ArtCenter College of Design Reviews & Admissions Statistics

Cultivate tools and techniques to thrive as a director, editor, or cinematographer.
Location
1700 Lida St, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
School Website
https://www.artcenter.edu/
Degrees Offered
  1. 4 Year BFA
  2. 2 Year MFA
Concentrations
  1. Animation & Digital Arts
  2. Cinematography
  3. Directing
  4. Editing
  5. Film & Television Production
  6. Media Arts & Practice
  7. News and Documentary
  8. Producing
  9. Screenwriting
  10. Television
Tuition Range
$20k to $30k
Undergraduate Deadlines
Early Action: November 15
Priority: February 1 (Fall) October 1 (Spring)
Graduate Deadlines
January 15

Film School details

Undergrad Student Body
90
Graduate Student Body
48
Copyrights
  1. Unknown
Start of Production Classes
  1. Freshman
Camera Equipment
  1. Arriflex 16mm
  2. Arriflex Super 16mm
  3. Arriflex 35mm
  4. RED
  5. Zeiss lenses
Software Used
  1. Avid Media Composer
Filmmaking Facilities
  1. Sound Stage(s)
Internships
  1. Unknown
Job Placement
  1. Unknown
Number of Applicants
1,816 Undergrad & 853 Graduate
Application Fee
$50
GRE Required?
  1. No
SAT or ACT Required?
  1. No
Portfolio Required?
  1. Yes
Letters of Rec Required
  1. None
Notification of Decision
Nothing official from school but see our data in our admissions statistics


Located in Pasadena, California, roughly 35 minutes east of West Hollywood, ArtCenter College of Design draws filmmakers interested in exploring filmmaking for commercials and theaters. In 2022, Variety named ArtCenter one of the 30 best film schools in America.

Undergraduate Application Requirements

  • Transcripts
  • Essays
  • English as a Foreign Language Proficiency
  • Portfolio (2-3 films)
  • Portfolio Video Essay

Graduate Application Requirements

  • Transcripts from all colleges attended
  • Short Essay
  • English as a foreign language proficiency
  • Portfolio (2-4 films)
  • Personal Video Essay
  • Written Essay
  • Resume

Tuition Details

Undergraduate Tuition (per term): $25,303
Graduate Tuition (per term): $26,742


Helpful Links

Notable Alumni

  • Michael Bay (Transformers, Pearl Harbor)
  • Producer Zachary E. Synder (Wonder Woman 1984)
  • Writer-director Roger Avary (co-writer of Pulp Fiction, director of The Rules of Attraction).

Scholarship Opportunities

ArtCenter awards scholarships to students who demonstrate financial need and outstanding visual and academic ability. International students do not need to establish financial need.

Fall: Apply by February 1
Spring: Apply by October 1


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DISCLAIMER: The information on this page is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time it was last updated. PLEASE verify with the school ALL due dates and requirements as they may have changed since our last update. If any info on this page is incorrect please let us know and we will update it. We are not responsible for missed deadlines or rejected applications due to out of date information on this page. Please do your due diligence.

Latest Film School Reviews

Safety school, last resort
Reviewed by: Alumni
Degree: MA/MFA
Concentration: Film
Pros
  • Inspiring professors
  • You will make films
Cons
  • Everything else
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.
Affordability
1.00 star(s)
Alumni Network
3.00 star(s)
Campus
1.00 star(s)
Career Assistance
1.00 star(s)
Coursework
3.00 star(s)
Facilities & Equipment
3.00 star(s)
Professors
4.00 star(s)
Scholarships
2.00 star(s)
Anonymous does not recommend this film school!

Latest questions

Why can’t I see any Art center students here…? I’d like to get some information about the film MFA program of Art center 😢
One member found this helpful.
P
peculiarvine
Hey, I'd like to find out about the MFA Film reviews too. Have you got any?

Latest Accepted Applications


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Film School information

Category
California
Added by
FilmSchool.org
Views
11,293
Watchers
7
Reviews
1
Questions
1
Last update
Rating
2.00 star(s) 1 ratings

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