<p>I would be interested in hearing from a current or past student who is majoring in film production. Does the experience feel like a pre-professional trade school versus an academic experience? I realize that we haven't done the homework of finding out what percentage of his classes will be in at Dodge, versus straight academic coursework in core classes. I don't even know if this is a reasonable question!</p>
<p>Reading through the website, this is not clear. Are there any opportunities to take classes outside of Dodge, or are all classes film related?</p>
<p>Very definitely balanced with academic coursework, general education requirements, and electives, from intro to upper level classes in departments outside of Dodge. Students are taking a film major with an undergraduate degree from a Chapman U, which is a Masters University. The Masters University means it houses graduate programs whose terminal degrees are at the Masters level (for example, Law, Business, Psychology, or an MFA in Film). These careers terminate academically at the Masters, not PhD. level. The presence of these graduate schools, including centrally located buildings, gives a certain dignity to the university experience for undergraduates, who can partake in lectures or public speakers visiting those schools. </p>
<p>It’s possible to double major with an academic major and film production, althgouh unusual because a film major is very time-consuming with projects, while that second major might also require some kind of senior capstone report or seminars. Still, some manage two majors, one in film and one academic. I think, however, most film majors take a variety of subjects rather than a second major with their allotted number of non-film courses each term. A typical film major’s semester schedule is around half (or slightly more than half) in film courses; the rest in other academic subjects. </p>
<p>The general education distribution requirements can sometimes be addressed by AP credits from High School. There’s a chart published about which scores on an AP exam will waive x number of credits in the same academic department. Some freshman can therefore take courses above the Introductory level in their favorite subject areas. </p>
<p>There are also some interesting cross-over courses in the catalogue, such as
Latin American History through Film. That’s a History course that uses films as well as texts to cover historic material.</p>
<p>There are also some interesting GE courses in the film department, for the non-film major.</p>
<p>And Interterm is free, btw. My son took a class over January break and didn’t have to pay a dime extra. This is a nice perk.</p>
<p>For Interterm, are there additional housing fees?</p>
<p>There weren’t any additional housing fees this year. I don’t think that is being planned to change, either.</p>
<p>It was nice for my S to take a class, and get some more credits out of the way. It was a class that would have been a lot of work with his regular coursework, but since it was the only class he took then, it was easier to concentrate and get it all done during this term.</p>