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Are there any good film schools that dont have a ultra competive admission processes for people that cant get into NYU or UCLA? If any one has helpful info please post.

ThankX

By Uschicka (Uschicka) on Monday, November 03, 2003 - 10:57 pm: Edit

USC actually has a better film school than UCLA, and is often considered tied with or better than NYU. While it is slightly easier to get into UCLA, it still is relatively difficult to get in and is getting more competitive each year. I don't know your stats, so I don't know what acceptance rate level you are looking for. Good luck!

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 07:59 am: Edit

USC film school may actaully be "easier" (a very relative term in this context) to get into than UCLA. You can get into the USC film school as a first semester freshman; you can't get into UCLA until your third year. At UCLA you risk going for two years and then not being accepted into the program. It's a one-shot deal. At USC you can, for some of the undergraduate film majors, apply for admission every semester.

Because USC is substantially larger there are more opportunities to be admitted. USC also offers more diverse courses and training. If you're not a California resident it's virtually impossible to get into UCLA. Not a problem at private USC, which, by the way is rolling in cash because of its very successful fund raising programs over the last decade. Do note that the average SAT I for the class of 2007 was 1341 and for the film school was 1365.

My son is in his first semester at USC and is in the Critical Studies program. Besides his introductory film classes he has worked as a production assistant on a third-year student's film; seen numerous movies before their released to the public; been in a crowd scene for an episode of "24" shot on the USC campus, and got the autograph of the actor playing the president; and he, and other students on the film floor in New Dorm, will be going off to see the new Matrix film at an IMAX theatre. He takes classes now, or will take classes, in buildings with the name Lucas, Spielberg (not a USC graduate). Zemeckis, and Sinatra.

UCLA and NYU all have a lot to recommend them, and their great academic schools, but you cannot do better than USC.

By Digmedia (Digmedia) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 10:22 am: Edit

An EXCELLENT resource is the book Film School Confidential. They have a website as well (easy to find). PLEASE read the "Before you go" section, especially the differences between USC and UCLA [thanx to thedad for getting me started on this]. They also have a list of film schools there.

-digi

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 11:34 am: Edit

Film School Confidential is ten years old, and only deals with graduate programs. I would not totally rely on it for those two reasons. Plug the title of the book into google and you'll get an updated note about film school from one of the authors.

The USC website has lots of good information about CTV. It should be read by anyone interested.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 12:53 pm: Edit

Some other schools with decent film programs that are not quite as competitive as USC, NYU, UCLA are:
SUNY Purchase, Ithaca College, Loyola Marymount (Calf), Calif. State U at Long Beach (Steven Spielberg's alma mater), Bard, UC Santa Barbara, Cal state Monterey, Chapman University (CA), Emerson (MA), Sarah Lawrence, Sante Fe College (NM)

Loyola Marymount in particular has a well-respected program and since it is in LA there are lots of internship possibilities. I believe that Chapman's program is also regarded well.

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 01:27 pm: Edit

Let me add several others:

Very competitive and very good--Florida State, Northwestern, and U. of Texas.

Competitive and good: CSU-Northridge, UCF, and SDSU (impacted program).

If you want the art school route, the North Carolina School for the Arts is very, very good.

Also some of the very top-flight LACs Wesleyan and Middlebury have really good programs. As do larger schools like Duke and Michigan.

Other schools to look at: SF State, Temple, Towson State.

By Zlovesta1 (Zlovesta1) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 09:03 pm: Edit

Thankz guys
I have I 3.1 and a high mid 20 on my ACT. (like a 27-28) This gives me some great ideals any other suggestions or some info on sdsu Suny Purchase or Loyala Maramount is very wellcome!!!!

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 07:39 am: Edit

Remember SDSU's film program is "impacted." I'm not a CA resident so I'm not exactly sure what that means except that it will be hard to get into. CSU-N's program had just begun requiring the submission of a portfolio as part of the admissions process. I think UCF also requires a portfolio. Top level schools, e.g., USC, FSU, usually only want you to discuss and list your stuff, you don't usually have to submit it.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 11:27 am: Edit

I did my graduate work at SDSU so I can explain what "impacted" means. Basically, it means that the school has too many people majoring in the program. As a result, this means that it can often take longer than 4 years to graduate because it can be difficult (if not impossible) to get into classes. While SDSU is a great school, the recent budget crisis in Calif. is having an impact on the campus overall. SDSU is responding by reducing the number of classes offered but enrolling many more people in some of the classes they do offer. You get a sense of what this means when you hear that SDSU recently converted a gymnasium into a "super classroom" that can hold 500 or more students at a time.

As for Loyola Marymount: www.lmu.edu - It's a jesuit (Catholic)school but the religion aspect is fairly easy going (I believe nearly 50% of students are not Catholic.) You can satisfy religion requirements by taking a "religions of the world" class. Beautiful campus overlooking the Pacific and downtown LA. Dorms are supposed to be quite nice and most freshman and sophomores live on campus. Juniors and seniors tend to move off campus into nearby beach communities. They have about 5,000 undergraduates. Classes are small and professors are supposedly very accessible.

LMU has a very diverse student body ethnically -minorities make up nearly 40% of students. Majority of students are from Calif. but more from out of state in the Film/TV school. Entrance difficulty has been increasing as more people apply but I'd still call LMU a "moderately" competitive school to get into -Middle SAT range: V510-620, M520-650, Average HS GPA 3.3, received 7500 applicants in a recent year, accepted 4500).
They are trying to diversify geographically so that may help with out of state admissions. My daughter's school typically sends 5-6 people to LMU each year and the reports I've heard are that financial aid is very good.

The film school has its own sound stage, excellent (and modern) production and editing facilities. Students start taking film classes in their first semester. Each film student is required to write, cast, and direct their own film as a graduation requirement. The classes focus on practical hands-on skills and knowledge not film theory(although film theory is obviously part of the mix - I say this because many schools that have "film" programs seem to focus more on theory).

Reading the bio's of the school's teachers, nearly all have many years of actual film industry experience. The school also brings in visiting teachers from the LA film industry quite frequently. They say that the film industry sends them over 1,000 requests for interns each year so there are lots of internships available in the LA film industry. You can major in film production, screenwriting, animation, TV broadcasting. Alumni list is impressive including Steve Franks (screenwriter known for Big Daddy), Brian Helgeland (oscar winning screenwriter for LA Confidential), Kimberly Costello (producer/director for many well known films, TV shows) and many others. USC and UCLA are probably the top two names in the LA area for film but LMU is a close third and is a good choice for people who don't make the cut at USC or UCLA.

Hope this helps - I'd suggest you look at their film school website and get a feel for whether it would be a fit for you or not. http://www.lmu.edu

And, also take a look at Chapman University. I don't know as much about Chapman but have heard good things about its film program and the school overall from recent students.

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 12:03 pm: Edit

If the OP really wants to do something different, I understand that Los Angeles City College has a really good two-year film program. It's described on their website as: "a low-cost, comprehensive hands-on training program that provides both basic and advanced courses in film, video and television studio production."

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 12:43 pm: Edit

Good idea Tsdad. I believe that Santa Monica college has something similar. I also thought of another great LA area school for film - the California School of the Arts.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 09:09 pm: Edit

Sorry, it's the California College of the Arts -
http://www.calarts.edu

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 10:31 am: Edit

Carolyn:

High school seniors and their parents should think very carefully about taking the art school approach to film education at the undergraduate level. My son spent two very enjoyable summers at the North Carolina School for the Arts. A great facility with excellent teachers and an absolutely outstanding collection of films. But we decided it wasn't for him.

Even though NCSA is part of the UNC system, its general education courses are not very strong, and there's a paucity of advanced courses outside of the arts. I think that young filmmakers need to ground themselves in a wide variety of coursework in order to help understand the human condition. A broad liberal arts education is imperative to good filmmaking, and I don't believe you can get that in an art school.

Besides his CTV Critical Studies major my son is planning on minoring in Spanish and adding a second major in history. I think that's a really good idea and will allow him to make films that better informed about the realities of life. On the other hand, he's 18 years old, who the heck knows what he'll want to do tomorrow.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 01:10 pm: Edit

TsDad - Great point. And you are right - Cal Arts is an extremely artsy type of school. Your son sounds like he's making some wise choices. How difficult is it to fit a minor or a second major in at USC? Are their core requirements fairly minimal?

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 01:52 pm: Edit

USC encourages students to take minors, double majors, double minors. Check out the Rennasiance Scholarships they give to undergaduates who demonstrate a breadth of scholarship, e.g., majoring in dislike subjects. I think it's worth $10,000 for graduate school.

I can't give you specific information on how many courses are required for majors or the general education requirements. I think my son said 10 courses were required for a history major. His life is somewhat easier because he had 24 general education credits coming in based on his IB highers, IB diploma, and one AP. He met his CTV language requirement with the his score on the USC placement exam and went right into a fifth semester Spanish course.

By Uschicka (Uschicka) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 07:25 pm: Edit

I think it's something around 120 units for a major, 60 units for a minor, and there are around 7 GEs. I guess since I'm a student now I should know these things, but oh well.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 08:12 pm: Edit

Thanks TsDad and USchicka. My son will probably want to do a double major as he has very far-reaching interests. However, I've noticed that while many schools say it's possible to double major, when you start looking at core requirements it seems nearly impossible to do in four years. I know that WUSTL makes a big point in their literature about the possibility of double majors but I haven't found many other "top" universities where it really seems feasible. Any ideas?

By Tsdad (Tsdad) on Friday, November 07, 2003 - 09:30 am: Edit

Carolyn:

You might look at schools that waive requirements based on placement tests and IB or AP courses/scores.

The public universities in Florida give something like 30 credits for an IB diploma or at least they did when my son was considering FSU's film school.

By College (College) on Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 01:05 pm: Edit

bump.....

By Filmerp (Filmerp) on Monday, April 19, 2004 - 02:11 pm: Edit

Does anyone know how many students are accepted as a Production program at the USC School of Cinema-Television?
I know they accept 50 graduate students a year but couldn't find numbers for undergrads.