<p>How long from when it said "Decision Complete" to when you got an answer??</p>
<p>Dear Adultparentmom! and all others considering Chapman with intentions of living on campus beyond their Freshman year!!....I read in one of your threads that someone at Chapman guaranteed all 4 years of housing. My daughter was in the Freshman Year Experience, then did NOT get a dorm as a sophomore! We met with housing and they made excuses. Said 'everyone who waited' at the end of the lottery got a room...NOT TRUE!! My daughter, as well as others, were told during the lottery day that there would not be a chance of the higher numbers getting a room. It was only after my daughter emailed out to her sorority sisters, that three groups of two offered to triple again!! (Okay, one ++ mark for sororities!!) Once again, as she is going to be a junior next year, she is being told that she is last on the totem pole as she lives 'within 45 miles'! At Parent Orientation we were CONTINUOUSLY chided about being 'helicopter parents' so we did not get involved in the housing process until we learned of so many kids not getting a room on campus!! If I hear the term 'helicopter parent' one more time!!!! We chose Chapman for a lot of reasons but have been EXTREMELY disappointed about the housing situation. However, that and this year's registration process, are the only things we've been disappointed in...it is an INCREDIBLE institution in many, many ways. Dr. Doti is raising the bar, bringing in even more noteworthy faculty, and attracting huge $$$. Obviously, on-campus housing has been higher on our 'list' as we checked out schools for our 'next in line'...</p>
<p>Happyflower,</p>
<p>Thanks for that information on housing. That is good to know. When we visited, we saw a new dorm building construction site. Is that something ready for this next year? </p>
<p>How hard is it to get housing off campus? Your daughter sounded lucky to have some options with her sorority sisters. What if they aren't in the greek system???</p>
<p>Michelle</p>
<p>Thanks for that info Happyflower. We are outside the ridiculous "45 miles", so maybe it will be a non-issue. Since when is 45 miles commuting distance? We will get to the bottom of this, at least to our satisfaction. I do not think a single school, out of the many that accepted my daughter, guaranteed housing all four years, except Chapman. I will look at our paperwork carefully, but our tour group was huge and we were ALL told specifically that housing was guaranteed all four years, no lottery thing at all (other than for choice).</p>
<p>Many schools give the "helicopter parent" talk. We just ignore it, because, as we are the ones paying, we will be involved to a degree. The fact that you still think that it is an INCREDIBLE institution is good to hear.</p>
<p>Just to speak on the housing issue, as a current student...</p>
<p>The residence hall selection process just ended yesterday. I was considered an out of area freshman (I'm not from CA), and I was lucky to get a very good lottery number. To be honest, everyone was disappointed, or even angered by the process. One, the dorm which many wanted to enter was reserved entirely for freshman; Glass Hall. (Good news for incoming freshman!) Second, it was a chaotic process in general, but I think they did the best they could considering.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, everyone who was an Out-of-Area Freshman/Sophomore who wanted to stay on campus, was able to get housing. Not everyone was able to get the housing they wanted though. There were very few spots left for the In-Area Freshman/Sophomores. There are certainly some In-Area Freshman/Sophomores who wanted to be on campus, but were not able to.</p>
<p>I heard from someone (rumor) that Chapman accepted a lot more students than usual this semester. As there will be no new dorms built by next semester, hopefully this increase will not cause any future problems, though I have a feeling, it already has for some In-Area students. (I haven't even mentioned Juniors or Seniors)</p>
<p>The new dorm will be a great addition, as tripling in a room is not always the most desirable thing. However, I have no idea whether Chapman will decide to spread out the student body, so there are more doubles, or just increase the population size, so the amount of triples stays the same even with the new dorm. I do not know when the dorm will be completed, but I don't think it will not be completed by next semester, as it is not even near completion, and it is not a housing option. Maybe with this new dorm, which will definitely be completed by Fall 2010, housing for all 4 years will be guaranteed.</p>
<p>Hopefully that adds a bit of clarity to this issue.</p>
<hr>
<p>Now as far as the dorms go,</p>
<p>Henley has private bathrooms in every room. Each room is made for a triple residency, but for continuing students doubles are allowed. The rooms are slightly small, in my opinion, for three students, but it's livable. There is a basement with a laundry room, mailboxes, pool tables, foosball table, small store which sells food, drinks and snacks, a conference room, media room (TV; DVD player), 2 piano practice rooms, Chapman Radio headquarters, dance floor, and a small fitness room. There are study rooms on each floor.</p>
<p>Pralle has some rooms which have private bathrooms (the corner rooms possibly). However, most rooms share a bathroom with the dorm next to it. Pralle also houses triples, but for continuing students, doubles may be a possibility (I'm not sure). There are laundry rooms on some floors, study rooms on each floor, and a parking garage for students living in Pralle underneath it.</p>
<p>Glass hall has rooms with private bathrooms. All rooms can house triples (corner rooms are supposedly larger than the other ones). There are study rooms, laundry rooms, and common areas with a TV and couches.</p>
<p>North and South Morlan I know the least about. They are the furthest away from campus. They aren't terrible. The nice thing about one or both is that a double is guaranteed. Bathrooms are shared in one or both. You can get more information from the website. There is a common area with a pool table, TV, and kitchen. There are study rooms also, though I'm not sure how many people use them. The second set of mailboxes located there. Not sure where the laundry facilities are, but I'm sure they are part of the structure.</p>
<p>michaeljm,</p>
<p>Dr. Doti said at the preview day that the new dorm would finish construction in Spring 2009, so probably not till September would it be ready to be occupied. </p>
<p>Thanks for the tips about the on-campus housing. Son put his application in and requested Praille as his first choice - but that sounds unlikely, from what you talked about with limited spaces. </p>
<p>How hard is it to find nearby off-campus housing? I was talking to a student the other day, and he mentioned that the housing office has a list of off-campus homes/apts that are pretty decent. </p>
<p>I am not surprised that Chapman accepted more students. It is considered a "hot" school, right now. I guess they will know next week whether they accepted more than they can handle after deposits come in. Then what?</p>
<p>USC accepted too many a few years ago, and had to rent an entire hotel for a year for the students, because they had nowhere to go.</p>
<p>Michelle</p>
<p>Michelle,</p>
<p>There's always a chance that your son will get Pralle. There are spots for freshman everywhere. Just a matter of luck.</p>
<p>It is not that difficult to find off campus housing. It is difficult to find nearby off-campus housing. It depends on how close you want to be, and whether or not you want a house or apartment etc. One thing which I find to be interesting, is that it is actually cheaper for students to live off campus, than to live in the residence halls. Even in a house! I would be living off campus next semester, but as I am studying abroad Spring 09, I don't want to pay double for housing. I think that the housing office does have a list of off-campus homes/apts. I've been in a few, and some are really nice. It's important to start looking into houses and apartments early because they go quickly.</p>
<p>I visited USC when they had the hotel issue. Funny, they advertised the hotel like it was a reason to go to USC.</p>
<p>Michael, thank you for the information that it's less expensive to live off campus. I had heard that off-campus rents were running about $1200/person/month which sounded very high. Can you give me a ballpark
figure of monthly rent/person? I'd appreciate it.</p>
<p>Me&BobbyMcgee (love your screenname!)</p>
<p>My sophomore son just secured an off-campus house for 4 with a very nice kitchen, deck and sweet yard, that will cost for each room around $675 - $700/single, not including utilities. The kids decided some rooms were preferable and made a few dollars' difference for some of the rooms. It's about 3 miles from campus, so bike-able, although 2 of the students have cars so maybe he'll get rides sometimes.</p>
<p>He turned down a gorgeous 2-story historic house that was right across the street from Chapman, priced at $1.400 per single bedroom, but there would have also been 3 empty rooms on the main floor as common rooms (dining, living room, family room). That was just too pricey for him. When he tried to split the bedroom, nobody was interested because they said "for $700 I could get a single; why would I pay $700 for half of a shared bedroom?" So when you price a "bedroom" in some of these houses, find out also whether there are other features, such as lounges/common rooms, yards, decks, that the kids are paying for in addition to just "the bedroom." </p>
<p>To get an idea of the off-campus market, look at cragislist.com for Orange County, and use Orange or Chapman as your searchword under the Apartments section.</p>
<p>A big issue is whether they have to rent all summer! Yes, it's less to rent off-campus than on-campus dorm, but if you count in the rent for the summer months, maybe not. At least be sure the place can be sublet over the summertime, and then bring a tenant to the landlord for approval. Otherwise you lose your "bargain" with an empty summer room.</p>
<p>Great info, Paying3. Thank you so much.</p>
<p>We are from Texas and aren't too familiar with the area. I see you are from Buffalo, so here's another question:
How do the kids get from the airport to school. Do they reserve a ride on a shuttle?</p>
<p>Many times friends can give rides, otherwise shuttles are easy to use. To John Wayne a fare is about 12 dollars each way, and I believe LAX and LGB are about $35 each way. Prime Time shuttles are usually the cheapest. All shuttles can pick up and drop off right at the dorms.</p>
<p>Me&BobbyMcGee, what part of Texas are you from? My daughter will be attending Chapman in the fall and we are from Texas.</p>
<p>By mid-freshman year, my S knew others who'd give him rides to the Santa Ana/John Wayne airport. They exchange favors, and many kids have cars there. His roommate had a car. </p>
<p>That close airport has 3 names: Santa Ana, John Wayne, Orange. </p>
<p>Sometimes my S uses a taxi back to campus from the airport, if he arrives later than the last shuttle. That taxi ride costs around $30. Shuttles are cheaper at $12 as Kenz07 described.</p>
<p>The closest airport (SNA/John Wayne) is an easy 10 min car ride from campus, but the Long Beach Airport is also reachable (I think 25 minutes; it's close to UCal at Irvine). </p>
<p>My S has asked us to avoid booking flights through LAX, the huge LA central Airport, because the ground transpo adds an hour to the long trip home. Also, if one gets stuck badly in Route 5 traffic on the way to LA airport in rush hour, a flight could be missed. I've stopped looking for fares over at LAX, although others might have different experiences to share.</p>
<p>I don't know if they need to reserve a shuttle ride, but I think so. I saw something like that on a website once; try googling up the company name Kenz07 offered.</p>
<p>I applied for Screenwriting but was not accepted by the Dodge college; however, I am able attend Chapman University for Creative Writing for fall 2008. Should I do this rather than attend Drexel for screenwriting? I've never visited Chapman, but it sounds like 'the place for me.' I hated Drexel. I love writing, ultimately want to screen write and act. Thanks!</p>
<p>Soah,</p>
<p>Nobody can make that decision, but you. I will tell you that I was very impressed with the writing and English literature teachers we met on Admitted Students Day. They seemed passionate about the subject of writing. My son is English/literature, possibly Creative writing. I don't think you could go wrong at Chapman in this department.</p>
<p>Michelle</p>
<p>Of course I have a decision of my own to make. I'm just looking for some advice as far as how that route sounds. Thanks for the insight, any other help would be appreciated. Thanks again.</p>
<p>I live in south Jersey and my high school is a big feeder school for Drexel. It's a great engineering school and does have a decent reputation, but I'm moving across the country for a reason; it's where the industry is. Even if your major isn't screenwriting, story is what is important and you can gain the skills needed to unleash your creative potential as a creative writing major, all while being 40 minutes from Los Angeles.</p>
<p>I'd say go to Chapman and try to either transfer into screenwriting or minor in something film related. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning towards that mindset. I feel like I need to be out there!</p>
<p>fyi... If you were denied admission to Chapman's film school, they do not allow you to transfer at a later date.</p>
<p>I do agree with Chinaski's other comments.</p>
<p>Me&BobbyMcGee -- But you can transfer within the film school if you are accepted, I think? Also, isn't it possible to reapply for the film school (instead of just switching majors) after being accepted?</p>