# Accepted students MFA Writing for the Screen & Stage-Northwestern Univ.



## Silverlenz (Mar 14, 2010)

Hey guys I thought it would be a great idea for those of us accepted to get a head start and get to know one another. If I'm correct there are four of us (Underwood no. 5, Etone112, Brittak, and myself) on these boards that have been official accepted. If I have managed to forget someone by accident, please forgive me and chime in. Also, I've started a Facebook group @ http://www.facebook.com/group....=358081562772&ref=mf Please join the group and feel free to comment, chime in, and add to the discussions. Being that the program is small (only 12 students), I think these conversations and discussion can only help the morale of our cohort. Now I do realize that Northwestern may or may not be your number one choice, but I would still love to hear your opinion of the school regardless. Who knows it may help the rest of us with our decision. Also, is anyone planning a trip to visit Northwestern in the near future (2-4 weeks)? I would like to visit myself and thought it would be cool if I could meet my future classmates.  Lastly, below are a couple of questions to get the discussion started:

1. How many of you guys got the official letter in the mail this week or weekend? And if so what did you think of the incentives explained in the letter. BTW, if you haven't received it you will probably get it Monday. Unless you mail system is extremely slow. 

2. What are you overall thoughts of the program and what led you to apply to the program.

3. What do you consider yourself? Are you a screenwriter or playwright? Or do you consider yourself somewhere in between (hybrid)?


----------



## Silverlenz (Mar 25, 2010)

This thread has been silent. For those of you who were accepted, are you planning on accepting? According to the letter mailed out, we have until April 15. Also, does anyone care to share your views on the incentives outline in the letter?  Is anyone planning on visiting before April 15th?

SilverLenz


----------



## brittak (Mar 25, 2010)

I absolutely love the Northwestern program, but ultimately decided to go with a production program. I declined my spot earlier this week. Best wishes to the rest of you!


----------



## Silverlenz (Mar 25, 2010)

I'm glad to hear you got into the school of your choice. Which production program did you decide to go with Brittak?

SilverLenz


----------



## Silverlenz (Mar 25, 2010)

Congrats on your acceptance to multiple programs. Hopefully someone (previously interviewed or not) from these boards benefits from your decision.  That would be amazing. Anyways what school did you decide was the best fit for you?

SilverLenz


----------



## brittak (Mar 25, 2010)

Still deciding, and still waiting to hear from Chapman. But I promise to post when I know!


----------



## Silverlenz (Mar 29, 2010)

Is anyone that has been accepted planning on visiting before April 15th? I plan on visiting in early April? If anyone has any questions, let me know and I'll make sure to get them answered. 

SilverLenz


----------



## Silverlenz (Apr 8, 2010)

Hey guys I just returned home from my trip to Northwestern University and all I can say is wow guys.  They really rolled out the red carpet for myself and another student who was also visiting before making their decision. While in Evanston I had the luxury of visiting with 5 (two of which are graduating in June) students, the Director and Associate director of the program, and touring their amazing facilities. Below you will find updated information about Northwestern's program.  Please forgive the length of my post. My hope is that future and prospective Northwestern students can get a better understanding of what the program can offer them.  If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to comment or pm me. 

”¢5,400 scholarship for all first year MFA students. This money is equally distributed over three quarters. 

”¢Free medical insurance (That's correct I didn't stutter)- One of the graduate students told me about this. I was shocked and definitely surprised that they don't advertise this on their website. BTW, I confirmed this with the Director of the program and the program assistant and this is indeed true. 

”¢TA ship- you are offered a TA position during your 2nd year at Northwestern University and while you TA you pay no tuition or fees (a 14 thousand dollar value).  In addition to no tuition and fees you also receive a $ 5,000 stipend while you teach.  I don't know about you guys but I think this is a pretty sweet deal; especially for those of you who have expressed interest in teaching. 

”¢$5,000 production grant- during your 2nd year you have the option of using this grant money to produce one of your pieces (play, short, screenplay). Students who have co-written pieces with other MFA students have the ability to combine their monies together.  But what if you have no plans of producing a play or screenplay? Well, there's another option for people in that category. Northwestern recently passed a new rule that allows you to borrow up to $2,500 of the $5,000 and use it towards any expenses incurred while doing an internship in New York or Los Angles.  If you decide to do an internship in Chicago, you can use up to $1,000 dollars of your $5,000 towards an internship cost incurred.  Not bad huh.

Financial Aide Package at a glance

5,400-guranteed scholarship for all first year students
1,300-medical expenses (insurance)
14,000-TA ship
5,000- stipend while TA ing
5,000- Production / Internship grant (Please refer to info above)
$30,700 over two years of study at Northwestern University <----(Don't know of any other programs that give as much)


Things I didn't know before my visit / Interesting facts about NU

”¢This will be their fourth cohort.

”¢There are only 12 students admitted each year.

”¢You are only required to write one Play if you consider yourself a screenwriter.  They realize that not everyone is into playwrights. 

”¢You are only required to write one screenplay if you are more into plays. 

”¢They require all MFA's to take at least one production course but this can be waived and substituted for another course (elective or theory) if you can show 

”¢During my visit I talked to five students. Two of the five were 2nd year students graduating in June, while the others where first year students.  For the most part the all agreed that it's best to live in Evanston because they felt that it added to the cohesiveness of the cohort. They mentioned that in previous years students lived throughout the greater Chicago area and that it made it hard for them to meet up and gel outside of class. 

”¢The oldest person that ever went through the program was 54 years old. She was award winning (Peabody) documentary filmmaker.

”¢Students in the program have been successful and landing great internship/job opportunities:

Comedy Central School Me (Paid) Internship in New York City
Original Programming department at Showtime Networks  (LA) Internship
Ugly Betty Internship
Office Internship
Sara Silverman Internship
Sundance Channel Development Internship
MTV Networks, Logo Channels Original programming Department
Chicago Raven Theater Internship
Promo Producer for TBS's Lopez Tonight
Summer Internship at TP&R Casting
Apprentice for Richard J. Lewis, Director of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

http://www.communication.north...creen_stage/news.php


”¢The students spoke highly of the program, faculty, and the sense of community within the program.  They also spoke in great detail about the generosity of Northwestern Alums. Most of the students belong to the Northwestern University Entertainment Alliance (NUEA). Two of the students I talked with were able to land internships in Los Angles and New York because of NU alums. 

”¢The program is two years in length and is comprised of three 10-week quarters each year. Students can take up to four courses a quarter, although only one student I talked to actually took four. The other four students recommended that you take only three courses a quarter.  Between the first and second year you are required to take a mandatory internship. The school prefers that you do it in New York, Los Angles, or Chicago. During my interview with the director I inquired about the possibilities of doing internships in other locations and he informed me that one of the students this year was approved to do their internship in Kenya. So good news guys they are open to doing internships in other locations. Also, another cool thing is that unlike other schools, they don't require you to pay for the internship credit (i.e. You don't pay tuition while taking your internship).

”¢If you look at the degree requirements for the MFA in Screen and Stage, you will notice that they require a couple of theory courses. Well I talked with both students and the director and they informed me that are willing to substitute other courses in place of theater, film, production, and performance theory courses. For example, one of the students took a graduate level history course and used the information learned from the class to write historical/ time period screenplay. So this may be an option for if you either hate theory courses or have had your fair share of them during undergrad. 

”¢The general consensus among the students was that the program is getting better each and every year. In addition they mentioned that they felt that the administration listened to them for the most part. For example, several students felt financially burden by the cost incurred via their internship in LA and New York and because of this students are now allowed to use up to half of their production grant to offset costs. 

”¢Chicago is the third largest city in the United States but it's relatively inexpensive when compared to Los Angles and New York. I found two bedroom apartments and condos for about $850 a month.  

”¢Although it's highly unlikely students can petition and qualify for a 2nd quarter of TA ship. Two of the students I talked with actually got selected for this and were very pleased.  According to them the same offer applied and they were given free tuition and fees and a $5,000 stipend.  Now that's a pretty sweet deal. The students who got a 2nd TA ship only paid for one quarter of tuition and fees. So they basically saved about 26 thousand (in tuition and fees) by TA ing for two quarters.  


Thanks again guys for reading my extremely long post. I hope this helps and puts some of you at ease. Once again please feel free to pm me or comment if you have any other questions.

Best regards,
SilverLenz


----------



## amarise (Apr 10, 2010)

This was extremely helpful in all that you were able to convey from your trip. It seemed like a good vibe while reading about the University itself as well as their film program from other sources I've gathered from.


----------



## Silverlenz (Apr 10, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback Amarise...Did you apply at Northwestern? Are you considering it for next year? Well, I wish you the best of luck.

SilverLenz


----------



## amarise (Apr 10, 2010)

I wish I was applying for next year. All in due time though.

I'm actually planning to go to grad school for Screenwriting in about 3-4 years. I still have to finish 1 yr of my A.A. and 2 yrs for a B.A. However, those years will fly by fast enough, so I'm learning all I can now.

The 4 schools that I'm considering are Chapman, Northwestern, Columbia U, & Boston U.


----------



## Silverlenz (Apr 10, 2010)

All of those are great schools and worth your consideration. I applied to all them with the exception of Boston U. SO what do you like to write about? What kind of stories do you like to write?

SilverLenz


----------



## amarise (Apr 11, 2010)

Those schools are ranked in the order that I have the most interest in. Of course, it all depends on getting admitted first.

I'm not writing now as I'm studying a few screenplays of the films that I like. This way there will be less of a chance to unconsciously write in what I'm reading. I do like to write about other people, that's for sure. The stories I like to write about come down to realizing that the human race is the same at structure. Not that we are not unique but that we are all born with the same needs.

I think people need to laugh more. Laughter in the way of realizing how silly we can seem not appreciating what we may have sometimes. Seriously I can find comedy in death. The Greeks had it down right, a mask for comedy and another for tragedy. Most stories to me are a mixture of both at varying degrees. 

On topic though, did you try out the transit around the school? I was wondering how well it would work to live nearby and use it to get to school.


----------



## Silverlenz (Apr 11, 2010)

I didn't get to tryout the mass transit but I heard good things about it. Your writing interest seem real interesting.

SilverLenz


----------



## beezy16 (Apr 12, 2010)

Thanks for all the info Silverlenz! I wish I knew about Northwestern for this round of applications, but I will definitely be applying next year. 

Twelve people accepted sounds very competitive. Can I ask you what you put on your application? You can email me if you dont feel comfortable sharing it on the boards. 

Northwestern is definitely one if not my top choice for apps next year.


----------



## Silverlenz (Apr 12, 2010)

I sent you a pm.... What other schools are you considering besides Northwestern?

SilverLenz


----------



## amarise (Apr 12, 2010)

I heard good things about the transit as well. Have you decided what school you're attending?


----------

