<p>Does anyone know much about the USC Undergraduate film school and its acceptance rate? I want to do the Writing for Film and Television program, but it says only 24 out of thousands of applicants make it. Does anyone attend the School of Cinema or have a friend who does, and knows anything about it? i.e. necessary/recommended stats, resume, etc.</p>
<p>Also, I have substantially higher test scores and GPA than an average USC applicant (2290 SAT I, APs, etc.). Would this help my chances at film school at all, or not?</p>
<p>A bunch of the parents who hover around CC have kids in the School of Cinematic Arts. I recommend searching for discussions that took place in Feb-May 2008 - I'm pretty sure there was a big thread discussing your exact questions. There also was a CC poster called tor-dazzle who got into the screen writing program last year. </p>
<p>I think it's safe to say that excellent scores and grades are a plus for SCA (your SATs are in line with many of the successful applicants I know of). For your intended major, all the writing you've done - and perhaps published - will be important. I think recommendations must play a big role too. There seems to be a concensus that you don't need to be an accomplished film-maker to be admitted as a freshman, as long as you show drive and a creative spark.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think the caps are 26 for writing, and 75 for every other major per class. I never really got a clear answer from SCA if transfers have a slightly separate pool or if it's for attrition. Even people already at USC apply for film and it's still really competitive.</p>
<p>"The program is one of USC's most competitive specialty schools, for both undergraduate and graduate programs. The BA program in film production accepts 50 students per year,[4] while the Critical Studies department accepts 75 for its BA program, 15-20 for its MA program, and approximately 10 for the Ph.D. (three to four from outside the school, and five to seven continuing from the internal M.A. program); the BFA program in Writing for Film and Television accepts only 24 students per year.[5] The MFA program in film directing accepts 48 new students each semester (fall and spring) and the MFA for screenwriting accepts 32 students per year (fall admittance only). The MFA program for the Division of Animation and Digital Arts accept 15 students a year, and the recently established BA program for Animation & Digital Arts accepted only 11 students out of 150 applicants for the 2008-2009 fall semester. Acceptance to any program is contingent upon review of a portfolio, which requires writing samples, creative resumes, autobiographies, and other written responses. The Animation portfolio should consist of artwork and an artist statement. The production portfolio does not require the submission of a director's reel or any film samples, allowing talented students who may have not had the opportunity or the means to create films to have the opportunity for admission."</p>
<p>So for freshmen spots:</p>
<p>Production: 50
Critical Studies: 75
Writing for Film or Television: 24
Animation: 11
Interactive Media: 10 (for 2008)</p>
<p>"Production: 50
Critical Studies: 75
Writing for Film or Television: 24
Animation: 11
Interactive Media: 10 (for 2008)"</p>
<p>Yeah, I've seen this, but I don't understand because it says the total undergrads at the film school total to something like 900. That right there is only over 200.</p>
<p>Well... those numbers would be admissions per year... so you would have to multiply it by four to get the number of students admitted over a four-year period... which would more closely correspond to the total of undergraduates. Undergraduates= freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and super-seniors.</p>
<p>No film experience is fine since even if you applied to the production program they don't ask for a reel because they know students have different skill levels. Just submit your writing samples or whatever they require.</p>
<p>I'm in the animation department with in SCA currently although I submitted a reel when I transferred.</p>
<p>If you don't make it into the program, perhaps you can try to transfer into the critical studies program within USC itself? I have a friend who did that as well because critical studies is the easiest one to get into within SCA.</p>
<p>If you just get into USC and not the SCA, just attend for a year, make your portfolio better and take the cinema courses you are interested in. I think perhaps professors can help persuade the board a bit once they see how you are dedicated to it. I think it definitely helped me :).</p>
<p>My friend had a lower college GPA than me but she still made it into SCA as a critical studies major so (and she claims she's not the best writer although she's a great artist) try and see if it works for you. You can't transfer into the writing program afterwards I believe because it's scheduled too heavily.</p>
<p>to be honest, i wouldn't attend usc if it wasn't in the film school. i probably won't even major in film if it were not there, i'll go to pomona or stanford and do international relations. usc is a great school, but if it's not film, there's no reason i would want to go there.</p>
<p>Even if you were to be accepted into the USC screenwriting program, I'm wondering if it would make sense for you to come. For one thing, if you see no reason to attend USC beyond the film program, is this a college experience you are going to enjoy? It is probably a poor idea to attend a school that you don't see as a fit beyond your own small major, particularly since this isn't a major that interests you enough to want to pursue it anywhere else.</p>
<p>For most of the students I've met in the film program, there is a real sense of urgency and excitement about filmmaking and studying film; this seems to be a pretty clear path for them and they want to be doing it now. Hence, their second choices were likely places like NYU or UCLA -- places that have serious film schools. Although many of these students have Ivy kind of numbers, they wanted to attend film school. You, on the other hand, seem to be saying that unless you do screenwriting at USC, you see no other reason to attend, and that you'll study a different subject if accepted to one of your other schools.</p>
<p>I guess my question is, why is writing for film and television at the USC film school -- a program so intensive that you can only enter as a freshman since by soph year you would have missed so much that you'd have to begin again as a freshman -- on your list? Unless you really love screenwriting and want to devote much of your undergraduate education to this love, maybe it would make more sense for you to wait. My thought is that it's a good thing for a screenwriter to have a well-rounded education. If you would be perfectly happy as a poli sci major at Stanford or Pomona, why not do that, and then think about studying screenwriting as a grad student if that's still something that interests you? </p>
<p>I also want to point out that all of the schools you've mentioned have pretty grim stats for admissions. I'm not sure about screenwriting, but USC production accepted fewer than 5% of its applicants last year. While Stanford and Pomona accept a slightly higher percentage of their applicants, unless you're already in at Stanford EA, please be sure you have some safety schools.</p>
<p>I'm not here for people to question my motives or tell me that I won't get in somewhere. Did I say "I'm going to get into Stanford or Pomona 100%! Every damn college wants me! Screenwriting sucks if its not at USC!" ? No, I did not. My business is my own, I merely wanted to know about the admissions process to it. Unfortunately, your four-paragraph long diatribe did not prove to stir me at all.</p>
<p>tony, you may not have realized it, but your recent post saying you wouldn't consider attending USC except for the film major, was taken to mean you look down on the university in general. When posting to internet forums, we have to be careful what we say--a lot is read into it. There are a lot of excellent highly qualified students who choose to go to USC over other selective schools (like the ones you mentioned) and they are in all departments. You may not have meant to insult this university--but you did.</p>
<p>I thought tonystonem was trying to say he wants USC cinema school or he will go some where else. I don't think this is insulting to USC because there are many students who want specific programs at specific schools or they are not going there. USC is famous for its Cinema school.</p>
<p>I've been known to post diatribes on CC, but I didn't think I'd posted one here. I think you might have missed what I'm saying, which is: If you don't think a school is a good fit for you (as in, "no reason to go etc.") beyond a tiny, intense major that will have only 23 fellow students in your year, and you are not completely in love with and committed to that major (as in majoring in poli sci elsewhere), are you sure you'll be happy at that university? </p>
<p>As for suggesting safety schools, you mentioned only three schools that have close to single digit admissions. People who have been on CC through a couple of college admissions seasons have seen highly qualified applicants inexplicably not get the results they anticipate and therefore tend to be pretty adamant about the necessity of safeties. Suggesting safeties to a student who is mentioning only Stanford, Pomona, and USC screenwriting is truly not a personal affront.</p>
<p>I'm having a hard time seeing where you're getting a questioning of your motives, the suggestion that you won't get in anywhere, or a desire to "stir" you out of this.</p>