USC MFA Film & TV Production Spring 2025 - Need Personal Statement Feedback

aaronsonnn

New Member
Hi everyone! Delighted to become a member here.

I'm working on my application for the Spring 2025 entry and currently need some feedback. I previously applied for Fall 2024 but was unsuccessful. I suspect that my personal statement at that time was the mistake, as I made it too formal and not personal enough. This time round, I'm trying to do that and maybe get some feedback from successful applicants / whoever understands this better as this is pretty new for me.

The prompt is 'The Cinematic Arts Personal Statement will be read by the admissions committee as a measure of creativity, self-awareness and vision. We are looking for a sense of you as a unique individual and how your distinctive experiences, identities, values, and/or views of the world have shaped who you are and what you want to say as a creative filmmaker. We want to know about the kind of stories you want to tell. Bear in mind that enthusiasm for watching films, descriptions of your favorite films, and the involvement in the filmmaking process is common in most candidates. As a result, we encourage that you focus on your individuality. Note that there is no standard format or correct answer.' (500 words or less. They've reduced the word limit from last year). As it stands, I'm still at 570 words, but I'm confident I could reduce it.

If this proves to be a successful personal statement, I'm also thinking of adjusting this to apply to other film schools. I notice some schools still have their word limit at 3 pages. Do you think I should extend this statement when applying to them to get closer to the word limit, or will this length suffice?

Your feedbacks are much appreciated! :-)
ps. English is not my first language so I'll continue to do my best to revise and make it more efficient!
 

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Hi Aaron, as someone in the same boat as you, I can't really comment on what a "winning" personal statement looks like. But this is lovely. Definitely tugged at my heart strings. Best of luck with your application! Would love to have you as a classmate in the near future
 
Hi Aaron, as someone in the same boat as you, I can't really comment on what a "winning" personal statement looks like. But this is lovely. Definitely tugged at my heart strings. Best of luck with your application! Would love to have you as a classmate in the near future
Sorry for the late reply! But thank you for taking the time to check it out! Best of lock if youre applying as well!
 
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