what college did james franco go to?
Columbia University School of the Arts
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 Franco 's family upbringing was " academic , liberal , and largely secular " . He grew up in California with his two brothers , Tom and Dave ( " Davy " , also an actor ) . A " math whiz " , Franco interned at Lockheed Martin . He was often encouraged by his father to get good grades and did well on his SATs . He graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1996 , where he acted in plays . This led to him attending CSSSA in 1998 for theatre . In his high school years , Franco was arrested for underage drinking , graffiti , and for being a part of a group that stole designer fragrances from department stores and sold them to classmates . These arrests led to his briefly becoming a ward of the state . Facing the possibility of juvenile hall , Franco was given a second chance by the judge . " It was teen angst . I was uncomfortable in my own skin . I was shy . I changed my ways just in time to get good grades , " he recalled of his troubles with the law . 

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 He decided to pursue a career in film . After attending two other film schools , he graduated from Full Sail University in another Central Florida town , Winter Park , as the class valedictorian . He moved to Southern California and began working as a story editor , primarily doing uncredited rewrites . 

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 He matriculated to Princeton University , after an injury late in his senior year caused other Division I schools to withdraw their offers . As of 2011 , he continues to rank second and fourth in school history in career assists ( 381 ) and points ( 1546 ) , respectively . He led the team in rebounds all four seasons and in points , assists and blocked shots three times each . He led the Ivy League in field goal percentage three times and ranks third all @-@ time in Princeton history in that statistic for his career . 

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 While he was working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley , California , he pursued filmmaking and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University . 

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 Although the idea of becoming a marine zoologist interested him , Franco had always secretly wanted to become an actor but feared being rejected . He enrolled at the University of California , Los Angeles ( UCLA ) as an English major , but dropped out after his first year against his parents ' wishes to pursue a career as an actor , since he would have had to wait two years to audition for their acting program . Franco instead chose to take acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at the Playhouse West . Around this time , Franco took up a late @-@ night job at McDonald 's to support himself since his parents refused to do so . He was a vegetarian until working there . While working at the establishment , he would practice accents on customers , an experience he remembered nostalgically in a 2015 Washington Post editorial ( " McDonald ’ s was there for me when no one else was " ) . 
