<p>I'm sorry if this sounds obvious, but I can't find the answer. D is very competitive for Chapman and loves it, I think if she applies to the college as a liberal arts major she stand a good chance of being accepted. BUT....if she decides to apply as public relations/advertising in the film school I assume (from the film school posts) that this is much more competitive. I know the film school requires a separate application. Can you get declined by the film school and still be accepted to the university with a second choice major? Thanks very much!</p>
<p>Kbl,
Public relations/advertising is not in the film school, to my knowledge. It is typically a program in Business/Marketing. She should apply in her major. Is she interested in the film program? It is much more competitive.</p>
<p>Son attends Chapman, as well as several other students that I know.</p>
<p>It's listed on the website for the Dodge Film School so I think it is under their auspices. She isn't interested in the film program but wants pr/advertising. You see where the question comes from....</p>
<p>Hmmm. Let me check and get back to you. Those are not usually film associated majors...</p>
<p>kbl,</p>
<p>Interesting. I didn't realize that it was associated with Dodge at this school.</p>
<p>I would urge her to contact an admissions rep and ask about those particular majors, and if it is more competitive. (Make sure she makes the phone call or email, because it counts as a point of demonstrated interest for when she submits her application.)</p>
<p>The people at the campus are incredibly nice and helpful, and I am sure you will get a better answer. If you have any other questions about the school, I would be happy to answer any that I can...</p>
<p>really good advice, thank you so much...</p>
<p>The various majors at Dodge all have different admissions percentages. The most infamous one that gets circulated is "8-12 percent admitted to the Film Production major (filmmaker/directors)." So don't let nasty number that intimidate you, when your interest is in PR/Advertising.</p>
<p>When you call to ask, try being very specific about the major of interest and what the admission rates are for that major. If you hear a number like 8-12 percent admit rate, question it further and be sure it's broken down for just PR/Advertising. I'm hoping it's not as competitive a situation.</p>
<p>If you have a moment and care to report back what you discover, that'd be helpful. Best wishes.</p>
<p>Paying3tuitions,</p>
<p>Excellent advice - looking forward to hearing what they find out!</p>
<p>As long as your daughter lists another major outside of Dodge, she can still get accepted by the university even if she is turned down by Dodge. I know that for a fact. </p>
<p>By the way, according to the Dodge website:</p>
<p>"Essentially film production has the greatest odds at 1/10 with all the other majors being about a 1/7." </p>
<p>This is actually an improvement over last year, which listed the odds for film production at 1/12 and the others at 1/8.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, you can name a first and second choice major. They were very clear with us that if you didn't get into your first or second choice, then you would not be accepted to the university. They don't want people using a "back door" to get into the film program by attending the university with another major just so they can try to transfer into the film program.</p>
<p>In my S's case, he applied film production first and screenwriting second, so that was a big issue. If your D chooses liberal arts second, she shouldn't have that problem.</p>
<p>I would also be very interested to know the acceptance rates for PR/Advertising!</p>
<p>It's almost impossible to transfer into Dodge from another program in the university. If you apply to Dodge from within the university, the odds are no better than for high-school students applying. But it sounds like kbl's daughter would be happy at Chapman in another major, which is very doable as long as she lists a second choice major outside of Dodge.</p>
<p>Since the Dodge website lists 1/7 (14%) for all their majors except film production, I would guess that would be roughly accurate for pr/advertising.</p>
<p>See, like, I want to apply as a production major but the only thing is that as stupid as it sounds, I haven't got much time this semester before the deadline to organize everything. Moreover, like I think was stated, I would imagine that I have a much better chance of getting in as a creative writing major for now rather than screenwriting (My SAT Writing score was 780 and C.R 720).... But I definitely want to transfer out to the Dodge filmmaking program later on.</p>
<p>I would obviously expect it to be just as difficult to get into the program as a transfer, I just need a bit more time to get things together.</p>
<p>Anybody have any idea how comparable it is to get into the Dodge School as opposed to Loyola Marymount's School for Film and Television... they seem to share a lot of similarities, statistically anyways...</p>
<p>mainevent, you need to be realistic. You will not have more time to put the app together as a college student than you do as a h.s. student. Also, you will be putting distance (time) between you and your recommenders, so that it will be more difficult to get those recommendations. Remember that for teachers, their first priority will be to write recs for graduating seniors, not for students already in college.</p>
<p>Also, while Dodge College accepts 75 students for admission as freshman film production majors, they only accept 25 transfer students. That's 25 students from those applying from all over the country! There is no advantage to already being a Chapman student. In fact, it may be a disadvantage (see below). Your odds of acceptance will be much lower as a transfer student.</p>
<p>The deadline is still 6 weeks away. Here is what you have to do:
Complete Common Application Form
Complete Chapman Supplement Form (on Common App website)
Complete Dodge College Application Form
Give secondary school report form to your school
Write a brief essay (Essay One for Dodge College)
Write a 1,000 word essay (Personal Writing Sample for Chapman app)
Write a one page creative resume (1 page -you don't even have to figure out the format. It is here: <a href="http://ftv.chapman.edu/media/docs/pdf%20files/Dodge%20College%20Application%202009.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://ftv.chapman.edu/media/docs/pdf%20files/Dodge%20College%20Application%202009.pdf</a> on p. 7)
Get 2 recommendations, 1 for Chapman and 1 for Dodge College (print off the form for the recommender to send along with the recommendation from the Chapman Admissions supplement and the Dodge College admissions site)
Send your h.s. transcript
Send your SAT scores (which are excellent, by the way!)
Create a 2 minute video (this does not have to be Academy Award quality; trust me, my son's was pretty hokey). What they are looking for is if you can tell a story with pictures. Search on YouTube for Chapman film production, maybe add the word "application" and you'll see samples of what some students submitted for theirs.</p>
<p>So, how much time will all that take? Let's say 1 hour for each form and 2 hours for each essay and the creative resume. (But I doubt it will take you that long) 1 hour for each recommendation (printing forms, deliver materials to recommenders, etc.), 1 hour to take secondary school report to the office along with getting a h.s. transcript sent. 5 minutes to get your SAT score sent to Chapman if you didn't already do that. I'll give you 3 hours for the video essay. Getting stuff in envelopes to mail and getting it to the post office, 1 hour.</p>
<p>That's 16 hours and 5 minutes. Probably you could do it a lot more quickly than that. Take your laptop somewhere that there is no Internet connection (this is important) and whip through those forms. It won't take 3 hours. Do the same for the essays on another day.</p>
<p>This is the whole rest of your life we are talking about here! Is it not worth squeezing in 16 hours or less? What would you have to give up to do that? Could you give it up?</p>
<p>The following was posted on the Chappenings admissions blog:</p>
<p>Our Philosophy on "Back Door" applicants</p>
<p>Frequently we're asked "I hear it's harder to get into some of your majors than others. Should I apply to a major that's easier to get into and then switch my major to the one that is harder to get into?"</p>
<p>The answer is no for a number of reasons. I would never council someone to apply to a particular major based on an "application strategy." Our philosophy is this: apply for what you actually want to study. I believe that line of thinking makes lots of sense, in fact. Even if you are undecided/undeclared, apply to undecided/undeclared! A genuine undecided applicant is just as valuable to us as any other applicant. Now on the other hand, an applicant that is not genuinely undecided is not valuable to us. For example, a student who wants to be a Film Production major at Chapman, but is applying as undecided because they think it will be easier to get in. That student needs to remember that if they are accepted as an undecided student, they are actually accepted as an undecided student - not a Film Production student.</p>
<p><em>Tangent</em>
When I was a kid my family and I went to Disneyland. It was the just after the "Indiana Jones" ride had opened and the line was very long. We had come to a part in the line where it snaked around, doubling back on itself... at least... that's what it seemed like it was doing. One side of the line (presumably the part of the line that was ahead of where we were standing) was moving very quickly, and we were holding pretty still. There were some older kids in front of my family, and they decided to duck under the rope and skip ahead of the rest of us. What they didn't know is that the other side of the rope was the exit to the ride... so in effect, they did cut in-front of everyone... they also skipped the ride all together. They achieved what they wanted to do, but they didn't give it the careful thought it deserved.</p>
<p>That story sort of reminds me of the student who applies for a major they don't want to study solely because the admit rate for that major is more luxurious. In some cases, they are right... some majors are easier to get into than others... but at what cost? The folks in the above story did achieve their goal - the did cut us all in line, they just didn't get what they wanted out of the ride. The Film Production student who applies as undecided may be admitted, but they may not get what they want out of Chapman.</p>
<p>An obvious question for any reader to ask right now is this "are you saying there's no way to switch majors once you're at Chapman?"</p>
<p>Naturally we allow students to switch majors at Chapman... in fact, it happens pretty easily between most of the majors. For example, say there is a French major that would like to switch to Spanish, or History. That's typically an easy switch. They simply fill out the appropriate paperwork and get the appropriate signatures and they're set.</p>
<p>However, if a student wants to apply (using our previous example) from undecided to Film Production, they can't simply switch their major. Remember, there are two hoops for Film Production students to jump through (the same is true with the College of Performing Arts). There's our Chapman Undergraduate Application for Admission, and there's also Dodge College of Film and Media Arts' supplemental application. The student who is at Chapman as undecided has not completed the supplemental application so before the major can be switched, the student still has to go through that process; in other words, the Dodge admission committee will still have to evaluate their file, and it's still possible they are denied. That means that the student who applied as undecided with hopes of transferring to Dodge or COPA later could end up in a situation where they are not able to study what they truly want to do - and guess who they blame.</p>
<p>For that reason, we are VERY upfront about discouraging the "back door" approach to any of our programs. Just be honest on your application. It's for your own good.</p>
<p>If a student applies to one of these programs with low admit rates and is not accepted, we can work with that student to go the transfer route. Students who apply as a transfer student from outside of Chapman are definitely not at a disadvantage; in fact, in some ways they are at an advantage. Some folks believe that if someone comes to Chapman and tries to transfer internally they will have a better chance than the student who is applying as a transfer from a Community College or another Four Year Institution's; that is simply not true. To continue with our example, say a Film Production applicant is denied. What we'd prefer is for them to go to a Community College and work on their GE (preferably an IGETC or CSU certified program). This process gets complicated - if you are a transfer student and you'd like more information, please visit our transfer site and contact us if you have questions.</p>
<p>I'm sorry for the really long post - we get lots of questions about this and I want to make sure we get our warning in writing for all the world to see.</p>
<p>As always, please don't hesitate to comment below with questions or concerns.</p>
<p>-David May</p>