USC School of Cinematic Arts Reviews & Admissions Statistics

If you're a storyteller who believes that the most important aspect of filmmaking is the story, then USC is not the right school for you.

I deeply regret choosing this school over others. The place is full of video-makers who just obsess over YouTube videos and mega-budget films. They could be interested in other kinds of films, but they don't want to make those kinds, and even if they did, they wouldn’t know how. About 90% of the students don’t care about writing. I was shocked to find that many have never even read books like Story or Save the Cat. I’m not saying these books are absolutely necessary to become a better filmmaker, but as a filmmaker, it's crazy to have never even attempted to read them.

Do you think cinematography really matters?

Audiences don’t care about lighting, glossy flares, color tones, or fancy VFX. Yes, great films need great cinematographers, but the one thing that truly matters in filmmaking is writing a good script, a genuine, unique, well-structured script.

At USC, almost no one seems to understand the importance of writing. If you attend, most of what you'll be doing is miscellaneous tasks that they call "producing." But producing isn’t something you need to learn in school, and honestly, you’ll eventually get someone else to produce your film anyway. The problem is, there’s a high chance that you’ll end up with a producer who doesn’t know what they’re doing, because most students here have only worked as PAs or 2nd ADs on random productions.

Even at the master’s level, most people in the school are irresponsible. They don’t know how to work or communicate effectively. Sure, some are talented, but not many.

To be honest, I think most film schools are a scam but USC is the worst.

There’s no sense of community, and you won’t have enough time to focus on writing and storytelling. In screenwriting classes, students stay silent, and the professors don’t actually teach you how to write. If you’re a tech person, and totally fine with repeating every trivial exercise you did before (e.g how to set ISO), then maybe USC is for you. But if you're looking to expand your creative insight and hone your storytelling, don’t even think about USC. And as for "networking"? Please, stop believing that hype!!!!!

+Most of the faculties are also just eager to get a job in Hollywood. I requested resume counseling but none of the prof replied. They are the one who told me I can get a counseling whenever I can.

Here's some things I wish I'd known before signing up for this program. To be clear, these specifically apply to the MFA Writing for Screen and Television program.

1. The school does not care about you.
I cannot emphasize this enough. They do not care if you're having a personal crisis, if your loved one died, if you're having trouble making rent, if you don't have food to eat today. They do not work with you to figure out disability accommodations, to help with emergency food or housing or even escaping domestic violence. They DEFINITELY don't help with anything financial - a student was slapped with an unexpected bill in the thousands because of an error on THEIR end, and when she asked them to talk to the billing office to give her some extra time to pay/give her an opportunity to work off the bill as a student worker/literally any kind of assistance that would help her work towards resolving the issue, they sent her "thoughts and prayers," and then ghosted her. Similarly: a classmate asked for assistance finding an on-campus job and was told to his face that "USC only admits the 1%. If you're having trouble paying for school, maybe you should consider transferring to a community college."

2. The quality of your education depends almost entirely on the professor you get, and the school refuses to tell you much - if anything - about who is teaching which course.
This last semester, we were all forced to sign up for required classes without knowing who was teaching us. Some of the classes didn't even have professors yet - they were scrambling to hire adjuncts even after the previous semester had ended. As a result, some of us ended up with last-minute hires who 1. only taught for 1/3 of the class time, and by "taught," I mean he didn't teach. He just told everyone their work was amazing and dismissed the class, 2. required scripts to fit an exact formula down to the page number, exact emotional beats that he wanted, etc. and if you didn't follow instructions, your work was considered subpar even if it was brilliant, or 3. assigned WAY too much work, such as watching 3 seasons of a TV show, reading 2 chapters of a textbook, and completing a 10 page story map, all in one week.

Don't get me wrong, there are some incredible professors at USC - the few that I've had have almost made it all feel worth it. But the problem is, you have to know these professors are incredible and sign up for their classes, which is a combination of asking all your seniors about each and every professor you could possibly want or need to take a class with, and sheer dumb luck. And, considering that we were recently forced to sign up for classes without any professor's names attached to them, knowing who was good and who wasn't amounted to absolutely nothing in the end.

3. As previous reviewers have said, the school is conservative and not interested in changing.
Yes, there are diverse students - my year alone has a not insignificant number of LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and international students. But when the school continues to only employ full-time old white men (the professors of color are largely adjuncts who only teach 1 or 2 classes a semester), you end up with problems such as: mispronouncing characters of color's names in scripts, students who write scripts set in cultures outside of the white American norm receiving little to no feedback on their work, and horrific treatment of LGBTQ+ students and scripts. One student was misgendered by a professor for an entire semester, with a negative personal and academic impact on the student and zero recourse for the professor. Another had a professor tell them to their face that the AIDS crisis was actually the origin of gay activism in the US and therefore a positive thing (both incredibly untrue and harmful, in case there was any doubt).

One professor was so blatantly and terribly sexist that the entire class of students petitioned for him to be removed from teaching a required course. The department finally caved to demands - only to instead assign this professor to teach an undergrad required course instead.

Just to be 100% clear: no one tells you that you can't write POC or LGBTQ+ stories. Classmates are largely supportive and many professors are, too. But the fact that there are even a few who don't - and the fact that these faculty members are tenured and teach required courses that POC and LGBTQ+ students cannot avoid taking with them - makes USC's claims at diversity and inclusion a poor mockery of real people's lives and experiences.

4. The fancy equipment they advertise? You don't get to use it.
...Unless you take specific production courses, which are largely reserved for production students (i.e. if you're in screenwriting or animation, you don't get to even exist in the same room as a school camera). The few seats that don't go to production students have to be fought for through complicated waitlists and first-come-first-serve emails and attendance in the class, even though you're still not registered, so you're showing up for three hours a week and doing homework for no credit.

Also: USC retains all copyright for works produced in these classes. Also also: USC provides NO funding for works produced in these classes. Which means, if you somehow fight your way into a production class and finally, finally get your hands on a camera... you still have to fundraise for your film, shoot it on your own time outside of class, and you don't even get to keep the copyright after it's done.

5. The quality of your classmates' work will vary.
I mean this in the kindest sense possible. Some of my classmates regularly blow my mind with their skill and ability. Others... do not. A select few - and I mean very few - seem to have been chosen just because they reminded someone on the faculty of themselves. And yes, by that I do mean straight, white, male, and vaguely racist/homophobic.

In this program, you're participating in classes structured like workshops, which means you statistically get more feedback from classmates than from your professors. If one of those classmates refuses to understand or engage with your material because you aren't writing within their narrow mindset of what the world should be, then you miss out on 1/8 of the feedback you should be getting. Which may not sound like a lot, but it adds up over the weeks, and when it comes to writing a first draft, every little bit counts.

It's incredibly sad. I was so excited to be accepted to USC. But my experiences there - both having things happen to me and watching things happen to my classmates - have left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Save your money and go to UCLA or Chapman where you'll have a much better experience for much less student debt.

I am a Black girl from the South. It was a big adjustment for me, but my total dream. The one takeaway I have from the school is you must make your mark. Everyone in the school is good at what they do and connected. So you must make yourself differeny. DON’T wait to do internships. Make friends everywhere!!! I loved my classes and professors. But put your best foot forward and the 4 years can be a vacation. Also, I am not rich. With Cal grants, I never had to pay tuition. Only housing (which is still a freaking lot) but the university wasn’t so bad financially for ME. Nevertheless it IS expensive so make your time there worth it.