USC Fall 2009 (2 Viewers)

[Suzako]

Filipe,

No status change, no letter. But I mean, I expect a rejection any day now! I really have no clue what the deal is. I assume if they bothered to send me mail about my GRE scores missing (which I fixed), eventually they'll let me know about being rejected.

 

[cabezon]

Wow 1400 posts!

Keep on truckin' guys.

The sky's the limit lol

 

[Starbuck7]

This is an off topic question, but does anyone have any suggestions for books about screenwriting for television? I'm particularly interested in 1 hour episodic as well as the comedic sitcom.

Jayimess, do you know what is required reading for a television writing class at USC?

Sorry again for coming out of left field, but I'm having a surprising amount of difficulty finding a good resource. Thanks!

 

[TDK120]

There's "Crafty TV Writing", by Alex Epstein. It's a good overview of the whole process. And Pamela Douglas, who teaches at USC, has one called "Writing the TV Drama Series" which is very good.

Epstein also has a good website: http://complicationsensue.blogspot.com/

 

[faroukh]

Anybody attending in the Fall heard from the office of financial aid? Still waiting for aid package... hoping I can find a way to finance this thing.

 

[Jayimess]

The TV Writer's Workbook by Ellen Seger is AMAZING.

 

[Jayimess]

And your aid package will be loans, and then more loans. For the first year.

 

[hman13]

Has anyone who has sent in their seat deposit received any sort of confirmation that USC has gotten it? I sent mine in Monday after returning from LA, and havent heard from Mr. Harke or anyone else. I think it would be pretty foolish to work hard and get into USC and then not make sure they received your seat deposit on time (considering the warnings and circumstances of them not getting it by april 15 seem pretty severe and un-necessarily drastic).

So lemme know if anyone has heard anything, and Ill do the same.

 

[Jayimess]

I never got any confirmation other than they sent me the stuff to set up my email address, etc. Same as UCLA.

In fact, they didn't cash my check for months...July, I think.

I wouldn't fret. They'd call you before they'd let you slip away.

 

[sophiedog]

Finally got the USC letter! It's a no of course, was too late to be anything else I thought.

 

[brighteyes]

I called them the other day to double check that they received my $300. They did, so just call the SCA office and they'll let you know.

 

[Filipe]

Hey sophiedog. Sorry for that. But at least the wait is over.

 

[redic]

sorry to hear that sophie.

Faroukh, glad to see you up in the boards again. It was a blast meeting you last week. See again soon!

 

[sophiedog]

thanks guys, it's true, I'm just glad it's done with!

 

[Starbuck7]

Thank you TDK120 and Jayimess!!!!

 

[Bartleby Fink]

So, yep, REJECTED.

The letter invited me to contact the department. How good of an idea is this? I'd like to be able to call and see where my qualifications were lacking and where to improve for next year. (I have a pretty good idea where these are, because my "paper stats" -- work experience, education, etc -- are all pretty righteous.)

It'd just be nice to hear "Oh, yeah, we thought your writing samples were awful."

 

[hman13]

what did it say exactly about contacting the department? Did it say "contact the department when you get this", or "contact if you have any questions"?

if its the former they may have some real good recomendations for you for the future. If its the latter, they still may have some real good recomendations for you, but like you said, its up to you about how much rejection and potential criticisim you can handle. I doubt anyone u talk to will go into too many details about your application. For example, they wont say, "oh your gre and gpa is really good, but we didnt admit you because your writing samples are bad". So I dont see a real downside in contacting them. They also wont write down your name in red pen and remember you for next year and decline you next year because you called them this week.

good luck

 

[Bartleby Fink]

I mean, I'd like to think that my GPA and GRE should have been just fine (4.0, 1360 with 710 on verbal) and that my education/work experience (English and Communication degrees, worked at a film production company for a year and a half) would have been ample.

So that really only leaves my writing samples and essays up for grabs, yeah?

 

[Jayimess]

The grades and test scores don't matter; I had Fs on my UG transcript.

I don't know how any of us get in, I wish I did...but I'd take their advice and get some feedback...I don't think they offer that to everyone.

 

[Neville26]

They offered it to me. I inquired a couple weeks ago and still have yet to hear back anything from the department. My guess is they're not too quick to respond at the moment. I was gonna maybe just inquire again in the early Fall if I decide to apply again.