<p>I am planning to go to a community college and then transfer to USC hopefully.
I was looking at LACC's page and I read this:
While the credits will transfer, almost all four-year schools require that you start again with the beginning film or television classes, although a few courses may be accepted from LACC. Four-year schools generally don't offer any film production classes until the junior (third) year.</p>
<p>What does it mean start again from beginning? Is it same for all CCs?</p>
<p>Hey @Srkukali!</p>
<p>First - going to Community College won’t guarantee you a spot at the film school. It is very VERY hard to transfer in. Especially if you want Production which is now a BFA. That means they have a specific set of courses you must take in sequence. If you come in from Community College it means you will probably have fulfilled some or all of USC’s general education requirements, but you won’t be able to finish film in two years.</p>
<p>Also - because it is so tough to get in, have many back-up plans. Other schools in the area that have strong programs (Chapman, UC Northridge, etc.)</p>
<p>But as far as USC is concerned, my daughter is not in the BFA program but started her film classes Freshman year. UCLA just changed their program to start offering film at Freshman year rather than at Junior year. All BFA programs start at Freshman year.</p>
<p>So the LACC page is correct. If you go to Community College and transfer to a film school - you will still have to start from scratch for those classes. It is not likely your film classes taught at a CC will qualify for credits to place out of a USC film class. But you should call USC and ask them.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Agree with ArtsandLetters. It’s important to note that most often, CC classes will not substitute for courses required in the major, which will need to be taken at USC. It’s therefore wiser to concentrate on getting the req’d GEs, which USC actually looks for in evaluating transfers.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice guys. Does that mean that if I study film production for 2 years in a CC and I have enough credits then I can transfer to a 4yr university, take USC or mebbe CSUN? Then I may have to take some courses which were not taught in the CC? How many yrs will I have to study at the 4yr college? I mean will I just have to do junior and senior yr or what? Confused. </p>
<p>Also guys if its not too much, can u tell me which CC shud I choose among these (my budget is super low)-
(I did my research online but I need to know which CC has good equipments, teachers, less gangbangers, also is good with transfers, etc. I need a campus where there are dedicated people)
LACC (ghetto? near hollywood, good instructors, sometimes they come from other cool schools, worst campus)
Pasadena CC (overall very mixed reviews, high transfer rates, nice film program. far from hollywood)
Orange Coast College (overall very good reviews. very far from hollywood) -my fav</p>
<p>can u suggest good cheap CC hear hollywood, no SMC. Please help. Invaluable forum.</p>
<p>bump?</p>
<p>do I have to take courses that were not taught in the CC? will I be doing that in my junior year at a 4yr college?</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Srkukali</p>
<p>Perhaps this is a problem with language translation. The schools WILL NOT take your film classes. If you want to study film at USC you will be wasting your time trying to take film classes at a Community College. Most people use the Community College option to take general education credits so that when they enter a school like USC they can start right into their major. A lot of students in the film school who start as Freshman are taking general education classes (writing, science, etc.)</p>
<p>Study film if that is attractive to you, but don’t count on getting credit for those classes because you won’t. Do it only because you find it interesting.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you what I’ve told others. When you get a degree from a university - the university is certifying that you took your major courses under their instruction - not took them somewhere else and then came in to get the better diploma.</p>
<p>So please - listen to what we are saying. There is no trick. There is no loophole. And there are no guarantees you will get into USC even if you come in through a Community College. There are too many people who want it who are also trying the same “tricks.” There are also people who entered USC as undeclared trying to use it as leverage to get into the school. There are also (because I know one) students who came to SCA on the Trojan Transfer plan.</p>
<p>Just do your best and call the colleges to find out EXACTLY how you should spend your two years at Community College to make sure you are fulfilling their expectations.</p>
<p>wow. thats depressing. but thanks</p>
<p>Not really. If you want a BFA in film you’ll take extra semesters to complete it since they go in sequence. If you want a B.A. in film, you should be able to do the requirements in two years. </p>
<p>And honestly - before you take ANY classes - call the colleges you are interested in transferring to and ask if those classes would receive transfer credit into your degree program. That’s the simplest answer. If the answer is yes - take them. If the answer is now - don’t take them (unless you want to and don’t care about those credit transfers). Spend most of your time working on general education credits. Then just take film classes as electives. But don’t count on USC giving you credit for them (unless they said so in advance).</p>
<p>And if you think this is competitive, just wait until you get to Hollywood - 400 highly qualified resumes for each open position.</p>
<p>And, aren’t you an international student? Competition will be even harder for you. You won’t get financial aid from these schools.</p>
<p>well, USC is not like my only focus. i have several other 4yrs to choose from in the vicinity. i know about the competition level also is high.
@USCAlum05 i had an idea how difficult it will be but u just raised the bar.
@ArtsandLetters i will have to take extra semesters to get BFA? what i dont understand is if i go to a CC which has film course, then it is same as first 2 yrs of BFA program no? Or do u mean to say they BFA schools do not accept some courses taught in a CC film program and I wont be able to get BFA with 4yrs (2 of CC and 2 of 4yr college)?
Roughly how many extra semester will I have to do then?
Does that also mean if I got to CC for film program, i wont have much time for doing something film oriented? I’ve heard they do internships too. Confused.</p>
<p>Man, the moment I seem to have figured it all out, something pops up and all hell breaks loose.</p>
<p>@Srkukali I’m not sure USC or any other BFA program is right for you because you are struggling to understand basic information about the process. If you don’t want to take extra years you are only going to be eligible for a BA and only if you do the general education classes required.</p>
<p>I can tell you that your questions are a bit frustrating because all of us have spelled out the rules as they apply to you. We’ve been kind, patient, and tried to simplify the process. So here it is again for the last time - a summary of what all of us have told you over several threads:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>As an international student your odds of getting into a competitive program are harder - especially if you need financial aid.</p></li>
<li><p>You are interested in competitive programs that turn down 96% of the applicants. Even if you had a perfect resume your odds of getting into any film school are low. </p></li>
<li><p>Try programs that take a larger percentage of applicants: Chapman’s Dodge College of Film, UC Northridge, Temple University, Pitzer, Wesleyan, and for an “easy” entry try Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD takes just about everyone).</p></li>
<li><p>Community college is a great way to save money but is a WASTE of your time if you think it will give you an edge for getting into film school. It won’t. Too many applicants with too many credentials both inside the college and outside.</p></li>
<li><p>For a BFA - students start in Freshman year and take a sequence of courses. Those programs want those courses taken on their campus. They DO NOT want to give you a diploma for skipping the line and taking a lot of your required courses at a community college. At MIT, for instance, transfers from community college start as Freshman and spend 4 years getting their degree. </p></li>
<li><p>To do a BFA - most schools have a specific sequence of courses they want you to take IN ORDER over four years. One of my daughters is in a BFA program. She did two years of Community college and when she transferred, the art class credits counted as general credits but DID NOT qualify as credits in her major. So she still had to take the four year sequence of studio time, but was given credit for a single semester (i.e. she had to do 3.5 years in order to fit all their courses in the proper order).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So yes - if you go to community college use the time to do general education credits that will count at all the colleges you are interested in. But frankly, the film classes aren’t likely to do you any good because the film schools want you to take THEIR film classes. Hence, you can do a film degree in the remaining two years - just not a BFA.</p>
<p>Here is the links from USC - which pretty much applies to other competitive film schools:</p>
<p><a href=“http://cinema.usc.edu/production/bfarequirements.cfm”>http://cinema.usc.edu/production/bfarequirements.cfm</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And here is a similar one for screenwriting:</p>
<p><a href=“http://cinema.usc.edu/writing/transferprocedures.cfm”>http://cinema.usc.edu/writing/transferprocedures.cfm</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Here is the link for UCLA - note if you transfer from Community college you can ONLY apply for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) not a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). It also requires you to spend the two years at community college taking specific general education classes.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.tft.ucla.edu/programs/film-tv-digital-media-department/undergraduate-degrees/ba-undergraduate-film/”>http://www.tft.ucla.edu/programs/film-tv-digital-media-department/undergraduate-degrees/ba-undergraduate-film/</a></p>
<p>There are no shortcuts. Asking about loopholes, exceptions, and why can’t I isn’t helpful. Follow the rules the schools have set and don’t expect special treatment. Because even a hint of that will make it easy for them to decline your application (and trust me - most schools are swamped with applicants and looking for reasons to say no to some of them to reduce the size of the pile).</p>