USC and Film

FauxNom
Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:55:24 +0000

For undergraduate admissions to SCA (School of Cinematic Arts), USC will not look at films - presumably they want to select a class based on an application that is something anyone could do, regardless of prior opportunities to make films. Your son could apply to both Production and CS; many students do that, using one as a backup to the other. The apps are actually going to be different, and will be reviewed by different committees. I suggest he look at the applications on the website and think about the information they are asking for, because that will help him consider the 2 different tracks and what he might be doing the next couple years to prepare to apply. I have a feeling recommendations are very important in this process. He also will need to be admitted to USC itself, which is a parallel process. All told, the USC app was by far the most difficult thing my son had to do in the entire college application process, but it certainly paid off.

Crit studies and production students take very similar classes the first year or two, and CS students do take several of the intro production courses. Beyond that, my son has been told it is possible to get into other production courses by getting to know some of the profs, or just asking if the course isn’t full.