Hey. I just recently decided to apply to screenwriting schools for Fall 2011. I graduate this May and plan to take a year off. I am going to be living in Chicago for a year and a half. I am going to apply to UCLA, USC, AFI and NYU. I really would prefer to move to LA. My question is (finally) how much should I save to make a move out there? I plan to live in the dorms if I can get enough financial aid to cover it. Did anyone get a full or partial school to any of the schools that I mentioned. If so was it based on grades. Also, does anyone know if I have to pay a deposit to any of those schools? Thanks so much.

Very little can be planned perfectly, however if you move to LA sooner rather than later than the cost of attending UCLA is much cheaper once you establish a residence in CA. If not, then the costs are all about the same, $40,000 a year (tuition and room & board only). Obviously getting fellowships and winning scholarships can reduce your cost at each one of these schools.

It's about 800 a month to live on campus. You won't need a car but you will want one. Maybe look into taking UCLA screen-writing extension courses. They have it online and near UCLA. If u move to LA work and take classes at the extension center which is two blocks from UCLA you will pay less and look even better to the admissions committee. The classes are amazing. Look them up!

Also, check out how the fellowships and financial aid awards work thoroughly before you make your plans. I know lots of people (possibly including myself) who were led to believe they would be able to borrow X amount of money no matter what and that fellowships would give the option of either borrowing less or having more money to work with from loans since less would be going to school costs. Turns out that fellowships ONLY let you borrow less and you are only able to get X amount in loans, grants, scholarships, fellowships, etc...

Needless to say, all those people planning on living off of X amount PLUS fellowship amounts were very upset once the semester started. So, um... plan accordingly (if possible).

Oh, yeah. Scholarships don't change your budget. Thank goodness, I can think of at least two occasions where I would've borrowed a bit more money if they'd let me, but I'm glad I didn't.

Our budgets as writing students at USC are about 48K, based on 10 hours per semester and room and board, split not quite evenly...living expenses are more than tuition, so with that as your main variable, it would serve you well to live as cheaply as possible.

If you live more expensively than they budget you, or want more money, it is possible. There are appeals for taking more hours, exorbitant class fees, production costs for production classes...this is the dangerous place where production students borrow thousands for their films if you're not careful, health insurance, higher rent than school budget, relocation costs, a one time computer purchase, and annual air travel for out of state students.

Whatever your budget is, that is the maximum amount you can borrow in Stafford and PLUS loans. But once you start getting aid, that loan amount decreases.

Example:

School Prescribed Budget: 48000

If you get no aid, you can borrow 48000.

But, if you get aid:

Assistantship: 3000
Scholarship: 4000
Work-study: 1000


You can only borrow $40000 now.

It is possible to order more than your budget through private loans, if you're into that kind of debt.

Whether or not you live on or off campus, you get that money.

I came out to USC in August with four thousand dollars in addition to all of my deposits and stuff. I had some strange loan issues and a couple life crises, which resulted in disbursement in October and an exhausting of my savings, so I wish I'd had more since I had to wait to get furniture. You'll always wish you had more. If you live in dorms, furniture is not an issue, though of course you'll need a place to live after you graduate.

But with things going smoothly, I'd have been fine. Film school makes relocation pretty easy. If you're coming out without school, I'd say you want at least eight grand.

I'm sure you can find this on admissions websites, though I'm not going to look. I don't know if they've gone up, but in my accept year (2007), USC was 300, AFI and Chapman were 1000. UCLA had no deposit.

Thanks Jayimess. This is valuable information. I didn't know that. My goal is to have at least 6,000 saved and pay down all my debt ( I only have one credit card and its less than a thousand dollars). The only real debt I'll have after that is student loans(that i can defer) and my monthly car note and insurance. Gees I hope everything works out if I get in.

Thanks again,

SilverLenz

Thanks guys. This was helpful information. I didn't know how generous the schools are going to be in giving aid. Hopefully, I won't have to borrow that much.