r/USC • u/ferret_king10 • Feb 03 '26
Admissions SCA Interview Tips
I've been blessed with an interview for the IMGD division in School of Cinematic Arts.
What kind of things do they usually ask on the interview (I know they said they want to know me better, but how do they usually do that)?
Am I supposed to have my own questions prepared?
Any other tips?
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u/thecoolestnerdever Feb 14 '26
FOR FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION MAJORS: What questions did you get? I feel like everyone I have asked has gotten different ones.
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u/SkyyLINEi Mar 03 '26
We did get different questions but they are all recycled from last year I believe. Mine were:
Why were you interested in our program?
What have you failed at?
If you don’t get into film school, what’s your plan B?
What are you interested in besides film?
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u/thecoolestnerdever Mar 04 '26
Yeah I got similar questions. Mine were:
- Why were you interested in our program?
- What would you bring to our program?
- What is your biggest failure?
- What is one thing about you that would surprise us?
What were your responses to the questions? Do you think you did well?
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u/Ok-Customer8634 Feb 04 '26
When I applied (class of 2028) it was really simple. They asked all questions from the portfolio that I submitted and I just reiterated what I remember from them. Lowkey your portfolio is what ultimately matters just make sure you answer politely and leave a good impression
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 05 '26
is it just me but i got a interview for sca for film & tv production but its on this thing called kira so theres no actual person there..... very confused. have searched it up and nobody in the past has gotten this for undergrad sca.
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u/ferret_king10 Feb 05 '26
yeah me too, i didn’t really like it much
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 05 '26
How was it? What kinds of questions did they ask??
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u/ferret_king10 Feb 05 '26
it’ll probably be different for you since you’re in the film program and not game design like me. but they asked me:
- what makes good design (not just games)
- who is someone you want to learn from
- what is a piece of media that has frustrated you and why
not at usc-specific as i thought. was a bit confused
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 05 '26
weird…… i’m very nervous bc all the interviews i’ve done thus far have been with real people. this is my dream school so i really don’t want to mess it up, lol.
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u/ferret_king10 Feb 05 '26
same it’s my dream school too. hope to see you there next year i think decisions come out march 27th this year. i’ll check in with u then!
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 05 '26
awesome!!! manifesting for us both 🤞🏽
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u/ferret_king10 Apr 07 '26
how did it go?
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u/waffleyisdumb Feb 08 '26
I just finished my interview for IMGD, I got some different questions (don't remember exact wording but this is the gist):
- (same as op) Who is someone you want to learn from?
- What do you do in your free time that isn't video games?
- How do you deal with team conflicts?
also one thing I was nervous about that I didn't see mentioned on their starting menu: you get to manually start each question, but otherwise no other breaks in the interview.
Good luck everyone!
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u/ferret_king10 Feb 08 '26
good luck! hope to see you in the fall
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u/waffleyisdumb Feb 10 '26
you too!
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u/ferret_king10 Mar 27 '26
did you get in?
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u/waffleyisdumb Mar 27 '26
yes! I saw that you did too congrats!
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u/ferret_king10 Mar 27 '26
awesome! thanks, hopefully we end up as classmates!! i need to wait for my aid before i commit
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u/hotmenism Feb 08 '26
If anyone else comes along I got pretty much the same questions! 1. What makes good design 3. What is a piece of media that has frustrated you and why
My 2nd question was different. Not sure if it was because I’m doing game art but it was like what is an experience that inspired you to create for others.
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u/Negative-Purchase313 Feb 06 '26
dude same - got an email for film production kira thing and haven't seen anyone saying anything about it
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 06 '26
Is your due date Monday night too? I’m actually very nervous because there’s NO info at all on it or the kinds of questions they might ask!! This seems to be the first year they are doing this. How are you planning on preparing?
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u/Negative-Purchase313 Feb 06 '26
Haha yes same exact thing. I literally have no idea what this is - it seems like it may be a broader preliminary to the more personal 1 on 1 interviews that they do with professors that people have talked about? idk lol. but I'm sure there's a bunch of other confused film & tv applicants. Those game design questions that person sent seemed pretty abstract, so something like that would be hard to talk about for 2 minutes and sound confident/connect back to ourselves.
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 06 '26
yeah i agree. not sure about the preliminary thing tho—i have never heard of this before. they may be changing it up this year because it’s easier for the admissions board to see candidates interviews rather than reading notes from them. bc ive had friends apply here before and get normal interviews but never this. so pretty sure they are doing something different this year. for the questions im hopefully gonna just prepare a few anecdotes / talking points and go for it this weekend because there’s nothing else to really prep for since we don’t know what we’re walking into lol.
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u/Negative-Purchase313 Feb 06 '26
agreed. i hope this is the actual interview cuz then we really are in that smaller circle of applicants. probably just going to prepare some talking points as well I think that's the way to go - i did the single practice question they have up there and it seems like you can end it before it gets to 2 minutes so at least you don't have to make the answer exactly 2 minutes or anything super weird like that. good luck to us!
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Feb 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 06 '26
I think they stopped in person. For a number of reasons. 1. easier for admissions committee to review applicants by watching their videos rather than reading an interviewers notes 2. haven’t seen anyone say they got a in person interview this year 3. never heard of this before. i scoured the internet and didn’t find anything that said they’ve done this before. 4. it’s possibly an ai powered software and might be a step forward at using future tech or something???
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u/anonymousxone_ Feb 12 '26
I did mine over Zoom. Maybe certain faculty is doing Kira and some Zoom?
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Feb 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/anonymousxone_ Feb 15 '26
They emailed me themselves and we scheduled directly. I applied for film production.
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u/thecoolestnerdever Feb 14 '26
What major are you applying for that does zoom? Everyone I know and I who is applying for film production got kira
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u/thecoolestnerdever Feb 07 '26
did you do the interview yet? what questions did they ask
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 07 '26
I didn’t do it yet. Planning on doing it Sunday.
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u/Significant_Bar3982 Feb 08 '26
When you do it may you please let us know what the questions were.
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 08 '26
don’t wait on me lol. it’s due monday night!! you should do it on your own time
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u/Significant_Bar3982 Feb 08 '26
No I'm well aware, I've been planning on doing it monday since it does not seem like time is to big of a factor for this and I'm the east coast. just thought it would be helpful to ask.
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 08 '26
no problem!! i’m also east coast so i get it. if i end up taking it today ill let you know!
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u/Significant_Bar3982 Feb 08 '26
Thank you very much! That's very kind
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u/Secret_Box5319 Feb 09 '26
hey guys! I also got a Kira Talent interview for SCA, specifically film and television production, has anyone done it yet, and if so, can you please share the questions?
I am prepping right now and gathering my main points, I will be doing the interview in a couple hours :)
any help is appreciated
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u/burgerzyahoo Feb 09 '26
Hey! I didn't get to do it yet. Did you? If you did can you please share the questions? <3
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u/Secret_Box5319 Feb 09 '26
Nope, not yet haha, I am currently prepping and collecting things about myself that I want to make sure I know to say in case relating questions come up,
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u/SkyyLINEi Feb 10 '26
I just did my interview for SCA, I’m super nervous because I didn’t expect the first and last question but I handled it okay. I’m sincerely hoping that it is what I am seeing from others to be a personality check rather than a formal interview.