USC School of Cinematic Arts SCA MFA Film & TV Production Fall 2020

[Ep317]

Guys, did anyone reach out your interviewer after the interview? Professor said that I can contact him and ask any questions anytime - which I did - but received no answer

From what I’ve heard, it’s something that they tell you more out of courtesy than anything. I’ve read various threads also from previous years with people debating whether they should contact the person again with additional questions but I don’t think anyone has ever done it (at least according to this data).
But I mean, I don’t think it’s bad, if he/she said you could have reached out, I don’t see why you shouldn’t if you had additional questions.

 

[addik]

Guys, did anyone reach out your interviewer after the interview? Professor said that I can contact him and ask any questions anytime - which I did - but received no answer. That does not seem like a good sign

Mine told me to reach out to her if I get in if I have any questions about the program, but she didn't say anything about asking her anything while the results aren't out yet.

And yeah, I don't think you should worry about the professor not replying to you. He could just be busy and all. At the very least, you guys had a long conversation which showed the professor was really interested in getting to know you, especially since he also asked you philosophical questions.

In any case, it's about to be Friday here in Thailand so I'm getting nervous!

 

[OzymandiasVII]

Mine told me to reach out to her if I get in if I have any questions about the program, but she didn't say anything about asking her anything while the results aren't out yet.

And yeah, I don't think you should worry about the professor not replying to you. He could just be busy and all. At the very least, you guys had a long conversation which showed the professor was really interested in getting to know you, especially since he also asked you philosophical questions.

In any case, it's about to be Friday here in Thailand so I'm getting nervous!

Are you guys expecting the decisions to come out this weekend already? Isn’t it too early?

 

[green-scarf]

Are you guys expecting the decisions to come out this weekend already? Isn’t it too early?

Last year the first batch of acceptances came out this weekend in February. Also, according to the timelines given to a few students by professors, it seems they confirmed that mid-February is when decisions start to come out!

 

[OzymandiasVII]

Last year the first batch of acceptances came out this weekend in February. Also, according to the timelines given to a few students by professors, it seems they confirmed that mid-February is when decisions start to come out!

Yep, I can see now.

The earliest decision came out on 2/15 last year. And they kept coming out until 2/22.

Then guys who were waitlisted were notified on 3/11 and then the rejections came out in late March.

It's also interesting that since 2017 there is no applications with the status "denied after interview" but there are three from 2019 that were left by applicants with an "interviewed" status, so they may or may have not been denied.

Difficult to explain how this information affects me lol. I just want this to end whatever the decision would be because CalArts is already rejected my application and I did not hear any word from NYU so USC is the last hope (and my top choice)!

 

[wendy_]

Yep, I can see now.

The earliest decision came out on 2/15 last year. And they kept coming out until 2/22.

Then guys who were waitlisted were notified on 3/11 and then the rejections came out in late March.

It's also interesting that since 2017 there is no applications with the status "denied after interview" but there are three from 2019 that were left by applicants with an "interviewed" status, so they may or may have not been denied.

Difficult to explain how this information affects me lol. I just want this to end whatever the decision would be because CalArts is already rejected my application and I did not hear any word from NYU so USC is the last hope (and my top choice)!

It's weird to me too, that no applicants were "denied after interview" last year. But I don't think all of us who were interviewed would be accepted lol

 

[BigAbe00]

Good luck everyone! It will all be over soon. In the meantime, keep calm and carry on

 

[sguilford]

I hope my decision is one of the ones that comes out ASAP. I'm in my senior year so if it's over the weekend then I won't have to go to class on top of getting life changing news.

 

[itsnoteasybeinggreen]

hey everyone! I'm a long time lurker, figured I'd finally join the conversation as we're all waiting to hear back. Wanted to say hey and also that you are all so awesome and supportive, I've been really impressed and surprised by the great comradery. This forum has become a total crutch for me ever since I got my interview request from USC and haven't stopped thinking about hearing back from them. Good luck to everyone, really hope to work with you all in the future!

 

[OzymandiasVII]

Do you guys know if there is some king of statistics on proportion between domestic and international students admitted each semester?

hey everyone! I'm a long time lurker, figured I'd finally join the conversation as we're all waiting to hear back. Wanted to say hey and also that you are all so awesome and supportive, I've been really impressed and surprised by the great comradery. This forum has become a total crutch for me ever since I got my interview request from USC and haven't stopped thinking about hearing back from them. Good luck to everyone, really hope to work with you all in the future!

Welcome and enjoy pure anxiety along with us! What was the name of your interviewer? Not Pablo by any chance?

 

[itsnoteasybeinggreen]

Welcome and enjoy pure anxiety along with us! What was the name of your interviewer? Not Pablo by any chance?

Thank you! I figured if I'm living in pure anxiety, I may as well share it with strangers. I did not interview with Pablo, I had Chris. He was awesome actually, we had a great conversation.

 

[OzymandiasVII]

Thank you! I figured if I'm living in pure anxiety, I may as well share it with strangers. I did not interview with Pablo, I had Chris. He was awesome actually, we had a great conversation.

Not a Pablo again... I'm starting to feel like Pablo never existed and in fact he came to me in a dream. Some Lynchian stuff happening... At least he did not tell me that "Owls are not what they seem" during the interview

 

[Chris W]

Do you guys know if there is some king of statistics on proportion between domestic and international students admitted each semester?



Welcome and enjoy pure anxiety along with us! What was the name of your interviewer? Not Pablo by any chance?

Nothing official but you could look at the admitted prefix and do the count.

 

[green-scarf]

It's so interesting that almost everyone on the forum has had different interviewers! I wonder what that says about how many people each professor selects to interview...

 

[OzymandiasVII]

It's so interesting that almost everyone on the forum has had different interviewers! I wonder what that says about how many people each professor selects to interview...

You mean literally everyone here? I can see 11 applications with “interviewed” status. I mean like how many professors can they really involve for only one program?

 

[green-scarf]

You mean literally everyone here? I can see 11 applications with “interviewed” status. I mean like how many professors can they really involve for only one program?

According to the website, there are about 150 SCA professors and based on the numbers, I think at least 30% must be involved in the application/interview process. Also! I think more than 11 people have had interviews in the forum, they just haven't updated the application tracker. I think it's closer to 20ish (based on the numbers in the tracker and people who have mentioned interviews in the thread). So far, I think only two applicants had the same interviewer and it was at the very beginning of January.

 

[CrispyMerola]

According to the website, there are about 150 SCA professors and based on the numbers, I think at least 30% must be involved in the application/interview process. Also! I think more than 11 people have had interviews in the forum, they just haven't updated the application tracker. I think it's closer to 20ish (based on the numbers in the tracker and people who have mentioned interviews in the thread). So far, I think only two applicants had the same interviewer and it was at the very beginning of January.

Yes, Roma and I were both interviewed by Mark, who was very direct. I found the interview to be tough, although I was happy that I kept my composure. Zero questions about my portfolio, except for the opening line of my film concept. I think some aspects of my portfolio made it seem like I was mostly interested in making films about repressive Catholic upbringing, and he expressed some doubt about how overdone that narrative subgenre is, and that I'd have to find a new perspective on it. I worried afterwards that I had been pigeonholed into that category of filmmaking, even though very little of my portfolio was about that topic. At times, the interview had me wondering whether or not he had carefully reviewed my application.

 

[itsnoteasybeinggreen]

According to the website, there are about 150 SCA professors and based on the numbers, I think at least 30% must be involved in the application/interview process. Also! I think more than 11 people have had interviews in the forum, they just haven't updated the application tracker. I think it's closer to 20ish (based on the numbers in the tracker and people who have mentioned interviews in the thread). So far, I think only two applicants had the same interviewer and it was at the very beginning of January.

I just went on the website, looks like there are about 70 SCA faculty in the Film and Television Production division. Not a clue how many of those faculty members are a part of the admission selection team or if faculty from other divisions are a part of the application review as well. I appreciate that there seems to be a large amount of faculty reviewing applications, makes the school seem open to input from the faculty and that many people from different walks of life are reading applications - seems like a holistic review which is important to me.

 

[green-scarf]

I just went on the website, looks like there are about 70 SCA faculty in the Film and Television Production division. Not a clue how many of those faculty members are a part of the admission selection team or if faculty from other divisions are a part of the application review as well. I appreciate that there seems to be a large amount of faculty reviewing applications, makes the school seem open to input from the faculty and that many people from different walks of life are reading applications - seems like a holistic review which is important to me.

Interesting! Where did you find the number 70? I went onto this page and selected the division "Division of Film & TV Production," for me the results showed 4 pages with ~30 professors on pages 1 – 3 and 15 professors on page 4! So I was wrong too, it seems it's closer to 100ish.

I've actually heard of other universities using this approach as well! A few of my friends who applied to Law School & Med School had a similar experience! I think it's great that USC has professors be the ones to review + recommend applicants, it just makes so much sense & allows for great mentorship when you get a hand in shaping the cohort!

 

[green-scarf]

At times, the interview had me wondering whether or not he had carefully reviewed my application.

A little part of me felt the same way with my professor at first as well. I think because they read so many applications, they try to categorize and classify them in some way to remember them. It sounds like your interviewer cared about the kind of stories you want to tell though – I don't know if they would bother with that if they didn't think you had stories worth telling!