Undergraduate Film School Application Deadlines (Updated for 2025 Entry)

• Early Action: Apply early. If you are accepted, you are NOT required to withdraw all other applications and attend your target film school.
• Early Decision I: Apply early. If you are accepted, you agree to withdraw all other applications and attend your target film school.
• Early Decision II: Apply early. If you are accepted, you agree to withdraw all other applications and attend your target film school. Unlike E.D. I, you have additional time to apply Regular Decision and/or Priority Decision to other film schools.
• Priority Deadline: Apply before Regular Decision. The Admissions team will prioritize your application, but it is non-binding.
• Honors Essay: Apply to be considered for your target film school’s honors program.
• Regular Decision: Apply with the majority of applicants.
• Returning Student Deadline: Apply for re-enrollment.
• Rolling: Your target film school continues to review applications after the final deadline and may admit you, if space is available and you meet the requirements.
• Questbridge Deadline: An alternative to the University-specific core application or the Common Application. Designed to help high school seniors from a disadvantaged background apply to top-ranked colleges. (Note: Not all universities offer the Questbridge application.)
• Transfer Deadline: Apply to transfer from another accredited university or college to your target film school(s) in the fall or spring.
• Supplemental Application Deadline: Submit creative materials to supplement the University-specific application, the Common Application, or the Questbridge application.

August 31, 2024​

• Cal State Northridge (CSUN) - Department of Cinema of Television Arts – Transfer Deadline (SPRING)
• Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) - Film and Electronic Arts — Transfer Deadline (SPRING)
• San Francisco State University (SFSU) - School of Cinema — Priority Deadline (SPRING)

September 1, 2024​

• University of Texas at Austin - Department of Radio-Television-Film – Regular Decision (SPRING)

September 26, 2024​

• Northwestern University - School of Communication – Questbridge Deadline

September 30, 2024​

• San Francisco State University (SFSU) - School of Cinema — Regular Decision (SPRING)

October 1, 2024​

• American University — Regular Decision (SPRING)
• ArtCenter College of Design — Priority Deadline (SPRING)
• Pratt Institute — Transfer Deadline (SPRING)
• University of Colorado at Denver, Boulder - College of Arts and Media — Regular Decision (SPRING)

October 15, 2024​

• LMU School of Film and Television - Regular Decision (SPRING)
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design – Transfer Deadline (SPRING)
• Stanford University Department of Art & Art History — Regular Decision (OPTIONAL Arts Portfolio)
• University of Texas at Austin - Department of Radio-Television-Film — Early Action
• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts — Priority Deadline (SPRING)

November 1, 2024​

• American University – Early Action, Early Decision
• Boston College - Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences – Early Decision I
• Boston University - College of Communication – Early Decision I
• Chapman University - Dodge College of Film and Media Arts:
  • Regular Decision (ONLY for Film and Television Production)
  • Early Decision (for ALL other programs)
  • Early Action (for ALL other programs)
  • Priority Decision (for Writing for Film and Television)
• Columbia University School of the Arts — Early Decision
• DePaul University - School of Cinematic Arts – Early Action
• Emerson College – Early Decision I, Early Action (FALL); Regular Decision (SPRING)
• Florida State University - College of Motion Picture Arts: Early Action (Open to FL students only; review the official website for materials, test score deadlines)
• George Fox University – Early Action
• Ithaca College - Cinema and Photography – Early Decision
• LMU School of Film and Television – Early Action and Early Decision
• Northwestern University - School of Communication – Early Decision
• NYU - Tisch Undergraduate Film & Television — Early Decision I
• Rhode Island School of Design — Early Decision
• Stanford University Department of Art & Art History — Regular Decision
• Stony Brook University — Early Action
• Syracuse University - Newhouse School Of Public Communications – Regular Decision (SPRING)
• Towson University - Department of Electronic Media and Film – Early Action, Honors Essay, Regular Decision (SPRING)
• University of North Carolina - School of the Arts — Priority Deadline
• University of Texas at Austin - Department of Radio-Television-Film — Priority Deadline

November 13, 2024​

• Columbia College Chicago — Regular Decision (SPRING)

November 15, 2024​

• American University – Early Decision
• ArtCenter College of Design — Early Action
• California College of the Arts — Early Action
• DePaul University - School of Cinematic Arts – Early Action
• Emerson College – Early Decision I, Early Action (HONORS ESSAY/FALL)
• Ithaca College - Cinema and Photography – Early Decision, Regular Decision (SPRING)
• Hofstra University — Early Action I
• Ohio University School of Film – Early Decision
• Pratt Institute — Early Action
• Syracuse University - Newhouse School Of Public Communications – Early Decision I (First-Year Students ONLY)
• University of Colorado at Denver, Boulder - College of Arts and Media — Early Action
• Wesleyan University - The College of Film and the Moving Image (CFILM) — Early Decision I

November 30, 2024​

• San Diego State University - School of Theatre, Television, and Film — Regular Decision, Transfer Deadline
• San Francisco State University (SFSU) - School of Cinema — Returning Student Deadline
• UCLA - Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media — First-Year Regular Decision, Transfer Deadline (UC APPLICATION ONLY)

December 1, 2024​

• Boston College -- Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences – Early Decision II
• California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) - Program in Film and Video – Priority Deadline
• Emerson College – Early Decision II
• Fitchburg State University — Transfer Deadline (SPRING)
• Florida State University - College of Motion Picture Arts – Regular Decision
• Ithaca College - Cinema and Photography – Early Action
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design – Early Action
• USC School of Cinematic Arts – Regular Decision
• University of Texas at Austin - Department of Radio-Television-Film – Regular Decision (FALL)

December 2, 2024​

• Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) - Film and Electronic Arts: Regular Decision, Transfer Deadline (FALL)
• San Francisco State University (SFSU) - School of Cinema — Priority Deadline (FALL)
• UC Riverside - Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production – Regular Decision, Transfer Deadline (FALL)

December 9, 2024​

• UCLA - Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media — First-Year Regular Decision (SUPPLEMENTAL APPLICATION ONLY)

December 15, 2024​

• Cal State LA (CSULA) - Department of Television, Film & Media – Regular Decision, Transfer Deadline
• Hofstra University — Early Action II

January 1, 2025​

• Boston College - Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences — Regular Decision
• Columbia University School of the Arts — Regular Decision
• NYU - Tisch Undergraduate Film & Television — Early Decision II
• Wesleyan University - The College of Film and the Moving Image (CFILM) — Early Decision II, Regular Decision

January 2, 2025​

• Northwestern University - School of Communication – Regular Decision
• NYU - Tisch Undergraduate Film & Television — Early Decision II

January 3, 2025​

• Emerson College – Early Decision II (FALL)
• Fitchburg State University — Regular Decision (SPRING/ROLLING)
• Northwestern University - School of Communication – Regular Decision

January 4, 2025​

• California College of ASU — Early Decision

January 5, 2025​

• California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) - Program in Film and Video — Regular Deadline
• NYU - Tisch Undergraduate Film & Television — Regular Decision
• Syracuse University - Newhouse School Of Public Communications:
  • Early Decision II (First-Year Students ONLY)
  • Regular Decision

January 6, 2025​

• Boston University - College of Communication – Regular Decision

January 8, 2025​

• LMU School of Film and Television - Early Decision II

January 13, 2025​

• UCLA - Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media — First-Year Regular Decision (SUPPLEMENTAL APPLICATION ONLY)

January 15, 20225​

• American University — Early Decision II, Regular Decision (FALL)
• Emerson College – Regular Decision (FALL), Early Decision II (HONORS ESSAY/FALL)
• Chapman University - Dodge College of Film and Media Arts – Regular Decision (ALL programs except Film and Television Production)
• Columbia College Chicago — Regular Decision, Transfer Deadline (FALL)
• LMU School of Film and Television – Regular Decision (FALL)
• Pratt Institute — Priority Deadline (FALL)
• Stony Brook University — Regular Decision
• Towson University - Department of Electronic Media and Film – Regular Decision
• University of Colorado at Denver, Boulder - College of Arts and Media — Regular Decision (FALL)
• University of North Carolina - School of the Arts — Regular Decision
• Wesleyan University - The College of Film and the Moving Image (CFILM) — Transfer Deadline

January 16, 2025​

• Rhode Island School of Design — Regular Decision

January 31, 2025​

• Cal State Northridge (CSUN) - Department of Cinema of Television Arts – Regular Decision (FALL), Transfer Deadline (FALL)
• Emerson College – Regular Decision (HONORS ESSAY/FALL)

February 1, 2025​

• ArtCenter College of Design — Priority Deadline (FALL)
• California College of the Arts — Priority Deadline (FALL)
• DePaul University - School of Cinematic Arts — Regular Decision, Transfer Deadline (ROLLING)
• George Fox University — Priority Deadline (FALL)
• Ithaca College - Cinema and Photography – Regular Decision (FALL)
• San Francisco State University (SFSU) - School of Cinema — Regular Decision (FALL)
• Towson University - Department of Electronic Media and Film – Regular Decision (FALL)

February 15, 2025​

• Chapman University - Dodge College of Film and Media Arts – Transfer Deadline
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design – Priority Deadline (FALL)
• Pratt Institute — Regular Decision I, Priority Deadline (TRANSFER)
• Ringling College of Art and Design — Regular Decision (Presidential Scholarship Deadline)

February 22, 2025​

• California College of ASU — Regular Decision (FALL)

March 1, 2025​

• California College of the Arts — Transfer Deadline
• Columbia University School of the Arts — Transfer Deadline
• Florida State University - College of Motion Picture Arts — Regular Decision (ROLLING)
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design – Transfer Deadline
• NYU - Tisch Undergraduate Film & Television — Transfer Deadline
• Ohio University School of Film – Regular Decision
• Towson University - Department of Electronic Media and Film – Transfer Deadline (HONORS ESSAY and/or EARLY ACTION)
• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts — Priority Deadline

March 15, 2025​

• California College of ASU — Regular Decision
• Northwestern University - School of Communication – Transfer Deadline
• NYU - Tisch Undergraduate Film & Television — Transfer Deadline (EXTERNAL)
• Pratt Institute — Regular Decision II, Transfer Deadline I

April 1, 2025​

• Fitchburg State University — Regular Decision (FALL/ROLLING)
• University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts — Transfer Deadline (FALL)

April 15, 2025​

• Pratt Institute — Regular Decision III, Transfer Deadline II

May 1, 2025​

• San Francisco State University (SFSU) - School of Cinema — Regular Decision (INTERNATIONAL)

June 1, 2025​

• Towson University - Department of Electronic Media and Film – Transfer Deadline (HONORS ESSAY/EARLY ACTION)

July 1, 2025​

• Syracuse University - Newhouse School Of Public Communications – Transfer Deadline

July 31, 2025​

• UC Riverside - Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production – Transfer Deadline

No Formal Application Deadline​

• Community College of Aurora - Cinematic Arts Department (formerly known as the Colorado Film School) – No formal application deadline for all applicants
• Savannah College of Art and Design – No formal application deadline; applicants are urged to submit all materials at least 30 days prior to the start of the intended term
• Hofstra University — No formal application deadline for Regular Decision applicants only