USC MFA in Screenwriting Applicants 2018

[MacAndEs]

Is it true that notifications are sent out after midnight?

That I honestly do not know. My friend got hers at 1 something am PST. Screenwriting.

 

[Septopus7]

Is it true that notifications are sent out after midnight?

Well nothing can be 100% certain, that seems to largely be the case by the people reporting over the last few years. Almost always after midnight, and largely (but not entirely 100%) on weekends. And when I got my denial letter last year, it was on a Saturday at 2:00 AM, so I also speak from some experience here. Once again though, nothing is for certain. Anything can happen.

 

[T117]

Hey guys...I also applied for the Screenwriting MFA and just recently realized I could even log into a portal...I was just waiting for the email..or I suppose actual letter.

So you're just looking under the decision status and it displays no messages right? Are you able to check the status of your financial aid documentation? I clicked on that and they were asking for more information from me besides the FAFSA...and no I'm not an international student...just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience. Sorry....I guess I'm just nervous and slightly freaking out about these decisions, or frankly lack there of at the moment.

 

[T117]

Also, just for what people earlier were talking about. I just graduated from Undergrad in May 2017...I took a year off...I pretty much solely write comedy, more on the television side of things....and I took massive (or what I thought were massive) risks with my application in terms of content.

 

[Anon]

Hey guys...I also applied for the Screenwriting MFA and just recently realized I could even log into a portal...I was just waiting for the email..or I suppose actual letter.

So you're just looking under the decision status and it displays no messages right? Are you able to check the status of your financial aid documentation? I clicked on that and they were asking for more information from me besides the FAFSA...and no I'm not an international student...just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience. Sorry....I guess I'm just nervous and slightly freaking out about these decisions, or frankly lack there of at the moment.

Yeah, I am in the same place. Can still log in and see everything, just waiting for it to change!

 

[Johnella18]

Also, just for what people earlier were talking about. I just graduated from Undergrad in May 2017...I took a year off...I pretty much solely write comedy, more on the television side of things....and I took massive (or what I thought were massive) risks with my application in terms of content.

Tell us about these massive risks. Lol. I'm curious

 

[Septopus7]

Hey guys...I also applied for the Screenwriting MFA and just recently realized I could even log into a portal...I was just waiting for the email..or I suppose actual letter.

So you're just looking under the decision status and it displays no messages right? Are you able to check the status of your financial aid documentation? I clicked on that and they were asking for more information from me besides the FAFSA...and no I'm not an international student...just wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience. Sorry....I guess I'm just nervous and slightly freaking out about these decisions, or frankly lack there of at the moment.

This is anecdotal based on other forum posts (like everything else I write), but I've heard that the decision letter is posted FIRST at you.usc.edu, with the email saying to check your status coming in a few hours later. That would explain why the emails are received at such strange hours -- while it's likely the letter was posted on you.usc.edu during normal business hours (say, 4:00 PM), the ALERT itself is not emailed until a bit later (like 2:41 AM, which is when I got my denial last year.)

Ultimately you'll find out within the same day (unless your spam catcher goes crazy or something), but the "Decision Status" tab seems to be the most up-to-the-moment one.

 

[Anon]

This is anecdotal based on other forum posts (like everything else I write), but I've heard that the decision letter is posted FIRST at you.usc.edu, with the email saying to check your status coming in a few hours later. That would explain why the emails are received at such strange hours -- while it's likely the letter was posted on you.usc.edu during normal business hours (say, 4:00 PM), the ALERT itself is not emailed until a bit later (like 2:41 AM, which is when I got my denial last year.)

Ultimately you'll find out within the same day (unless your spam catcher goes crazy or something), but the "Decision Status" tab seems to be the most up-to-the-moment one.

now I'm going to be waking up at random hours of the night and checking my email haha

 

[MacAndEs]

To whoever said that they took major risks, I think that's exactly what they want. My friend who got in submitted 10 pages of a gritty dark Sex and the City meets the Avengers story she wrote. She says, "hi " btw. I told her to avenge us if none of us get in but I'm sure some of y'all will make the cut.

 

[TheMaskedBandit]

To whoever said that they took major risks, I think that's exactly what they want. My friend who got in submitted 10 pages of a gritty dark Sex and the City meets the Avengers story she wrote. She says, "hi " btw. I told her to avenge us if none of us get in but I'm sure some of y'all will make the cut.

That sounds awesome.

 

[ZJL]

Hey all. I’ve been lurking around this forum for awhile. I also applied for the upcoming term.

I wanted to comment on some of the posts regarding content. I have a friend who was admitted to the program recently and they shared some general advice with me as I was appplying. It eased my mind a lot because it kind of lowered the bar for me since I was going into it with no prior training or experience with Screenwriting.

All it takes is for the professor reading to engage with one piece of their material. So your material could be great, but still get passed over depending on the connections you or someone else made with the person reading.


Good luck everyone!

 

[Septopus7]

To whoever said that they took major risks, I think that's exactly what they want. My friend who got in submitted 10 pages of a gritty dark Sex and the City meets the Avengers story she wrote. She says, "hi " btw. I told her to avenge us if none of us get in but I'm sure some of y'all will make the cut.

To your friend:

 

[Septopus7]

Hey all. I’ve been lurking around this forum for awhile. I also applied for the upcoming term.

I wanted to comment on some of the posts regarding content. I have a friend who was admitted to the program recently and they shared their application materials with me as I was appplying. It eased my mind a lot because it kind of lowered the bar for me since I was going into it with no prior training or experience with Screenwriting. However, once I learned more about the process it made me a little more nervous. They told me that upon admission they recieved a call from the professor who advocated for them during selections. The professor connected with one part of their “Autobiographical Character Sketch”. All it took was for the professor reading to engage with that one piece of their material. So your material could be great, but still get passed over depending on the connections you or someone else made with the person reading your material.

This eased my mind a bit, but also racks my nerves at times. Either way it provides a little more insight to the process.

I don't want to say it's a pure crapshoot, because clearly a certain level of skill and natural talent is required to get in the program (or I would at least imagine.) But there's a pretty low baseline for talent -- ESPECIALLY for something like art. The far bigger component is connection, as you said, and that is absolutely unpredictable. Maybe the professor reading your material is having a bad day, and can't really get himself invested in it. Maybe you wrote the best horror short ever...but the professor randomly assigned to you really isn't a fan of the genre. Maybe, maybe, maybe...

But as frustrating as that might be for something we all clearly have passion for...decisions made on random ass whims is a natural component of life. Maybe that job you really wanted passed you over because you were really tall, and they don't like working with tall people. Maybe your soul mate ditched you on your first date because they saw you pick your nose beforehand, and just couldn't move forward from there. Sucky things happen for dumb reasons. C'est la vie.

But, uh, yeah: to get back on topic, sometimes GOOD THINGS happen for equally dumb reasons. I prefer to embrace that line of thinking, rather than wallow too much in the former. So we're all being admitted tomorrow because one of the professors liked that we mentioned a particular brand of candy in our scripts, right?

 

[T117]

Yeah i agree, I think it’s just a crapshoot. Either the person reading really enjoys my sense of humor or they don’t...it’s as simple as that...and especially comedy, I mean look at all the different versions on tv today. People have different tastes in what makes them laugh. So yeah, I mean I think it’s 100% a crapshoot.

As far as the risks go, maybe I just thought it was risky, the biggest was the how you became who you are type essay....which instead of doing a sappy tell all, or describing growing up, or picking a life altering event, I did a pretty bitting first person perspective about a certain midwestern Restaurant that I think is garbage.

My elevator scene started dramatic and then quickly devolved into basically a slapstick yet gory snl sketch complete with vomit and fake blood.

My apartment sketch was very broad city humoresque if it wasn’t on Comedy Central but rather hbo where there’s no filter to the words...Bc I used some vulgar insults.

And then the personal submission I flipped and did a family sitcom pilot with humor that could be on like abc family. I think that was my weakest, but it was definitely a different comedy then my other submissions.

So i just felt risky for the language, vulgarity in sexual topics, and flat out gore I used in my submissions. Then finishing it out with a family friendly piece, which just seemed out of place.

 

[T117]

But then again this is me just thinking all this...but who really knows. I just hope I had an open reader who can appreciate the type of humor I used, even if they don't necessarily enjoy it. But, I also think it's crazy that they read like 40 and choose 2-3....I wonder if they try and separate genres or anything...because how do you compare a slapstick to a heavy hitting drama...their intentions are so different.

 

[MacAndEs]

I was also pretty all over the place with my submissions.

My elevator scene was a gay romantic subversion of that really bad NYE movie with the celebs from a while back.

My two people debating leaving home was anchored around a father and a son debating to leave for a supply run in a world overtaken by giant bugs.

My autobiographical character sketch was a heavy-handed gothic fairy tale-inspired recap of my entire life thus far.

My 10 page sample was the opening to a low-fi, sci-fi thriller I wrote about a coal miner and his daughter.

The most confident and compelling piece of my submissions was my scholarship 3-pager about a heated dinner between a first generation Asian American, his parents, and his mixed children (who’ve been accused of being raised “white”).

I feel like maybe a portfolio that had a clear angle and genre would stand out more.

 

[T117]

I'm down to swap stories privately if people would be interested?

 

[Septopus7]

I would be into a swap. Especially if this whole application once again goes south. Will need SOMEONE who isn't me to perform an autopsy on just what went wrong...

 

[GoAndLoveSomeMore]

According to the spreadsheet, I think someone got accepted today! Yay!

 

[Kjpermen]

According to the spreadsheet, I think someone got accepted today! Yay!

Yeah, I just saw this as well, but I am confused. USC Screenwriting doesn't offer interviews and this candidate says that he/she got an interview notification 1/11 and an interview 2/7. To even further confuse the matter, it says the candidate was admitted without interview...

Anyone have the answers? Regardless, congratulations to the anonymous writer! Also, good luck to all of us playing this vicious waiting game. I'm rooting for us all.