Getting in off the Waitlist

[Get Me Out of the Economy]

So, I'm waitlisted at USC screenwriting. It is certainly my top choice. I'm getting ready to send the form that lets them know I'm still interested but I'm wondering if those who have gotten in off of waitlists in the past can offer any guidance about anything else that can be done. Or if I shouldn't do anything.

My first instinct is to include a brief note that reiterates how much I want to go there and mentions one or two significant achievements that have occurred since I mailed in the app, plus possibly an additional letter of rec. Then maybe polite phone calls every 3 weeks? I'm also going to be in LA in April - should I try to schedule a meeting with someone there? I feel like I'm being waterboarded by the admissions committee here.

Do I even have a prayer?

Help! Thanks!

-R

 

[cabezon]

Ask Jayimess (USC screenwriting). She was in the same predicament when she applied.

 

[Jayimess]

None of us did anything. I'd already given up, accepted another offer, was making plans, when I got bumped.

I didn't have to send a form, though.

 

[Mags8934]

Hey R,

I don't have any adivce really, except to say that I'm right there with you. I called both the SCA and the Admissions offices to try to find out where I was on the waitlist and/or what they thought the general odds were of getting in. They couldn't give me that information, but the lady I spoke with said that generally, a few people do make it in off the list.

Although I'm psyched at making the waitlist, it's almost more torturous than not knowing. The teetering on the edge is driving me insane.

Anywho, congrats and good luck, and know that you're not alone in your frustration.

 

[Get Me Out of the Economy]

Well, five months later, lightning strikes.

After accepting UCLA's offer (waaaay after accepting it), I got a letter from USC on Thursday of last week telling me I was admitted off of the waitlist for the screenwriting program. Needless to say, I nearly passed out.

The only problem now is that, logistically, it's nearly impossible for me to get out to LA that early (I live in Boston and made all my arrangements to be out in mid-Sept for the start of UCLA, not mid-August for USC). Does anyone have a sense of whether or not it would kill me if I missed like the first week of classes, and got to USC in the first week of Sept? I just don't know how I can do it earlier. I would hope a week and a half out of two years wouldn't put me so far behind I could never catch up.

Damn you, USC, but thank you USC!

-R

 

[robot_m]

Speaking from a purely sociological perspective, the first week is pretty much the most important week of the semester. It's when people are getting to know each other and subconsciously (or consciously) forming cliques, and what not.

 

[AshleyM]

I agree with robot_m. If you're going to go, do absolutely everything you can to get there before classes start. I think that you'll regret missing such an important week and you will be behind in getting to know your classmates. That will take some time to recover from.

 

[leary.shane]

during my undergrad, if you missed the first day of class, you were usually dropped... I don't know how USC Graduate studies handles missing the first day, but I wouldn't recommend it..

 

[taraberyl]

i agree, going late sounds like not the best move.

did you have to sign anything binding or pay any money to ucla?

why are you so gung ho about usc over ucla?

 

[Jayimess]

Oooookay.

I was in almost the same exact situation, just two months earlier. I had committed to UCLA (no cash required, which made things a lot easier, truth be told...even when I committed, I wasn't all in) and got the bump from USC mid May. I, too, had made preliminary plans to move in late August. Changing everything for USC cost me some money and left me alone on my drive because my brother couldn't come with me on the new time schedule.

Fast forward to August, I got there just before school started, and I was really, really rushed. There were myriad problems with my financial aid that weren't resolved until late October that left me terrified as late as the SCA orientation...it was so late in the game.

A classmate of mine got really sick just before classes started, and missed the first two weeks. He was unable to take 507 until second year as a result, and the class it was a prerequisite for in the spring, and is taking a third year partially out of necessity and partially out of his own volition.

It can be done, but I truly, emphatically, absolutely do not recommend it. What's been said above is true, you miss the whole intro to film school, introductory type things...but at the same time, you're mysterious and eagerly welcomed. My classmate didn't have social implications in the WST department, but he didn't connect with the other disciplines as easily. He's rectified it with some great scripts for 546 and 480 and now everyone knows him and his work, though, so again, devil's advocate, these things can be overcome.

It is important that you be in the best situation and program for you, and if you are certain that USC is that, then you should find a way to convert that nearly impossible to barely possible.

When I was weighing my decision between UCLA and USC, a professor mentor of mine told me something that put it all in perspective, as I was very concerned about the additional cost.

"If you didn't go to USC, do you feel like you'd regret it, or be missing something?"

I said, "Yeah, I really do."

She said, "Well, what about if you didn't go to UCLA."

I didn't have to say it out loud...the answer was no.

I sent USC my check the next day.

Hope this helps you...the curriculum has changed since my intake year of 2007, so I don't know that the 507 thing will impact you so much...

If you come to USC, I look forward to meeting you in the fall...or maybe I'll see you either way!

Best of luck...you're in a great place right now, try to see the gold in that!



PS...you won't get bumped from your courses...the program is small enough that your seat just belongs to you. Only the incoming class takes what you're taking.

 

[Get Me Out of the Economy]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Jayimess especially thanks for a ridiculously specific and helpful answer.

After a lot of shuffling of arrangements and the reluctant scrapping of my planned roadtrip out (I'll just ship the car to save time), I think I can make it to USC by the 24th and miss just one day of class, if any at all.

I should clarify: the program I was planning to attend was UCLA's film studies program. I applied to a mix of film studies and screenwriting programs, because I really do enjoy both of those things. I'm very passionate about comedy and comedians and I want to make it my life's work to raise the consciousness and appreciation of stand-up comedy as an art form.

I thought UCLA would be a good place to do that, but after a lot of agonizing debate, I think that right now, I want to be a writer and create comedy. While I would've been able to take some writing classes at UCLA, no one was making any promises about how many or the ease of getting in to them (which is understandable since they need to save seats for the actual MFA students). USC seems to be a great choice for doing it. I hope. Gulp.

-R