# Fifth Year Columbia U Directing MFA (& KU Alum) ASQUEMIENETHENGUE



## Patrick Clement (Sep 10, 2019)

I've been pretty active in the forums since my application year. I'm going to take all of my threads and repost them here and happy to answer any new questions!


----------



## Patrick Clement (Sep 10, 2019)

Patrick Clement said:


> The school has a form called "Budget Adjustment Form" you can find it here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Dasha said:


> Our deadline to give a final answer is April 16. I don't think they'll take anyone from the waitlist until then, because we are technically able to change our minds until then, even if we initially reject the offer. I know some people who aren't accepting the offer though, so hang tight!


----------



## Patrick Clement (Sep 10, 2019)

Patrick Clement said:


> Well, nobody at Columbia gets much aid. Their financial support for need-based students is laughable. As an international applicant the best you can do is just make all the preparations you can. Likely you would have to privately fund your tuition and cost of living anyway.
> 
> My advice is to continue your preparations and make a plan if you get the call. I'm not sure how the Visa situation works, but do what you can just in case.
> 
> Regarding the waitlist, it's not that big. And I've always said strong MFA film applicants, on average, are probably getting 2-3 acceptances. That means slots open up.


----------



## Patrick Clement (Sep 10, 2019)

Patrick Clement said:


> There are NO CAPS on Grad+ loans. There are only caps on undergraduate loans. Once you are in grad school, loan caps go away. There is still a limit on Sub/Unsub loans, but Grad+ loans cover the remaining need without caps.
> 
> Ask around, private loans are a mistake.


----------



## Patrick Clement (Sep 10, 2019)

Patrick Clement said:


> Its cool. I am sure lots of people have the same issues.
> 
> Columbia offers a loan increase to cover your projects.
> I think it's $2500 (8to12 aka first year project) $3500 (D4 aka second year project) and up to $15k for a thesis, although if you are a producer, only the 8to12 and thesis would apply since youre not required to shoot a D4 as a producer.
> ...


----------



## Patrick Clement (Sep 10, 2019)

Patrick Clement said:


> Congratulations to everyone that got accepted! If you didn't (and I genuinely believe this is the case) you will find your way so keep trying!
> 
> There has been a lot of posts about Financial Aid so I wanted to share some personal experiences and advice when it comes to financial aid at Columbia. I hope it will be helpful and let me know if you have any questions.
> 
> ...


----------



## Patrick Clement (Sep 10, 2019)

Patrick Clement said:


> Here is a response I made last year about this same question.


 Patrick Clement said: 


           I'm not trying to be a dickhead here because as a low-income student, work and school have typically gone hand-in-hand for me as well, but at the MFA level, you should allow yourself to focus 100% on your work. You are building a career, give it the time it deserves. Most students put in about 40-50 hours a week, especially in the first year.

Let's do some math, because math is fun.

Class time
Six classes per semester/week (this includes your HTC requirement.) Four Hours per class (that includes commute time, early arrival, making it out of Dodge and to the train, stopping to get coffee before class, etc. )
24 hours of class time.
3 hours of additional class time per week. (Discussion sessions, directing advisers, meeting with prof, etc.)
2 hours a week on average working on your own exercises (that's 3-4 hours on each of the 6 directing assignments, divided over the 16 week semester)
5 hours a week helping other classmates with their exercises. (If you are spending 3-4 hours on your exercises, this allows for overages and travel. And this is just for helping ONE student, you will likely help more than one every week, so this is a conservative estimate.)
---------------------------
34 hours a week, just on "base" classwork.

This is a conservative estimate at best and doesn't account for:
1. Script writing time (2+ hours a day)
2. Project Prep (Safety process, paperwork, casting, rehearsals, location scouting, etc for 3-5 films and 8-12 films) This could be 100+ hours over a semester.
3. Class "bunching." Because you do not get to pick your classes in the first year, often there will be "bunching" where you will have a class at 10-1 and then 2-5. So that middle hour is "lost" to lunch.
4. Oh yeah, and you're a human, so you need to sleep, eat, go see a movie or master class, get laid, have a drink, go to a museum, etc.
5. Travel. If you HAVE to live in Brooklyn, you will have a 1.5hr train ride each way. That's 3 hours of ride time and if you have classes only three days a week, that's nearly 10 hours of travel time a week. Yikes. And likely you will be coming to campus 4-5 days a week. That's alot of hours.

So I think my 40-50 hour estimate might even be light.

Could you do this AND keep a job, possibly.
I am sure if CAN be done, but the question is WHY?
Everything on this list is awesome and fun and worth devoting your time time. Why cut yourself short?


----------



## amar41 (Oct 7, 2019)

Hi Patrick. I'm applying for the second time to the screenwriting/directing concentration. I was waitlisted last year and am trying to figure out where my weak points were for a better chance this round. I submitted something for the optional video exercise last year (as I'm interested in writing/directing I didn't want to submit writing samples only, though my visual production experience is strictly limited to photography). Do you have any advice on this portion of the application/knowing what helped or hurt me last time around? Thanks in advance!


----------



## Patrick Clement (Oct 8, 2019)

amar41 said:


> Hi Patrick. I'm applying for the second time to the screenwriting/directing concentration. I was waitlisted last year and am trying to figure out where my weak points were for a better chance this round. I submitted something for the optional video exercise last year (as I'm interested in writing/directing I didn't want to submit writing samples only, though my visual production experience is strictly limited to photography). Do you have any advice on this portion of the application/knowing what helped or hurt me last time around? Thanks in advance!


Thanks Abby. Just as a preface lets remember that selection committees (regardless of what they are selecting) have an ever-changing and seemingly arbitrary process. They pick who they want to pick and often it is influenced my multiple factors that can have less to do with the candidate that we think. There is probably a method to their madness but I don't know what it is. If you asked my how I got selected, I couldnt tell you. That's the truth. All any of us can do is guess.

It's also important to remember that our value as creatives should not be determined by who "picks us." It's important we get some acknowledgement from our peers and if we want to make films for a living we need someone to point their mighty finger at us and say "this person!! everyone look over here!!" but we should spend time connecting with our internal compass of what we think is success.

There is a stage in child development called "self-soothing" when a baby has to learn an internal way to put itself to sleep. Going from tired to asleep to awake without the help of a parent. This is important for crying babies and adult filmmakers 

Regarding your application materials, I'd be happy to take a look. You can DM me or post in the portfolio materials forum. I approached my application from a birdseye view and tried to patch any holes I thought I had. Looking at the three major factors:

1. School History (transcripts, GPA, etc)
2. Creative Materials
3. Personal & CV

I have a 3.0 GPA and went to five schools in three states  to get my  BA. What message could that send to a comittee? How could I bolster that part of my application? Assuming the worse, that the comitee would see me as a twisting-in-the-wind type. Unfocused, maybe. So, I made sure my CV highlighted my work as a newspaper editor, which requires discipline, time management and commitment.

I took a year to film a portfolio piece. Honestly, I made a film I thought film schools would like. I don't feel great about this, because it's sort of playing politics (which I hate) but I did it. I love the film, but I was actively thinking about film school when I made it. I had lots of production experience, so making a short film didn't seem intimidating. I spent about $8,000 on it. This is on par with thesis level budgets at some film schools. If you can do this, try to do it. If you can't do something simple. Maybe focus on acting. Write a scene with two people in a room. Have a dramatic turn. Show you understand angles and characters.

I always hem and haw when I write personal essays. Selection commitees see 100's of personal essays. I took a chance a wrote a less formal essay. It's kinda bold and a little weird. It worked, but who knows. It might have just gotten into the right persons hands on the right day. My personal opinion is you should make sure the essay reflects who you are. Don't "play it safe" be YOU. Be bold. Good writing is important, but make it interesting and so long as you think it reflects who you are as a person, at the end of the day you won't have any regrets. Of course if you are a formal, stiff kind of person, your essay should reflect that!

Because I am delusional and hopeful, I planned for the interviews. In this way. I am a good interview. Comfortable. Conversational. I don't clam up or get weird. I like to visit with people. I'm comfortable with myself (and all my pluses and minuses) so I have some confidence. But I am a 6'6" white man with neck and hand tattoos. The interview was part of the bird's eye view of my candidacy. It takes 5-10 minutes for people to settle in and realize I'm an articulate, engaged interviewee. I need them to hang on. So I made sure there was plenty to talk about, that I had materials that rounded me out as a person and made me worth interviewing. I created questions. Conflicts in the application materials. I didn't explain how I got from Los Angeles to rural Kansas. It was in my materials, but I never addressed directly in my essay. Every interview I had, they aske dme about it and I was prepared with an answer.

I don't know if this was helpful or you now feel overwhelmed. Maybe both? This is how I did it and there are a million other ways to do it. People get in a variety of ways. Some just throw something together and get into like every school. Again, I can't tell you what they are looking for year-to-year or day-to-day, but a well rounded, solid application will probably get you into the conversation. Look at YOU as an artist, your interests, strengths, weaknesses, where you need improvement and if your application reflects that person. Then, it's out of your hands.       

I wanna wish you good luck and again, I'd be happy to look at your materials and offer some notes.


----------



## leongeneris (Oct 14, 2019)

Maybe a bit of a strange question, but what is the average age of a new MFA student? Like you, I went to several different schools as well, which added to the time it took me to get my Bachelor's. If everything goes as planned, I will be 28 when I start. What is the atmosphere like for slightly older students at Columbia?


----------



## Patrick Clement (Nov 3, 2019)

leongeneris said:


> Maybe a bit of a strange question, but what is the average age of a new MFA student? Like you, I went to several different schools as well, which added to the time it took me to get my Bachelor's. If everything goes as planned, I will be 28 when I start. What is the atmosphere like for slightly older students at Columbia?


Good question and sorry for the delay in answering!

The average are in my year was, i think, 24-25. There were many student in their late twenties and some near fifty. I went in at 34. 

My personal philosophy is coming into grad school a little later helps you in a lot of ways. You have perspective, you probably know what you want and you have more life experience. IN other ways, connecting with younger students could be a challenge. They all want to party in Brooklyn until 3-4 am. I want to be in bed by 11. There is a difference in tastes and style every 10 years or so, but I found for the most part I didn't feel "old" around the other students. 

28 is still very young. Its a good age and I hope you get in!


----------

