# USC Personal Statement for Screenwriting?



## KrisKelvin (Nov 12, 2010)

I figured this must have come up somewhere in the past but my searches are turning up nada, so before I contact the admissions department I figured I might as well see if anyone knows the answer.

My question, as the subject indicates, is whether a personal statement is required for USC's Writing MFA.  Under the admissions materials is listed an "autobiographical character sketch", which sounds a lot like the traditional personal statement.  The online application does have a place where you can upload a personal statement, though that mechanism is good for all graduate departments.  

So for anyone in the know, is the ACS basically the personal statement for USC?  

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## Generallyspeaking22 (Nov 13, 2010)

Does anyone think that writing the Autobiographical character sketch using Ariel 11 (as opposed to 12) would be a big no-no? I'm trying to cram 2 1/3 page into 2.

Those who have been accepted into the program and have done similar things are encouraged to give insight. 

Thx!


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## Jayimess (Nov 14, 2010)

Autobiographical Character Sketch is an opportunity to tell the admissions committee who you are.  You can treat yourself as a character if you'd like, but there is a lot more freedom than if you were writing a formal statement of purpose.  

GenerallySpeaking, I suggest you edit yourself instead of relying on tweaking formats and fonts and margins.


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## KrisKelvin (Nov 14, 2010)

Thanks for your response, Jayimess.  My personal statement (the one I submitted to UCLA and am tweaking for other schools) does give an idea of "who I am", and with the exception of several perfunctory sentences showing I know a thing or two about the individual school it's not very formal at all.  Originally I'd planned to write drastically different statements for each school in the hope I'd hit the mark on at least one, but I eventually crafted a piece I liked and decided I might as well go all in with it.

I do have the emotional moment which deals with a specific instance in my life, and there I'm definitely a distinct character.  It's in the form of a short story, and when combined with my writing samples and creative challenges (once I write the second one, lol), I think the admissions people will get a pretty solid impression of my writing and storytelling ability.  The only question is whether that impression will be "this guy's a genius" or "this must be the worst thing I've ever read".  More likely it'll be somewhere in the middle, but I'm praying it's a lot closer to the former than the latter


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## beezy16 (Nov 29, 2010)

I'm a little confused. So is the Statement of Purpose required for the Screenwriting MFA app or do we just need to do the autobiographical character sketch?


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## SDsurfer (Nov 29, 2010)

wondering the same thing. Have read conflicting statements on this site and there is no info on USC's website. Sent SCA an email but still no response =/


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## KrisKelvin (Nov 30, 2010)

I'm 99.9% sure the personal statement isn't required for screenwriting.  I too saw the seemingly contradictory post on another thread from an earlier year, but I believe that information came from the graduate department (where they likely associate all graduate programs with having a personal statement) and not Cinematic Studies.  If you look at other programs like production, you'll see that personal statement is explicitly mentioned, whereas in screenwriting it is not.  Screenwriting's also the only program to require an ACS, which it's been established is less formal than a personal statement but I think will bear some similarities in that you're talking about your life until now.

I'm sure you can upload a personal statement online (I did so with my resume even though it's not required), but I don't know what they'd do with it.  Bottom line is I suspect their focus is on the ACS, emotional moment, creative challenges, writing samples, and portfolio list (geez...did I forget anything, lol?).  Also, here's a thread where someone heard that personal statement wasn't required (read the last post):

http://www.studentfilms.com/ev...830038606#1830038606


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## Jayimess (Nov 30, 2010)

Writing Application Procedures

Seems pretty clear cut to me, folks.  Write the personal statement, or your application is incomplete.


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## Generallyspeaking22 (Dec 1, 2010)

Hi Guys,

I called the admissions' office months ago as well as moments ago and both times I was told that the ACS takes the place of the personal statement and that the personal statement is not needed for the Writing MFA application.


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## KrisKelvin (Dec 1, 2010)

Thanks for confirming that, Generallyspeaking.  Guess I will *gulp* submit my application.  Thus begins the waiting...


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## collegegrad10 (Oct 21, 2011)

this will sound dumb..but does anyone know if the ACS is double or single spaced?


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