Q's, A's and My Experience

It's great to hear from those of you who are being accepted and are now making your decisions about where you'd like to be next year. First off, congratulations if you made it into the film school... and I wish you the best of luck wherever you end up attending.

I've been receiving questions from admitted students and wanted to take a moment to answer some of those questions as well as tell you about MY experience applying to Chapman (it's actually a funny story):


I did apply to other 'film schools,' primarily on the East Coast, where I live. My top two were Emerson (in Boston, MA) and NYU. Unfortunately, although I liked the school, NYU didn't make it easy for me to double-major in Film Production and Theatre Performance as I wanted to, so I knew pretty early on that it was out for me. Emerson, on the other hand, was actually my top choice for a long, long time. I really liked their school, the location, the campus, the departments, the facilities, etc. BUT they also didn't make it easy for me to double-major. I still applied, but because they didn't give good scholarship money, and because they didn't give me EITHER of my top choice majors (but rather the more specific "digital post production" major... what???) AND because my latest visit had given me a bad vibe of the school, I counted it out when I got my acceptance letter.

Now here comes the part about Chapman. Being from New Hampshire, I actually had never heard of Chapman University, out in Orange, CA nearly 3,000 miles away. I knew that I wanted to apply to a school on the West Coast for film specifically, so naturally I had considered USC for a while. I personally hadn't liked the size of the school among other things (background: my High School Graduating class was 17 people. That's right. SMALL private school. So understandably 33,500 other students seemed like quite a lot to be going to college with...) PLUS, I had simply missed the film applicatin deadline at USC. So I called their admissions department and asked about other schools that they would recommend in Southern California. They mentioned NYU, Emerson and... yep, Chapman.

I didn't really think much about it for a while, applied to my other schools on the East Coast, and finally took a look at the website. I liked what I saw enough to decide on a whim to apply before the deadline... which was actually the following day. I quickly threw stuff together for the main application and supplements to the Film and Theatre departments (including a taped video audition), and surprisingly enough heard back from the theatre department not too long after offering me a talent scholarship. The actual acceptance letters came after I had heard back from all my other schools, and was in the midst of making a decision. I hadn't really thought too much about Chapman since I had never visited, though I really really liked the look and sound of the film school from afar.

I believe I had, at this point, about two weeks left before my schools were asking for decisions. It was the middle of April, and for some strange New-Hampshire-weather-related-reason the last two days of school were cancelled before spring break. So my mother convinced me to go visit Chapman for two days... on my own. I'm a pretty independent person, but it was still kind of a big deal to get around in Southern California by myself and get hotel accommodations (since, I am still sad to say, Chapman does not offer overnights to admitted students - one of many gripes I had with the Admissions Department), to and from the airport, etc.

Anyway, to cut this already-long story short, I LOVED the campus as soon as I set foot on it. It really felt like where I needed to be and completely changed everything I had been thinking about. And that was before I even reached the Film Building. It was simply JUST what I wanted and needed. I was really welcomed by the people in BOTH Departments (I saw a Mainstage Theatre Production while I was on campus, actually, with the Department Secretary who brought me around and answered my questions). So that was pretty much that. My decision had been made for me. Plus, the scholarship money was great, AND they were letting me double major in BOTH of my loves, and not forcing me to choose.

In the end, it was really funny that the school I applied to with very little knowledge of, the day it was due, pretty much on a whim, was the school I ended up loving and attending. And I really have been soooo happy with my experience here so far. No where is perfect, and I don't pretend that Chapman should be the place for everyone, but it certainly has been for me. I like the small class size, proximity and familiarity with the professors, no teaching by TA's, hands-on environments, good, smaller-campus atmosphere, and MOST importantly, the collaboration and connectedness of the communities, particularly Film and Theatre. For film in particular, I really enjoy DOING IT from day one, getting your hands on stuff, not COMPETING with the other students, but rather working with them. All in all I just think it's such a good atmosphere and a place where you can really MAKE your experience what you want it to be. It's not so set-in-stone that you have to follow... but you can lead. You can make your own programs and stuff. It's where I can double major if I want to and though they may warm me against it, they're never going to say I "CAN'T DO IT."

So yeah. Sometimes things just work out for the best. And not like you expect. Such as me ending up at Chapman.

(But for those of you still applying - don't follow my lead and fill out your application the day before it's due. It's just tacky and usually doesn't work to your advantage. :) )



So now to answer a few specific questions:

Are General Education courses small and diverse or are they pretty big? And with there being over 100 incoming freshman/transfers into the film program how hard is it to get into the class you want and are you with a lot of the same people?

For General Ed (GE) courses, it really depends on the course. It also depends on your definition of 'big.' They ARE the courses that are open to the entire campus, so on one hand they HAVE to be a little bit bigger to accomodate the students. That being said, I haven't yet been in a class of more than 50 or so. And that was just ONE - a Film Aesthetics class, which every incoming Dodge Student (regardless of major) has to take. The rest have been, I would say, on average 20 to 25. So it's actually quite nice. And there's a LOT of choice and diversity in the classes.

For instance, in freshman year you have to take a Freshman Foundations class. BUT you get your pick out of probably close to 50 courses. They range from things like "Puzzles and Paradoxes" (the class I took) to "Beauty & The Beast - History of the Fairy Tale" and "Spanish Theatre Literature." I mean, really, there are SO many topics to choose from it's great. The rest of the GEs are broken into Categories like "Quantitative Inquiry" (more or less Math, but I'm taking a Computer Science course this semester which fulfills my requirements), "Social Inquiry" (my film History classes OR Theatre Lit / Theatre History classes will satisfy this) "Global Study" and others, and then the typical stuff like English, Math, and Foreign Language (stuff which you can always test out of by SAT or other scores, like I did). The nice thing about my double-major is some credits can double-count to both GE and your Major(s) PLUS I got out of about 16 GE credits just by BEING a double major. So I know they're trying to make it easier for students to double-major with the GEs.

In terms of having 100+ incoming freshman, it's actually not too bad registering for classes. There are enough sections of the classes that it's usually not an issue, plus Dodge makes exceptions or adds more sections if you really NEED to take the class. Although you're not guaranteed a specific section of the class or anything like that, I haven't yet had any trouble registering for any of my fall or spring classes (it's actually even harder for me to manage with my double-major, so it's really saying something that I haven't had a problem yet). Basically, if you follow the directions given (mailed or emailed) to you and register when you're told to, there really shouldn't be any problems. Once in a while you might have to switch two of your classes around and take one earlier and one later than you'd originally planed, but hey, it all seems to work out in the end.

And while obviously there are quite a few freshmen in the same boat as you, I also think it's a pretty small community. I've had at least a few handful of students that I know well continuing through most of my classes, and the classes that I haven't known anyone, I've made friends quickly and connected very easily. I mean really, it's not at all like I'm going to classes with people I don't know. You're working in group projects ALL the time, you have more than one class with a handful of people, and you're listening to and watching other people's work in your class. So again with the 'community' thing, it's actually a great atmosphere where you'll be working with some of the same people (and some new people) throughout the journey.

How competitive is the environment?

Well actually, as I've been mentioning, the environment is incredibly collaborative. I think that's one of the differences between this and other film schools. We strongly believe that a large part of the process is working with others, and carry that out in our daily routines. SOOOO many projects here require you to work with others... so if you're a person who likes to do everything yourself, maybe think again. We really do make it a point to get you connected with others, to not just push yourself up but work in groups. Obviously, the experience is what you make it and there's no reason you can't shine on your own, but we think it's important to have a good support behind you since working in the industry, you're going to have to work with a variety of people with all types of personalities (mostly strong). I've felt personally at this school the encouragement to work together and share ideas, passions, and creative (again, collaborative) work while figuring out where and how you fit into group settings and making yourself aware of and comfortable with that. Unless you're Quentin Tarantino, you're not going to be writing, directing, filming and starring in your own projects... so learn to work with other people! And I think this school is great for that in particular.

But I am also interested in a minor (or Major) outside of Dodge College...

Hey, if you love it, DO it. I'm specifically adamant about that because of Film & Theatre. I'll warn you that double-majoring with Film Production ISN'T easy - but it's certainly possible if you're willing to take the time to work it out in your schedule (and your brain). It's really a matter of scheduling the classes to fit in your 4-year plan, and then any extracurricular work involved. Minoring is naturally easier, and actually quite common. You won't take as many classes for your minor (for better or worse, depending on your level of interest and your opinion) but you'll still get to do what you love. You can also ALWAYS take elective classes in topics you're interested in, either for upper-division Dodge credit (towards your Dodge major) or to count towards your GE program requirements.

Basically, what you would do would be come into the film program, if that's what you really DO want to do, and then talk with your academic coach about what the requirements would be for your specific major or minor. You could also check online in your course catalog, which would outline how many more credits each major or minor would be and what the courses were. To officially add that major or minor, you would have to go to the registrar's office and fill out a form, and in some cases get approval from the department in question.

Really, one of the best things to do is to check out that course catalog first and see what the requirements are for the major or minor. But it's definitely possible, if it's what you want to do.


Anyway, that's all for now but congratulations again to those of you accepted and please feel free to keep sending me questions, concerns or comments and I'll be happy to respond!
See ya!