Is It College Yet?

"Is It College Yet?" is the second Daria TV movie. It was first shown on MTV on January 21, 2002. Subsequent airing and its DVD release only provided it in an edited form. The movie shows the characters of Daria Morgendorffer's class as they approach their high-school graduation and look toward college.

"Is It College Yet?" was written by Glenn Eichler and Peggy Nicoll.

Summary
This episode, roughly equivalent to 3 "normal length" episodes, concerns the characters attempting to make the life-altering decision of where to go to college. Jane wants to go to Boston Fine Arts College (BFAC), but the pressure of doing an art portfolio for them makes it too difficult to produce any good art. Daria is between Bromwell (where Tom Sloane will be going pursuant to the family tradition), and Raft College. Trent doesn't want Jane to go to college at all. The social class rift between Tom and Daria is increasingly obvious.

Daria and Tom Sloane break up for good at the movie's end. Daria gets into Raft College instead of Bromwell, and convinces Jane to apply to BFAC, where Jane is accepted. Both girls plan to continue their friendship as time and schoolwork allow, and the movie ends on a high note with their toast to the future.

Oh, and Upchuck has sex (thankfully it's offstage).

Trivia
In case it isn't obvious, this is it....The last episode of Daria.

The various colleges the characters talk about being interested in have obvious parallels to real life schools. Bromwell, for example, is probably Harvard, and Raft College is really Tufts.

We also learn, indirectly, that Lawndale High has a tradition of "Academic Achievement in the Face of Almost Total Misanthropy," because they have a senior award for it. It is more likely that Ms. Li invented it or modified an existing award as a backhanded recognition of Daria.

In Daria's speech at the end if this episode, we learn a little bit about her guiding philosophy, a loosely connected set of ideas that has kept her grounded, kept her Daria, in spite of her changing personality and changing circumstances.

On Is It College Yet?
Transcript of Is It College Yet? at Outpost Daria (includes sections removed in later showings and on the commercial DVD)