Im attending Ryerson University's film studies program. Ryerson's film program is very selective but it is a Canadian school and I dont know if any big US film schools will have heard much about it. How important is the reputation of the undergrad school when applying to top 5 US film schools? Another issue is that the grading is different in canada. The class averages are in the 50%-60%. My GPA is 3.3 but that puts me in the top 10% of my class. I know lots of US schools have big grade inflation with average GPAs being way higher then those of canadian schools. In my school an A is only worth 3.5 so I would have to get all As and A+s to finish with over 3.5. If any Canadian's have gotten into a big US school after doing there undergrad in Canada I could really use some advice. Thanks a lot.

I went to a small, not even slightly selective public university that few have heard of, and I got into two (or three, depending on the "top five" listed) of the schools you speak of.

That said, it was in Ohio, not Canada, but I'm pretty sure that these admissions counselors are familiar with the differences in GPA calculations across the world...they admit international students constantly...I currently study with an Iraqi, a Brazilian, a Norwegian, a couple Taiwanese...etc, etc.

No worries!