# Getting accepted to film school?



## burtnbrdr1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Here the what i have.

I have a 3.717 gpa, and a 20 on the act (i am a slow test taker and suck at tests i get very stressful and pressed for time).  
I was wondering if i could get into NYU, FSU, UCLA, USC or any other of the TOP film schools.

I of those above I only applied to FSU, and i dont think i got in.  Also i highly doubt i could get into those schools in the first place.  

I have also applied to C.W. Post long island univercity

UCF
Cal state fullerton
cal state northridge
univercity of colorado boulder
and columbia college

thanks brian


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## burtnbrdr1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Here the what i have.

I have a 3.717 gpa, and a 20 on the act (i am a slow test taker and suck at tests i get very stressful and pressed for time).  
I was wondering if i could get into NYU, FSU, UCLA, USC or any other of the TOP film schools.

I of those above I only applied to FSU, and i dont think i got in.  Also i highly doubt i could get into those schools in the first place.  

I have also applied to C.W. Post long island univercity

UCF
Cal state fullerton
cal state northridge
univercity of colorado boulder
and columbia college

thanks brian


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## TizzyEntertainment (Jan 6, 2004)

Well I can only give you info on what i ahev heard. Some mebers here are attending NYU so they can give you a headfs up on what is needed but I hear they rely heavily on your entrance essay. A good reel and a few letters of recomendation (especially from NYU alumni) dont hurt eithere. 

  I loivd in Florida and had many friends attend FSU. From what I have heard they dont even look at reels and use a combination of the entrance exam and how many internships in the field you may have done as qualifiers.

  They are not on your list but Savanah Arts College and North Carlina School of the Arts both have extremly strong programs. Ive heard that NCSA chooses students based almost entirly on their person to person interview. The good news is descent grades mixed with some talent and ALOT of passion should get you into a good school. If nothing else so a couple years at a Junior College with a good program and build a portfolio. Good luck.
R. Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer


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## Drew Johnton (Jan 6, 2004)

Okay.... this is how I go into NYU....

it wasn't my GPA (3.5)
It wasn't my SAT (1150)

It was my portfolio and reccomendation letters.

I attending the New York FIlm Academy's 6 week program in orlando and made a film on this ite titled "Sweet Love" which i sent in.  i believe because this was shot on 16mm film and was, (IN MY OPINION) much better than the average film they get from high school kids. 

i wrote a GREAT portfolio essay that I had edited by an online company called ESSAY EDGE.  I highly reccomend them.  They don't change your essay they will just make it more professional and presentable.  They don't do anything for you.

ALso.  I had reccomendation letters from two people. One attending NYU's graduate film school and one who graduated from NYU's graduate film school.

its good to have high scores... yea... but I didn't need them.

Also... You probably should have applied early decision.  I know that helped me as well.


I would also look at Emerson College... they have alot of famous ALumni and was the college I though I would end up going to because I did not think i was going to get into NYU.


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## Drew Johnton (Jan 6, 2004)

I really liked Miami as well.


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## Hoeks (Jan 6, 2004)

Dude I was one year at C.W.Post)

if you go there, take classes with jamie, hes cool as hell

and david steritt


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## Trespasser (Jan 6, 2004)

Wow Drew, your past story is very similar to my present conflict. I recently applied to NYU (3.9 GPA, 1170 SAT, with 2 teacher recommendations. Both who are NYU alums. My backup school is also Emerson. Very interesting. Should I assume you're in Tisch? If so, how is it? I hope I get in.


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## Hoeks (Jan 6, 2004)

ok I had from C .W.post a 4.0 after one year and a AWESOME rc letter from jamie,. a teacher there (I did not deserve that one

he was NYU grad school


HOWEVER&lt; My high school GPA was like a C-

and they looked at it too

academics are only 50%, the rest is portfolio


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## Lazyaznguy (Jan 6, 2004)

yea academics don't seem to be weighed too heavily when applying to top film programs... letters of rec, your portfolio(sample work), and personal statement(essay) seem to be the most important part of getting accepted... i would say that academics only account for maybe 25%-50% of your admissions decisions...

i think you should apply to Chapman and Loyola Marymount University, they both have pretty good film programs and are located in CA.

i've applied to Chapman and i'm about 95% sure i didn't get in.
i have a 3.9 GPA and a 1360 on my SATs which puts me way above the average applicant at Chapman (i think their avg is like 3.6 and 1150) but my personal statement wasn't too great, my portfolio sucked, and i didn't have a lot of experience.  Basically it made me look like i didn't care much for a career in film, which isn't true.

so basically make sure that you have a great essay, portfolio, and letters of rec.  be sure to let the school know how passionate and serious you are about pursuing a career in film.  film schools look for passion and potential rather than some nerdy kid with good grades and test scores who just randomly decides he wants to make movies.

if only i had figured this out before i started applying to schools...


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## JASONvb (Jan 6, 2004)

If you're applying for fall 2004, then i believe it is a but late to be applying to most of the colleges you mentioned.

USC deadline is this saturday
UCLA deadline was 3 weeks ago
(as well as all the UC schools)

and umm.. yeah i sure hope you are applying for fall 2005.

"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time"


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## Drew Johnton (Jan 7, 2004)

Trespasser ---  I was not accepted to Tisch.  i was accepted to the General Studies program and if I keep a 3.0 GPA then I am guarnteed to be in Tisch my sophmore year.  I can still take film classes and I do NOT fall behind.  It's great and sometimes it hink that i would even rather be accepted to this instead of straight to Tisch... But... maybe I'm an idiot.

And That deadlione for USC is wrong... because I missed it... and I was kinda upset.  haha.

I think the most important thing to get into film school is to attend some kind of class or workshop in which you make a film and you learn alot that they teach you in college anyway.  Then your film can be sent in.

For example....

I attended the New York Film academy's 6 week summer workshop and If  didn;t go to that I do not think I would have ever been accepted to NYU.  AND... if you go to one of these things... WORK WITH FILM IF YOU CAN.  Don't go digital.  Every High School filmmaker across the country can do digital, but if you can succesfully make a film ON actual film.  Then that will impress them.

Look at my film "Sweet love"... Whether or not you think it's good... it is that and my portfolio essay that got me into NYU.


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## NotaMono (Jan 8, 2004)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by burtnbrdr1:
i am a slow test taker and suck at tests i get very stressful and pressed for time<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I hope that ends at test-taking, because film sets tend to be stressful environments where you're almost always pressed for time.

I would highly recommend that you take the SAT's (1&2's) as well (Regardless of how you do).  Most west coast schools won't look at the ACT's and IMO the SAT's are much easier (Although things may have changed since 1995).

I had the opposite problem.  I had about a 3.3 GPA but good SAT scores, and wound up at my 1st choice school (UC San Diego).  I would've probablly gone somewhere else had I known I wanted to go into film at the time, but it was ultimately the perfect school for me.  I can tell you that UCSD and UCLA have similar admissions standards (UCLA is a little tougher) so you probablly have a worthwhile chance.  They tend to weight grades heavier than scores there anyway.

Nota "Alumni of Clayton H.S. in St. Louis, MO represnet" Mono


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## Tim Arista (Jan 8, 2004)

Burt, I wish you luck. This is my last year of high school also and I'm going to try and apply to...

Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Northridge
UT
UNT
and maybe Ithaca College

I really wanted to go to USC or NYU, but my stats aren't great at all. I have a 3.1 GPA and a 1040 SAT score. I'm going to try my best for the first 2 years at whatever college I go to, then, I'll try really hard to transfer to USC.
I wish you luck once again.


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## topher (Jan 8, 2004)

hope this helps but if you get over 30 credit hours anywhere. than the college of your choice will not look at your high school grades anymore.

this is good news because you will not take a film class untill the last two years anyways. you can take all the bull**** classes somewhere else.

Ye, who goes to bed with itchy butt, wakes up with stinky finger.


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## Hoeks (Jan 9, 2004)

that is not true about having film classes only the last two years

I had 16mm production in my freshman year at C.W.Post, and I have the same in my sophomore year at NYU...in fact, its all about production hier from sophomore year on.


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