University of Southern California (USC)
Locations: Los Angeles, CA
Degrees: Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorates
Programs: Film/Television Production, Screenwriting, Interactive Media, Animation, Law, Medicine, Music, and many others
Tuition Range: 40,000+ per Year
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With an enrollment of over 37,000 students, the University of Southern California offers a wide range of programs both at its main campus in the heart of Los Angeles and in several satellite campuses spread throughout southern California. Fields of study are many, including Law, Medicine, Architecture, Music, Theatre, Fine Arts and many others. Of particular note is USC’s world-renowned School of Cinematic Arts, which offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Film & Television Production, Screenwriting, Interactive Media, Animation, Media Arts and others. The school also offers two Ph.D. degrees, in Media Arts and Critical Studies. In addition to its film school, USC offers related media programs such as Journalism (Communications) and Scoring for Film and Television (in its Music school). Among its many famous alumni now successful in the entertainment business are directors Ron Howard and Robert Zemeckis.
USC’s School of Cinematic Arts offers a traditional college approach to education; expect to spend a minimum of four years earning a bachelor’s degree. Current tuition rates are near the top end of the spectrum, estimated at over $40,000 per year, not including fees and room/board.
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Student Reviews
With an enrollment of over 37,000 students, the University of Southern California offers a wide range of programs both at its main campus in the heart of Los Angeles and in several satellite campuses spread throughout southern California. Fields of study are many, including Law, Medicine, Architecture, Music, Theatre, Fine Arts and many others. Of [...]
Review by Joe W.
August 5, 2012 5I attended USC film school but didn’t graduate from the masters program because I found work and decided to pursue that career path. Film school exceeded my expectations. I excelled at school for one of the few times in my life and made life-long friends. I managed to make a career out of editing in feature films.
Definitely would recommend film school because it offered the opportunity to make your own film cheaply and learn through action.
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Seth Y.
July 26, 2012 4I grew up at this campus. I started coming here with my dad who has been a professor for over 25 years. Wow has this school changed over the years. Its really gobbled up the neighborhood surrounding it and has put a lot of new popular restaurants within walking distance of campus.
The location is not ideal. Its kind of sad how rich this school is in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
I enjoyed my undergrad years here and made many memories. Now with the addition of the expo line getting around will be that much easier for the students going to this school.
Review by Paula D.
July 18, 2012 4I attended University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles. At the time, however, it was known as the School of Cinema-Television. The “Cinematic Arts” name is relatively new—I think in the last two or three years. I graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production, December, 1989.
The school met my expectations, yes. It’s the best in the world. The Hollywood film industry, however, did not. It’s very exclusionary—a real “closed shop.” If you don’t toe a certain line, and/or have the right connections, you’re not welcome.
I’ve been a story analyst and script consultant since 1989 (I was so good at it, I got my first job doing it while I was still in grad school.) I worked for a number of production companies/studios as a freelancer, and then worked as an independent freelancer. I still do it on an occasional basis, even though I no longer live in Southern California.
I did story analysis and script consulting as my day job for years while I still lived in Los Angeles, trying to break in as a screenwriter. I had a LOT of close calls trying to break in, but they all fell through—and pretty much for one prevailing reason each time: The financing fell apart for the projects. You can’t make a movie without money. I hung on as long as I could, trying to make a go of it, and getting very close, but it never happened for me, so after nearly 11 years, I came home to Michigan. Sometimes, you just never get that lucky break, no matter how hard you try.
That’s the worst thing about filmmaking in Hollywood. You can be super-prepared, hone your craft and your art for years and years, work like a dog at it while trying to make, and strengthen, your industry connections, etc., etc. But if the break doesn’t come your way, you are out in the cold. It’s a business of “who you know.” And also a business of luck. Talent is almost beside the point, I’m sorry to say. That said, you really can’t do better than USC for the all-around filmmaking experience.
I wouldn’t do it all over again. I should have gotten my masters degree in something else. It would have caused me a lot less grief as an artist, and cost a lot less money.
If film school is something you feel you absolutely must do as an artist—I mean, in your bones you feel this is your path in life—then go after it. Pursue it with guns blazing. You won’t be happy with yourself unless you try. At least, later on, you won’t regret never having tried. You have to go for it. But be aware that it’s not easy at school, not easy trying to break in, and not easy working in the film industry.
Make friends in your program at school. Work with them. Work on each others’ projects and be generous with your time. You help them on their films, and they will help you.
Debt Accrued: Less than $5,000
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Jeannette G.
June 19, 2012 5I love this place. It was my home for four years of undergrad and three years of grad school. Many experiences were had here. It is a great place to meet diverse people and well get educated too. I always go back to help whenever I can, because they were so generous with me.
Parking suggestion – make an online reservation.
Best time to appreciate/discover campus – summer, when students are gone.
Best time to feel the college vibe – Fall semester during football season
Fight On!!
Review by Glen B.
April 18, 2012 4I was a tad concerned the first day of my Master’s program when I stepped onto the campus and saw a sea of busty blonde coeds in swimwear, sunning themselves on the berms around McCarthy quad. What have I gotten myself into? I wondered, distressed. Have the stereotypes been true all along?
Will I leave here constantly sporting the much vaunted cardinal and gold and flash the V sign during games, alienating every other person in the greater LA area that does not happen to be Trojan affiliated?
After two years here, I’ve discovered that USC is what you make of it. As you would expect, there are your fair share of future Patrick Batemans that wear suits to class at Marshall. And there are those orange sorority communications majors that will prance around shamelessly in booty shorts. It is part of the landscape, like those beautiful southern magnolias that adorn the campus.
Despite the infamy, there’s so much that USC has to offer. The same month you might hear about students having sex on top of Waite Philips Hall, you will hear about an alumnus giving 10 million dollars to the school or a Nobel laureate joining the faculty. It’s all part of the package.
For every social climbing wannabe i-banker/real estate developer, there’s a malajusted humanities student regretting their decision to go to USC.
For every Greek-affiliated bro listening to dubstep on his skateboard ride to class, there’s a horde of Chinese or Indian engineering students slaving away in Leavey library.
Review by Megan S.
April 1, 2012 3I am considering USC for my Graduate School plans. The overall experience was great–but it seemed like the tour department was a bit off. Communication didn’t go where it needed to.
Hopefully, if I decide to go to USC, this will not be the case.
Review by Joe P.
January 11, 2012 3While I enjoyed USC’s “hands-on” approach to filmmaking, I found their screenwriting teachers weak and out of date. In 1972, a time of great change in Hollywood, the teacher passed out copies of “Lover Come Back” (1961) as an example of “contemporary” screenwriting. This was unfortunate because my goal was to become a Hollywood screenwriter.
Although I’ve been paid to write twelve screenplays (for an independent filmmaking company) and have had over 500 film reviews published, both in print and online, I haven’t found work in the Hollywood film industry… yet.
However, since I graduated (1976) USC has improved their screenwriting teaching/training over the years, and polished and developed their showbiz connections, I would recommend USC’s film department to any student with Hollywood goals.
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by John M.
January 4, 2012 5I graduated from USC with a BA in Cinema-Television Production with graduate advanced studies in film scoring. Since I had no real expectations (I’m kind of Zen – like in my philosophy of things) it was great… no regrets
5. Since graduation I have applied my knowledge and experience working with large and small corporations creating marketing-communications multimedia, etc.,…
There’s a lot of value at USC. I think they have addressed some of their program (and post graduate support) “weaknesses” since I graduated. For example, they now have a more robust internship program and seem to organize more industry relevant networking events at the new School of Cinematic Arts. So, while most schools have rising tuition cost yet lower standards of education and less benefits, I think USC has gone the other direction… sure, tuition costs, and the day-to-day cost of being a student, have increased, so has the offering. So, I think at least insofar as USC is concerned the costs and benefits are proportional.
If I were to do it all over again, I would take more ownership of getting myself out into the real production world while still in school. Immediately after graduating from grad school I accepted two offers from USC to work for them. One offer was off-line editing for the Engineering School; the other was industry liaison for the music school. While this was good in one respect, looking back, I think it kept me insulated from the outside world longer.
Debt Accrued: $5,001 - $10,000
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Darius C.
November 23, 2011 4I graduated with top honors at both BM and MM at USC back in the early 80′s then I went to UCLA film scoring school about 5 years ago. The USC experience gave me all the basics I needed, except the business of music. UCLA filled in the gaps that I needed to score film.
After USC (actually during my masters) I started working as a violinist on film and records. I have played on over 1,300 films (many oscar winners) and 10,000 songs with every major artist from Sinatra, Streisand, Madonna, Jackson, Stefani, the Eagles, etc. As far as after UCLA scoring – this is more of a make it or break it field. Getting your first major film is the hard part. I am currently working on my first full feature film, not a major but a credit to give me that edge when I go for a major.
While I recommend both schools, the business has changed and I would only recommend if the focus was geared to succeeding in the music biz future and not from past expectations.
Review by SchoolReview
November 22, 2011 5I went to California State University, Chico for five years and majored in Music Industry. Classes that were required by the program are as follows: Legal Issues in Music, Wild Oak Music Group I & II (year-long class where you run on-campus record label), Aural Musicianship, Piano I & II (I tested out of these classes due to my previous experience), Music Technology, Music Industry, Recording I & II, Music Theory I, II, III, & IV, Songwriting, etc.
Along with these classes, students were required to log over 160 hours of work with a company associated with the entertainment business as an internship in order to graduate from the program. Also, there were also a number of clubs and extracurricular activities highly recommended by faculty that we take part in, including KCSC Radio (On-Campus radio station), MEISA (Music Entertaiment Industry Student Association), and AES (Audio Engineering Society). I worked with these groups for at least a year each.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area in Northern California and have been what most would consider a “hip hop head” throughout my middle school days and on into high school. At this time I knew I was going to pursue a career in music since I was going to college for a Music Industry degree and still had a passion for recording and performing my own songs. Something else I grew to learn was that one day I was going to have to move to Los Angeles to help propel my success in the entertainment business.
After linking up with different emcees, DJ’s, and hip hop minded people similar to myself in college, I continued my path of making music, but I had to balance time to understand the inner-workings of the business side of things and get my grades. The summer before my last year in college I got hired on as an intern for the booking/talent agency Alliance Talent International based out of Hollywood. This company’s focus was booking hip hop artists and DJ’s for concerts, festivals, club events, and tours. So in the summer of 2009 I lived in Los Angeles for three months and worked as an assistant and driver for the CEO of the company.
Upon my graduation from Chico State in 2010, I received a job from Alliance Talent International and have been working there ever since. For the company I have worked as a driver to the CEO and tagged along with him to events like Coachella, Audiotistic, Sunset Junction, The Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards, and all the after-parties that come along with it. I have been able to experience a lot of behind the scene workings of how the music industry works, more specifically how a successful CEO of a booking agency works. Other job duties included grunt work like answering phones, doing contract work, and data input/organization.
This past year and a half since graduating from college with my music degree has been BUSY and I have seen what kind of work it takes to make it as a key player in the music business. However, I have had time to perform my solo material at a couple small shows in Hollywood, Orange County, and San Diego and am coming to a point where I would like to go to work for myself and continue on my path of making it as a hip hop artists.
With what I have learned in high school, college, and at my current job I would definitely say I am happy with where I’m at now and think that going to a school for a music degree definitely did me well. Without needing a college credit for an intern I don’t know if I would have been as adamant as I was on finding an intern like I did, which turned into one of the best learning experiences for my knowledge of the music industry. I do think that someone could get into the music industry without attending a music school because I’m a firm believer that hard work pays off, but along with hard work, a hustler’s spirit, AND the credentials from a school to back it up, I think this combination helps make your own luck.
Review by Jeremy G.
November 18, 2011 5I graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Industry in 2005. I found a job immediately after graduation so I was able to support myself.
I went to USC expecting a safe place to grow for four years while learning about music and the business of music and learning the language of the music and entertainment industries. I also received a great education in classical music and jazz. During that time I worked for myself, I had 4 internships and played in and managed my own band. I lived and worked in the music industry so by the time I graduated I had real experience that was applicable to jobs. I didn’t expect my school to deliver me a career on a platter, so yes, my music school education met my expectations because I had realistic expectations.
After graduation, I worked in entertainment marketing for three years with the drummer/founding member of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood as well as other independent musicians. After that I was the head of new media for 10th Street Entertainment and Eleven Seven Music – the management and label for Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, JET and others. Now I am the manager of Direct to Consumer marketing for the largest independent record label, Concord Music Group. Additionally I play in a band and play the primary management role in that band. We just finished our first full-length album and had our first paying placement in a television show, plus we’re being featured on a major Clearchannel local bands radio show on Monday night. I have been out of school for 6 years and use every part of my education every day.
Don’t expect a career to be handed to you. The music industry has changed SO much in the last 10 years that there is no possible way a college or university can possibly adapt to prepare students, whether they are performance majors or music business majors like me, for a proper career through education alone. The industry is new but the language is old. Use school to learn the language of the industry and the careers available then be creative and choose your own path. No matter what your focus is, take some music/entertainment business/industry classes.
Review by Carrie S.
November 16, 2011 2.8I graduated from USC School of Cinema/TV in 2002 and was lucky that my parents paid for my expectations. I loved film school. Looking back, I can’t believe my parents had/spent that much money on going to film school. I think going to a technical school, or starting at the bottom of a production and working my way up might have been better in some ways. But, the connections I made at USC, were super valuable, and the fact I went to USC film school is pretty impressive.
I was even offered a job in 2000 at Fox Searclight, while still in school. Jobs were so easy to come by back then. Sometimes, I think I should have taken it, instead of getting my degree. I went on to work at Entertainment Weekly after graduating.
If I had to pay for it myself, I don’t think I would do it all over again. I mean, it was the time of my life, and I learned a lot. But, I think technical trade schools are a lot better at getting people jobs these days. I don’t know if it’s worth $150,000 just to have a degree from USC. I feel like I should be insured or something.
Review by Will D.
October 1, 2011 1I am finishing up my utterly useless degree in film production. The hilarious levels of corruption are incredible, that doesn’t stop with the fact that every professor wouldn’t be teaching us if they weren’t unhirable in the film industry. My cinematography teacher taught us lighting techniques from the studio era and required that all night scenes have crazy amounts of moonlight, even in urban areas where sodium vapor street light exist. The head of the department refused to pick any of the driven students as senior film directors, because he hated those people when he went to USC. He told us how he hated one of his classmates at USC, who is now a huge television and film director. Not a single one of our professors have worked professionally in the last 20 years.
Review by Maria D.
September 22, 2011 2USC is one of three major universities I’ve now attended (USC, UCLA, SMU). I also worked for the university for two years after graduation in research. While USC was infinity better than SMU (which is kind of like the USC of Texas), I cannot say its better than its rival UCLA.
The professors are great, there’s a lot of school spirit, and the campus is beautiful, but the same can be said about many, many other universities.
The place is tremendously overpriced. From the tuition right down to the food available on campus. When they remodeled the student union, I thought there would be more affordable options…but in true USC style, they put in a expensive chains Wolfgang Puck and Lemonade.
While USC strives to be diverse and offers many scholarships, much of their student body also lives up to the stereotype. Lots and lots of rich white kids from Orange County and Texas who are outraged the first time they are forced to confront their privilege in classes that address race and socioeconomic status.
Even though the cost of a UC education is increasing, the school on the other side of town still gives you more bang for your buck. Sorry SC.
Review by Joe P.
July 6, 2011 2.3I attended USC’s school of Cinema / Television, and did not graduate. While I enjoyed USC’s “hands-on” approach to filmmaking, I found their screenwriting teachers weak and out of date. In 1972, a time of great change in Hollywood, the teacher passed out copies of “Lover Come Back” (1961) as an example of “contemporary” screenwriting. This was unfortunate because my goal was to become a Hollywood screenwriter.
Although I’ve been paid to write twelve screenplays (for an independent filmmaking company) and have had over 500 film reviews published, both in print and online, I haven’t found work in the Hollywood film industry… yet.
Because USC has improved their screenwriting teaching/training over the years, and polished and developed their showbiz connections, I would recommend USC’s film department to any student with Hollywood goals.