<p>I thought I'd start a thread for SCA applicants here so that we don't take over the 2012 thread.</p>
<p>My S only applied for production at USC. He would have applied for screenwriting too, but ran out of time on doing the extra writing for that. It's just as well. He really wants to do production, and if he'd been accepted into one of the other SCA majors it would have been a struggle to decide whether to go to USC or to another school where he could do film production. He is accepted in film production at Chapman and was rejected at FSU.</p>
<p>S's stats are kind of iffy. His SAT is good (2160), but his GPA isn't (3.56 UW). I don't know whether he'll even make the cut to be considered by SCA. One of his writing samples for SCA (the essay about....I think it was a life changing event or something like that) was really good. The other one was a character study as I remember. He had written a preliminary of that one in the summer but forgot to revise it and didn't realize it until the day the app had to be mailed! (Aaaargh!) So, that one wasn't as good. His EC's are excellent.</p>
<p>He has 2 short films that he won some awards for. They were good awards, but it wasn't like they placed first in every festival they were entered in. He did win a first place drama for a contest put on by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and his film was a "gold seal winner" in a state arts competition in which 100 art projects receive the gold seal award out of 16,000 submitted. Two of his films earned silver awards in Worldfest Houston (which is an international film festival) in the high school category. He had some other miscellaneous first and second place awards in smaller contests/festivals.</p>
<p>I would think that USC acceptees would have shorts that blew away all the competition. Maybe that's not realistic. What do you think?</p>
<p>What kind of things did you guys (or your kids) put on your resumes for SCA?</p>
<p>I'm no expert, I didn't even apply to SCA, but his stats are very solid, I think it'd be silly to worry about a 3.56 GPA, especially with a strong SAT score and an impressive background in film. A lot of applicants don't even have film experience, just good academics and an interest in the field.</p>
<p>Not to say he's a lock for an acceptance, but I know several kids who got into SCA with no film background whatsoever.</p>
<p>I also applied for production. I did the same essays as your son, which I think came out really well. As for the "portfolio" I listed a few of my shorts, some essays I won contests for, poetry, photography, and that I am the chief editor for my school's television station.</p>
<p>My SAT's are ehh (1870) and my unweighted gpa is around 3.7. </p>
<p>I visited campus, interviewed, applied early, and really worked hard on my application so I'm really hoping they see some potential in me. USC is my dream school, so we will see.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement, acarey, I guess I just picture a bunch of little Steven Spielbergs being accepted. Oh, that's right....Steven Spielberg didn't even get accepted!!</p>
<p>Chinaski, that's great that you are a good writer. I have heard that they put a lot of weight on the writing. That makes sense to me. They want people who know how to tell a story. They can teach anyone to operate a camera or sound equipment. My S is a good writer too, but he is kind of ADDish and just didn't have everything together like he should have.</p>
<p>I applied to Writing for Screen and Television and Critical Studies as my first and second choices, respectively. My SATs were OK (2030), but it's hard to tell since my school doesn't rank or do GPA (weird private school chart thing instead - though I know my average is around B+ w/ 4 APs the past 2 years). With the exception of an NYFA Screenwriting program this past summer, I have no real film experience. I did express intent of double majoring with East Asian Studies (Japanese language focus), though. </p>
<p>Anyway, I worked really hard on my application, so hopefully I get in. USC is my ultimate dream school (I practically drooled the entire time I visited). At this point I'd love to get into critical studies, since I know the screenwriting is uber selective, and those chances are slim to none-ish. =\ Or even the main school for Japanese. I'll take anything! :)</p>
<p>Shade, I felt the same way. It was the first college tour I ever took and nothing has compared since. The campus and facilities just feel...me.</p>
<p>Another "project" I had on my portfolio list was a satirical rap album a friend and I worked on. Rap really isn't "me" but it came out really well and everyone at my school liked it so I threw it on there. </p>
<p>I also was a lead actor at a haunted house attraction so I threw that on there too. I wanted to show I was interested in all the arts, not just film. </p>
<p>I pretty much did all I could to make them forget that 1870 was part of my application :)</p>
<p>Chinaski - I totally know what you mean! I may not know my GPA, but I do know it's probably not the greatest in the world. C's in math every year will do that to a person. o.O;; </p>
<p>In my portfolio I put down everything creative I could think of (even the techno song I composed when I was bored one night, LOL). Luckily I'm involved in stage crew at my school, so that added up to a lot. Then I got some pretty versatile recs, including one from a USC film school alum. I'm not sure how much sway that has, but I guess it can't hurt.</p>
<p>I hope you get in! SATs are such a joke. >.> But since this is film school, I take comfort in that they tend to place more weight on the written stuffs as opposed to scores. So yay!</p>
<p>P.S. haunted houses are so scary! ;___; I hate when people pop out at me like that, LOL.</p>
<p>Just wanted to chime in with a thanks for starting an SCA thread, timely. Congrats to your S for his acceptance to Chapman. </p>
<p>My S was accepted to the SCA in January because he got the interview for Trustee, so we are still in shock about it all. We visited campus for that a few weeks ago and got a lot of time with the SCA professors and admin folks (and also met 7 other kids from across the country who were accepted to SCA)--so if there any questions based on my limited observations (but I did look really really closely--lol), I'd be happy to try to answer. </p>
<p>For instance, they stressed how important the supplemental essays are (so great job to you who really worked on them), but they also mentioned that they do not require <em>any</em> film experience, in order not to disadvantage kids who don't have access to equipment. So it won't hurt if you don't have those credits. </p>
<p>And timely, I think your son's gpa looks fine. Beyond USC's requirements, the SCA is perhaps looking most closely on the candidates creative potential, as they try to determine it from reading the tea leaves. Also, I was told they look at the letters of rec, but particularly if its from outside of school (work supervisor) as they are looking beyond the purely academic talents.</p>
<p>Best of luck to all applying. I hope you get the answers you want and soon!</p>
<p>I applied for Film Production (1st choice) and Critical Studies (2nd choice).</p>
<p>2120 SAT
33 ACT
3.83 unweighted
Really good recs, one of them from a film professor at University of Texas
I'm quite confident in my "personal experience" writing sample, and I feel pretty good about the character sketch.</p>
<p>Overall, I feel like I have a decent chance but am discouraged by all the people who have been accepted already or at least have the "in review" status. I'm still at "we have all the information we need".</p>
<p>S applied to major in Critical Studies. He's also very interested in Production (cinematography), but figures that CS has good exposure to that side of things too. The application was different for CS, but I thought his essays were quite good. It was a challenge though, as he'd never written any film analysis/criticism before. Most of his EC's are creative in nature: writes music, plays guitar and piano, has what parents would call a garage band, makes lots of movies just for fun. He also plays soccer, badminton, ultimate, and does Parcour. Oh, and he plays a lot of video games :) - too bad that doesn't count! His SAT, single sitting, was 2350 (M800/ CR800/ W750). His school ignores class rank and GPA, but his would be around 3.45 unweighted. He's a National Merit Finalist, which would really help if he could just manage to get in to USC!</p>
<p>I know there have been posts on this, but does anyone know how many undergrads are enrolled in the various SCA majors?</p>
<p>rainmama, I remembered seeing this on Wikipedia--don't know if it is current or accurate ;)</p>
<p>"The program is one of USC's most competitive specialty schools, for both undergraduate and graduate programs. The BA program in film production accepts 50 students per year, while the Critical Studies department accepts 75 for its BA program, 20-25 for its MA program, and 10-12 for the Ph.D.; the BFA program in Writing for Film and Television accepts only 24 students per year. The MFA program in film directing accepts 48 new students each semester (fall and spring) and the MFA for screenwriting accepts 32 students per year (fall admittance only)."</p>
<p>In addition, I've been told they take 20 for Interactive Media undergrad, and 24 for Animation undergrad</p>
<p>If you care to check out other stats, from the USC website:</p>
<p>Once my daughter toured USC, she did not want to consider any other school, either. </p>
<p>My daughter applied to both production and critical studies. She was an actor on one feature film and has worked on a few films as a script supervisor and production assistant. She has made a few short films for fun but never tried to enter any film in any festival. Her other main interests are dance, foreign languages, and Japanese Jpop music. Her academic stats are nothing to get excited about. </p>
<p>We have been given the "being reviewed status" that several people received today. But I am wondering if students who receive a USC admittance letter are also accepted SCA. Or do students receive two separate letters? If my daughter doesn't get into SCA, I hope she still has a chance to study something else at USC.</p>
<p>
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But I am wondering if students who receive a USC admittance letter are also accepted SCA. Or do students receive two separate letters?
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</p>
<p>I remember reading on cc that there are 2 separate letters. S has moved to the "in review" status, so I think that's probably a good sign (or at least not a <em>bad</em> sign) for admittance to USC....but says nothing about admittance to SCA!</p>
<p>Okay, so what we need to find out is when the SCA acceptance letters go out. Madbean's son (and I think a few others here on cc) have already been accepted. Possibly that's related to their scholarship candidate status. I wonder if the others will go out all at once. I am thinking that SCA would have to wait on an acceptance from admissions before they could issue the acceptance to SCA.</p>
<p>We have a tricky problem here. S has received an Army ROTC scholarship to attend Chapman. He's spoken to ROTC at USC and was verbally assured that USC's ROTC would also extend an offer if he is accepted there. But the deadline to accept the Chapman scholarship is 3/19. I'm sure we won't know about SCA by then. I'm sure it will all work out. S is going to call the national ROTC scholarship office to ask them what to do in this situation. And it's a pretty good problem....those scholarships pay full tuition & fees, books, and a stipend totaling more than $15k over 4 years. And in addition to that, USC kicks in $2k per year towards room & board for ROTC scholarship recipients!</p>
<p>I'll do some research on last year's cc posts in this forum and see if I can find anything about those SCA letters!</p>
<p>I was interested in doing ROTC for film school (whether it be USC or Chapman), but the recruiting centers around her kept assuring me they were not interested in a film major. I'd love the highly discounted education price, but to not be able to study what I really want to study would be a waste of time.</p>
<p>For awhile I was really torn between enlisting or going to film school and ROTC seemed like a great combo (obviously), but the recruiters near me were more concerned with just getting me to sign up as fast as possible rather than take the time to work something out.</p>
<p>So I'm paying for college the old fashion way :)</p>
<p>Okay, I think I found something helpful! Apparently when you get your big envelope acceptance from USC, it will say you are accepted for your chosen major in SCA or it will say you are accepted for "undecided". Then, a couple of weeks later a letter will follow from SCA. One person received a reject letter from SCA (accepted to USC) which was mailed 4/1.</p>
<p>Chinaski....you were robbed. See the thing with recruiters is that it is their job to convince you to enlist. They really have nothing to do with ROTC scholarships, though they certainly should give you accurate information.</p>
<p>While it's true that the Air Force gives about 90% of their ROTC scholarships to students with technical majors, the Army absolutely does not care what your major is. My S is listed as a "generalist". After all, if you're going to be leading a squad of troops through the streets of Baghdad, what difference does it make what you majored in?! j/k!</p>
<p><em>But</em>, here is the good news....there are also many, many 3 year ROTC scholarships awarded. After you start school this fall (where ever that may be), go online to GoArmy.com</a> > Army ROTC > Scholarships and find out how to put in an application. </p>
<p>Even better, go talk to someone in the ROTC department at the school you will be attending. You should do this before school starts. They will want you to go ahead and enroll in ROTC classes for the fall. If your grades are decent and you meet the physical requirements, you should have no problem at all being awarded a 3-year scholarship. Remember that Army is a better bet than the other services since you are seeking a non-technical degree.</p>
<p>The only caveat is that things could change after the presidential election. If the new president brings all the troops home and drastically cuts troop strength, that will affect ROTC scholarships, too. However, the scholarships won't go away; they may just cut the numbers some. They have to keep a pipeline of young officers coming in to replace the older ones who are retiring.</p>
<p>I decided my last post was too wordy, lol. I have come to the conclusion an ROTC program really wasn't right for me, but I'll always be prepared to serve if my country needs me. As for now, film is my dream and I'm sticking with it. :)</p>
<p>^^thanks for that link. With my S's "Welcome to the Trojan Family" packet, there was a separate "University of Southern California Official Admission Conditions and Information" sheet included that listed his major (Interactive Media) and school (School of Cinematic Arts). About a week later he got a separate letter signed by the chair of the SCA's Interactive Media department welcoming him to the Interactive Entertainment Program (just a side note--I am still not sure if the major is called Interactive Media or Entertainment--but no matter!!) </p>
<p>I don't know if this order of notification applies to RD SCA acceptees It may be that the Admissions Conditions page is only included in their early notice to Scholarship finalists--as those kids to on to interview with faculty from their major, so the final decisions on major had to be decided earlier for them to fit USC's ExploreUSC schedule.</p>
<p>While on campus, I got the impression SCA reviewed apps sort pf at the same time as the USC gen admissions was reviewing apps and that they get together when SCA has their final list and "try to work it all out". If the student is a little below the stats accepted to USC, perhaps the SCA might have to defend their choice? Don't know why, but I got that impression. On the other hand, if a student's stats/ECs/etc were terrific but the SCA didn't have them on their list (and remember, they rejected Spielberg twice), I believe USC might then offer an acceptance as an undeclared major. And from reading the link above, the student would still have a great chance to minor in cinematic arts or reapply to change their major later--perhaps with a fresh take on their essays, etc.</p>
<p>Lastly (this is going on forever!), a professor in production said it was possible to transfer to USC after 2 yrs in community college and finish the Production major and get BA in only 2 more years. Just passing that along, in case I actually remembered this correctly. lol.</p>
<p>All these options, madbean, make me feel less anxious. I had forgotten about the minor and did not know that a transfer could still finish in just two years.</p>