BASIC REQUIREMENTS, CRAFT AND BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE:
All TFM applicants must post a Graduate Record Exam (GRE) Verbal score of 450 or higher and a GRE Writing Assessment (GRE-W) of Level 4 or higher. On rare occasions, if an applicant’s portfolio material is exceptionally strong, we may waive a lower score and accept the student on a provisional basis.
For international applicants for whom English is not their first language, TOEFL paper scores of 550 (or 213 online version) or higher and a Certificate in Advanced English (CAE), indicating successful passage of the reading, writing, listening, and English usage test offered by the Cambridge English For Life (EFL) testing program. This is the Cambridge test for spoken English. You can get details about this test at http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/cae.htm
Applicants from other disciplines or with no Formal Training:
Occasionally, students from other disciplines or academic backgrounds other than television and film inquire about application to the TFM Program. For these students, it should be pointed out that a critical component in the application package is the portfolio – the strongest evidence you can offer of your creative and craft potential. While this most often takes the form of a DVD reel, some submit screenplays, storyboards or other evidence of skill and creativity with respect to the moving image. It is highly recommended that the prospective applicant with no formal media training be able to demonstrate experience or familiarity with the production process. Most successful applicants coming from other academic disciplines, for example, have worked on a film or TV crew, or better, have enrolled in a special course or courses in a community college or a professional training program. Appropriate courses might include courses in film production, video production, non-linear editing, lighting, or audio production. Such courses generally afford the applicant an opportunity to produce a respectable portfolio piece that can be included in the TFM application package.
TFM MA Curriculum Overview
Application Guidelines (PDF)
SDSU Admission to Postbaccalaureate and Graduate Study (PDF)
