<p>My son loves Chapman and he was accepted to Dodge College as a screenwriting major with a nice merit scholarship. He is planning on double majoring in history. As a parent, I have a concern. Is the culture at Chapman academically rigorous enough?</p>
<p>I think it is a hard to pose this question without insulting people who already have a stake in Chapman. My apologies in advance. I have no doubts about the quality of teaching. However, when we visited, the general student body didn't give off a very scholarly vibe. I asked various students around campus a question. "Are your peers supporting/enhancing/complimenting your academic program?" For the students who understood what I was getting at, the answers were the same and a bit concerning: "It depends on the program." Gulp. </p>
<p>I get that Chapman has a laid-back, California spirit, but will my son, who loves to discuss literature and history, find enough like-minded peers?</p>
<p>cbrand, I totally understand your concern. I’ll try to answer from my experience, but it may not be a totally adequate response. My D is a Dodge major with a minor in business. Most of her friends also have minors or second majors, or multiple minors. This tells me that these students have interests in more than one area or have given some thought to their future careers. This break, my D got a book from our local library because it was by a writer that had been talked about a lot whose works she had not read. Of course, it came up first as a film discussion among her friends, but then that’s to be expected with Dodge kids. One of her best friends is a screenwriting major but is taking as many history classes as he can because he loves the subject. With some of the science majors, it might be hard to do anything outside of the lab in the first couple of years; they seriously spend extraordinary amounts of time in the lab. I did a quick search on Chapman’s website because I was curious what the offerings were for history majors, and I found that they have a history honor society:
[Phi</a> Alpha Theta | Chapman University](<a href=“Page Not Found | Chapman University”>Phi Alpha Theta | Department of History | Chapman University)</p>
<p>Through the honor society, I am confident your son will be able to find like-minded students on campus. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>OP, my son is also in Dodge (broadcasting); he’s a sophomore now. As you know, getting in to Dodge is not an easy thing; the kids that make the cut tend to be very motivated, talented students, and competition for the jobs in their fields is intense. Son is very busy, working hard and loving it. Don’t let the palm trees and beachy attire fool you.</p>
<p>DS is a currently a screenwriting major at Dodge. He also plans to double major–probably in Comp Sci or something related. He has always been a cerebral kid and has found like minds at Chapman. He’s really happy there. I agree with the previous poster that Dodge students tend to take their education seriously.</p>
<p>D is a sophomore film production major at Dodge, and also a cerebral type. Once he has been admitted, your S can apply for Chapman’s honors program for academically motivated kids. If he has high stats coming in (SAT’s and GPA) he will be a good candidate. He needs to write a separate essay to apply. (If I remember correctly, the honors application was due in June.) A committee of current honors students and professors will review the essay and the application and will invite students into the program. Just get a look at the various essay topics in order to understand the level of academic interest these kids have. I believe kids who are offered the Presidential Scholarship automatically get in if they want, but the program likes to accept, I believe 60-70 freshman kids a year. Students may apply any time during their time at Chapman. </p>
<p>The students in the honors program are eligible to take specially tailored courses with unusual cross disciplinary topics (One D took is called Death, Self, and Society. There was another one about racial, religious and gender stereotypes in Disney movies.) The classes are discussion-based and feature very small class sizes of 15-20 students. The honors students have their own building (the old pre-Dodge film school), and freshman year, they take a class called “Honors Forum,” in order to bond and learn the possibilities open to honors students. As upperclassmen, they are eligible to apply for grant money to present papers and research at conferences, and they are required to present an honors research project their senior year.</p>
<p>cbrand–congratulations to your S getting in to Dodge. My S is a theater major and also in the Honors program. He has found his honors classes to be stimulating and interesting, as well as challenging.</p>