<p>How much would going to a film summer program for specifically, USC and NYU, improve your chances at getting into those respective film schools? How do admissions officers look at you differently after doing them? Additionally, how much would a letter of recommendation from a professor in those programs (from the schools) help your application?</p>
<p>My D did a summer program at NYU before her Sr. yr and was accepted, class of 2017. She felt it helped her fine tune her portfolio to get into NYU and RISD.
The added benefit of doing a summer program and then going to that school is you will already know people on your first day. That helps a lot in a large, spread out school like NYU.</p>