NYU Cinema Studies Grad

All due respect, but you are, in fact, being naive. Hoping that you will be the one writer able to bridge the gap between popular and academic publishing is like hoping you will be the first human to walk on the face of the sun. You won't. Professors are generally supportive of conscientious students, and conferences are full of positive feedback; most of it is not very useful. You will really know how your work stands once you start receiving negative feedback. Again, this is not meant to be discouraging; by all means, pursue a PhD in film studies but be realistic about what it is possible to achieve. As an academic, unless you end up authoring an introductory textbook, the largest readership you can hope for is a couple thousand other academics, and that is being generous. Non-academics won't, and usually can't, read academic writing. Even Bordwell and Thompson is impenetrable for many undergraduate non-majors. If you want to reach a larger audience, start a blog.

I know quite a few film critics, some with MAs in film studies, others with degrees in other fields, others with no degrees in anything. An MA will not help you become a film critic. Editors do not care what's on your CV, but care about how you write, how well your tastes fit with the demographic of the publications, and how reliable you are in meeting deadlines. Though this is a sad comment on the state of much of popular film criticism, it's my opinion than an MA in film studies would make you less desirable as a film critic, making you seem 'too academic'. Also, almost no one makes any sort of a living working as a film critic. Most 'professional' film critics I know do it as a sideline while working other jobs. Some of the graduates I know from NYU's Cinema Studies MA program that did not pursue a PhD work as publicists, baristas, bankers, public school teachers, photographers, librarians, t-shirt printers, documentary filmmakers and secretaries. I don't think their MA study helped them prepare for any of these various positions in any significant way. Also, not to seem overly negative, but if you are already worried about academic fatigue, I'd be wary of heading down the graduate film studies path. It takes tremendous dedication just to make it through the MA and PhD and then dissertation; it takes an almost inhuman level of focus and productivity to stand out as the best among those who've made it.

As someone who finished both the MA and PhD program in the Cinema Studies department at NYU, hopefully I can help clear some things up. The department has cut their PhD cohort down to 4 spots. Last year it was 6. In previous years it was 8. These cuts were not wanted by the department or the faculty, but were ordered by the university. When the cohort was 8, typically 1-3 NYU Cinema Studies MA students made it into the PhD program. Now that the cohort has been reduced to 4, I am not certain how this has changed. To my knowledge, they have never accepted someone in to the PhD program who did not already have an MA. At the same time, the university has increased the size of the MA cohort. When I attended the MA program in the early 2000s, there were about 20 of us. During the end of my PhD coursework the MA group was around 45! I can only imagine its gotten larger since then. Again, this is not something the department or faculty wanted, but something demanded by the university. In my opinion, the MA program is not very competitive at this point because of its size, though this does not mean you will not receive an excellent education if you attend. A large number of the MA students are not fit to be graduate students. Many of them are just 'into movies', and attend to avoid getting a 'real job'. Others want to become film critics and seem to think that an MA is the path into this profession. A handful of others want to be curators or programmers, and again seem to think this will help them pursue that profession. Only a few are serious about pursuing an academic career in cinema studies. In terms of funding, a couple MA students receive some funding during the first year. In the past there have always been additional funds available for the second year for the best performing students. You need to aggressive about asking for funding from department administrators, just don't be annoying. Regarding the lack of a thesis - if you want to write an MA thesis, you can. I did. Simply take a directed reading with a faculty member and let them know you want to write a thesis. They will help you. In my opinion, if you are not already undertaking extended research and writing projects outside of a class assignment, then you don't really belong in a PhD program. The MA comp exam is good preparation for the NYU PhD program, in which you have you take two more comp exams. They are administered over Spring Break and Thanksgiving Break. They aren't fun to take, but they aren't terribly difficult. Basically, the Cinema Studies MA program is great, if you're serious about a career in academia and make the most of your time there. Have a clear idea of what you want to work on and how you want to approach it. Seek out faculty with similar interests and forge relationships with them. Figure out who the other serious academics in your cohort are and become friends with them. Try to publish at least a few book reviews and present at a conference or two during your time in the MA program. Finally, you should only apply for the Cinema Studies PhD program at NYU if your project is a good fit for the department. Is there a faculty member who would serve as your advisor? If so, forge a relationship with them before you apply and have them in your corner when you apply. If you want to work on new media or Eastern European cinema you might have a hard time finding a faculty member to get behind your project. Figure out who the faculty are and what they are interested in. Ultimately, though, this advice is only helpful if you don't have something else holding you back. If you have a terrible personality that makes it difficult for you to make friends, if you have problems handling a heavy workload, managing stress, completing work on time, if you complain too much - these are things that will hold you back and prevent you from moving from the MA program into the PhD program.