Tisch is and has been my dream school for quite a while, but the price tag makes my blood go cold. How does USC’s screenwriting BFA program compare? And do I have any chance of getting in?
GPA: 3.5
Artistic training/experience:
-Daily creative writing classes (5 years)
-Daily script/playwriting classes (3 years)
-Tisch Summer High School- Dramatic Writing (2014)
-Community of Stories writing workshop (2015)
Extracurriculars:
-newspaper staff (lead editor) (2 years)
-yearbook staff (lead editor) (2 years), Unified for Uganda club (2 years)
-Cincinnati-New Taipei Sister City Association student ambassador (exchange PROGRAM)
-New Voices photojournalism classes with exhibitions at Xavier University, Recovery HOTEL and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (3 years)
Awards:
-YoungArts winner for Writing (Script) (2015)
-National Gold Medal from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (Dramatic Writing) (2015)
-Finalist in the Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition (winners TBA) (2015)
-Joseph Beth Young Writer Award (2013)
USC’s total cost (per their website) is $67,000 - only $3k less than NYU
USC’s screenwriting program is the best in the world. Far, far beyond Tisch’s.
To get in, you have to be able to write. Your GPA is so-so, but okay if your scores are excellent. Your background is great, but what really matters is whether you can write. Take a look at the admissions requirements. You’ll have to submit a writing sample, write a couple of scenes and write a couple of essays. If those are amazing, your background and GPA are fine. If those are just okay, your background is irrelevant.
The problem that I have with USC is that it provides training in only one discipline, while Tisch trains students in three dramatic writing fields (film, stage, television) for a more well-rounded education. Is it worth giving up (what appears on paper to be) better preparation for a job as a writer for a better education in one kind of writing?
The USC screenwriting department is part of the highly rated film school, and it teaches both screenwriting and TV writing. The TV writing profs are terrific. The film school also offers video game writing and new media (web content) writing, by the way. At USC, playwriting is only really offered at the MFA level, and it’s run by the drama school, not the film school.
I’m a screenwriter by trade, and I know that playwriting is a very, very different craft from writing for the screen. If you want to be a screenwriter or TV writer, I’m not sure that playwriting will help you get there.
That being said – USC’s screenwriting major accepts less than 10% of applicants, so certainly you should apply to both schools, and many more as well.
Just a dumb screen actress chiming in, but there is an article in Backstage Magazine this week that includes Brian Harkins who is USC Film’s Dean of students talking about [their ideal candidate.](http://www.backstage.com/interview/3-film-schools-their-ideal-applicant/) And in case you haven’t seen it, here’s the [Hollywood Reporter’s list of top US film schools](Best Film Schools 2014: Top 25 U.S. Schools – The Hollywood Reporter) that may help you extend your list which I agree with Holli72 that you probably need to do since admissions to both those programs is so uber competitive and both are so insanely expensive.
Answering the USC vs NYU dilemma will need to be answered when you have an acceptance letter from both schools. When it comes to these highly selective schools and programs you need to cast a wider net. Do some research and put together a list of schools that have programs that could fit your needs. Sounds like you are a talented writer and you might be surprised to find that a less prestigous school will give you a large talent based scholarship. Coming out of school with little to no debt will give you flexiblity in the types of jobs you can take after graduation. That way you can be a slave to a Hollywood exec not your student loan. Best wishes!
Do you guys have any suggestions regarding schools I might want to look at? I’m fairly confident that I’m at or above the level these school are looking for (probably too confident, need to work on that before I write my essays next fall), but I absolutely agree that I’m putting myself in a box and need to apply to more schools just to be safe. Emerson is my third choice, but are there any other schools with good screenwriting programs? I’d hate to end up somewhere that offers a degree in screenwriting but won’t prepare me for the business.
Rougarou, have a look at SUNY Purchase.
Take a look at Chapman College. They sometimes offer significant scholarships to lure applicants away from USC. UCLA isn’t too bad. DePaul is getting its feet on the ground. To be honest, while other colleges offer screenwriting degrees, if you don’t have access to the caliber of faculty available in L.A. (and, to a lesser degree, NY), your degree will be seen as fairly meaningless in the industry.