USC School of Cinematic Arts Reviews & Admissions Statistics

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.

I started my USC adventure as a Theatre major. I quickly discovered that I needed to change paths, and film had always been of interest. I thought to myself, what better place to pursue film than USC? I’m grateful that in many ways that assumption was proved correct. Though I was not a production major - I was Cinema and Media Studies - I did get to spend a lot of time with students, faculty, and alumni from all of the programs USC offers. What a diverse and wonderful group of people! It’s a difficult program to critique and review because so much of it depends on one’s own drive, desires, and expectations. I wasn’t anticipating anything in particular, had never taken a film class, and was immediately blown away by the theaters, the sound stages, the access they grant to top notch equipment, and the faculty’s shared interest in providing the best education possible for their students. That being said, there are certainly a few things to take into consideration. USC prides itself on being the ‘best’ film school in the country. Are they? I can’t say definitively yes or no, but they certainly believe themself to be. That kind of attitude can be a bit off-putting and intimidating at times. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t students and faculty members who carried themselves as ‘better than’ simply because they were apart of this institutions film program. Thankfully this was not a majority, however, I encountered that type of character enough for it to make a lasting impression. USC is a very privileged place, it’s also an incredibly expensive one. That’s another area to consider. I never needed to apply for scholarships so I cannot speak on their implementation and how helpful they are, I do recognize that USC is one of the more expensive undergraduate colleges and that shouldn’t be forgotten. In regards to my program and what separated it from the Production BFA, the biggest difference would be the freedom to decide what courses and direction you’d like to take. Cinema Media Studies contains numerous fields of requirement but offers multiple different courses that will fulfill those areas. The BFA in production, however, is much a stricter schedule in which you’ll be attending a very structured curriculum with your designated cohort. The benefits of that being you get to experience everything together with a small group of people who you’ll spend your entire career at USC working with. That forms strong and indelible bonds that replicate those in the professional world. It also means if there’s friction, unfortunately it’ll just have to be dealt with and endured. Cinema Media Studies consists predominantly of lectures, however, as an SCA student you’ll be granted to take screenwriting courses, production courses, and a myriad of others. Though on set experience was not the main focal point, there were plenty of opportunities and courses to get it. Should you find yourself wanting more, SCA offers the chance to apply to the BFA program even after declaring a major and being admitted. I believe the Production BFA is more helpful in terms of attaining professional-world experiences and learning the industry. Since Production majors spend every weekend writing shorts, on set, editing, and switching positions throughout the semester, it’s a great microcosm of what to expect after graduation. You will learn every single role on a film set, and chances are you will fulfill every role at one point or another. You’ll also be able to apply for thesis projects as an upperclassman which are then premiered in a wonderful theater open to the public. Cinema Media Studies doesn’t have that same kind of exposure, nor does it replicate professional circumstances. It’s more focused on the history of film, how film has evolved globally, the iconographies of different eras, and how to ’properly’ read a film. Any more experience is up to the undergraduate themselves to seek out. All of that being said, simply by being an SCA student numerous internship opportunities will arise. They won’t be handed to you for merely being an SCA student, but there is a weight to that title that provokes the image of a certain type of character who is diligent, knowledgeable, and always up to the task. Balancing internships and classwork, though challenging, never felt like too much even in the semesters I was taking twenty plus units. USC also boasts a tremendous alumni network from Kevin Feige, and George Lucas to Judd Apatow and Robert Zemeckis. Though it’s not the most pleasant thing to admit, names like that help. People in the industry are familiar with SCA and the alumni network is full of impressive artists who are constantly working and looking to help out fellow Trojans. All in all I greatly enjoyed my time at USC and SCA. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It was my dream school, and ended up becoming a reality that I truly couldn’t have anticipated. I strongly recommend it, despite knowing it might not be for everyone. Fight on.