ArtCenter College of Design Reviews & Admissions Statistics

Good faith tl;dr: ArtCenter should be your last resort safety school. Only go here if you are willing to blow the money and didn't get into any other film school in the LA area (and really want to go to film school immediately). Alternatively, keep applying to the actual top film schools (USC, AFI, etc.) every year until you get in or you get to the point where you're finding enough work, have a good network, and don't need film school anymore.
Glaring cons:

• Borrowing equipment from the school's equipment room is significantly more difficult than renting equipment from a rental house. Considering the amount of money you'll be paying to go here, this is absolutely unacceptable.
• The amount of tedious paperwork you'll do at ArtCenter for common, mild, or otherwise minimally dangerous production circumstances totally eclipses the amount of paperwork you'll do in the real world for the same or similar circumstances (at least in amateur or independent film). Considering the amount of money you'll be paying to go here, this is absolutely unacceptable.
• There is a leveled production system that massively limits creativity and is downright insulting to filmmakers (experienced or not). For example, in your first semester with "level-1 production", you couldn't make a film that has smoking or even vaping in it, or any kind of special effects (smoke, fog, haze, wind, rain, snow, make-up, prosthetics), or any kind of fake weapons (including real, prop, toy, water, etc., any object used as a weapon, or any object that could cause harm). You will only be allowed these luxuries once you take a class that qualifies you for "level-3 production"—classes that are only available (once their prerequisites are fulfilled) years into the program. Considering the amount of money you'll be paying to go here, this is absolutely unacceptable.

These production policies and paperwork were constantly criticized by students and faculty alike, and you would even have certain faculty members praising their students for breaking the rules for the sake of their art. Sure, it was "cool" that some faculty members were like this, but this environment was incredibly depressing to be in, and a big punch in the face all things considered.

No attempt was ever made by the film department to change anything. There were only additions that made things worse. Everything felt like the education decrees from The Order of the Phoenix or something. The cherry on top was the unrealistic paperwork deadlines.

Eventually, certain members of the department started to get overtly passive-aggressive toward us for being reasonably skeptical about the policies and paperwork. We all felt this and got more standoffish as a result, creating a nightmarish feedback loop of loathing that was never addressed nor rectified. Overall, everything was a sad mess.

The "grad show" mainly consisted of friends, family, and some faculty. Either the film department heads made no effort to invite anyone from the industry, nobody accepted the invites, or I smelled awful (each situation equally horrible). I didn't feel marketed at all, and that is kind of what they said they were going to do at the grad show in return for being a good student/filmmaker and paying them tens of thousands of dollars. In this respect, I felt scammed.

Lastly, upper level management at ArtCenter is terrible and the faculty are currently in their own struggle (@accd.faculty.federation). ArtCenter isn't even helping out their own faculty so they certainly don't have their students' interests in mind.

I’m still not employed in my desired field. I know you’re not guaranteed to get a job in the industry just because you went to film school, but I don’t think ArtCenter has helped me at all in this respect. You’ve been warned.