<p>I'll chime in on some of the questions.</p>
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<p>As it is extremely competitive, what do you think it was about your application that got you in? In particulare, what do you think the admissions committee is looking for in potential filmmakers?<<
Fendrock, my S is a freshman film production major. One of the things they really like to promote within the film school is that "we are storytellers". So, as Chinaski said, your intro video should tell a story. If you search on youtube, you can find videos posted that applicants have submitted with their Chapman applications. Unfortunately, you won't know which of those got in and which didn't. Still, you'll see good videos and bad ones, which can help you as you think about your own. We did this last year and saw way too many which had the similar theme of "Who is John Doe? I am an investigator trying to find out about him." Then they go around interviewing people who say how John is crazy, he's creative, he's hard-working, etc. That's not a story. S had good grades, very good SAT scores, and had won some awards for his short films in h.s. I think his intro video was good, not great, but maybe I'm overly critical. Just as a point of reference, he was not accepted to USC's or FSU's film schools.</p>
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<p>Likewise, I'm assuming the essays would be equally important in demonstrating the applicant's ability to tell a story. Here is last year's decisions thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/468592-stats-only-chapman-official-decisions-fall-08-a.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/chapman-university/468592-stats-only-chapman-official-decisions-fall-08-a.html</a> . It won't help a whole lot, as there are not many decisions there, but it's something.</p>
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<p>Is there anything in particular you dislike about Chapman?<<
Hollylove, S dislikes the cafeteria hours quite a lot, as others here have said. The hours are not super-long to start with, but then during the last hour or so, they let the food run out so they won't have any left. So, according to S, if you come there 15 minutes before they close, there will barely be anything there.</p>
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<p>Also, he has an academic advisor who knows nothing about anything. We met with this guy when we went up for preview day, and I was dismayed to find that I knew more about the requirements for our S than the advisor did. S has an advisor within the film school who doesn't have an office and with whom he has not been able to make contact. So, he's gotten some help from his counselor though Intrack (that's not the name of it...I can't remember what it's called, but it's something like that. It's that program where they have someone meet with you once a week to see how you are doing, give you advice on college life, etc.) So this counselor is a recent Chapman graduate, and she helps him navigate some of that stuff.</p>
<p>His biggest disappointment was that his prof for his Intro to Visual Storytelling class is terrible....really, really terrible. The prof didn't give them clear guidance on what was expected of them, didn't give them feedback on their assignment films, etc. He said the main benefit to the class was the feedback from other students. That said, he took 2 other film classes and both of those profs were excellent.</p>
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<p>how religious are the kids? <<
For the most part.....not.</p>
<p>What makes Chapman a "must go to" school?<<
1) they have these weekly dinners with someone in the film industry. S goes to those a lot. Usually, the filmmaker-in-residence is the guest of honor, but there are occasionally others. Great opportunity to learn from someone who has been successful in the industry.
2) Interterm. The spring semester starts at the beginning of February, so in January they have what's called an Interterm. It's kind of like a summer session. You just take one class. S is taking location filmmaking this month. So, for the whole month he is on the crew for this film. They have meetings, prep days, and shooting days. It's a great way to learn, and it's fun, too.
3) SoCal. One of my friends told me that you should not send your kids to school in California, because they will never come back home. That could be true. S's dorm window looks out on Angel Stadium and he can see the fireworks at Disneyland every night. (Granted, I think his dorm room must have the best view in the whole school, but still....). Not to mention gorgeous beaches 30 minutes away.
4) Opportunities. Chapman undoubtedly shares this with other SoCal film schools. They publish a monthly newsletter that has tons of internship and job opportunities. Those aren't going out to the general public, only to the film schools.</p>
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