Who wants to chance?! :D

bimachris · 06-19-2008, 09:57 PM

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Stats
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SAT Is: 1290/1900 // 680 CR, 610 M, 610 W (retaking again in Oct)
SAT IIs: Waiting on June Scores (Lit, US, & Global)
GPA: 90 - 3.5 (U) // 93 - 3.8 (W)
Rank: Top 15% (180/1200)
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Extracurriculars: 3 Years Peer Mediation, 2 Years Boys' Bowling Team, 2 Years Key Club, 2 Years Southeast Asian Club (President), Physics Monitor, National Honor Society, 4 Years Part-Time Co-Op, Summer Programs at LMU & Queens College
Volunteer/Service: Queens Library - 100+ Hours
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School: Public, Non-Specialized
APs: AP US History, Pre-AP English, (Senior Year - AP Psychology, AP Macroeconomics, AP English)
Honors: Global I, Global II, Biology, Chemistry, Spanish II, English I, English II, (Senior Year - Honors Government, Spanish III)
Ethnicity: Asian - Indonesian and Chinese
Gender: Male
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Intended Major[s]: Film & Television
Other Colleges: NYU (First Choice), USC, Northwestern, Hunter, Syracuse, Boston University, Columbia
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My GPA will likely go up once I get this semester's grades. I'm on a upwards trend. I'm looking to get over 700 on Math & CR, so I'm going to study OD. And yeah.

Is it hard to get into Chapman? Isn't the acceptance rate like 48%? It's my third choice, after NYU and USC. Though, I'm thinking about choosing Chapman over USC. I'm not sure, because while Chapman has awesome facilities and up and coming, USC is a lot more prestigious and well known.

gregcotten · 06-20-2008, 11:10 AM

I chose Chapman over USC for film production (incoming freshman). It was a money thing, and let me tell you, unless you are getting near-perfect scores on the SAT while staying within rank 1-5 you will not get aid. Trust me - I was ranked 10th in my (in my mind and many others) extremely competitive high school and got very little scholarship from them. However, Chapman gave me their Presidential Scholarship (the most they give). Go figure.

I think you would have a chance for Chapman, but you _must_ get higher grades (like you said), be in the top 10%, and retake the SAT and get at least over 2000. Of the 10 people accepted into USC at my school, all of them were in the top 10%.

Anyway, I think you have a great selection of colleges for FTV - Northwestern is definitely the place to be if you like Chicago and I heard Columbia has a great film school as well. I will agree with you, USC has more prestige, but in the film industry, Chapman is a bigger buzz word than USC at the moment (from what I've heard) and has amazing faculty, facilities, and equipment. The whole reason Lucas donated all that money to USC's Cinematic Arts program is that Chapman outranked them in terms of facilities and equipment per student. Significantly. Chapman's acceptance rate for film production majors was approximately 9% this year, and USC's was around there as well.

Me:
SAT I: 2160 700 CR, 740 M, 720 W
GPA: 100.19 (10/513)

bimachris · 06-20-2008, 11:39 AM

Cool, congrads man! Tell me how Chapman is, I'm seriously considering it. But the way I've been hearing people talk about USC and Chapman, it makes it seem that NYU's film school is easier to get into. *shrugs* I'm applying ED to NYU, so yeah. I never knew film school was that competitive, but I'm hoping that my short film will win them over, cause my grades aren't all that spectacular.

Yeah, Northwestern and Columbia, I just threw those on there, like, what the hell, you know? I doubt I can get into them, lol. And Columbia only has a graduate film department, I'm only applying to make my mom happy.

Chapman sounds great, really. You gotta tell me how it is when you go in the fall, haha. Your stats are crazy, I can't believe they didn't give you more aid. Generally speaking, I hear that film kids at NYU have lower stats than the average NYU student. I never knew film was so competitive in California. Did you apply to NYU too?

timely · 06-20-2008, 08:40 PM

bimachris, your stats are fine for acceptance into Chapman but not USC. Hardly anyone with less than a 3.8 GPA UNweighted got into USC this year.

Getting into the university is one thing, but getting into the film school is another thing altogether. Your short film will not win them over because they won't see it...either at Chapman or at USC. Your other schools could be different; I'm not familiar with their requirements. You submit a creative resume but not any actual work. EXCEPT that at Chapman, you will submit a 2 minute video essay. If you go to youtube and search chapman dodge video essay, you'll probably see some of the ones that were submitted. Keep in mind that all of those were not accepted, however.

Have you submitted your short film to any contests or film festivals? It's helpful to have things to put on your creative resume that show how others have judged your work. Your essays are very important, also. They are looking for storytellers, so you need to show your skill at that.

My S was accepted to film production at Chapman and will start this fall. He was not accepted at USC (university or the film school).

His stats: SAT 2160, unweighted GPA 3.6
He had won several awards for his short films and wrote a good essay, I think.

bimachris · 06-20-2008, 10:50 PM

Wow, that's crazy. NYU requires a short film, I figured it would be the same for USC and Chapman too. I'm rethinking applying to USC actually, there's just so much work to do and I don't know if it's worth it because if somehow I get into NYU on early decision, I'd have to rescind the application anyway.

Wow, he wasn't accepted with those stats? That's crazy. >.<

Me&BobbyMcGee · 06-21-2008, 10:20 AM

GPA and test scores are important in determining admission to the top film schools (USC, NYU, Chapman, etc.), but what's more important is the creativity that you show in your essays and videos. They won't take someone with high GPA and test scores that can't tell a story. Focus on the requirements on the film school application and you will be fine. If something is optional on the application, make sure you do that section to show that you are motivated. Also, make every effort to visit the school and tour the film school facilities. Visiting the schools shows interest. Follow-up with the admissions people and let them know that you are very interested in attending their school. Go to the college fairs in your city and talk to the admissions people from these schools. Give them a copy of your resume including grades, ECs, etc. Demonstrate interest in their school. This doesn't mean that you email these people every week and become a nuisance. Don't worry if you don't have a lot of ECs that are specific to film and television. Make sure your videos and essays demonstrate your creativity. A girl from my son's school was admitted to USC Film and she had participated in no ECs at the high school related to film, drama, etc. USC likes to shape their students to fit their mold.

timely · 06-21-2008, 09:03 PM

Quote:

A girl from my son's school was admitted to USC Film and she had participated in no ECs at the high school related to film, drama, etc.

She must have written some awesome essays! Also, it's important to remember that there are different majors in every film school. It will not be as difficult to be accepted to film criticism (for example) as it will to be accepted to film production or to screenwriting.

Me&BobbyMcGee · 06-21-2008, 10:39 PM

She was accepted into film production.

bimachris · 06-22-2008, 05:23 PM

Wow, congrads! yeah, I'm hoping my creative porfolio will make them disregard my non so stellar academic side, lol.

Chinaski · 06-24-2008, 02:13 PM

I got in with an 1870 and 3.68 unweighted GPA. I spent a ton of time on my essays, video, and application and also had a pretty nice resume regarding EC's and service. Out of 8 schools USC was my only rejection, but I decided on Chapman in the end because it truly is an up and coming powerhouse.

Make sure you work hard and show some personality in your writing...good luck!