forum but if anyone has any questions feel free to PM me

 

[anniewaits]

Hi everyone! I've been in a black hole wondering who else applied to CP and if there was a place where people can chat about it...and lo and behold.

Um, some details and maybe some answers to some questions I saw:

I got my interview request on 2/10 and interviewed 2/18
Was also interviewed by Eric and David
Did not ask about any of my submission materials. Asked my influences and then we just really chatted about that for about 20 minutes (I am such a geek but they seemed to enjoy that) and I asked a bunch of questions. I asked how they were approaching the pandemic, what did they think it would look like after the pandemic and how many students they were accepting ... they said that 6 deferred so 19 slots. They also mentioned I would know by mid-March...but no specific date was inferred. Anyway, good luck to everyone! Hope this helped...

 

[Nathalie Granger]

Hi everyone! I've been in a black hole wondering who else applied to CP and if there was a place where people can chat about it...and lo and behold.

Um, some details and maybe some answers to some questions I saw:

I got my interview request on 2/10 and interviewed 2/18
Was also interviewed by Eric and David
Did not ask about any of my submission materials. Asked my influences and then we just really chatted about that for about 20 minutes (I am such a geek but they seemed to enjoy that) and I asked a bunch of questions. I asked how they were approaching the pandemic, what did they think it would look like after the pandemic and how many students they were accepting ... they said that 6 deferred so 19 slots. They also mentioned I would know by mid-March...but no specific date was inferred. Anyway, good luck to everyone! Hope this helped...

Thank you for sharing, Annie! Did they tell how they are thinking the next semester, considering the actual COVID situation? Do you know if it will gonna continue to be online?

 

[its_me_mari]

Hey guys!
Just had my interview and it was great! I interviewed with Adam Yaffe and Hilary Brougher and they were super nice!
They mentioned my autobiographical essay but most of the time they ask about my influences and wanted to talk about how I approch the creative process (coming up with ideas, what are the things I find challenging in writing, among others).

It was a great interview and I’m really happy about it! Thank you so much for those who spent time sharing here because it always helps a lot! If you have any questions about it I’m more than happy to help out!

 

[runningupthathill]

To everyone who interviewed: did you send thank you notes after? If so, did you send them to admissions to forward or how did you do it?

 

[mcama]

Has anyone got a number of total deferrals from last year for the Screenwriting/Directing program?

 

[mcama]

After doing some counting and looking through the tracker and this post.

It appears 27 people here have been interviewed or will be interviewed for Directing/Screenwriting. Not sure how that plays for the odds as we don't know how many deferrals there are. Also no way of knowing how many people that aren't here have applied.

But, figured it may help some put things into perspective.

 

[Chris W]

After doing some counting and looking through the tracker and this post.

It appears 27 people here have been interviewed or will be interviewed for Directing/Screenwriting. Not sure how that plays for the odds as we don't know how many deferrals there are. Also no way of knowing how many people that aren't here have applied.

But, figured it may help some put things into perspective.