Help me Find a Film School for my Son

<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>What state are you in? Do you qualify for need based aid or are you looking for merit aid?</p>

<p>With his rank and scores you’re in a difficult place where aid is concerned. He will not qualify for schools that meet need and it’s unlikely schools will give him much, if any, merit aid unless, perhaps, he has a truly exceptional talent in film making. Expect to be full pay at BU and Emerson even if he has a 200 point rise on SAT. Your best aid options will be in state if your state has guaranteed programs.</p>