A history of those accepted (? from a neophyte)

[Bartleby Fink]

So...I'm on track to be applying for film schools this fall (I think), but I'm starting to get freaked out because I'm taking the GRE soon and feeling a little neurotic that my top choices are out of my league. (My top choices? Everyone's top choices. USC, UCLA, NYU, UT-Austin.)

What I'm really wondering, if the board would be so kind and willing to indulge me, is information from people who are attending/have attended/been accepted. Information like "what was your previous experience before applying?" Or "how were your undergrad grades?" Maybe "did you GRE score matter and what was it?" Stuff like that, because, really, I have no idea how I stack up against the rest of people who want to go.

Or, hell, maybe someone could just use their own experience and tell me a) I've got a shot or b) get out, get out now!

(Off that, a little about me: My undergrad grades (for degrees in both English and Communication) are good (4.0), my references should be fine and agreeable, my GRE is yet to be determined, and my experience is, as the kids might say, "meh." I've shot a couple of no-budget shorts and done some minimal work in a TV studio. Beyond that, though, just burning desire.)

So, anyone out there who can calm a fiery mind?

 

[Evan]

not that i really have any experience, but, most schools don't ask for GRE...

 

[Jayimess]

Hmm. I was relatively successful in my pursuit, though you'll quickly see that the majority of the members of this board were more successful than I...especially Lily and sa. Nonetheless, I'll try to help.

I applied to UCLA, USC, and AFI. (Screenwriting)

Accepted to UCLA, waitlisted to USC, and rejected by AFI, though I was an interviewed finalist.

My undergrad grades were okay, I guess. Overall was a measly 3.29, but my upper levels were over 3.9. Double major in Advertising and Journalism/A-V Production, double minor in Graphic Design/Marketing.

I went to an open-enrollment state university, third tier, and I flunked out my junior year, dropped out from 2000-2005, time I spent PAing, bartending, and selling beer to bars and restaurants.

I got a 1290/5.0 on my GRE, but USC is the only school I applied to that required it.

My letters of recommendation were glowing. (I've finally seen them...all I could say was WOW!)

At the time of my application, I'd worked as a PA on maybe twelve or fifteen local films. I was a film writer for a local alternative magazine. I interned for six months as a producer and director for the local FOX affiliate's morning news. I had significant freelance technical writing experience, including a contracted book that was never published by the client who paid me to write it.

I was in the midst of directing my first "real" film, an experimental piece crafted from a poem. I was enrolled in my first and only film production class at the time, along with advanced graphic design and performance classes.

I sent in the first act of my favorite unfinished script, written in my one and only screenwriting class a year earlier, some poetry, and worked very hard on the required writing samples.

I spent January through December working towards the goal, and I still don't know how I got in.

I asked my interviewers at both UCLA and AFI why I stood out, and they said that I demonstrated great raw talent and unlimited potential. UCLA said they were dying to know what happened next in my script. AFI said my personal statement showed that I had a lifetime of experiences to draw upon and the determination to get through anything.

I don't really know if that helps you at all...but that's MY story.

Good luck.