I noticed some of the costs associated with SCA program. Can you apply for grants/scholarships for the supplies? Extremely worried about the $3000 for some SCA classes and then there is the laptop requirements. Please help. This is my son’s dream school. He applied for the Fall 2019 (Film and Television Production - BFA). @WWWard @CADREAMIN thank you in advance to any and all responses.
USC is one of the most expensive schools in the country. You just don’t need to worry about any of this until/if he gets accepted then get FA information within a week or so after that. With SCA, 96% of applicants won’t have anything to work out because they were not admitted. Not to be negative, but I would spend time making sure other options are lined up. Until you see an acceptance and the FA package, there is nothing to with USC but worry needlessly. Wait till you have more data.
Assuming you applied for FA, you can google scholarships to apply to inside of USC (most had due dates of Feb 1st but there may be some, not sure didn’t apply to those) and outside of USC if your student has time to do essays and applications.
To add, at @romns116 just said the SCA scholarship app is due 2/22, but I guess you know that, they have a helpful post in another thread.
First things first. I applaud (and share!) your hopeful enthusiasm for your student’s SCA acceptance, but given the university’s projected 10% acceptance rate (from @CADREAMIN‘s source) combined with SCA’s 3.5%, first make sure you temper expectations and setup have alternative plans.
Have your son spend time polishing his short answers for the SCA scholarship app, and relax 
We’re all in the same boat, so let’s enjoy the ride.
This might have changed in the past year or so, but from what I understand, the laptop requirement is for MFA students only. There’s usually a $900 insurance fee for production classes, and $50 (I think??) SCA lab fee.
Scholarships/fin aid might cover these, since they’re billed to your USC account/come with your semester bill. However, a lot of the other fees are out of pocket, because there are so many variables. For production classes, you might have to pay for locations, transportation, meals, studio teachers, stunt coordinators, etc. These vary on a case by case basis, that is, if you shoot a film in your bedroom, starring your friends, with donated meals, it’s likely to be cheaper than something you filmed off campus with child actors and fight scenes. As a frame of reference, junior “thesis” films tend to have a budget of ~$1000 (that’s just the film – insurance etc. not included.)
Even if it isn’t a production class, a lot of classes require you to purchase software like Final Draft or Movie Magic. Although a lot of these have student discounts or coupon codes provided, they’re still going to be north of $100. Again, these fees aren’t billed to your student account, so it’s unlikely that grants, etc. will cover them.
With all of this said, if you apply for SCA continuing scholarships/other grants that don’t HAVE to be used for tuition and fees, those might be able to cover some of the costs.
Hope this helps!
Sorry, I forgot to answer your question about laptop costs. If your student qualifies for FA, there is a potential one-time increase available specifically for this:
http://financialaid.usc.edu/undergraduates/continuing/special-circumstances.html
@romns116 @LayraSparks @cadreaminnd, once again I do thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. We are a family of artists - eldest child attending community college & is wanting to transfer to USC Media Arts + Practice Fall 2020; elder son applied to USC Film & Television Production Fall 2019 ; and youngest son wants to apply for the Interactive Media & Games Fall 2020. USC was never on our radar until a USC admissions’ recruiter showed up at our school (extremely small town) and spoke to all of my children about considering & applying to USC (we made sure that our children were in attendance). Thanks for the positive encouragements!!
When extra fees are applied to your USC billing portal, financial aid does then often increase the size of the university grant to offset such. Once they determine your expected family contribution, they do take steps to keep it at that same level.
@WWWard once again thank you for your time in responding to my questions!
you’re welcome