<p>Hello there. I'm looking for a film school for my junior son. A little background info on him:</p>
<p>-He attends a good suburban high school. It's one of the best public high schools in the state. He has aprox. a 2.8-3.0 UW GPA. Don't know about rank, but I'd estimate around 50%. Our school is known for it's significant grade deflation. He's in some honors and some regular level classes. At his school, regular classes actually are challenging. This year he's attempting 1 AP Class (Psychology).
-This fall was his hardest so far. In the beginning of high school, he was in no honors classes. Now, he's in several and will probably take the AP Psych exam.
-His PSAT scores were: 58 in CR, 60 Math, 54 in Writing with a total of 172. He's generally a very good test taker. He didn't prepare a ton for these, so hopefully the SATs will be even better, and they might come out being stellar.
-He's really busy with ECs. He has a job that takes up 15 -20 hours per week. He plays in the school orchestra and regional orchestra and played violin. No awards, or anything. He's fairly athletic, having two varsity letters in two different sports (XC and Swimming). </p>
<p>He really wants to major in Film. He wants a program that's more production based than theory based (he doesn't want to major in "film studies"). We've looked at:
-Keene State (doesn't want to go, though)
-Fitchburg State (reach)
-Boston University (major reach)
-Emerson (another reacher)
-San Francisco State (reach, and the $$ situation isn't great)
-San Jose State (reach, and the $$ might not come through)</p>
<p>Now, what we're looking for right now are some matches and safeties that meet his criteria. We do need significant financial aid, so money is an issue. So, any good film programs that would match my son's academic profile?</p>
<p>Look at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. It’s a VERY hands on production based program. I know a kid there and he is super satisfied.</p>
<p>And wait for the film guru’s to show up. They have great advice.</p>
<p>UNC SCA is a hard school to get into: more talent based than academic. But certainly worth a look. How about Drexel and Temple in Philadelphia? Drexel has a wonderful work study combination. Have you looked at Colorado College? An up and coming school in film, with academics that should be a match for your son. A possible match or reach might be the University of Texas in Austin. Huge school, very good film curriculum. On a smaller scale: University of Central Florida in Orlando. Check into some of these and see what you think.</p>
<p>we are in new england. he wants a 4-year degree school, not just a film school. Yes, he’s made 2-3 small films for school projects that have turned out quite well. he wants to get the chance to actually make films, not so much critical analysis of them. Thanks for your interest!</p>