<p>I want to study film, but I didn't get accepted to UCLA, and I didn't apply to USC which was stupid, but I can't afford that right now anyway. I was wondering if the film program at UC Santa Cruz was any good?</p>
<p>Should I go to city college for 2 years and then transfer to UCLA or USC, or should I go to UCSC and study film there for four years and attend grad school in UCLA/USC?</p>
<p>"Should I go to [SF] city college for 2 years and then transfer to UCLA...?"</p>
<p>Yes! Met someone who did just that recently. In fact, she went to some rotten quality SF public h.schools, then went to City for a couple of years, worked on films, got into UCLA Film School.</p>
<p>You go.</p>
<p>You can't enter UCLA's film program until the third year so going to a CC would work fine for that. However, USC's undergraduate program begins your first year so you might have to spend extra time making up courses if you go there. Does USC have an articulation agreement with SFCC?</p>
<p>Warning - warning- warning! The film programs at both UCLA and USC are VERY selective - UCLA admits something like 25 students to their film program each year. (That's not just transfers - that's the TOTAL number of students.) USC's program is bigger, but also very, VERY hard to get into. I'm a big proponent of the cc-to-UC path, but it's not realistic to assume you can attend CCSF for two years, then transfer to one of these two. If that's the route you decide to take, you'll need a Plan B: consider also applying as a transfer to some of the less-selective but still excellent film schools, like those at LMU and Chapman. (LMU was one of the ten film schools cited by the Hollywood Reporter as being "good investments for aspiring industry players of all types": Chapman has recently expanded their facilities, and has many alumni working in the business.) </p>
<p>If you go to UCSC, you can still apply to transfer to the UCLA and SC film schools as a junior, and, even if you don't get accepted, you'll have a good (albeit more theory-based) education in film as an undergrad. You won't make the connections you'd make at SC or UCLA (and the business is all about connections), but if you continue on to grad school in the LA area you'll make those connections and get the production experience you lack. (And add the AFI to your list of potential grad schools.) </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>