Where would you go for screenwriting?

[selinabina]

I'm sure a lot of us are now in the position of having to choose between schools that have accepted us (a pretty nice problem to have). I'm just curious if there is a general consensus on which schools are the top choices for screenwriting.

How would you rank the following schools in LA:
UCLA
USC
AFI
LMU
Chapman

A year ago I would have said USC is number one because of their facilities and industry cred. But now I think UCLA is the better program for portfolio building and the sheer number of screenplays completed by graduation.

AFI is a great program, but its two years costs more than LMU's three. Of course, three years at LMU gets me in the industry one year after every other school.

If you got into all 5, how would you rank your options?

(This is just for curiosity sake. I know everyone's scenarios are different. Just looking for rankings and the reasoning behind them, not recommendations of "Just follow your heart," as appreciated as those comments are for morale.)

 

[Brice88]

I would put UCLA/USC/AFI as the clear top 3, though not necessarily in that order. Disclaimer that I attend AFI so naturally I am biased, but I really do believe the school as a whole has the most to offer and (from what I've heard) if you have any interest in doing something besides only writing then UCLA and USC are not as conducive to this. That being said, as far as reputation many people do think of AFI as a school for directors and cinematographers and production designers, whereas UCLA especially is regarded as a film school dominated by the screenwriting program. I would say USC is between the two in how it is perceived, though yes the facilities are top notch and the film school as a whole probably has the most people working in Hollywood of anywhere.

So how would I rank them? Like I said, it depends on what you're after and if I knew what your aspirations are I might be able to give a better answer. But I won't lie: if you only want to write screenplays and have no interest in collaborating with other disciplines to make films, you may see certain aspects of AFI as not beneficial. Though, for me AFI has opened my eyes to how this business works. Better to see the good and - more often - the bad before you go out into the real world.

As for Chapman and LMU, I'll just pass along what was the consensus I heard among the industry professionals I asked about film schools when I was applying - which was that UCLA/USC/AFI are the only programs worth attending if you're in LA. Take that for whatever it's worth.

I know you said you didn't want to hear “follow your heart”, but that is important not only if you have multiple schools you've been accepted to however also just in deciding if you want to attend a screenwriting program at all. It isn't like being a doctor or lawyer where you must have the degree, and to invest the time and money you need to be certain this is in your best interests.

Hopefully this helps and let me know if you have any more questions. One minor note from reading your post, only because it comes up a lot and I had the same misconception when I was applying: attending UCLA does not automatically mean you'll have a bigger portfolio or complete more scripts by graduation. The required minimum might be greater there than at AFI, but no one at AFI is going to stop you from writing.

 

[selinabina]

Thanks for just a detailed and helpful reply Brice88. You've made some great points. And this was definitely easier to read after just being accepted to AFI a few minutes ago! Woohoo!

 

[darkew]

Hi,

Congrats on the AFI

I'm going to study in the US on a scholarship. They actually asked me for a 5 school submission plan that was ranked. Since there were three of us, they asked that no more than 2 of us submit to the same school.

I was strongly advised by a friend who is also a film professor in the US to try and stay in LA.

I wanted to apply to 5 LA schools, but since we had to divide schools between us, I had to give up the AFI. I was advised to choose Chapman over Loyola because their program is growing fast and they are working so much in building industry connections (which is the whole point of staying in LA anyways).

I was also told that I'd personally do best in the UCLA.

With that in mind, my submission plan went as follows, in order of priority: UCLA, USC, Chapman, NYU and UT Austin.

If I could have applied to the 5 LA schools I wanted, it would've looked like this: UCLA, USC, AFI, Chapman and LMU.

In the end, I was accepted at UCLA and still waiting to hear from Chapman.

By the way, I think that taking producing/business classes, I stated above, is a big plus. Again, congrats on your acceptance