<p>I’m guessing that she has a placement exam ¿? for the foreign language pre reqs</p>
<p>Yep. ^ </p>
<p>… <em>lengthening my message to at least 10 characters</em></p>
<p>You can take that anytime you are at USC =D</p>
<p>@panther - I actually planned out my entire four years (just the required courses), want me to fb message it to you? 
I love planning/scheduling so yeahhhhhhhhhh.</p>
<p>Considering transferring next year for screenwriting.</p>
<p>I’ve got a lot of experience in the industry (have had a literary agent since 17 [possible recommendation letter?], worked as a development consultant for several networks/ production companies throughout high school, have lots of written material), but I’m wondering how I should mention this on the application. </p>
<p>How much more competitive would referencing my experience make me, if at all? Would having a particularly famous alumni write a recommendation for me come across as shameless? Can I do an interview?</p>
<p>Oh, and how many transfers does SCA typically take for the screenwriting program? </p>
<p>Any help is appreciated.</p>
<p>Well the screenwriting program takes somewhere between 20-25 freshmen each year, if I recall. As far as transfers I would say probably less than 10. Referencing your experience and having a famous alum write a recommendation would not give you any kind of edge in the admissions process, but you can feel free to include that. I mean they pick a wide variety of people… the bottom line is that they want people who they can teach about film, not people who already know about it.</p>
<p>Also note that the screenwriting program takes four years to complete regardless of the amount of units you currently have. So, even if you’re a junior, you would still have to stay at USC for four years.</p>
<p>^Thank you! I truly appreciate the help.</p>
<p>Dream mind if I see the schedule you got planned out too?! Haha =D</p>
<p>@Jayfromla</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you must have the entire ‘package’ so to speak. Letters of rec are an important part of the app, but so is everything else. In other words, you must do everything well to get in, meaning write good essays, get strong letters of rec, display a rigorous academic background, and accurately represent your creative strengths and abilities. They want to see a well-rounded picture of who you are.</p>
<p>@jaredm academically and extracurricularly I’m extremely competitive; I was just curious about whether some of my industry-related credentials would be relevant in pushing me over the edge. I understand the program is very selective.</p>
<p>@dream</p>
<p>But of course! We can exchange notes. :)</p>
<p>@jayfromla</p>
<p>I think that no one on this forum can tell you for sure how your experience and that kind of recommendation letter will be perceived, but I’ll throw in my two cents. I think that you should definitely list your experiences in the activities section, portfolio, and with an attached resume, but that you should pay cloaser attention to showing what you have learned from your experience, and what you think you can still learn from USC. As for the letter, I think the content is much more important than the writer- if your famous recommender can represent you and your abilities better than another recommender might be able to, then great! I don’t think someone would read that and say, “Tsk,tsk this applicant is a shameless name dropper,” or something. But if you’re going for the name more than you’re going for the relationship you have with that famous recommender or what he/she knows about your talents, then I say find someone else who can say something more meaningful. Just my thoughts. Also, they don’t do scheduled interviews, but, on occasion, they call applicants to “chat.” ;)</p>
<p>Thanks, panther. I appreciate the help. My recommender has known me since birth and would be able to accurately represent me. </p>
<p>Hopefully I’ll see you all next year!</p>
<p>@jayfromla</p>
<p>I don’t think it’ll push you over the edge at all. I think they want to see people who have some passion and dedication for film. On my creative resume I put down about 7 student films and an Indie that I interned on. I don’t think anything could push you over the edge. I mean who would you rather have if you were running a film school? Someone who worked as a PA on Transformers or someone who worked at McDonalds and never touched a camera? I think industry-related credentials shows dedication and dedication is a huge part of the application. If anything your industry-related activities make you a more interesting and viable person.</p>
<p>@marbas</p>
<p>I’ll have to agree since I’m prime example I applied twice into sca and was rejected. Great papers and samples but the letters were the dealbreaker since I didnt have any film recommenders who could talk about my strengths as a viable filmmaker. So jay it would be great if u pa or volunteered in a film set. </p>
<p>Sent from my PC36100 using CC App</p>
<p>just got accepted into film production:)</p>
<p>congratulations!!! =) welcome to the trojan family!</p>
<p>Congrats!! Look forward to meeting you!</p>
<p>Woot woot another film production student! =D</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A LOT less than ten. So far, there are three of us for the class of 2015. I believe that the screenwriting class size is capped at 26.</p>