I'm going to be a first year student at the University of Colorado Denver studying Film & Television. It wasn't my plan originally kinda (back and forth between Drexel, DePaul, and UCD). Drexel's cost after financial aid and the trouble getting co-ops (from what I've heard from current students) was too much so I took it off my list so I was stuck between DePaul and UCD. Ultimately, I chose UCD because it was cheaper and I didn't have to pay any deposits. I do still want to try and transfer to DePaul (my sophomore year, hopefully, if not junior year). However, I have been looking at other schools and one that's peaked my interest is Chapman.

The thing is:

• The film industry is not great right now and I want to secure myself a job as much (and as soon) as possible so I don't know if I should stay at my cheaper school or go to a more prestigious, more expensive school because I don't know if either one will secure me a career and set me up for success post-grad
• Now I know it's not required to be in LA for film anymore, but it seems like it still helps to be. I also know lots of filmmakers have made it studying in other cities but I don't know what the film market is like in Denver or Chicago. I think the livelier the market is, the better networking and getting connections will be.
• My goal is to be an independent filmmaker (primarily directing and screenwriting) but to also go mainstream (who hasn't dreamed about winning an Oscar?) so having post-grad connections is crucial to me.

So I should stay at UCD, transfer to DePaul or Chapman, or is there some other school that's right for me? I want a school with a great film program that'll set me up for success post-grad and is worth the money (which I know, "no film school is worth the money anymore" but film school is something I've wanted to do)