<p>Late to the party but hope I can shed some light as a parent from the other side:</p>
<p>@Sukahjoy said:
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<p>I can’t imagine why you would say the students are “better trained” at Chapman than at USC without having any real-life experience with that campus.</p>
<p>You’re a great “cheerleader” for Chapman, but you should be able to do that without adding erroneous and often inaccurate information for parents trying to decide between the two schools. It’s just not helpful - especially when it’s so wrong. I remember being a mom and asking - along with other parents - heartfelt questions on this forum and you often responded with a lengthy sometimes page long sales pitches which sometimes included negative comparisons to USC. Chapman is a strong enough institution to not need that. And honestly - for a while it tipped the scales in favor of USC because we wondered WHY Chapman would need that type of defending. </p>
<p>Still, we visited Chapman for Campus Preview and liked it a lot. They’re the underdog and work really hard on behalf of their students. For us, however, there were some issues with the way the staff responded to questions and logistics and the head of the school’s overemphasis on trying to woo the newly admitted students away from USC by explaining Chapman was trying hard to catch up to them (oddest sales pitch I’d ever heard). Still, my daughter like the Dodge school and the faculty we met. In the end however, she and several other students we met at Preview day ended up choosing USC. Honestly - there is just no comparison on facilities and network. At least not yet. But I do know Chapman tries hard to provide scholarship dollars which is knows will tip the scale for parents worried about funds. We are very tight on budget, but decided that would not be the determining factor.</p>
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<p>This really concerned me. My D has friends in Crit Studies and as a whole, they have an extremely high employment rate after graduation. They not only learn HOW to make a film but also WHY. The degree program allows time for them to all take classes in business, advertising, etc. while still getting a lot of production courses under their belts. Actually, SCA students in each department seem to be pretty trained “cross-culturally” so you’ll find a production student taking film analysis and media classes and Crit Studies students running in production classes and other departments. So it really doesn’t have anything to do with training film critics - unless you count studying films so they can critique their own work more effectively and make more effective decisions on what work to acquire when working as producers. </p>
<p>God bless @Shakespearefan, @LongRangePlan, and @Gladiatorbird for their objective advice when I needed it. It made us feel as if our student would have thrived at Chapman or USC because they understood - as parents -the pros and cons of both.</p>
<p>Both USC and Chapman are competing in a very small pool in terms of educational opportunities for students wanting to break into the industry. There isn’t enough room at ANY film school to take everyone who wants to go. But to try to compare any film school is just not going to be accurate. </p>
<p>We also looked at a number of film programs across the country and came to the conclusion the campuses and cultures are all very different and it just comes down to fit - where is the best place for a student to meet peers and thrive? In the end - for our child - USC had more resources. Since the final bill was going to be about the same it didn’t take a leap of faith to see it was a no-brainer. And so far, in her first year - she’s met more people in the industry and participated on more projects than we expected she’d get in four years. She also secured an amazing internship that is giving her hands on work in creative producing rather than saddle her with clerical work. Yes, USC is bigger and there is little hand-holding. Students are expected to use the resources to develop their own networks in preparation for the real world. So far no one has turned my kid down when she’s called for a meeting. Not even people outside the USC alumni network. So our experience has not matched your description of USC. </p>
<p>Still - I can say this as a college interviewer for a different university - it isn’t the film school that will make or break a student. It’s the student’s own internal motivation, skill and initiative that determines their success. </p>
<p>I hope that helps.</p>
<p>Congrats to all that chose Chapman. It’s a great school with a lot of passion behind it and they are moving up in the ranks fast. </p>