<p>I am currently a high school junior and I have been looking into various colleges for quite some time. I was accepted into my high school's film production program and have grown to fall in love with every aspect of the film industry, so I would like to major in film/cinema when I go into college. I reside in the Nevada area and I would like to go to college (not an art school) in California, since I will probably be given more opportunities there. So, here's my dilemma:</p>
<p>I was hoping to go somewhere with some sort of prestige, but my chances of getting into any UC school being an out of state student with a 3.4 GPA are very slim, even if I do have some sort of talent/experience. I know there are more than just the UC's out there, but I'm finding it very difficult to find a college that will take me to the heights I want to go to. (That I can get into with my trivial GPA) Does anyone have any suggestions of colleges I can look in to? </p>
<p>The GPA could be a concern with USC also, but if your SAT/ACT’s and portfolio are strong, give them a try. You should also take a look at Chapman, which has a very strong, nationally known film production program, and Loyola Marymount. If you have strong feelings about being at UCLA or USC, be aware that there are articulation agreements with CA community colleges that can guarantee you transfer admission to either of those universities (although not necessarily the film schools.) If you take a look at the Santa Monica College online catalog, you will see that they have a special program that gets you into various kinds of film production work and includes internships and mentoring very early on. If you are comfortable with a further out of state program, your GPA is not going to pose a problem for North Carolina School for the Arts (part of the UNC system; they also have a summer program you might want to check out for the summer) or for Florida State. These are both prestigious, highly ranked film production programs.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if any student can declare him or herself a film production major at LMU, or if you have to make a special application and be accepted by the major. If it’s the latter, please look into and apply to other production programs as well. Production programs that require separate applications sometimes have way more competitive statistics than the universities that house them.</p>
<p>don’t sell yourself short! my niece got into Claremont with a lower GPA than yours- they loved her in a personal interview and she did well on her SAT’s. Get in front of them in person if you can and make an impact</p>
<p>My husband is in the film industry and spent his college years in Californa; in order of preference (his ranking btw)best schools to look at are USC, UCLA, CalArts and AFI ( American Film Institute) all near Hollywood ( Big Surprise!) Good luck!</p>