Is DU a good school for a future film maker?

etherdome · 07-05-2009, 09:16 PM

My son is a rising senior in Fort Lauderdale. He wants to go to graduate Film school (NYU, USC, FSU). Before he goes off to Film school, he wants a LA education. It makes sense to have a story to tell before you make a film. He doesn't want to study Film as an undergraduate. He is interested in Creative Writing.

Is DU a good school for his objectives? He may or may not have the stats for admission (SAT: 2030/2400, Weighted GPA=4.0, core academic GPA=3.2). His EC's revolve around theater and he is a founding member of an Improv Comedy group in South Florida.

I know that DU has an attractive student/professor ratio. Do students frequently gather to discuss the great questions and issues of life? Or does life outside of class involve drinking and gaming?

Whistle Pig · 07-06-2009, 09:07 AM

Can't speak about the program, but there are quite a number of TV/film types counting DU as their alma mater. Michael Eisner, Jennifer ???, Steve ???, Hal ???, George ??? (ESPN guru)...I'm really into this. Can you tell?

I'm sure some one can fill in my ??? and more importantly, some background on programs of study, including creative writing.

curmudgeon · 07-06-2009, 12:55 PM

All campuses have drinking. Denison appears to be quite aware. That's a good thing. I wouldn't think they are worse than other similarly situated campuses and I certainly wouldn't rule them out because of it. Here's some of what Denison says about the situation. Non-Drinkers - Denison University

etherdome · 07-06-2009, 06:07 PM

Heck, there is nothing wrong with tipping a pint or two. I was known to partake of the malt in my day. I'd expect no less from my son.

Let me refine my question. Is DU a school made up mostly of serious students, or is it a place for rich folk to send their kids to get a degree?

curmudgeon · 07-06-2009, 08:46 PM

Everything I've ever read about the school suggests that, just like its peers, there will be some of both. But again, like its peer institutions, the academic rigor will weed some of them out. That's also a good thing.

Denison pays for top national talent and gets some of them. This guarantees there will be a core group of kids, a critical mass of kids that will push your kid , and vice versa. At the same time there will be other not so studious kids. The "bottom 25%" (however you want to define that) at Denison will not be the same as the "bottom 25%" at Amherst.

There is always a trade-off. As WP likes to say "There is no such thing as a free lunch".

Whistle Pig · 07-07-2009, 11:54 AM

See, we're learning!

curmudgeon · 07-07-2009, 04:03 PM

We can all learn from each other, WP. Sometimes, given the opportunity, we can also teach a few lessons along the way.

NEValu · 07-08-2009, 10:54 AM

i thought i'd chime in.....hopefully du will turn out to be an excellent school for a future film maker. my son starts at du as a first year in just a few short months. speaking to what we know so far, he's received great personalized attention from the cinema department and will get to take a production course during his first semester. even before registration, the department chair was emailing with him and helping him decide which courses he'd want to sign up for. personally, as a grad of a large state university, i never received that much help as an upper classman, let alone as a freshman.

btw....i have to apologize for this post, my keyboard is messed up.....no capitalization and minimal punctuation as well.