2026 Film School Acceptances & Rejections Thread 🎉😭🤗

[Chris W]

I've noticed that results have been coming in - I've been crossing my fingers for all of you!

Huge congrats to everyone who got good news! And if you didn’t get the result you hoped for this time, please don’t fret too hard. Film school is notoriously competitive, and many of our most successful members applied multiple times before getting that “Yes.” (For example, this member got into USC Writing for the Screen & TV on their third attempt: USC - Writing for the Screen and Television 2019) We even added a new field this cycle so we can track acceptances against how many times someone has applied!

Reply to this thread with your results so we can celebrate your wins together or cheer each other up if it wasn't the result you were hoping for!

No matter the outcome, please take a quick moment to log or update your application(s). We really need all results (acceptances, waitlists, and rejections) so the data stays accurate and helpful for everyone... not just the success stories.

We also added a ton of new interview fields this cycle, so your updates will give future applicants way richer insights.

I know everyone is probably busy celebrating, commiserating, laughing, or crying… but logging really does help the whole community. We’re only at about 120 applications logged so far (a bit behind last year), so every single entry makes a difference.

Here's the link to log:

Log application to…

www.filmschool.org

And here are some examples of the extremely helpful data logging applications allows FilmSchool.org to provide:

Admission statistics for AFI Conservatory ()

Acceptance rate, minimum GPA, SAT, GRE, and demographics of admitted applicants for AFI Conservatory calculated from our database of thousands of film school applications.

www.filmschool.org

Admission statistics for USC School of Cinematic Arts ()

Acceptance rate, minimum GPA, SAT, GRE, and demographics of admitted applicants for USC School of Cinematic Arts calculated from our database of thousands of film school applications.

www.filmschool.org

Admission statistics for Columbia University's School of the Arts ()

Acceptance rate, minimum GPA, SAT, GRE, and demographics of admitted applicants for Columbia University's School of the Arts calculated from our database of thousands of film school applications.

www.filmschool.org

Admission statistics for NYU Tisch Kanbar Institute of Film & Television ()

Acceptance rate, minimum GPA, SAT, GRE, and demographics of admitted applicants for NYU Tisch Kanbar Institute of Film & Television calculated from our database of thousands of film school applications.

www.filmschool.org

Congrats again everyone! (and big hug to those who didn't get the results they were hoping for)

-Chris

 

[stevies]

Accepted to both BU and Emerson's screenwriting programs! Very excited to be a screenwriting student in Boston!

 

[Chris W]

Congrats everyone! Don't fret too much if you didn't get in. Many people take multiple times applying.

Take some advice from the interview I did with @Patrick Clement:

"I see a lot of students [on the forums] feeling like two things... One is that getting into Grad School is going to make their career. It's just not true. Whether you get in or don't get in... It really isn't an indictment of how talented you are or yourself as a filmmaker. But also like, you know when I did my interviews I just decided that I was going to be myself and that's the only way to find the right fit. I know it sounds weird, but like all I did was be myself and I figured that I didn't get in it wasn't a good fit. So like that was how I knew that if I did get in somewhere and I accepted and I applied and got in... it had to be a good fit on both sides of the table. So like if it's not a good fit then.... A great example... Chapman. I was on the fence about it... I applied... and I didn't get an interview... Well obviously it wasn't a good fit. Why would I be bummed about that? Because Chapman thinks I'm not a good fit so I just move on. I interviewed at NYU but I didn't think it was exactly the right fit and I got wait-listed... so they didn't think I was a good fit either so I didn't really feel bummed about it at all.
"I mean not, not to be too esoteric... but I mean aren't we all just kind of floating around in the universe and then eventually we're just going to land where we're supposed to land I think? Honestly like do the footwork... put one foot in front of the other... and we try to stay true and honest and try not to hurt other people...Then eventually we're going to land and go where we were supposed to go... We're not all supposed to Scorsese... So I don't know man. I guess I just, maybe I have a different view of that, but like eventually we ended up where we're supposed to go as long as we keep doing the work. So hopefully kids will take it easy. I mean I think in the age of, you know, a lot of noise with a lot of people are making stuff... even at the top at the top ten film schools it's going to be at least 200 thesis films that come out of those schools every year. Not including short films that are coming out of other places... So there's a lot of noise and a lot of people are trying to get attention so I see why like Film School is just a way to sort of rise above the noise. But it's not the only way and I see a lot of stress from people [on the forums] and I wish they would just sort of not be as stressed about it. It's just life man. Not getting into film school is not the end of the world.

I mean if getting into Grad school is just your goal. You can get into grad school and then what? It's like it's sort of like when a cat tries to catch a bird for the first time... it gets it in it's mouth and it's like wait a minute... I don't know what the fuck to do now. So it's just having a bigger view of your life and your career I think will really help you in the right direction."

Please remember to log your applications with the results. We're over 200 applications logged so far this cycle - would love to get it closer to 300 like last year. Keep them coming in.

BTW... BIG upgrade to the acceptance stats pages coming soon which I'm really excited about. Some really neat data is about to be available - made possible through everyone's logged applications.

 

[Chris W]

Holy moly a ton of people were here today! (a good portion are probably bots but still)

 

[Chris W]

Wowza! I thought the previous number was huge.

Remember to log your applications. Where is everyone deciding to go?