My daughter was accepted to Chapman for creative producing. It is still on our final list along with Emerson, Ithaca and UNCSA. Right now it’s the most expensive, plus we need to add on the costs for travel (we live on the east coast) and their additional fees for the film classes.
Hesitating between what and what?
Hesitant about Emerson- city and east coast winters. Ruled out Ithaca. UC Santa Cruz- better weather, but not happy about the program. Waitlisted at LMU and Chapman, which were both top choices. Decided on Emerson today.
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Congratulations! I love fall and winter in Boston. it’s very bright. And Emerson is a great school.
Congrats on Emerson ( and having the decision process be over!).
We visited Boston for the first time in February with snow storm arriving the next day. We loved it anyone- the city did a great job plowing and it was beautiful
I’ve posted on other threads but D committed to Emerson yesterday. Came down to there and UNCSA. Ultimately, Emerson increased its merit from $10k to $25k, so never give up. We had asked for a merit review in March, and they gave D an additional $10k in early April. After we attended Picture Yourself at Emerson on April 1 and met with financial aid, we asked for a review of our financial aid package and provided some more documents. Yesterday, they told us we still didn’t qualify for financial aid but gave her an additional $5k in merit, on the last day! And since it’s merit, we don’t need to apply again The COA is still about $5k above our budget but that can be covered with some small lifestyle changes over the next four years. Chapman also increased their merit last week by $5k to $27k, but D felt a deeper connection to Emerson and the students she’s met.
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That is great that you got more merit. Was hoping for that same outcome… My daughter has committed to Emerson as well.
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Thanks for all of the info. My son is looking at Chapman, Ithaca and Emerson for film. He also wants to play tennis. He is class of 2025 and will take the SAT in March. Did your son submit SAT scores?
How’s evertbody doing so far with Emerson?
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My daughter loves Emerson and Boston. She is doing well academically (4.0 first semester), making friends and putting herself out there socially (which doesn’t come easy for her), and has gotten involved in a couple of film productions. She spends a lot of time at the Public Library and exploring the city via the T and train. Her biggest disappointment was that she applied to go to Kasteel Well in spring 2025 and is waitlisted (way down the list).
Her biggest challenge is managing her spending money, which is 100% her responsibility. Looks like she’ll have to get a job when she returns next week or she’ll run out of money before the end of spring semester.
Wow, I’m now more upset with my D’s GPA, LOL: she had 3.4 when I know and she knows she can do a lot better. She is motivated to do better next semester, we’ll see. I think she focused more on socializing than the curriculum. She is off campus so I can understand the efforts she put there in order to feel at home at Emerson, and frankly, she succeded in that way. She was part of 3 projects / film sets last semester (a little bit too much she said, she will apply to less next time), she is in the Quadball team, she is part of the D&D organization. She wants to find a job too. She has the chance to go to Kasteel Well fall 2024. So far, she likes Emerson. But as I said, it looks like she learned more out of the classes than inside. But it’s just the beginning.
I had to look up quadball but sounds like your D has found a balance. My daughter is determined to keep her 4.0 because her plan is to graduate and finish her studies in LA in the fall of 2026 and knows that it’s a points system to be accepted. She thought about applying to be an RA but decided to wait until next year. I didn’t want to push her but would have loved to save on the room and board. I’m actually going to call Emerson this week to see if there’s a way to receive more merit!
D too wants to graduate earlier but not that early, she wants to graduate with her mates. So, because of her credits, she will finish spring 2027 in LA and plan to stay there until graduation, and will march with her mates in June 2027. That’s the plan. But she could graduate a year earlier by taking two more class during the summer. We’ll see what happens.
I ment she will go to LA fall 2027 and finish her studies, stay there during the spring and graduate with all her mates. I didn’t know it was a system of points. I thought you were applying the same way as Kasteel, but I heard you need a letter of recommendation. It’s so far in the time that I am not sure about what I am saying. I just know that some students can do two study abroad in 4 years. I wonder if they can do 3. There is the Prague Film study abroad, a lot shorter, 6 weeks I think, during a summer.
It would be a semester early so they could be in LA at the same time. I assume she would still walk with her class in the spring. We went to information sessions for both ELA and Kasteel over parents’ weekend so we found out about the processes for both. Kasteel is purely a lottery so it’s the luck of the draw. LA is more competitive but seems like there’s a better chance of getting in in the fall since most students graduate in the spring want to end their studies there; students get points for GPA, recommendations, essays, etc. If she doesn’t get off the waitlist for Kasteel, and since we’ll save money by her graduating early, we told her she should consider the Prague Summer Film Program after sophomore year.
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