NYU Tisch Special Programs Summer High School Filmmakers Workshop

You're in classes and workshops Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the sample week Tisch publishes from past summers, each morning opens with a lecture from 9:30 to 11:30, on topics such as film language, storyboards and shot lists, or mise en scène and music. Afternoons are a lab from 1 to 4:45 p.m., where crews shoot exercises like "The Frame" and "The Cut" or learn picture and sound editing in Adobe Premiere, and later in the week a morning session screens each exercise for feedback.

There are no weekend classes, but you may need to do some writing or editing in the evenings and at weekends, on your own or with your crew. Tisch also warns parents that the class load can make it hard to reach students during the day, so it's worth agreeing on a time to talk before you go.

You leave with a final 3- to 4-minute film, the shorter exercises you made along the way, and 4 college credits from NYU for FMTV-UT 1111, graded A to F. The last day includes a showing of student work for family and friends, and Tisch features past students' films in an online gallery.

NYU says the credits are transferable, but whether another college accepts them, or lets them replace a required class, is that college's decision. If you later enroll at NYU as an undergraduate, the credits count automatically and the summer grade goes into your NYU GPA, so the grade matters. Transcripts aren't sent automatically, so you'll need to request one from NYU's registrar after grades are posted.

Only current high school juniors (rising seniors) can apply to this workshop, even though some other Tisch summer tracks also take sophomores. You need to be at least 15, which NYU requires for its housing, and to have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on an unweighted 4.0 scale. There's no portfolio or audition and no film experience is needed, though you can add links to your work on your creative résumé.

Applicants whose native language isn't English need an English test result unless they've completed three or more consecutive full-time years taught only in English. Students from outside the US need a passport and an F-1 student visa, and NYU's Office of Global Services helps with the paperwork once you've paid your deposit.

Places are tight. Tisch gets over 800 applications across all its summer high school tracks and takes about 24 students into Filmmaking, but it doesn't say how many of those applicants chose film.

Summer 2027 comes to $11,999 in total: $8,368 tuition for the 4-credit course, $1,876 for four weeks of NYU housing, $852 for the 10-meals-a-week plan, a $200 program fee for residential activities and a $703 Film Narrative Lab and Insurance Fee. Housing and meals aren't optional, because every student must live on campus and is automatically enrolled in the meal plan. On top of that come the $75 application fee, travel to and from New York, laundry and spending money.

International students also pay NYU's $115 International Student Fee and the US government's visa (SEVIS) fee, and they're automatically enrolled in NYU health insurance, which is added to their bill. US students need their own health insurance instead.

Accepted students confirm with a $1,500 deposit, which counts toward the bill but is never refunded. After that, Tisch refunds tuition and fees in full, minus the deposit, only if you drop within four days of the start of class, and cancellations must be made by email. NYU Housing may charge its own cancellation fees.

Tisch offers a limited number of need-based full scholarships, which generally cover tuition, fees, housing and meals. Only students who are dependents of a parent or guardian who filed US federal tax returns can apply. Families in financial hardship can also email Tisch to ask for the application fee to be waived.

The application is on Tisch's SlideRoom application portal, and Tisch strongly recommends writing your answers without AI tools.

1. 1

   Start your application on SlideRoom and pay the $75 fee, or email Tisch admissions to ask for a hardship waiver.

2. 2

   Write three responses of up to 250 words each, plus any film-specific prompts, and upload a creative résumé of your training, projects, awards, service and work, with links to any films you've made.

3. 3

   Upload a PDF transcript covering every high school year so far, or have the parent who runs your homeschooling email a record of your coursework. Add an English test result and your passport if they apply to you.

4. 4

   Enter two recommenders in the portal, at least one from your high school, and give them one to two weeks to respond.

5. 5

   Submit the application and the NYU Supplemental Profile Form by 11:59 p.m. ET on 1 December 2026, since Tisch won't consider an application missing either part.

6. 6

   If you're applying for a scholarship, Tisch emails you a link to its application after you submit the profile form, and it's due by 11 December 2026.

7. 7

   Decisions arrive by email on 28 January 2027, and accepted students confirm with the $1,500 deposit by 11:59 p.m. ET on 19 February 2027.

Every residence hall floor has a Program Assistant, an NYU college student who is your main contact, and a team of professional administrators runs the building and supervises them. You must be back in the hall by 11 p.m. every night, weekends included, hand in your NYU ID card at the front desk and be in your room for quiet hours at 1 a.m. Breaking curfew can lead to anything from a warning to dismissal from the program.

NYU doesn't have an enclosed campus. Staff go with students to program events, but in your free time you can leave campus on your own. No guests are allowed in the building except on move-in and move-out days, and minors can't stay away overnight or at weekends. In extenuating circumstances or emergencies, the emergency contact on file can submit a leave request at least two business days ahead. Students share double rooms in four-person suites with one bathroom, assigned at random.

NYU Campus Safety officers are on duty around the clock, and the Student Health Center handles urgent concerns, though it has no pediatricians and refers some under-18s to outside care. The full rules are in the NYU Summer High School Programs Handbook.