hey all,
i am very stressed at the moment and would love the advice
i’m planning to apply to usc film production bfa, chapman for film production bfa, ucla film and television ba, columbia college hollywood bfa cinema, and whittier college film studies.
first generation on dad’s side and second generation on my mom’s side
hispanic/latino (mexico & central america), female, dependent of a military veteran
unweighted gpa: 3.8
i took 3 ap classes my junior year (psychology, language, and spanish) and passed 2/3 tests (psych: 5, spanish: 4, language: 2)
i took 5 honors classes
overall sat score: 1160
(reading&writing: 620, math:540)
overall sat essay score: 19
(reading: 7, analysis: 5, writing: 5)
*i am retaking the sat at the end of august and might take the act. if i’m being quite honest though i think it would be extremely difficult for me to significantly improve my score in math. i haven’t taken a math class in 2 years and when i did i could hardly understand any concepts. when i do test prep i can’t even figure out how to begin the problems since i have a very general knowledge of math. on the sat i took i think i left half of the multiple choice questions blank and all of the open questions blank. i think the only way i would be able to improve my score would be in reading and writing.
awards & honors:
IT english 11th grade award - (An award chosen by the school’s Information Technology’s English Department for outstanding achievement and improvement in writing in AP Language class.)
greenshorts second place film - (An award from UCLA IoES GreenShorts film festival for my film “Be kind to Beekind” which gave insight on bees and how to help their decreasing population.)
honor roll - (An award for achieving a 3.33 WGPA or higher in the 2016-2017 school year. This award was especially significant for me since I had taken multiple AP courses.)
most improved girls basketball - (An award chosen by the coach for being the most improved on the girl’s basketball team during the 2016-2017 year. Particularly for my improvement in shooting.)
honor roll - (An award for achieving a 3.33 WGPA or higher during the 2015-2016 school year.)
extracurriculars/activities:
film club founder/president - (I formed film club to create an inclusive environment for students to pursue film. As I led the club, I was able to produce film festivals and influence others.)
take a stand club vice president/co-founder - (I co-created this club to allow others to advocate for their beliefs and speak up. We created a safe space, went to marches, and promoted inclusivity.)
IT academy marketing - (In the marketing team for our school’s Information Technology Academy, we advertised academy events on different media platforms to increase student involvement.)
girls basketball - (After school I would play both offense/defense in basketball. Switched back in forth between JV and varsity depending on how many players we had.)
track and field runner - (I ran 6 different races, they were a combination of sprinting and long distance events. Since I had experience in both, I was able to alternate between them.)
petsitting - (I petsat for a few neighbors around the community. The difficulty of the job varied with the type of pet but since I love animals the job was always exciting.)
summer program for filmmaking (I took part in a summer program for filmmaking where I learned camera techniques and made a documentary for a local film festival.)
i would consider myself a pretty good writer so i’m not too concerned about the essays/personal insight questions. however,
based on my extracurriculars, gpa, and test scores, do i have a shot at being considered since my major is so competitive? i worry that my sat score is too low for me to be genuinely considered since the average sat at these schools are usually 1300 and above. i’ve been considering applying to chapman for early decision so i have a higher chance of getting in. should i do that or do i have a chance applying everywhere with a regular application?