Film School/Taking a Gap Year

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

<p>Okay so I am a senior in high school in Washington state and hoping to apply for film school for the fall of 2014 (taking a year off) and I have a few options available.</p>

<p>My high school GPA will be about 3.3 but I have been taking classes at the local state college while still in high school and will have an associates degree with a 3.77 GPA from that. I got 2060 on the SATs.</p>

<p>I was just wondering if I should go and get a BFA at one of the top film schools (USC, NYU, UCLA, Chapman, and Florida State are my main options) or instead get a general bachelors degree or a BA from a state college in Washington and then go out of state for my MFA.</p>

<p>I’m just unsure if it is worth it to get an MFA if I want to work in the film industry. I don’t really have much intention to go into teaching.</p>

<p>In addition, I am taking a year off and have a few plans such as international volunteer work through a few programs I found, visiting some of the colleges and cities, working on a film script, and possibly spending the last few months settling down in the city I’d be going to college in. I’m just wondering what are some things that would be advantageous to do during this time off to help prepare me for the film school experience. I’m also wondering how colleges look at gap year students coming in.
Okay so I am a senior in high school in Washington state and hoping to apply for film school for the fall of 2014 (taking a year off) and I have a few options available.</p>

<p>My high school GPA will be about 3.3 but I have been taking classes at the local state college while still in high school and will have an associates degree with a 3.77 GPA from that. I got 2060 on the SATs.</p>

<p>I was just wondering if I should go and get a BFA at one of the top film schools (USC, NYU, UCLA, Chapman, and Florida State are my main options) or instead get a general bachelors degree or a BA from a state college in Washington and then go out of state for my MFA.</p>

<p>I’m just unsure if it is worth it to get an MFA if I want to work in the film industry. I don’t really have much intention to go into teaching.</p>

<p>In addition, I am taking a year off and have a few plans such as international volunteer work through a few programs I found, visiting some of the colleges and cities, working on a film script, and possibly spending the last few months settling down in the city I’d be going to college in. I’m just wondering what are some things that would be advantageous to do during this time off to help prepare me for the film school experience. I’m also wondering how colleges look at gap year students coming in.</p>

2

<p>You should talk specifically to each school you are considering, as many private universities may not accept all your running start AA classes as meeting their requirements. Your AA carries the most value when you transfer in-state to a Washington state school, you should be able to get a BA in two more years.
The 3.3 GPA may present some difficulties for admission to many of your top choices, you will have to wow them with your portfolio. All of those schools are extremely competitive for film school admissions, you should probably look at some other still very good schools with higher admit rates, they are reaches for almost everyone.
There are few reasons to get both a BA in film and an MFA, the curriculum is too redundant. Is money an issue? It might be cheaper to get that in-state degree and then go the MFA route, graduate tuition and financial aid is often very different than undergrad.
Do you have admissions already anywhere already that you are deferring?
Sorry, I have little information on gap year and then admissions, you might ask that in a different forum. Good luck, a gap year would be an excellent time to build that resume.</p>