<p>Has anyone attended the USC school of cinematic arts summer program? If yes, which course did you take- and would you recommend it? Or, if you would recommend a different one, which one? My son is considering going this summer- and I would love to hear from someone who has been before he signs up for the program. Any feedback on the program would be most welcome.</p>
<p>Thanks for you help!</p>
<p>maddenmd,</p>
<p>My youngest daughter is enrolled for the upcoming summer course in producing and directing at USC-SCA. It’s 8 units over 6 weeks and the welcoming email stressed the intense nature of the class. Only 10% of the students are from high school with the balance being college kids. I’m hoping my HS sophomore can keep up! I’m a fan of summer school for HS kids and it was either this of Harvard’s summer program in history and archeology. She picked this one. :)</p>
<p>Outside of USC’s website information I have not seen anything else online about SCA summer courses. </p>
<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>
<p>^She picked this one.
$1,360 X 8units? for one summer?
I had this feeling and had to nitpick their FAQ
they split kids by interest, experience and ability, as any serious schools do at their "prestigious "summer course.
and they got nerve to say since it is awful hard to get in for real, enjoy the summer stay!!
AGHHHH I am sorry I just had to point out.
I mean how the kid in Pennstate who wants to save money can do this, eh?</p>
<p>Q. What is the cost of classes?
Tuition is the same for any course in the University and is based on the number of units in your desired class. Summer 2011 tuition at USC is one thousand three hundred and sixty U.S. dollars per unit ($1,360.00). You can multiply that by the number of units you are going to sign up for to determine your tuition fees {example, a 2 unit course will be $2,720 for tuition only}.</p>
<p>Hi B and D,</p>
<p>Gulp, yep that’s a lot of money but that’s sort of the going rate at most private colleges. Harvard and Yale summer schools are about $10k and USC film at 8 units is about 12k when you add the dorm and food. But you have to remember that these units count and that shortens the time once in college. So you either pay at the front end or the back. But yeah you are right, it’s a lot of money.</p>
<p>I’ve never regretted spending money on education for my kids. I can’t think of a better use for the dollars.</p>
<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>
<p>that, is exactly the issue.
have you read this gross advise giving book by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross?
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/What-High-Schools-Dont-Tell/dp/1594630372/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299037796&sr=1-2[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/What-High-Schools-Dont-Tell/dp/1594630372/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299037796&sr=1-2</a>
OK, she is no art or film person but what she said do work (worked for us to some degree, thou I did it on my own, read this afterward and gawk!! I thought I’m the only crazy one!! )
I also knew few kids’ family for real that lead to believe big $$$ named summer school would do them favor, then didn’t.
Harvard, Yale, Stanford just the same.
I am not saying your D won’t be in USC for real, thus use all her credits there. or should be able to bring to some other school.
just that fact is, those summer courses are often cash cows to brand name schools. If they don’t offer merit /need combined FA for summer when school is supposedly well endorsed, I’d worry.
Look at how many testimonials are done by international kids and sentences start with same sort of openings?
noway to disregard your choice or anything (well, sure sound like it is, isn’t it?)
Good luck.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I started this thread last December. My son was also in his sophomore year at the time. He had attended the 16mm film program at American University the summer between Freshman and Sophomore years. We were considering the USC program for the summer between sophomore and junior years. I think it really is an EXCELLENT program, and your daughter would learn a lot. We asked a lot of people about the program- no complaints from anyone. After some advice from people who make films however, he decided not to attend the program, and instead take the money and make a film. He ended up spending under $2000, including buying some great lights and equipment, and made a film that will soon be shown at NFFTY and Lovett Film festivals (as I posted on another thread) and is in consideration at several other festivals. I’m not sure what experience your daughter has had so far, but if she has some knowledge and some equipment, going on his own was a fabulous experience. He wrote the screenplay, solicited actors (off of Craigs list- even got many SAG actors) planned a shooting schedule, found locations and permited them, got music and art rights, and ran a shoot by SAG rules. He ended up not using the SAG actors, because he didn’t have time to go through their levels of getting permission- but used their rules, so he would learn. It really was invaluable, and the result was a film that he could submit to festivals. If she is not quite ready to go solo yet, and needs more hands on time to learn the technical skills, I think this program is really top notch.</p>
<p>B and D,</p>
<p>You are laboring under a misconception: I never said summer school lead to college admission. Summer school is for learning things that aren’t offered (or can’t be taken) during the regular school year. Add that to my general philosophy that education leads to knowledge and that in itself is the end goal.</p>
<p>So in this case, my little twerp is going to learn a little bit about making movies and that may or may not lead to increased desire for more knowledge in this subject. If it does then great, and if it doesn’t it will still be of value because she will have increased her knowledge and maybe someday that will be of use to her.</p>
<p>Here’s another example. A few years ago we sent our older daughter to Paris to study french at the Sorbonne University. Her french was already pretty good but a summer in immersion really took it to a new level. She enrolled just to learn more, just to increase knowledge. It didn’t help her one bit in gaining admission to art school/college. It did help once admitted but that’s the subject of another post. As an art major her french may never be needed or it may prove to be invaluable. Too soon to tell. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge.</p>
<p>Maddenmd,</p>
<p>I like the route your son took, I like it a lot! My daughter isn’t there yet with the skills or the drive. I’m hoping summer school can help with both or just as importantly, rule out this whole direction of study.</p>
<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>
<p>Wheaty:
I agree with you about Education. </p>
<p>I talked to daughter about further education and feel like an art history PH.D. will be a nice next step other than Mater of fine art. I think deep and broad humanity education can make her a Scholar and will help her making good art. she didn’t agree with me at all. I may went a little too far on that, though.</p>
<p>she is a freshman in art school now. One thing I did good is letting her graduate half year early from high school and send her to a very top art school in China to learn Chinese Painting in a international program for one semester. It end up I need to spend some $$ to cover the tuition and room and board, but she did learn so much. she even learnt a lot Chinese philosophy there.</p>
<p>Wheaty - sounds like your daughter has a wide range of interests (like my D), and there’s nothing better than a summer program to help with a future path. </p>
<p>I’ve always said that education is one thing they can’t ever take away from you. You can’t lose it, they can’t repo it or steal it and it’s not returnable.</p>
<p>Loveblue,</p>
<p>It’s funny you mentioned PhD in Art History. Last summer my older daughter and I were going over the many paths that she could take from a BA in Fine Art and when I brought up PHD in AH I got the teenage eye roll reaction. Tons of time so don’t push it right? Fast forward to about 10 days ago and she sends me an email saying that she is now signed up as a dual major in Fine Art and Art History and that she has her whole college career mapped out. She went on to say that her goal is now a PhD in AH. “Her idea”… I love that part.</p>
<p>Some positive things have happened between her original eye roll and her new goal. First, she found that she loves college, her motivation is skyhigh, and she’s getting all A’s. Second, her long time boyfriend is graduating in May from UPenn and has been accepted into 5 or 6 PhD engineering programs at top schools. Third, out of the blue one of her fine art professors talked to her about the need for working artists in the museum field. </p>
<p>So in a very short span she went from impossible to possible to hey-this-is-what-I-want.
In fairness, it would be difficult for any just out of high school teen to understand the likelihood of getting a PhD.</p>
<p>You’ve planted the seed, maybe your daughter will see that it is a possible path for her to take. One thing that I know for sure about this is that it definitely needs to be her idea. A PhD in AH is a real time commitment. The average time to complete a PhD in AH at UCLA is 8 years, same at Columbia U. About 11 more years of study for both of our kids - yikes! Students need an inner drive to stay on track for that length of time.</p>
<p>They’re both young and a lot can change in the next few years… lets see what happens.</p>
<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>
<p>Hi Redbug119,</p>
<p>Yep my younger daughter has a wide range of interests but so far none that she’s passionate about and this poses challenges for college admissions. Her stats are really high so we know she’ll get in somewhere. She’s very talented with a camera but so far hasn’t shown the passion. She’ll borrow a camera, ask me to develop the film, there will be 4 or 5 portfolio worthy 5 star shots, and she’ll just shrug and ask what’s for dinner. Last July at the conclusion of summer video school her professor talked with me about her ‘gift for editing video’. Singled her out and asked where she was going to college. Her response was “editing is sooo tedious Dad, why would anyone want to do that?”.</p>
<p>She’s still young and I’m hoping that somewhere along the way she trips over something that lights the fire. Maybe this summer?</p>
<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>
<p>They say the summer programs are great for helping kids get on track to see if this is what they want to do for at least four years.</p>
<p>I was interested in hearing about the need for working artists in the museum field. D wants to do her internship at the science museum, and I can’t think of a better combination for her. Early on in the college choosing process, I was talking to her finding a program with medical and scientific illustration, and she didn’t seem that interested. Now she talks about taking a scientific illustration class (not sure if they have that at MCAD or not tho), and the museum internship. She;'s mentioned a MFA but that’s as far as she’s gone so far.</p>
<p>Redbug119,</p>
<p>I really like the science museum internship thing. That could be really fun and who knows what that might spark for your daughter. I’ll ask my D for more info on her conversation with her professor and report back.</p>
<ul>
<li>Wheaty</li>
</ul>
<p>Wheaty:
Thanks for your sharing! You are right, she just got in college, have a long way to go. I feel excited that my opinion fall in the same path as the professor of you older daughter’s! I will be interested in what the professor saying like redbug.
my daughter still want to be freelance artist, for that reason I encourage her to get a Ph.D. Deep, broad knowledge in Art History, Political Science or whatever will give her inspiration. This also can help her landing on a nice stable job. I did read a lot big award winning artist bio and find out that so many of them have Ph.D degree.
Ok, want to share my thoughts, and will see what her professor’s saying :—)</p>
<p>Fascinating posts! I have often referred to D1 as a “scholar”. She is so deeply interested in many things that I worried a profession in art would leave her wanting more intellectual stimulation. We assumed the BFA would be followed by an MFA, but had not even considered PhD. My question is: What other PhD options besides Art History for the BFA grad?</p>
<p>Hi Wheaty–</p>
<p>Haven’t been around this forum in a long time, and thought I’d also endorse the summer program option. </p>
<p>For kids who are gung-ho filmmakers–maddenmd’s choice is really ideal. Lower cost, lots of self-determination, lots of great independent experiences that they can share in college essays, too. </p>
<p>However, for talented smart kids who are not quite sure where they passion lies, a summer college program can show them. </p>
<p>btw, my S1 is a film major at USC SCA (did not attend the summer session however) and loves it. It’s a pretty fabulous facility. Have you seen the new Spielberg buildings? Amazing. Students in the summer program get to meet, bond with, be inspired by great instructors and by other like-minded students. Sometimes they can just feel that these are their peeps. Sometimes, not so much. </p>
<p>My S2 took a different USC program last summer (between jr and sr year) when he was thinking about applying to B Arch programs. This was a much less expensive but still pricey enough 3 week certificate program for hs students. They lived at USC dorms and did what any university studio architect foundation students do–worked incessantly night and day under the guidance of some very serious USC instructors/professors. S2 was stressed, overworked, and learned a tremendous amount! In addition to the drafting, 3-D perspective, model making and a zillion other skills, he learned that not only is he pretty good at these things–they are not what he wants to be doing 24/7 for the next 5 years. </p>
<p>I consider the above education priceless as it saved him from discovering these things after admitted to a program he might ultimately have abandoned for another major after many more expensive missteps.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your D2!</p>
<p>Hi Madbean,</p>
<p>You are right on target and your S2’s experience sounds like my younger daughter. With summer film school I’m hoping to either light the fire or cross it off the list. Thanks for your very helpful post.</p>
<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>
<p>As wonderful as the USC summer program may be, it is very expensive. For high school students, there is a far less expensive but also extremely good summer program at the University of North Carolina School for the Arts. The faculty are professionals and there is state of the art equipment, sound stages, a combination of hands on work making shorts and classwork. We learned of the program from another cc parent whose child had attended what was then called NCSA during high school and went on to USC’s SCA for college. The experience was very intense and cemented my kid’s determination to attend film school and to pursue a particular area of film production.</p>
<p>Nestor!!
The Achaean sage!! alive and well!!!
I was started to worry if living standard of CCworld is that widely gapped.
NC means business. their out state tuition is still reasonable and did offer merit/needs scholarships when I checked last time.
I have seen only UNC G but its facilities and attitude are something we’d envy as what state school could do.
I bet NCSA is just as good.
for someone in that need, they got art magnet boarding HS as well.</p>
<p>Oh dear bears, I hate to disillusion you, but the internet moniker was in reference to full/empty nest and not to classical literature. I’m not so sure I want to identify with that Nester!</p>