I apologize if I am posting this in the wrong forum, but this is rather urgent and I would appreciate any kind of insight. Thank you for reading in advance, guys.
I had decided to attend USC School of Cinematic Arts for the critical studies program. They have offered me a TA-ship that is pretty much renewable every semester until I graduate. This includes tuition remission, a stipend (not great but very helpful), and insurance.
I recently got a call from NYU Tisch; I did get the official admission letter, but the scholarship that they had offered then was not good enough for me, so I kind of forgot about it. The director called me the other day and told me that I am now getting a full tuition remission fellowship. I only have a couple of days to decide.
Obviously the deal that I am getting from USC is so generous, so great. Moving to LA seems so daunting to me. Moving to NYC, not as much, or at least not in the same way. I am an international student based in Chicago, and I don't drive (I don't plan to either). I know that people do manage without a car in LA but the lifestyle change is a really scary one to think about. Also the general culture of filmmaking and the arts there in my head are just linked to Hollywood and heavily commercialized. These are bad excuses but to simply put it, the bottom line is, I don't feel comfortable moving to LA. Although I am going to be in a critical studies / film studies program, I hope to be making shorts on my own -- my work has been experimental political documentaries, and I feel like I will find the NYC folks and culture more suited for the kind of things I want to do.
Attending Tisch is such an attractive option, and so is living in NYC. I have a good network of friends and acquaintances in NYC so it feels more familiar. But having very little funding available, especially when another great school from another great city (despite what I've written above, LA must still be an awesome city and awesome people live there too) is paying me, NYC just seems not affordable. If I do go, I'll have to manage by working my way through waitressing and babysitting -- which is at the very least difficult and probably nearly impossible, no?
So.. is NYC/ NYU Tisch worth the 2 years of busting my ass? Is it worth giving up USC?
OR will LA/USC work out for me?
Deep down I think going to LA makes more sense at this point, because it still really is a great city. A part of me wishes I never heard from Tisch about the new offer…
Thanks for reading everyone. Any insight would be very. much. appreciated.
