Yea, as the title explains, films school for a dumbass, aka me. Im not the sharpest tool in teh shed. I have decient gpa (92) and a few honors classes, but my SAT's are poor. Im only a junior so i have a chance to bring some stuff up, but it doesnt look promising. The only prospects i have are my films and sports.

Basically what I'm driving at is that all the major films schools (NYU, USC, FSU, CHAPMAN, etc) probably wont accept me. Are there any other recommendations for schools that are a little less hard to get into? Also, no art schools, my parents wont pay for an art school.

thanks guys.

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Alex Conway
Mind-Trip Films

c.w.post long island uni

1 year there, get good grades and transfer to a big school

Since you're only a junior right now, you have plenty of time to make yourself look attractive to good film schools. It won't be easy at all, but it'll be worth it at the end.

A few things you could try doing:

-Take a SAT prep class in the summer. I know people who have improved their score by over 150 points after taking these kinds of classes. Princeton Review has a good program, but there are other local programs depending on where you live. You still have plenty of time to get those SAT scores up, and you'll be a lot smarter by the beginning of your senior year which is the ideal time to take SATs, so keep working at getting your score up. I took the SATs in May of last year and scored a 1230, but then in October I took it again and scored a 1360.

-Keep your grades up. Junior year grades are really important to colleges so work hard and keep your GPA solid.

-Good recommendation letters. Get to know your teachers well and be sure that they know about your passion for film and all that stuff so that when its time to ask them for a letter of rec, they'll be prepared.

The most important thing, though, is to keep making great movies/scripts/short stories. Since you said that your only prospects are film and sports, take advantage of your film. Make an awesome movie this summer that you can send to colleges. If you have the talent and passion, most film schools will accept you even if your grades and test scores are below average. Don't get me wrong, grades and test scores are important, but if an applicant has an average GPA, weak SAT scores, but great stuff in their portfolio and a great esssay, they'll most likely get in.

I have a friend who's in the film production program at USC, and he got in with a 1150 SAT score (average SAT score of a film student at USC was 1365 last year). His GPA wasn't too great as well, but he has amazing creative potential and he had some VERY nice short films in his portfolio. He was also close with two of his english teachers and they were able to write him great letters of reccomendation about his passion for film and stuff. So even though he wasnt great academicly, USC still wanted him.

I definately think you should apply to NYU, USC, Chapman, FSU, and other competitive schools. Do early decision for NYU and early action for Chapman. I think Cal State Long Beach has a decent program that is pretty easy to get into, and San Diego State as well. Don't know much about non-california schools.

Damn this is a long post. I hope this was of some help. Good luck!

Let me get this straight... you have a 92 GPA which is basically A's and high B's and you think you are a dumbass? I get straight C's and consider myself average. I have looked around and found a good school for me. NO not full sail! see www.fullsailsucks.com .http://www.aii.edu/home.asp they believe that grades cannot reflect your artistic talents and goals. I plan on going to the one in Philadephia next year. Tell me what you think.

screw AI;

and fullsailsucks.com is just a hate site, made by a bunch of losers (probably 2, who keep making different names, and fake reviews) and the ONLY reason they are doing it is because they werent meant to go to a school like that.
now they are pissed off, because they spent all that money and wasted it because they thought 'hey if i go here, ill be like speilberg...or maybe lucas stepping outta college'

and yes, this is the truth, because people who go to fullsail with REALISTIC expectations, and set goals, and bust their ass..ACTUALLY DO GET SOMEWHERE...

i have talked to SEVERAL (around 12) different grads who are actually making something outta their career. they arent the ones who sit on their ass, and gripe...but they are out there, looking for work.

the people that bitc* and complain about fullsail, are the sad people, who didnt make it work..

ALSO, FULLSAIL is PERFECT for PRODUCERS...i cannot stress this enough. for directors? you might want to look into something like NYU, or UCLA...
they focus more on the CREATIVE side of the process...

in short, FULLSAIL is what you make of it...
dont pay attention to some punk bitc*es who think they know everything about fullsail...

if you want to go, schedule a tour, and check the place out..
i was hooked after i went to the Behind the Scenes tour... i got to see everything, even got to check out/use some equipment during the tour...

so dont listen to those FAKES who hate on fullsail, because A) they cant handle it and B) they are pathetic..

_________________________
J.MICHAEL | FILMS ABROAD ©

I always feel like I have to defend Full Sail on this site (usually from Tizzy), even though I don't like to push it on people. The real funny thing is that its always people who didn't go to Full Sail that blast it. I'm not gonna spend a ton of time laying out reasons to go but, J Michael pretty much summed it up. It's not for everyone, it's for self motivators. I had 50 people in my class and I'd say 48 of them had a positive experiance. The school isn't perfect but It doesn't have any more haters than any other school. But Full Sail is a school with a Web Design program, which may be why they have so many haters online.

Cammo

OK, just some words on longbeach...

Horrid. I mean on paper I guess it looks good but I toured it and it was crappy. They said that they built a soundstage, but they build it with the wrong material o that the sound echo's. They don't have enough money to rebuild it, and so now there is this just worthless room.

The facilities are cheap and not nearly as nice as places like Chapman, USC, and Loyola. I don't know about NYU, but i'm sure it is also very nice.