<p>I just got off the phone with both the general office of undergraduate admissions and the film office of undergraduate admissions. I called them because last week they had told me I may not hear for 4-10 weeks, with the latter putting me at May 15th (after the deposit deadline), so I wanted to call to verify that information.</p>
<p>The general office of undergraduate admissions told me that they had sent my application to the film school to be reviewed, and if the film school passed on me then they would then consider me for admission to USC without a specialized major. When I was tranferred to the film school, they told me that my application had been completed and I was being reviewed by the admissions board. The strange part was that I had only applied for screenwriting, and he told me that I was being considered for both screenwriting and film production. Can anyone tell me what this means? I don't understand how it is possible, because I did not submit the elements necessary for the film production application. Also, do you think that if my application was sent from general admissions to the film school that I am most likely accepted into USC in general? I am just very curious, so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Congratulations to anyone who has already gotten in! I'm jealous!</p>
<p>I have no idea why they said 10 weeks. The guy I just spoke to said they'd start sending them out in batches starting April 1st, but it could be up to 10 weeks. Weird.</p>
<p>I am also a screenwriting applicant, and it is just not Possible that the notification is in 10 weeks. Maybe for the Production applicants, but remmember out of all the CNTV majors, ours is the less popular, so they will probably have some sort of decision soon. Someone told me this major is sometimes filled with a lot of Production applicants who listed Screenwriting as their second choice. Anyway, the CNTV website says all applicants will have a decision by April 1st, on their Writing for Screen and Television BFA section....I was really scared when I heard what you said 10 WEEKS! anyway, it could be true. Let's just hope we hear from both by April 1st, for our brain's sake, I don't think they can take more worrying by now. Anyway, good luck.</p>
<p>Michelle is the director of admissions for cinema/tv and will not give you the run-around I believe. The students answering the phone are well-meaning but are not always 100% accurate in their advice. After ds received acceptance into film production and into USC (same letter) in Jan, I called the cinema dept. to verify that he indeed had been accepted (couldn't really believe it), and the student on the other end checked the computer and said that the computer said, "Out to committee". She said the letter he received must be a mistake, since the computer would have been updated before a letter had gone out saying he was accepted. Since it was a Friday afternoon, no one was available to verify, so I just let it go, and then on Tuesday he received his "official" film school acceptance...whew! Good luck everyone!!!</p>
<p>Screenwriting applicants who are passed on are sometimes offered a spot in critical studies which allows them to either specialize in screenwriting or production. This is what happened to my son who applied to screenwriting and didn't make the cut even thought he was a national finalist in the Young Playwrights competition and wrote, produced and directed his own play here in NYC. Screenwriting is very competive and it is harder to get into than Harvard. That being said, production is even more competitive and a production applicant who writes could be considered for screenwriting. Of the 3 specialized majors, they probably juggle the most talented applicants in order to offer them a spot in at least one film major, but there are very few spaces. My son was notified mid April and first got an acceptance letter into Critical studies, and the next day got the rejection letter from screenwriting. He was accepted to NYU for screenwriting, but there are 50 slots there in screenwriting alone and last year at USC there were only 22 slots in screenwriting, 44 in Critical studies, and I am not sure how many in production last year though they said about 50 in our walk through the year before he applied .
Hope this helps and I wish every one good luck. My son is VERY happy in Critical Studies, (screenwriting specialization), it is actually a better fit for him overall so the selection committee made the right choice for him.</p>
<p>To follow-up on what ebay wrote: our son was intially disappointed about the production rejection but after nearly three years in critical studies he really wouldn't have it any other way. So if you to don't get into writing or production, but do get into critical studdies don't fret. You'll have loads of opportunities to do whatever you want, and no one will ask you the major you had in film school. </p>
<p>Our son has recently developed an interest in screenwriting and this semester is taking a film school writing course: "The Screenplay," and "Advanced Writing," which is offered by the USC Writing Program and allows the student to focus on topics related to their discipline. He is also reading and evaluating scripts for a production company as part of an internship.</p>