In 2021, GTIIT's first cohort graduates successfully. 97% of the students pursue their studies at the world's top 100 universities, and 51% of them study further at the world's top 30 universities.

Up to now, the number and quality of offers received by the 2022 graduates are higher than the first cohort, showing a significant improvement. This is based on the solid teaching of GTIIT. Students are widely recognized internationally, which adds more credits to the alma mater.

Most students follow the previous study path and work towards a way that they have worked hard for many years in their undergraduate study. However, there are also a few students who, out of personal interest, have taken a more challenging path - changing majors. Today, GTIIT Career Center invited four of them to share their experiences——

I am good at spatial thinking since I was little. I enjoy three-dimensional geometry, and was interested in building blocks and origami in my spare time, thinking about how to use these gadgets to create a sense of space. The ability and hobby are similar with the nature of architecture which is also the change of space. When I was a child, my mother mentioned that I was suited for architecture.

When I was thinking about changing my major in my third year, I decided to study architecture, and my parents were very supportive. I considered other majors such as theoretical physics, but these majors are very challenging and often require relevant undergraduate study.

I am very eager to study architecture at Syracuse University after doing some research about postgraduate study. The architecture program ranks among the top five in the United States. Although the graduate training is not as so good as that of undergraduates, it is also relatively synchronized. It is a three-and-a-half-year program, which is very suitable for students like us who have limited undergraduate study experience in this field. The university has three campuses around the world, one in New York in the United States, one in London in the United Kingdom and one in Florence in Italy. During the study, you can choose to travel to other campuses to study for a vacation or a semester, and experience a different architectural culture from the United States. The university has rich resources, and the lecturers are very familiar with the industry. In addition, the director of the Department of Science is Chinese, and is very friendly to Asian students. It is worth mentioning that Syracuse University is an extremely "biased" university. Although the major ranking is very high, the overall ranking is not. Students need to consider it carefully.

In fact, I decided to change majors in my first year. I have always liked to study camera language. When I chose majors after the university entrance examination, I hoped to study in art or media, but my mother, who was a journalist, did not agree at that time. She believed that there were many objective difficulties for girls in this industry. Although the teacher at the Career Center said that my GPA is not low, because of passion, I chose to be a graduate student in filming. When I was studying in GTIIT, I took an elective course, European Film History. The teacher, Ofer always encouraged me to pursue my dreams and wrote a recommendation letter for me.

I think the system of the American film industry is well established, so I tend to look for American universities. The Savannah College of Art and Design is the largest art school in the United States, with a high ranking in film. Students could get two different types of internships.

There are very few film colleges that can accept students with unrelated majors, and they clearly state whether they welcome students who are looking for changing majors. The specific requirements of each university are different. For example, New York University requires a fifteen-page of report to demonstrate your understanding of the history of film art, and the Savannah College of Art and Design requires a short film directed by yourself and a short film could show your editing skills. You can't use one work and submit it to all universities; you must prepare it individually. You can try to figure out the style that the university likes by watching film clips of past admitted students.

Writing stories has always been my passion. When I was in elementary school, I liked to use pencils to create stories on notebooks, which draw the attention from classmates. My stories were very popular at that time. Back then, during the class break or when I finished my homework, I enjoyed doing it and never seemed to get tired. But since high school, I was gradually overwhelmed by study and chose science class. After the university entrance examination, I chose a major in science.

In 2020, due to the pandemic, I stayed at home for half a year. Occasionally I watched an animated sci-fi short film, Zima Blue. The short film tells the story of an artificial intelligence artist Zima, who is world-renowned for drawing all kinds of magnificent and fantastic interstellar pictures. However, from a day, there is always a blue geometric figure in his works that is out of tune with the background. It gets bigger and bigger in each work. People are curious, and they are crazy about Zima, this color is named "Zima Blue". Until one day, Zima revealed the answer to the world. It turned out that the blue was the color from its deep memory. When Zima was first created hundreds of years ago and had not evolved into artificial intelligence, it was a robot of cleaning swimming pools. Yes, the blue is the color of the pool wall. In the end, Zima decided to go back to the ordinary, non-intelligent cleaning robot that it used to be, and it threw itself into the blue: "I'm home..." This short film was very emotional and toughing, and it resonated so strongly that I burst into tears.

"Home" is Zima’s original intention, so where is my "home"? I decided to give courage to my dreams and a home for my heart. In 2020, I created a lot of content, wrote novels, and recorded various flashes of inspiration. When I tried to apply, I did not expect to succeed. I found these unintentional works very useful.

I decided to change my major in my second year. First, I wanted to study business when I chose majors after the university entrance examination, and I hoped to make up for this regret in my postgraduate study. Second, in the undergraduate study, I found that I was better at mathematics and physics than biology. Therefore, it is hoped that the major in postgraduate study can make the most of its strengths and avoid its weaknesses.

I found that the biostatistics major is more suitable after doing some related homework. The major combines computer science (mainly R), biology, mathematics, and other disciplines, with less biology and more data statistics courses, including applied survival analysis, epidemiological experimental research analysis, etc. Biostatistics is similar to business-related majors, with the advantages of data statistical analysis. It has a wide range of career options, and a knowledge base for business analysis or programmer. If I study further for a Ph.D., I can be a biostatistician, and if I don't, I can become a statistical analyst of clinical trials. Since I was not sure whether I could successfully change my major, I applied to biostatistics programmes in fifteen universities. I also applied biotechnology and medical biology in some universities as an alternative.

The reason why I chose New York University is that New York University alumni have a strong network and often invite companies to give lectures, so they can get to know and even contact major companies. The School of Public Health in New York University is also one of the fastest-growing schools of public health in the U.S. with an increasing ranking.

Q&A

What preparations have you done?

Xu Zhuoer: Since I didn't start thinking about changing majors until my third year, the whole process was rushed and stressful. If I were to describe my preparation process in chronological order, it would be roughly like this—the first semester of my third year, that is, after the start of the semester in October, I began to think about choosing and applying universities. I took three months to search information about majors and universities. In January of next year, I decided I was going to change major to architecture, which needs to learn a lot of software. I started as a novice with zero basics. Under the guidance of an agency, I learned software while making works. I didn’t finish this work until January of the following year. Apart from the time I spent on other things, the time length I spent preparing the portfolio was about ten months. I started preparing for the TOEFL in March, the GRE in July, and attended both exams in September. I took the TOEFL twice in November and December. In October and November, I completed the resume, university selection, and paperwork, which took two months. Recommendation letters are also prepared from October and completed by mid-December.

Lei Zhanlan: I have been preparing for a year. The first thing is the university selection. From the website, I got an email address and made a contact with a professor from New York University. The professor couldn't accept me because my undergraduate study is not related, but he wrote a recommendation letter for me. The portfolio I submitted to the Savannah College of Art and Design included an eight-minute short film for which I spent two months writing the script, recruiting my own camera crew and professional actors online. During the interview, I was asked about the experience of Alex Garland, the director of the movie Annihilation. This may be because my major is biology, and the director is a biological science fiction film director. It can be seen that the questions are random, which based on your resume. The questions are very detailed, such as where is the camera of a certain shot in my short film, how was it lit, and what was happened at the scene. They used these questions to confirm that the work was completed by you. As long as you work hard, you will be able to answer these questions. Everything went so smoothly that the admission officer even said, "Your English is really good!" "I officially let you know that you've been accepted." Fortunately, as long as my GPA is above 3.25, I can get a scholarship every year.

Chen Xinyu: It took less than half a year to prepare the application. In May of last year, I started to write the script for the application, which is a relatively formal micro-film script. The lecturer who taught film elective courses guided my writing. After several revisions, it was officially completed in August. The script tells about my own mental journey. When I chose the screenwriting major, my family strongly opposed it. This conflict made the script story possible. During the summer vacation, I wrote a lot of story outlines. Earlier this year, I made a short documentary with a lot of guidance from Professor Stephen at University of South California. This documentary filmed a good friend, and my camera was deeply involved in his life. His story is very touching. Professor Stephen was very moved after reading it and wrote a recommendation letter for me. The screenwriting major in each university requires different materials, such as telling one's own life story, submitting creative ideas, short films, screenplays, feature-length film outlines, etc. I did not ask any agency to help my application, I did it by myself. Dr Fen Chen from Career Center guided me a lot. I didn't get an agent because I think that agency tends to provide guidance which has been modelized, but art is individualized and needs to show its own personal characteristics and unique ideas. This experience should be seen critically by other GTers. It has disadvantages if you don’t have an agent, you don’t have much energy to apply too many universities. It is necessary to be independent and have a clear goal. You need to carefully polish the materials with reference to meet the requirements of each university. If you want to get an agent, you need to be active, and don’t think that everything says from the agency is right, especially for the arts works. In fact, my academic performance is not outstanding, so I need to use works to prove my strength. Interestingly, when I first submitted the materials, I didn't submit the transcript, but the interviewer decided to interview me first, and the interview went well. The interviewer complimented my English fluency - in fact, I think My English speaking is not very good, but compared with other applicants, my language ability has become an advantage because of GTIIT’s English medium environment.

Du Zewen: For biostatistics majors, first, the personal statement should focus on introducing the mathematical achievements. Second, the higher the GRE mathematics, the better.

What was the most impressive difficulty you had in the application process?

Xu Zhuoer: The biggest difficulty is making a portfolio from zero. When applying for a master's degree in architecture, the university does not pay much attention to scientific research experience and GPA scores, but focuses more on the works. My undergraduate study is not related, I have not had a systematic education in art and architecture, and I don’t know how to use related software. My portfolio is not as rich as those who has related major in undergraduate study. Since it is very late for me to change my major for the postgraduate study, I could only make sure that I am eligible to graduate, take TOEFL and GRE, and learn to make works within ten months. It takes a lot of energy, and when they all come together, I'm very stressed. In addition, collecting information in a short period of time is a big challenge. Since I don’t have teachers or friends who studies architecture, I can only use the Q&A community or social platform to browse information, to identify agency and training institutions through the Internet. Fortunately, I didn't come across any bad agents. In this process, you need to make a lot of judgment by yourself to check whether it is reliable, such as conversations, browsing the works and application results of previous students of the institution.

Lei Zhanlan: On-site shooting is my biggest difficulty, and this application is my first on-site shooting as a director. Due to the limited budget, I had to pay for an extra day to shoot, and the actors’ schedules were very full, so I had to shoot all the shots in one day. To do this, I needed to organize every detail of the shooting process in advance, and I was exhausted during that time. I wrote a Hollywood-style script based on the university’s preferences, thinking about all the details. The short film was shot at a photography base in Shenzhen, where there was still a typhoon at that time. The photographer even said that I did his job too - I had set up all the camera positions, lens movements, lighting, and sets. There is a scene where the male and female actors are driving on the road, we need to rent a special car from the props store. The shooting equipment can be placed in front of the car. But the cost is very expensive, so we thought of various ways and did our best with limited budget.

Chen Xinyu: Looking back on the whole process of changing major, the hardest step I took was convincing my family. When I told my family for the first time, they responded ironically, "You can't find a job", "You are done". I was very angry and aggrieved at the time, but I didn't give up and kept on writing. Later, I showed them my works, and gradually got their approval, "You seem to be okay," and "I didn't know you." Besides, I'm learning to write scripts in English.

In your career development, will you consider combining undergraduate and master's study? What are your plans for future development?

Xu Zhuoer: The combination of undergraduate and postgraduate majors has two levels. One is the practice. A solid engineering foundation can support my development in sub-fields such as structure and intelligent manufacturing. Core courses such as fluid mechanics and heat transfer can also be applied to architecture. The second is thinking, my undergraduate study expands my way of thinking. For example, I use some spatial concepts such as chemical structure in my works to design buildings. The scenario is similar with other majors. Materials majors can do advanced building materials, and biology majors can do ecologically simulated buildings. Each direction has the potential for integrated development. Regarding future development, if you have the ability or the opportunity, you will choose to study for a Ph.D., and you can choose to work if you have the opportunity.

Lei Zhanlan: Movies can also be combined with biology, such as some science fiction movies, but the cost of such works is extremely high. In fact, whether you can have a favorite project depends on the chance. For a high-investment work such as a movie, if no one invests, no matter how good an idea is, it will not make it possible. I will cherish internship opportunities in my study. I hope to continue my Ph.D. study after graduation, because in my master study, only half of my time is spent on classes, and the other half is spent on writing works or thesis, so there is not enough time for study. I need to systematically study it before I can decide what type of film I want to create.

Chen Xinyu: It is possible to combine undergraduate and master majors, such as letting a certain character in the script use scientific methods to solve difficulties. In my four years of undergraduate study, I mainly wrote scripts, and did not draw much attention on filming skills. I hope to develop comprehensively in the future. I have read a wide range of shooting styles. I hope to try different styles and have my own one. Currently, I think that I am suitable for shooting more realistic or literary works, and I like to pursue a heart-warming and touching effect.

What advice do you have for other GTers?

Xu Zhuoer: Don't just change majors when you see others change, don't be impulsive. You can judge whether you are suitable for changing majors through the following criteria: First, whether you have any interest in this area when you were little. Children's nature is very simple and will not be influenced too much by the outside world. If you found something interesting as a kid and still love it when you grow up, you can develop that. Second, if you have the resources, try to do an internship first. Our vision of a profession is often based on hypotheses, but if you can walk into actual work and see what other people's daily life is like, and then still think it's acceptable, you can consider it. If you make this decision after careful consideration, be sure to take this step boldly and chase your dreams.

Lei Zhanlan: First, you need to make sure you are very fond of the new major. Second, make plans as soon as possible, don't start from zero, and don't wait until the third year to change majors suddenly.

Chen Xinyu: First, don't think it's absurd to change majors, you have a chance. You can use your spare time to enrich your portfolio, which shows your personal characteristics, and don't use templates. For screenwriting majors, if you have any inspiration, no matter how naive or small, you must record it at any time, and don't let it disappear in your mind. Maybe after a while it will become a full story. It is not necessary to make all the ideas into a film. If the story is complicated, you can write a script, or you can make short films and vlogs. These are useful for your application, and it is not as difficult as you think. Second, I hope that during the four years of undergraduate study, everyone can find some characteristics and learn to use these to realize their own value in life. For example, I am a very emotional and empathetic person. I don't know if this trait is a punishment or a gift, but I don't want to waste it, so I use it to write stories and build characters. I use my characters to connect with the audience, and impress others with what impresses me.

Du Zewen: I hope that the other GTers will not be afraid and apply bravely.

How does GTIIT help you in changing majors?

Xu Zhuoer: If I hadn't studied in GTIIT, I might have studied in a normal university and been unknown since then. If I hadn't studied in GTIIT, I would not have been able to apply for the architecture major, nor would I have gone to the United States to study architecture. I am very grateful to GTIIT, not only it has the high-quality students, hardware facilities and outstanding teaching resources, but also the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has an excellent reputation internatinally, which provides strong support for our further studies. During my application process, I also found that the feedback for GTIIT was very good, so it is logical to apply the universities in the United States after graduation. In addition, the wide range of disciplines in GTIIT are all basic sciences aimed at understanding the nature, which can help us train critical thinking skills and deep-thinking habits. This kind of training is not achieved overnight. It is carried out in every class and every assignment. The lecturers always guide us to think and ask questions, they don’t overlook any detail. After four years of training, there will be qualitative changes.

Lei Zhanlan: First, my English proficiency has improved a lot. My English was very poor, and I didn't deliberately learn English since I have studied in GTIIT, but the English-medium environment here is very good. I didn’t prepare IELTS test, so the writing score did not reach 6.5, but the admissions officer felt that I don’t have much communication barrier, and they chatted with me a lot, not only exempted my language test, but also told me my favorite Marvel series was shot in this university. I was warmly invited to meet them later and they will take me to the film festival. After a video conference with a professor at New York University, he was willing to write a recommendation letter for me, my English proficiency should have some credits for it. Second, I have improved my ability to face the pressure. The courses in GTIIT is stressful, and four years of study can gain a lot of abilities.

Chen Xinyu: I used to be very emotional, but after four years of training, my logical thinking ability has greatly improved, and this ability can benefit me. I am very grateful for these four years. Although I will not pursue the direction of chemical industry in the future, GTIIT has given me a broader platform and an opportunity to see the world. If I hadn't chosen GTIIT, I couldn't imagine going to Mette Film School to study my favorite major, and I don't regret choosing GTIIT.