I called up USC today and learned some cool news. My application is now at the admissions comittee and they are hoping to have all of the letters sent out by April 1st.

Wow! The time has finally come!

Ryan, what program did you apply to? and do you know if they are still doing phone interviews?

This is going to be the longest month of my life...

I appplied to the Production program.

It is going to be a LONG month for me too!

What program did you apply for?

Is that for undergrad or grad?

MFA Film production as well. Do you know if they are doing any type of interview at all?

That is for the graduate level. I did'nt ask about undergraduates. I am almost certain USC does not interview, but I could be wrong on that.

Hey gang,

I just received a rejection letter from the USC critical studies program. There is no way for me to say what I am about to say without sounding like an egotistical jerk, but I honestly thought my application was strong enough to procure, at the very least, an interview. Obviously, I was wrong.

My first instinct is to call their admissions department on Monday and politely ask what kept my application from being accepted. The only problem with that is, unless I am mistaken, university policy prevents their staff from disclosing those facts to their applicants.

What that leaves me to do is rigorously examine each part of my application and more importantly, improve it. Do I need stronger letters of recommendation? Do I need to retake the GRE? Do I need to write a better statement of purpose? Do I need to choose a more compelling subject for my film analysis? Chances are excellent that the answer to each of these questions is 'yes'.

My apologies for making you sit through my rant. My heartiest congratulations go out to those of you who were accepted to USC or any other school to which you applied.

Have a good night and don't forget to set your clocks one hour forward tonight at 2am.

Ciao for now,

J.G.

Okay, the time has come for me to be nervous. I only applied to UCLA and USC, and I really only applied to UCLA as an afterthought.

USC is where I want to be, and I invested a lot of energy in that application (including a whole lot of studying for that damn GRE).

Hey Seattle,

If you don't mind my asking, what was your application like? What did you write your essay on? What was your GRE score? Stuff like that.

And you don't sound like an egotistical jerk for expressing confidence in the strength of your application.

I'm in a similar situation. I sincerely believe that I put forward a strong application for the Production program, but I am well aware of how tight the acceptance rate is, so I'm fully prepared for bad news.

Ryan, they were able to tell you that your application is currently being evaluated? Does that mean you were able to ask about the individual status of your particular application?

Hello Mao,

To answer your question, I wrote my essay as a detailed analysis of the opening sequence of Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries". My GRE scores weren't so hot. I don't recall my exact verbal and mathematical scores off-hand, but I want to say that I scored 530 in the verbal section and 490 in the math section. My analytical writing score was 4.5.

I don't know about you, but I found the GRE extraordinarily difficult. If I had to guess, I would say that I spent 60 hours preparing for that test and of all the practice questions I studied and restudied, MAYBE ten percent of them showed up in the test for which I sat. My real estate license exam was a walk through Disneyland compared to the GRE.

As for my statement of purpose, I would say that the part with which I went terribly wrong was the pompous tone I took when I declared my goal to become a leading film critic. To make matters even worse, I made a thunderously overbearing commitment in advance to view no less than 12 films and produce no less than two scholarly papers per week. When I sat down to write my statement, the reason I included those remarks was to set myself apart from my competition. Now I see that all I did was make myself look like a no-talent wannabe dilettante.

My point is this. If you should find yourself rejected, re-open your application package (I trust you saved a copy of those materials for your own records) and examine it from head to toe. Recently, I watched a YouTube video posted by a professor at USC (whose name escapes me at the moment) and in it, he said that if he had one piece of advice to give anyone who wants to get into film school, it would be to make your application stand out from the competiton.

Here's what I gather from the good professor's indispensable words of wisdom. Use your own experience as a source of inspiration for pursuing a career in film and more importantly, convey how specifically that experience has led you to the school you want to attend. Let the admissions department know you want that acceptance letter so badly you cannot live without it.

If it's any consolation, Chapman is still accepting applications to their graduate programs even though their priority deadline of February 1st has passed. I'm normally not one to tell others how to conduct themselves, Mao, but if I were you, I would high-tail it over to Chapman's web site at www.chapman.edu and initiate an online application. That way, the action would broaden your field from two to three applications. Plus, you won't have to wait until fall to reapply. If you agree with the USC professor's advice, now would be an excellent time to follow it.

Feel free to ask me any other questions you like. I hope this helps you.

Take care,

J.G.

Yes, I was able to ask about my particular application. I was also able to verify that all of my official transcrips and other elements of my application were in. Finally, when I log into the online application website the message has changed to:

We are reviewing your application. If transcripts or other important documentation is missing from your file in the Graduate Admission office, these items are listed below. Please periodically check the status for the most current information.

I am really on edge now.

Ryan

I, too, just received my rejection letter from USC. I applied to the Stark program, which I know is exceedingly competitive.

The thing that bugged me was the letter itself. First, it was dated March 12, but I received it on March 8, which just seems odd and unprofessional.

The biggest thing, though, is that after saying "we're very competitive, lots of qualified students don't get in, blah blah blah" they spent an entire page explaining how "one" may not have gotten in because of GRE scores (which have to be a minimum of 1000, competitive over 1100). This really really confused me because I had very good GRE scores (1390 if I remember correctly, which placed me in the 90th percentile in both math and verbal).

Did anyone else receive a similar rejection letter from them? I'm asking because I'm wondering if something got mixed up in my application packet/my scores never got sent from ETS or something. This just seemed like a very odd standard rejection letter.

The Stark program was sort of my step-child application (I applied to screenwriting at AFI and UCLA), so I wasn't necessarily expecting to get, but the specifics of the rejection letter are just really bothering me!

I'd love to hear others' experiences (whether similar or not). I may try calling the admissions office on Monday, despite the fact the letter boldly says not to contact them before mid May.

UPDATE:

After reading Ryan C.'s post, I got onto USC's grad school application system and it seems my transcripts AND GRE scores were never received!!! WTF?! Ug, looks like it's going to be a fun Monday of calling people and trying to figure this all out. Boo.

KelMo,

When I log in the only thing the system shows as being received is the GRE scores. All of the transcrips are listed as not received-- BUT when I called them up they looked over the application and said everything had been received--- so, I am guessing that application system may not show everything.

KelMo and SeattleCinemaniac: when you log in to the online application system, what does it say your status is?

I'm sorry to those who've received bad news, but just so you know, for the most part, rejection letters are form letters.

I received a rejection from UT-A when I never even applied. I simply began the Texas Common App or whatever it's called. I never finished it or sent it, and the rejection letter cited similar stats and told me to consider applying next year.

As for the app status updates online, and this is only for last year, I was told that SCA doesn't use the damn thing.

Just saying.

Keep your heads up, guys, and try to figure out what went wrong so you can apply next year, like Seattle says.

I know it may seem easy for me to say, but I mean it. I know how much film school means to the people who take the time to visit this site.

Best to all of you.

JMS

It says my application is "incomplete."

KelMo,

If it's any consolation, chances are excellent that USC does not keep up to date information on its graduation application status site.

I say that because UCLA runs their program that way; they track application statuses up to and including the post mark deadline. After that, they focus all their energy on working through the pile of paper applications.

Most graduate schools are so busy reviewing paper applications, they don't have any time to update the status site. I wouldn't worry about USC not receiving your transcripts and test scores. In all probability, they got everything and just didn't indicate it on their site. Call if you like, but I say your application is complete.

I'm sorry you got the bad news. Do you have any other applications pending?

Have a good night,

J.G.

Yeah, my USC online application status is incomplete, but I called several months ago to make sure they received all of my materials. Still, it's scary to see "incomplete."

Hey Ryan, the message I get on the site is this:

The preliminary academic evaluation of your application is complete. Your file has been forwarded to your intended graduate program(s) for their review and admissions decision. You may check this website anytime for a status update.

Is that what yours said before this latest update? Did they change it right after you called?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: maozbrown,

Maozbrown:

Interesting. I never saw that message. I could have missed it though so I wouldnt read to much into it.

However, we both applied to the Production program. All of our materials are in, yet there is a different message. I have no idea what it means.

So, if you got in, would USC be your first choice?