Here’s my take: Not to diminish grades or any of that, but its demonstration of talent they are looking for more than conventional educational acheivement. My daughter, a decent but not stellar student, was accepted to the filmmaking program, and I am married to an artist. He told me all along that it all depends on the kind of talent they are looking for, and we had no idea if she was “their kind of talent” until she was accepted. I can say she poured her best self into her application. She couldn’t have produced better at this point in her life. I knew if she didn’t get in, there would be something they were looking for that did not align with her kind of talent. As a non artist, that’s about all I can say about it.
There’s webpage for “by the numbers” for UNCSA. If you click around on that, you’ll see that one year they admitted quite a few from the waiting list and on another year, they admitted one. So, it seems like it’s a bit organic in nature. More of a moving target than a formula. Some of it depends on the number that applied. Some of it depends on the number they waitlisted and some of it depends on the number that were accepted but chose another school.
Best wishes to all.
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Okay, for those waitlisted, I am going to share some tips that I used to get me in last year as someone who was waitlisted. Some may be applicable and helpful, some not. I worked really hard, but there was certainly luck involved.
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Make sure admissions knows who you are and that you are interested. Don’t BUG filmmaking admissions, but check in every once in a while to ask questions and assert that UNCSA is still your first choice. I emailed every few months or so.
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Clean up your portfolio. I had a 4.28 GPA and a decent SAT score, but my portfolio was limited due to just not producing a lot of work in film, but rather work in other art forms like dance or drawing. I spent a lot of my time after being waitlisted making short films or writing screenplays and submitting them to my portfolio. This is my #1 tip!
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I got a third letter of recommendation after being waitlisted. Idk how much this helped, but it may have made me stand out?
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I had luck with COVID. In the spring of 2020, many students decided not to attend college in the Fall. Therefore, more spots opened, which I’m sure helped a lot of people on the waitlist get in. This may be the case again this year. I believe my first year class has around 78 people, when there are usually around 5-15 more.
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RELAX! I spent five whole months constantly thinking about getting in. I absolutely love UNCSA, but you shouldn’t idolize any school. If you are as worried about getting in as I was, please take time to do things that make you happy. Odds are, you are going to get in. I was accepted on May 8th, 2020!
If you have any questions, please let me know!
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I also typed this pretty fast, because I had to go somewhere. If anyone needs clarification, I’d be happy to do so.
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Thank you so much! That helped me a lot! 
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Hello,
Does anyone know when financial aid/ scholarship offers come out? My potential film Pickle has been checking her portal and we thought they would be mailed in letter form at the end of Feb (so it could be in transit) but I just wanted to see if anyone had more specific information? She is trying to compare offers in the hopes of planning in person visits to her top 2 or 3 programs and COA is a big factor in those deliberations. Thanks!
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potential film student here as well! i emailed about financial aid back in December and was told that official aid letters would be coming out in mid-March
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Hi! So I spoke to the Financial Aid office today and they said that offers for admitted students will hopefully go out later this week. The way the lady explained it that I spoke to is that students that are admitted get their offer finished first later this week, then after those students, the rest of the applicants will get their offers. I hope that helps! 
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My daughter just released her spot today so I hope someone on the WL hears great news soon! UNCSA had been a dream school of hers for years but she received an incredibly generous offer (over full tuition) at another high level film program that is a perfect fit and she is committed to earning her BFA without debt. Very excited for all your future pickles! Congrats!
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Hi, I just wanted to come on here and say a couple things. I’m a first-year film student who got in off the waitlist. Please don’t give up hope! I submitted my application August 2019, was waitlisted in December 2019, and didn’t hear anything until I finally got accepted off the list in May of 2020. It can be really frustrating at times, but it worked out for me and I hope it works out for any of you too!
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I was wondering, does anyone have a good idea of what the dorms look like? I’ve seen some of the pictures online, but I’m trying to think of what all I should definitely bring. I know it’s a few months away, but I’m already preparing. 