Reapplication to USC Film Production for Spring 2012

[Aglick]

Think us waitlisters will begin to hear things soon? The due date for confirmation was last thursday for those admitted and friday for waitlist so I imagine any open spots will be filled soon. Post if you hear any news and good luck to everyone.

 

[jamesc]

Hey Everyone,

Congrats to those who got in! I was a Spring waitlister for Spring '10, did not get in and was then rejected for Fall '10. I tried again a year later and was waitlisted for Fall '11 and chose to enroll for Spring '12.

As far as when you'll find out, from my experience, USC will wait until the very last minute to send the final rejection letters to top waitlisters. Spring '12 admits have until January 6th to register for class without a late fee and classes begin on Jan 9th. That being said, anyone can drop out at any time as the deposit was only $300. For my waitlist year, we didn't get final rejections until two weeks after classes began . Though it was pretty obvious by then.

It is true that very few of the Spring admits will decline as there are no other top tier Spring programs. That being said, I'm actually leaning towards not attending USC. A lot has happened since I was accepted and I'm now living in LA making a living shooting films with a path towards feature directing. Haven't finalized my decision yet, but hopefully for the waitlisters, there are more out there like me.

 

[creativetype]

Does the December 1 deadline apply to us waitlisters? Not sure how to proceed since it is not looking good for us.

 

[mtr731]

So have any waitlisters for spring been admitted, or is it unlikely now?

 

[creativetype]

Hi waitlisters,

It looks like I am off the waitlist and in the Spring 2012 class. However, I have to get my financial and visa documents in order.

I am keeping my finger crossed for the rest of you! Good Luck!

 

[jamesc]

Hey Everyone,

I have withdrawn my acceptance to the Spring '12 program. Hopefully this becomes a very happy holiday gift to the next waitlister in line Best of luck everyone and happy holidays!

Cheers,
James

 

[Willi]

In my first semester producing class, my instructor told our class of 24 or so that "You'll be lucky if one or two of you ever directs a feature film."

That is a big bunch of bull****. A director I know did his first feature for $15,000 which he raised himself. His second feature he directed had a $3,000,000 budget.
You can raise a lot of money through crowd funding now which I nice.

 

[yonkondy]

That may be, but I know very talented, very popular students who have had an extremely difficult time trying to raise $15K for their thesis films after 3-4 years at SC.

Your directing friend must be a very talented artist and fundraiser. His story is a rarity.

It's amazing how about half of my incoming class has already realized directing isn't for them. I'd say 85% of us wanted to direct when we came in.

It's one thing to hypothetically want to do something in life. It's another to realize that, perhaps, you can't stand talking to actors, dealing with their bullsh*t.
Or you just really love organizing the production itself, not having to worry about what's going into the lens every second.

That's why USC is wonderful -- and why they accept so many students. They allow you to find your niche. And just because you're not directing doesn't mean you're not creating.

I have never been around a more intelligent and clever group of people in my life. Their talent comes out at every stage and at every position of the production process.

And, like anything else in life, the cream rises to the top. You get to know the good DP's, editors, so on. They might still want to direct, but they've intelligently begun to develop these skills that could possibly pay off that $200K when you graduate.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.
And good luck!

 

[Steve Boman]

Good thread here.

I graduated from USC with an MFA in production in "09. I started as a spring admit. I did my 507, quit, then returned to do my 508 in the fall of a different year. (So I worked with two groups of spring admits).

As noted by others here, there is no difference in the quality of spring and fall students. There are some clunkers in each, some great ones in each. And after your first year everyone is mixed together. No one cares, no one pays attention. The only thing that matters is how good your stuff is over time, and what kind of a person you are. The place is a gossip chamber, so reputations matter -- for good and ill.

My time there was such an interesting time I wrote a book about it -- and it just came out! (insert Shamwow voiceover here). A longer thread is in General FIlmmaking area...but I discuss the application process and I include several of my essays (or parts of them). Maybe it's a help to people here.

And listen to the people here who have actually gone to USC...or are now going. YonKondy is right about directing a feature film -- most students don't end up doing it. It's a hell of a dog-eat-dog world in the moving pictures world, but there are lot of career tracks that students discover while there.

Here's my book info from amazon. Also on apple iTunes, barnes and noble, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Film-Sch...vision/dp/1936661055

cheers,

steve boman

 

[Steve Boman]

http://minnesota.publicradio.o...e-boman-film-school/

A nice summary of my book by Minnesota public radio.

 

[mtr731]

when is the re-application due for spring waitlisters now hoping to get in fall 2012??