<p>Congratulations to all of your children. What an exciting time. I have been following some of you for a while–shakespeare fan, gladiator bird–and almost felt like a relative as I hoped this week/weekend at Chapman would help them decide.</p>
<p>We have begun our college search /adventure. D is interested in film production. Have been to FSU and Ringling, and will go to USC, LMU, and Chapman this summer. D is attending the national high school institute at Northwestern for 5 weeks this summer, and is very excited about it. That’s as much traveling as we’ll be able to do for now, so we will most likely not go east (NYU, Syracuse, Ithaca, BU, Emerson) until next spring–and only then depending on where she applies and where she gets in. We can get to Chicago easily at any time (i’m from there, and we currently live in Michigan).</p>
<p>I know you must all be exhausted, but if any of you have the energy to post next year on your children’s experiences, that would be great!</p>
<p>Thanks for all fo your posts, and congratulations once again!</p>
<p>lasmeninas66</p>
<p>How nice that you’ve been rooting for us! Yes, we had a great trip. I must have felt your positive vibe while in Orange, CA! And I thought that was just the sun. (Or the waffles. Certainly not the mountain lions…) I will reflect it back to you and your D as you begin the Great Film School Search. You should probably get that book by digmedia and maddenmd, first thing. I believe it’s called Lights, Camera, Application.</p>
<p>One other school you might put on your eastern list is SUNY Purchase College. It’s part of the State U of NY program, making it affordable even for OOS students. Not talked about much, I know, but they have conservatories not only in film production (for admission, you have to submit a portfolio like at the other selective schools), but in music, theater and fine art. This makes for a very interesting student body! We were impressed with the small group of film students we met who seemed talented and hard-working. It is a bit of an odd campus, which you will find out the minute you look into it. The designers rebelled against the traditional red brick colonial buildings of east coast colleges, and instead went for what they must have thought of as a modern look. It is plunked down in the middle of an affluent neighborhood, in (or near?) Westchester County.</p>
<p>Another one people mention is NCSA, North Carolina School of the Arts. Haven’t seen this one first hand, but it’s another film conservatory.</p>
<p>UT Austin’s department of Radio TV and Film is another biggie.</p>
<p>Hi lasmeninas66,</p>
<p>Wow, that list of schools look familiar! I think they were all on my son’s list at the beginning, except for Emerson and BU (he’s a big yankees fan and refused to apply anywhere in Boston… nice and rational, right?).</p>
<p>Anyway, one piece of advice is to apply Early Action to the schools that offer it. My DS applied EA to LMU. He hit the first deadline and was accepted 3 weeks later (in November!). It was great because it took some of the pressure off and he was able to drop a bunch of schools from his list that he knew he’d never pick over LMU. LMU is a beautiful school with a very good film school, right in the heart of LA. So, he really liked it and would have been happy to go there. </p>
<p>One caveat is that EA isn’t always EA. Chapman Dodge has an “Early Action” deadline too, but it is really just an early deadline for Film Students, a la USC. They say they will tell you in January (too late to let you drop applications if you get in). Then, they draaaaagggg out the notifications. My son and 6 of his friends applied there, all for Dodge. 2 found out at the end of January, 1 in February, the rest in various times in March. My son was one the the guys who found out in March. He was checking his Chapman website every day for 2 months. Raised his stress level by a mile. By the time he got the acceptance letter, he just didn’t care any more.</p>
<p>BTW, FSU is really early, like mid-October. We missed that one!</p>
<p>This EA tip is good advice! D knew in December that she’d gotten into to UNC Wilmington, which at least meant she was going to some college somewhere. Whew! It was a safety school, so it didn’t allow her to drop any applications from her list, but it meant she had some peace of mind. (You read all the horror stories on here…) When she found out in early Feb. that she’d gotten into Chapman Dodge, she knew she’d be going to a real FILM school! Then, she just had to wait for other acceptances, rejections and scholarships to come in April to figure out exactly what the choices would be and where we should visit. It’s true that film programs are so spread out, you can’t see them all. We never did get to Boston U or UT Austin, (which were in the middle of her list of preferences.) But everyone’s list is different!</p>
<p>But! Because of the many fall deadlines, it would be a good idea to start on application essays the summer BEFORE senior year! It’s time consuming, and especially so if you also have to submit a portfolio. (Also good to get together in the summer.) This is doubly true if your child plays a fall sport, gets a part in the school play, has a part time job or anything else that requires a large time commitment.</p>
<p>lasmeninas
my son did the NHSI at Northwestern last summer. It was an incredible immersion in filmmaking and really cemented his desire to pursue film as a major in college. It is a grea program and they work very hard - what is your child majoring in? Mine was an animation major but they all do a lot of film and classwork together - everyone was very committed. I hope you get to go for the presentations at the end of the program - I was very impressed by the quality of the films many of hte kids were able to accomplish - let me know if you have any questions or if you want to ask my son anything</p>
<p>Another early action is Emerson. It is a lot of work to get everything together for multiple early actions plus portfolios, but you are doing it for Dodge anyway. D tried to start in summer, didn’t really get going partly because common app essays weren’t out that early. Having one done makes it so much easier. She had acceptances to safety, Emerson and LMU in the bag before Christmas, eliminated the need to finish the 2nd tier of apps. Lasmeninas, if you want to spend another day in LA, you could add Cal Arts to the list.</p>
<p>“She had acceptances to safety, Emerson and LMU in the bag before Christmas”</p>
<p>I think that’s the key note here. There is no such thing as a safety film school. Film schools all seem to be smaller programs, require portfolios and extra essays, and they are all looking for different things. So, you can’t just look at some stats and be pretty sure you’ll get it.</p>
<p>So, it’s best to apply to a non-film safety and then a variety of film schools. Luckily for us, LMU came through so early that DS didn’t have to bother with the non-film safety (he had several on his list).</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the great advice! I did not mean to hijack this thread. 
I am sure I am going to answer you all in a jumbled way, so my apologies beforehand.</p>
<p>Thanks for the additional colleges to add to the list, Shakespearefan and FilmerMom (and anyone else I missed). We are looking at EA for Loyola Marymount and any other school that is possible. I know that the film deadlines tend to be earlier but with decisions sent later at times, so I am sorry for those students who had to wait. FSU has a film deadline that is a bit later (but still early), but the student must apply by mid-October to FSU generally and get accepted at the university before the film program will consider the film application. (At the visit, the admissions officer explained that if FSU accepts you, they know you will do well at the university academically, and then the essay for film is the reason you will be interviewed or not.) D hasn’t shown that much interest in Boston as a city, either–but I’m not always sure what the decisions are based on–partly because she knows Chicago so much better and figures if she can’t be in NY, CA, or FSU, then she would rather be there than Boston. On the other hand, she is partially interested in Syracuse Newhouse (first heard of it when I added it to her list) because a classmate’s mother went there. UT Austin is not on our list at the moment, but I don’t really remember why not. Have to revisit that! We may visit Cal Arts this summer, but I personally prefer that D apply to universities with non-arts majors as well. She is passionate about film production, but knowing how many people switch majors or change their minds during college (including my husband and myself!), we would like her to be able to switch majors within a university if possible, and not have to transfer. That was also my main problem with Ringling, which has a very interesting digital film program that we visited as well. I also hope that NHSI at Northwestern (film production) for five weeks this summer will help. She has loved all of the work she has done in high school, both in her video classes and for FilmFest (extracurricular), but I expect that after living and breathing film for five weeks, she will either leave saying, “This was the best summer ever!” or “Not so sure about this anymore…” I will get to attend the student presentations at NU at the end of July–thank you, itsthattime, I may PM you for more information about NHSI.</p>
<p>Right now D is focusing on ACT and SAT, as we really want to leave the end of summer and the fall for essays and filming. </p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone, and best wishes to you and yours!</p>
<p>Oh, and yes, we have safeties, both for admissions and “financial safeties”–will have to pare that list down as well as the others. :-)</p>
<p>I agree that there are no major film school safeties, but there are smaller programs at state schools, with a variety of names, that can be considered safeties for most students. Not the optimum choice, but still an option. I’m no expert on employability from these “lesser schools”, but it seems a hard working student with talent and drive could make a go of it. For example, we used Montana State (acceptance in one week, program gated “limited enrollment” at sophomore year), we could also have used Eastern Washington or Evergreen. Little prestige, but a reasonable safety, might make life bearable when you don’t get in or can’t afford it.</p>
<p>Yes, you need to apply to both FSU in general and FSU film school by the same deadline of Oct 17th(around that - could change by a day next year). Mid-Decmeber you hear back from FSU - if accepted, the film school pulls your application and begins to look at it. Beginning to mid-Feb, you will hear from them as to whether you were chosen for an interview(approx. 48 are chosen); interviews are end of Feb and beginning of March - mid-March you find out if accepted, or alternate. You then have until end of March to accept or deny, so that that they can then move on to the alternates for each one that has denied the offer. They choose 20 from the 48 and leave 10 spots open for ‘transfers’ - If you don’t make it as freshman, you can re-apply during fall of freshman year for the following year to get one of those 10 spots since film classes don’t start until sophmore year. Essay and teacher recommendations; no portfolion required.</p>
<p>Good point, jtmoney. So another on the list of state schools with film programs would be UC Santa Cruz.</p>
<p>< “I did not mean to hijack this thread. :-)” ></p>
<p>I think this is <em>exactly</em> the sort of thing we should blather about about on the parents’ thread. And a gazillion other things. Carry on, lasmeninas66! :)</p>
<p>^^P.S. to lasmeninas66: We just tossed out the ‘decline’ folders…sweet sigh.
No doubt many of us will vicariously enjoy your aspiring film student’s search–now that our kids have selected and are moving on. I know I will. This last year of nonsense was exciting and fun!</p>
<p>FimerMom: Has a decision been made in your house? I’m not sure if I missed it, but if so, sorry for the repeat question. Let us all know!</p>
<p>gladiatorbird: can’t quite throw out those declines…not sure why! Maybe I’m saving them for the second edition of the book. </p>
<p>lasmeninas66: when I started this thread, I was totally meaning for it to be a place where parents talk to each other: about anything! So I don’t see it as hijacking, just where you should be! Before you totally discount Boston, I second the idea to take a look at Emerson. I think it is one of the best in the country.</p>
<p>Maddenmd: Nope, not yet. He told us he’d decide by Friday and he is sticking with that. So, hopefully tomorrow, I’ll let you know!</p>
<p>lasmeninas66: Yes, please hijack away. It’s fun to think that all this stuff we have been through this year and everything we’ve learned will be useful for someone else! </p>
<p>By the way, another state school with a film program is ASU. Not sure how good the program is, but it is a very reasonably priced school for OOS and has rolling admissions.</p>
<p>Maddenmd: We did keep the LMU and USC files. It seemed disrespectful to toss them (sacrilegious, even). Our family will always regard these wonderful programs with affection and respect. </p>
<p>Filmermom: Thinking of you today! May your son’s decision deliver you to a state of certainty, joy and relief.</p>
<p>Hi folks! Well, DS finally made his decision and he told us at dinner last night. And the winner is … USC SCA. It was a close call with NYU, but in the end USC won out. He is wearing all USC today.</p>
<p>And, maddenmd, looks like my DS and your DS are already facebook friends!</p>
<p>Hooray and congrats, FilmerMom! What a tough decision. Very happy for you!</p>
<p>FilmerMom… Yay! Stick around and let us know about his experiences.</p>