MFA: UCLA TFT or BU CFA sot? (Scene design) PLEASE HELP ME, I NEED to decide ASAP!

LuSi

New Member
I got accepted to these two schools around April, and then began a long struggle, even to this day! I have to start renting and paying tuition recently, so I can't put it off any longer and want to ask for help!

UCLA: the ranking is high. Plus the bonus of free tuition, the total fellowship is about 45k, the course design is focus on film and they seem very interesting! But I don't like LA very much, may the life there will be very inconvenient and difficult.
BU: Full prize ➕stipend, I only use to pay 3k insurance premium per year. the course is partial theater, very traditional and physical. After visiting the school, I feel that the facilities are very new and luxurious, but I feel that BU is not that famous in this industry, and I worry that if it will be difficult for me to find a job after finish the three-year study.
I hope I can finish the three-year study successfully without being too tired and stressed, so I would like to ask how the workload of the two schools is respectively.

Plus, The favorable ratings of BU and UCLA are completely equal, because my dream school is NYU Tisch, but I have been waitlisted, so may I ask when the latest waitlist can be revealed( if anyone knows 🥲)
 
Both have free tuition? That's great. But it sounds like bu gives you a stipend too?

I went to BU for undergrad but it was over 20 years ago. I enjoyed it but a ton has changed I'm sure since I've been there.

If you want to work in film then UCLA might be the best bet in terms of being able to easily get a job at least geographically. But if you don't like LA? That's where a bunch of the film jobs will be however. 🤔

Personally I love Boston as a town and if you want to work on the east coast it could be very good.

I don't know anything about workload. Sorry. Good luck! I hope that was helpful.
 
Both have free tuition? That's great. But it sounds like bu gives you a stipend too?

I went to BU for undergrad but it was over 20 years ago. I enjoyed it but a ton has changed I'm sure since I've been there.

If you want to work in film then UCLA might be the best bet in terms of being able to easily get a job at least geographically. But if you don't like LA? That's where a bunch of the film jobs will be however. 🤔

Personally I love Boston as a town and if you want to work on the east coast it could be very good.

I don't know anything about workload. Sorry. Good luck! I hope that was helpful.
Thanks a lot for replying! UCLA give me almost half tuition at all, which means I need to pay 70-80k more than BU. Actually, at first I wish I could find a job at theaters, which BU is all about theater, but my professor told me film industry is much easier and higher paying than theater. So I started struggling… I graduated from School of Visual Arts and I really love NYC,(wish can work there), and I don’t drive, so I concern about the life in LA, I heard you can’t live there without car.
 
Yes. LA would be harder without a car and Uber could get expensive fast. (But still maybe cheaper than car+insurance? Not sure) Boston is totally doable without a car.

LA does have an ok subway but it doesn't go everywhere.

I guess it really depends on what you are seeing yourself doing after school. If it's only film then UCLA is probably the best choice. If it's theatre and film BU might be better.

BU could give you access to jobs in NYC film productions too?

Another factor is money and debt which can make it harder afterwards. Would you have a lot less debt at BU?
 
Yes. LA would be harder without a car and Uber could get expensive fast. (But still maybe cheaper than car+insurance? Not sure) Boston is totally doable without a car.
Yes, both are expensive and I don’t have plan to buy a car … May be I will use Uber if I go there.
LA does have an ok subway but it doesn't go everywhere.

I guess it really depends on what you are seeing yourself doing after school. If it's only film then UCLA is probably the best choice. If it's theatre and film BU might be better.
Actually BU focus on only theater…
BU could give you access to jobs in NYC film productions too?
My advisor told me School of Theatre in BU doesn’t have many opportunities in film productions🥲
Another factor is money and debt which can make it harder afterwards. Would you have a lot less debt at BU?
Yes, UCLA is much more expensive, I need to pay for another half of the tuition, and my parents wish me can choose BU. I just struggled about if I give up UCLA, since its reputation and resources are better than BU according to my peers and profs, will I regret later, never know🥲

Again, appreciate!!!!
 
Oh well if you want to do film then I guess UCLA sounds better. Didn't know BU was only film.

Again it all depends on your ideal job afterwards. If you break into film in LA you can always then get jobs elsewhere with your "Hollywood experience".

Good luck!
 
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