Columbia University Film School Requirements

Columbia University Film School students are creative, innovative and motivated learners, problem solvers and filmmakers dedicated to personal achievement, originality and excellence. Students must supply their own cameras, with no specification on make or model.

Getting your head around columbia university film school requirements can be challenging at times, especially when you don’t have any prior experience with it, so finding the right information for it may not always be straightforward. 

Below you will find information regarding columbia university film school acceptance rate, columbia university school of the arts, columbia film mfa acceptance rate and columbia mfa film tuition. Please read related posts on Collegelearners to learn more about columbia film school undergraduate.

Columbia University Film School Requirements

Columbia University School of the Arts is an innovative graduate professional school with a tradition of risk-taking, grounded in a deeply intellectual Ivy League university and energized by our location in New York City—one of the great cultural capitals of the world. The study and practice of art-making at the School is an immersive, constantly evolving process. Aspiring, emerging or established, our filmmakers, writers, theatre practitioners and visual artists grow individually through intensive engagement with their craft and lively, often profound exchanges of ideas and work.

University of Columbia offers many undergraduate programs to apply for. Sure, Columbia is famous for its graduate programs, but the undergraduate program also offers you academic excellence. Although it has fewer students than that of graduate program, students there are receiving top-notch education. This article is about everything you need to know about the University of Columbia’s undergraduate film school program.

The school welcomes applications for the fall semester of each year (no students are admitted for the spring semester). Please note, only complete applications are evaluated by each program’s Faculty Admissions Committee. Except in rare circumstances, students are accepted for full-time study only.

Application Requirements

The Film MFA Program is part of Columbia University School of the Arts—an innovative graduate professional school, grounded in a deeply intellectual Ivy League university and energized by our location in New York City, one of the great cultural capitals of the world. The study and practice of art-making at the School is an immersive, constantly evolving process. Aspiring, emerging or established, our filmmakers, writers, theatre practitioners and visual and sound artists grow individually through intensive engagement with their craft and lively, often profound exchanges of ideas and work.

The School welcomes applications for admission in the fall semester of each year (no students are admitted for the spring semester). Please note, applications will not be evaluated by each program’s Faculty Admissions Committee until they are complete.

columbia university film school acceptance rate

The ever-popular Columbia University in the City of New York boasted a 6% acceptance rate in 2016. The University’s total enrollment of over 31,000 and its Manhattan location promise a somewhat nontraditional college experience. Students in search of a tight-knit campus community should look elsewhere.

Materials Required for Application to the School of the Arts

1. Completed Application

Must be submitted online.

2. Official Undergraduate Transcript

Official paper transcripts are not required for the admission application.  If you receive an offer of admission, you will be required to send official paper documents for verification. Any offer of admission will be provisional until receipt of the official undergraduate transcript showing conferral of your undergraduate degree. Whether we receive your official undergraduate transcripts directly from you or your undergraduate institution, we must receive them in a sealed envelope bearing the registrar’s stamp along the rear flap.

If (a) you have submitted only the unofficial copy of your transcript online or (b) your transcript is received, but does not state that a degree is conferred, your status will be“Received (Not Official)” and you offer of admission will be provisional  until we receive the final official transcript showing conferral of your undergraduate degree.

3. Three Letters of Recommendation

Online submission of the letters of recommendation is preferred. If you are not utilizing the online submission method. Fill out the applicant portion of the recommendation form, and provide it and a self-addressed stamped envelope to each recommender. Recommenders can be undergraduate, graduate, or professional contacts; they should be people who can attest to your creative ability and potential. Request that they: (1) enclose the recommendation; (2) seal the envelope; (3) sign their name or place their stamp across the seal; and (4) mail or give the envelope directly to you. All recommenders must meet the deadline. If they do not, the applicant will incur a late materials fee. If your recommender does not wish to send the envelope directly to you, they must send it directly to:

Columbia University School of the Arts

Admissions Office

305 Dodge Hall, MC 1808

2960 Broadway

New York, NY 10027

They must write your full name and date of birth on the letter. Again, all recommenders must meet the deadline.

4. Creative Materials Required for Application

Please click below for a list of creative materials that are required for each program. All submitted creative materials must clearly bear the applicant’s name, date of birth, name of program to which he or she is applying, and title of the material (dramatic writing sample, autobiographical essay, etc).

MFA Creative Producing

MFA Screenwriting/Directing

5. $110 Online Application Fee

This may be paid by credit card (Visa and MasterCard only) when submitting an application online; or by check or money order, mailed with your materials, made out to Columbia University, drawn on a U.S. bank and denominated in U.S. dollars only. We cannot accept postal money orders. Applicants should be sure to write the program and, if applicable, the concentration to which they are applying on the check or money order; if the check is that of an individual other than the applicant, the applicant’s full name must be included as well. Application fees are nonrefundable and cannot be waived; no application can be processed without the application fee.

Presentation of Materials

Our Admissions Committees take note, among other factors, of the professionalism of your presentation and the appropriateness of your materials to our specific requirements. Do not add or substitute items and do not exceed length limitations. Please do not use permanent bindings, notebooks, or oversize paper. Unless requested, please also staple together the pages of each requirement, but do not staple all requirements to each other.

Responsibility for Materials

Please keep copies of all materials submitted. Do not send your only copy.

All materials included in a School of the Arts application become the property of Columbia University. Applicants desiring the return of their DVDs must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope large enough to accommodate all materials in their application packet. We do not return any written materials. International students may include a check or money order (in U.S. dollars, payable to Columbia University) to cover return postage. Every effort will then be made to return materials following the admissions period, but applicants should note that the School is not responsible for the transportation and safekeeping of materials submitted for review; applicants send all materials at their own risk. Materials are often returned as late as the September following the deadline. Applicants are not permitted to pick up submitted materials in person.

columbia university film undergraduate

The Film Program offers curriculum that serves the undergraduate Film and Media Studies majors at Columbia College, the School of General Studies, and Barnard College. Undergraduate students must apply and be accepted at one of these undergraduate schools, and declare the Film Studies major in their sophomore year order to access this curriculum.

The undergraduate major in Film Studies is scholarly, international in scope, and writing-intensive. Students choose to major in Film Studies if they want to learn more about the art form, from technology to cultural significance, want to work in the film industry, or are interested in a major that combines arts and humanities. Students usually declare the major toward the end of the second year by meeting with their advisor; together, they create a program of 12 required courses within the major. Students have the opportunity to gain additional experience by taking advantage of internship opportunities with film companies, working on graduate student films, and participating in the Columbia Undergraduate Film Productions (CUFP), an active, student-run organization that provides filmmaking experience to Columbia undergraduate producers and directors.

Ramin Bahrani (Goodbye Solo; 99 Homes), Anna Boden (Half Nelson), Tze Chun (Children of Invention), Daniel Harris (Imaginary Heroes), and Henry Alex Rubin (Murderball) are all graduates of Columbia’s undergraduate Film Studies major. In addition to careers in screenwriting, directing, and producing, graduating seniors have gone on to work in film distribution, publicity, archives, and festivals, and to attend graduate school to become teachers and scholars.

columbia film school tuition

2021–2022 Tuition and Fees

First-Year Film and Media Studies MA Students​

	Fall 2021	Spring 2022	2021–22 Total
Tuition	$31,732	$31,732	$63,464
Career Services Fee	$80	$80	$160
Student Activity Fee	$30	$30	$60
University Services and Support Fee	$459	$543	$1,002
Health Services Fee	$623	$623	$1,246
Medical Insurance*	$1,483	$2,409	$3,892
Total	$34,407	$35,417	$69,824
* Domestic students may request a waiver from the Columbia Student Health Insurance plan by submitting a waiver application at the beginning of the academic year with proof of comparable coverage. The Health Services Fee cannot be waived. International students must be insured through Columbia’s plan except in rare circumstances when they are covered by a U.S.-based, employer-sponsored, group health plan (as a primary, spouse or dependent). Such requests are reviewed on a case by case basis.

Additional Fees During the Academic Year (if applicable)
International Student Fee	$120	Per semester for all international students
Document Fee	$105	One-time charge for first-year students
Course or Lab Fees	Varies	Typically between $30 to $125 per course
Late Registration Fee	$100	If after the late registration period
Late Payment Fee	$150	This fee is assessed if you make your payment after the due date of the first term bill. An additional charge of 1.5% of the balance due will be assessed per month on any past due amount thereafter.
Part-time, per-point tuition	$2,070	Each point over 18 points for full-time students

Other estimated typical costs (per 9-month academic year)
Living Expenses (Room & Board)	$23,175
Transportation	$1,189
Personal Expenses	$5,616
Books & Supplies	$2,989
Loan origination fees (for U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents with federal loans)	$216

Note: The figures represented here vary each academic year and are subject to approval by the Trustees of Columbia University. Other fees may apply. Historically, tuition and fees have risen each year.