USC School of Cinematic Arts SCA MFA Film & TV Production Fall 2020 (3 Viewers)

[addik]

View attachment 1710


Man I am heart broken.

Haha, I don't get why they won't mail us physical acceptance packages when they're already spending resources to mail us our I-20s (since it's apparently their policy not to give us a soft copy).

To be fair, what's most important is that we get our I-20s so that we can process our papers. Every other USC package is just a souvenir at this point lmao

 

[stargirlmars]

Hey, guys. @truffleshuffle mentioned this before, but i think it's worth mentioning again: call the financial aid office and double check that they received your fafsa. i just called and they said they had not received it, but i sent it in december. they only found it and linked it to my account when i provided them my social security, full name, birthday, and USC ID. so very IMPORTANT. CALL.

another thing, they said scholarship award letters will be sent out soon through april 15. if you don't receive a scholarship by april 15, don't fret. they said they often allocate scholarship money to those who didn't initially receive one if someone who was awarded one decides not to come. so, hold out hope, the scholarship money might just come after april 15.

another thing, i asked about the april 3 event and they said it's still on.

 

[Frankie Bones]

For what it’s worth, waitlisted students got the admitted students day invite today, which gives me added optimism it’s still going on as planned (April 3).

 

[afilmcionado]

Haha, I don't get why they won't mail us physical acceptance packages when they're already spending resources to mail us our I-20s (since it's apparently their policy not to give us a soft copy).

To be fair, what's most important is that we get our I-20s so that we can process our papers. Every other USC package is just a souvenir at this point lmao

I-20s cannot be soft copies. You must have a physical copy when you enter the US. I believe soft copies of I-20 don't exist.

 

[wendy_]

Haha, I don't get why they won't mail us physical acceptance packages when they're already spending resources to mail us our I-20s (since it's apparently their policy not to give us a soft copy).

To be fair, what's most important is that we get our I-20s so that we can process our papers. Every other USC package is just a souvenir at this point lmao

I think it might be they come from different departments? Usually, i20s come from the general international student office and the souvenirs are sent from SCA.

 

[Adrian C]

Are they still sending out letters for domestic students? I am losing hope atm...

 

[truffleshuffle]

Are they still sending out letters for domestic students? I am losing hope atm...

Last year they sent them out in spurts over 3-4 weeks. We just finished week 1, man.

 

[addik]

I-20s cannot be soft copies. You must have a physical copy when you enter the US. I believe soft copies of I-20 don't exist.

Oh, I see! I was hoping I could just have it printed out so it'd be more convenient, but USC seems to be quick about this (some of the other schools my friends are in took their sweet time), so it all works out!

 

[afilmcionado]

Oh, I see! I was hoping I could just have it printed out so it'd be more convenient, but USC seems to be quick about this (some of the other schools my friends are in took their sweet time), so it all works out!

It needs your school advisor's (someone from the International Office) real signature on it so definitely don't print it/photocopy it/bring anything that isn't the authentic copy!

 

[LEDAJ]

Hey guys! For international students who have been interviewed but still have no news, I have a question: did your toefl scores pass 100? I only got 97, so maybe that's the reason??

 

[charlottehuang]

Hey guys! For international students who have been interviewed but still have no news, I have a question: did your toefl scores pass 100? I only got 97, so maybe that's the reason??

I got 7.5 in IELTS (7 is requirement)
Personally, I don’t think it affects much since USC provides lots of pre-language courses for those who did not pass the test, and I think 97 is pretty close to 100.

by the way, which country are you from?

 

[LEDAJ]

I got 7.5 in IELTS (7 is requirement)
Personally, I don’t think it affects much since USC provides lots of pre-language courses for those who did not pass the test, and I think 97 is pretty close to 100.

by the way, which country are you from?

I'm from China! Thanks to you, my tiny little hope has been rekindled hahaha!

 

[sarahkwUT]

Popping in from the Writing for the Screen thread to second @stargirlmars suggestion on FAFSA. I knew I had sent mine to USC when I filled it out back in the fall but it wasn't showing. I called and they had it but had to manually attach it to my account. So if you don't see anything in your portal, reach out to them.

 

[truffleshuffle]

Hey guys! For international students who have been interviewed but still have no news, I have a question: did your toefl scores pass 100? I only got 97, so maybe that's the reason??

According to USC policy you are ok: USC Graduate Admission

IMPORTANT: USC does not set minimum scores for admission purposes. The scores listed below are used for placement purposes only to determine if an admitted student will need to take the International Student English (ISE) Examination upon arrival at USC.​

​

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)​

USC accepts only Internet-Based TOEFL (iBT) test scores. Admitted students are exempt from taking the ISE Exam with the following scores:​

​

PhD​	100 or above, with 20 or above in each section.​
Master’s​	90 or above, with 20 or above in each section.​

​

​

Sending official scores to USC: USC must receive scores electronically from the testing service for them to be considered official. Photocopies or paper copies of scores are not acceptable. USC’s institution code is 4852. (No department code is required.)​

​

Your scores are considered valid only if earned within two years of your intended first term at USC. (For example, no earlier than August 1 two years prior if applying for the fall term.)​

​

IELTS (International English Language Testing System)​

USC only accepts the IELTS Academic scores. Admitted students are exempt from taking the ISE Exam with the following scores​

​

PhD​	7 or above, with 6 or above on each band.​
Master’s​	6.5 or above, with 6 or above on each band.​

 

[crashpad311]

Hey, guys. @truffleshuffle mentioned this before, but i think it's worth mentioning again: call the financial aid office and double check that they received your fafsa. i just called and they said they had not received it, but i sent it in december. they only found it and linked it to my account when i provided them my social security, full name, birthday, and USC ID. so very IMPORTANT. CALL.

another thing, they said scholarship award letters will be sent out soon through april 15. if you don't receive a scholarship by april 15, don't fret. they said they often allocate scholarship money to those who didn't initially receive one if someone who was awarded one decides not to come. so, hold out hope, the scholarship money might just come after april 15.

another thing, i asked about the april 3 event and they said it's still on.

So @stargirlmars -- they'll be sending out scholarships even if you haven't sent in the deposit & statement of intent?

 

[OzymandiasVII]

Hey, guys. Who knows what is the departmental deadline for international students?

 

[addik]

Hey @OzymandiasVII! Based on the acceptance email, it should be March 23, 2020.

Approval is pretty quick though (my financial docs got approved the same day I sent them)!

They're pretty quick with the I20 too. Just got notified that it's now on its way to the Philippines so I might get it sometime this week.

 

[truffleshuffle]

So they'll be sending out scholarships even if you haven't sent in the deposit & statement of intent?

Historically that's how it's been done. For many folks the decision on which school to choose is heavily affected by how much aid is being offered. Some have walked away from the George Lucas Fellowship at USC, and some have walked away from the Dean's Fellowship at NYU. Being offered wasn't contingent upon them committing beforehand.

The only tough part is to "trust" them to offer you something past the April 15 deadline of when you commit, especially if you're depending on it. Ugh.

 

[Chris W]

Historically that's how it's been done. For many folks the decision on which school to choose is heavily affected by how much aid is being offered. Some have walked away from the George Lucas Fellowship at USC, and some have walked away from the Dean's Fellowship at NYU. Being offered wasn't contingent upon them committing beforehand.

The only tough part is to "trust" them to offer you something past the April 15 deadline of when you commit, especially if you're depending on it. Ugh.

Yes. @Septopus7 decided to go to AFI instead of USC last year as they offered him a full ride.

 

[addik]

Would you guys have an idea when we get to hear about scholarships soon? I vaguely remember reading that last year's students learned about it late April? So I'm assuming we'd hear from the scholarship committee after the April 15 deposit deadline?